8 speaker 3-way Utah Model HS3 info

[UtahHS3]

I own a pair of excellent vintage condition Utah Model HS3 speakers that sound awesome and are huge! I was hoping to gain more knowledge about their history/value/specs.

As far as I can tell they were made to be sold as discotheque speakers in about 1965. They are walnut or walnut veneer with 8 speakers each and 3-way.

I recently found some info online showing that they were offered with the Wurlitzer 2900-8 discotheque package. I am curious if the old billboard magazine is talking about the same speakers? If so, then does that mean Utah model HS3 = Heritage Series III? I would love to know if these speakers were considered "top of the line" in 1965. They really sound like they could have been with all the great sound they put out. Especially considering they may have been designed for clubs, rather than home use.

Below are the websites were I found a little info. I would LOVE to know more. I went through hours/days/weeks of checking out scanned vintage audio magazines and could not find anything about Utah Model HS3. Were these available to clubs only?

Thank You so much for any help you may be able to offer. P.S. Mine do not have the snazzy discotheque signs.

Speakers are pictured at the bottom of page. http://www.jukebox-world.de/Forum/Archiv/Wurlitzer/Wurlitzer2900.htm

https://books.google.com/books?id=rigEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA64&lpg=PA64&dq=utah+heritage+iii+speakers&source=bl&ots=p8PmzlFzxk&sig=NJbXjKyq6QYy1RpZ2pAcgjCnZAs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiU28eN5Y7RAhUIdiYKHXZUBSIQ6AEIRTAG#v=onepage&q=utah heritage iii speakers&f=false

 

[chazvintage]

Nice find, get those black lights going for time travel.
Too bad TOTL doesn't always mean great. A cab of any type filled with Utah's is going to be a tough sell around here. And most of us will never hear yours in person.
I have a few pre 1960 12' for guitar waiting on amps to fill them. I see the back is sealed so crossover is probably a forced entry project.

Utah would make and fill anything and do it cheaper than most and that business model is still working for them as they now are call PYLE brand.

I think to a wurlitzer fan these might be some holy grail over the top accoutrement. I mean who doesn't want to see the speaker cloth activated black light patterns.
I personally never saw one and might of been a tough sell to operators who already shelled out for the jukebox to begin with and the service contract was an investment for your business at that time.
If I was to keep them they would have to be opened up for maintenance and the main reason is Utah is famous for their crossovers or should I say lack of.
Keepers deserve care and then and only then can you be sure of what's inside.
A general rule I have found when finding Utah cabs are if they have papercone tweets, I pass. If there is a horn I give a listen as that combo is usually alnico mags and rolled highs and lows good for instruments I use. Good luck and maybe an old retired disco duck will will tell you about rubberband man.......................

 

[bowtie427ss]

Excellent post and response, chazvintage! Very well said.

 

[BobHol]

Welcome and thank you for sharing your speakers. I use to work just a little ways from Huntington IN. where all the Utahs were made. I'm now in Fort Wayne which isn't too far. I am a Utah fan. No argument with what chazvintages said. Utah did make sturdy, well built boxes. Some of their Utah branded speakers were better designed than others. I'd like to hear more about your HSC-III's. Are they ported? Typically the front grille can not be easily removed. You'll need to remove the rear panel. As with most speakers of that vintage they'll sound better with new capacitors. The back panel is removable. I'd really like to see what you've got there.

 

[UtahHS3]

Thanks Chazvintage! I am now onto wurlitzer discussions but can't find any mention anywhere besides the links I provided. Truly a hard to find pair it seems. I never realized that they had blacklight screens until seeing that old ad and now can't wait to light em up! I am not sure if they have a Horn but will take a closer look today. With 8 speakers each there is a chance. These speakers were pre disco but I bet someone cranked up Rubberband Man once or twice. I listen to almost everything and even had some dance parties with electronica going through them quite well. Such a full clean loud sound with all those different speakers. The bass is so marvelously deep. I think they have 2 subwoofers in each. I powered them with an old low watt stereo as I read old speakers like low watts?

