Empire Grenadier 8400 info??

Does anybody know anything about these speakers? They aren't like the Empires I have seen on Ebay (round). These are heavy boxes with louvres in the front and the mid and tweet in the middle. They are very heavy and about the size of KLH 6's or a little bigger. They look pretty interesting.

I've read a little about those round Empires not being very good.

thanks

Hi, I also have a set of Empire speakers that I've never seen ANYwhere; including the internet. They aren't the round cabinets either. I have yet to find ANY model numbers on these. They don't even say Empire; just have the "E" crown logo of front. On the hookups they tell that they were made in New York (I think) but thats about it. Took me forever to find out that they were Empire. These are more like a standard speaker box. I'd say about 1-1.5 cubic feet each box. All the sides, front and back have these raised "louvres" that are about one-eighth of an inch wide that go from almost to the top and bottom. You cannot tell the sides from the back or front other than the tweeter sticking out. They have the tweeters sticking through the front; over the top of the louvres. It's round and looks like heavy aluminum with a dome tweeter and phase plug behind it. The crossovers (and hookups) are on the bottom of the cabinets. Also have a 3-way tweeter level switch on bottom. The cabinets only have the top and bottom that come off by regular wood screws. The backs don't come off like a standard speaker. As far as the drivers or speakers themselves; they are HEAVY DUTY! Huge, huge, ugly and rough looking magnets (alinico I think). The speakers are all a real brass-looking gold color. They have 10 inch woofer, about a 3 or 4 inch midrange and the tweeter is about 2 or 3 inches round. The drivers are all held in by funny looking "L" brackets that hold pressure on the speakers frames and are screwed into the wood itself. They are sealed cabinets. The last thing I will mention is the sound. These have a vintage British sound. REALLY deep articulated bass (effortless sounding) and very smooth (almost overpowering) midrange. The so-called tweeters highs are very upper-midrange/lower-treble sounding. I wouldn't call them tweeters by todays standards. Efficiency is about average; I'd say 88-90 dB/1 watt @ 1 meter. They are definitely odd-balls and that's why I've held onto them. They play perfectly without any problems. I have thought about sitting some smaller speakers on top of them with decent tweeters to get the upper "crispy" treble. Other than that, I have NO complaints and will not bother the original setup. I will eventually redo the cabinets as they are pretty rough and ugly right now. I will also recap the crossovers and I'm sure that will help the highs of the tweeters. I think most of the Empire speakers have a bad reputation (especially the round ones with marble tops) but I cannot say enough good about this pair I have. I've never heard the round type with marble tops so I can't judge. I'm planning to hook these up to a tube amp to see what they sound like, I'm sure it will make them sound even better. See my thread on "Empire Speakers: Real Oddballs" for pictures of them.

Take it easy... and enjoy your Empires.
PS-what does the 8400's sound like???

The "round" Empires actually are really quite good for their age and design concept. Today, the woofers all probably need tlc as they'd have settled stressing the surrounds. They design goal was a speaker that produced a smooth sound that would not interrupt or distract from polite conversation and the WAF was high. Also would allow the breadwinner (as defined in the olden days) enough good sound to sit back, relax and listen to some classical while smoking his pipe and reading the newspaper.

They were very successful for what their design goal was and at the time many persons only dreamed of 1 day having a set. Remember at the time of their design the alternative were coffin sized boxes that at best brought attention to themsleves regardless of how you decorated.

A really nice of 9000Ms with the 15" woofer sitting right and firing down on a treated surface still can knock off many hyped speakers for very long term enjoyable listening.

If nothing else, they were the "right" speaker to go with the Empire turntalbes for the right look. Just as a McIntosh 1500 or 1700 receiver with their accents and in the case of the 1700 black face and it was a dynamite looking system.

Hello, I owned a pair in about 1970. They were stolen in Boulder co. Never saw them again. But I think of them with sentimental value. I should have brought jbls instead. They sound ok, but any modern "parts express" speaker sounds better at $100/pr. The tweeter and mid are recessed and have a cavity resonance. Also they may have corrosion between the leads on tweeter and mid. Copper and aluminum corosion interaction. They look great in good condition, but are mediocre by todays standards. Most people are very poor review ers. Anyway, I have much better speakers now but I miss them. Am interested.

The rectangular Empires were for those who wanted to shelf mount, not floor mount their speakers, or who simply wanted some thing more conventional. I suspect that the stylishness of the column models made them more popular, to say nothing of the fact that the rectangular ones were smaller, so had less bass.

The Empire Grenedier 8400 & 8200.

I was cleaning up the guest room and uncovered these, looked them up online to refresh my memory of the specs, saw this thread, read it and wanted to share my experience & thoughts.
-they are the heaviest speakers I own.
-not bragging, but for clarification and point of reference, I have hundreds of speak pairs. I replaced the caps on the xover board back when i got them. SOP for old gear. I am reseller that rarely sells anything. Yep, one of those guys. lol
- Years ago i saw a pic of the round marble topped model. I was intrigued. When this pictured pair stumbled upon me, I snatched them.
-ok, so there's the history. Now, how do they sound? I provided a pic of the gear pushing
the Rod ‘the Mod’ Stewart’s greatest hits cd that I am listening to as I type this.
They sound amazing! A little subdued overall. Not dull, but def not bright. The comment above about Lord Chauncey Billingham coming home after work and kicking back with a brandy, pipe & a Montovani record in 1953 is spot on. I garuntee the Laird never complained to the missus about his speakers. I’ll never complain about my pair, except when i have to carry them up a flight of stairs. This pair are in my will along with:
ADS L1230
Cornwalls
Maggies
DQ10’s
St70/pas 3x combo
JBL 4311/2’s

Seriously, this pair sound great. They can be topped sonically, for sure. But the quality components, beautiful looks and smooth sounds qualify them as ‘keepers’. I’m going to strip & refinish the cabs- I love gear!

Stay cool fellas, and give Empire’s a listen if the opportunity presents itself.
Jeffro

P.S. The Optimus/Realistic MPA amp pictured is a sleeper, ‘expensive amp’ slayer. I have one hooked to each 6’ Maggie in my listening room & they are a perfect mate. Check them out…