Thanks Bobhol! Do you think HS3 is the same as Heritage Series? I can't find a detailed ad/description of the HS3's by name. At least I have narrowed down the year to 1965. These cabinets are not ported. When you say the back panel is removable, do you mean like it pops out easily? It appears like it is pretty solid in there. I am guessing glue? I don't plan on looking inside quite yet. In fact I am moving soon and will have to keep these relics in climate controlled storage for about a year it seems until I can open up a another discotheque in my living room again. They are already in storage now and I thought about trying to sell them but due to not much info and feeling that they are special, I decided to keep them. For now. I am super curious about the speaker models inside. Only time will tell. Unless I can find some more history online.

So updating the capacitors eh? If I think that my rookie ears hear a 10/10 now, will an update make them 15/10? With these speakers I have always avoided max control knob volume level as well as any distortions to speak of. I would hate to "overpower" them resulting in needing to rebuild the speakers too. They sound so good right now, to me. If I tackle this I will surely post a step by step photo history of my attempt! AudioKarma is fantastic with great contributors. Can't wait to learn more! Thanks!

 

[toxcrusadr]

At their apparent age I would definitely recap.

 

[BobHol]

Thanks Bobhol! Do you think HS3 is the same as Heritage Series? I can't find a detailed ad/description of the HS3's by name. At least I have narrowed down the year to 1965. These cabinets are not ported. When you say the back panel is removable, do you mean like it pops out easily? It appears like it is pretty solid in there. I am guessing glue? I don't plan on looking inside quite yet. In fact I am moving soon and will have to keep these relics in climate controlled storage for about a year it seems until I can open up a another discotheque in my living room again. They are already in storage now and I thought about trying to sell them but due to not much info and feeling that they are special, I decided to keep them. For now. I am super curious about the speaker models inside. Only time will tell. Unless I can find some more history online.

So updating the capacitors eh? If I think that my rookie ears hear a 10/10 now, will an update make them 15/10? With these speakers I have always avoided max control knob volume level as well as any distortions to speak of. I would hate to "overpower" them resulting in needing to rebuild the speakers too. They sound so good right now, to me. If I tackle this I will surely post a step by step photo history of my attempt! AudioKarma is fantastic with great contributors. Can't wait to learn more! Thanks!

On a typical Utah speaker the back panel is attached with screws. All of the drivers are mounted to the backside of the front panel. The grill cloth is wrapped around the edges of the front panel. Looking closer at pictures I can see the screw holes around the back panel. Hopefully nobody used glue. Considering the age it wouldn't surprise me at all if somebody before you had the back off and had made changes of one sort or another. The standard Utah speakers had very basic crossovers. With that many drivers it would have to get more complicated inside. I've seen wires disconnected. Wires obviously connected wrong. And "typically" the crossover is mounted on the back panel which can make removing the panel tricky because you don't want break any wires. Or the crossover components will be wired between the drivers instead of mounted to a board. I strongly suspect that you'll find ports in the front panel that you won't see till you get the back off. Hopefully you'll have a camera ready to record exactly how the insides look, Any pictures will be invaluable to you for when you're ready to close them back up. I have no doubt that these sound good to you now. But our ears and perceptions change.

 

[Drum-meister]

Hi,

I have a couple of pairs of these loudspeakers. They are ported at the rear, so they need to be off the floor( the legs were usually removed or broke off). The mids and tweeters are individually sealed inside their own enclosures inside the cabinet. The cones on the two mid range speakers are different, making the speaker a quasi-4 way design. The mids are also set a bit closer to the front of the cabinet, I assume to help with dispersion The crossover is a passive series/parallel design using chokes and caps only. I think the caps are 4 uf for the tweeters and 12 uf for the mids. The response is pretty flat over the entire frequency range and they are sensitive so they are great with low power tube amps. I still use mine regularly, though I do not use them in my main system.