Anyone Else Rocking Db Plus?

F

FantasySage

Dormin'
I think these have been kicked around on these boards once or twice before. But I was wondering if there is anyone out there that uses Db Plus brand Speakers. From what i can scavenge, their parent company was API, same guys responsibly for energy and mirage speakers. Also they retailed for around 300 in the mid to late 80's. Other then that, I am kinda dumbfounded. They sound really nice, they are warm and handle bass relatively well for a bookshelf, and make a great pair with my vintage sony.

Regardless, i got them from my aunt for free, they are in great shape, model 440's. Roughly 9.5"X9"X16". Spring clips in the back. 5.5" woofer, with a 1.5" tweeter. When i got them, the foam was rotted, so i had it professionally redone, and now they are as good as when they came off the shelves!

Mainly i was wondering if anyone else owned some of these, or even heard them. I keep hunting around for their larger cousins'. There is one on ebay, but with scant details.

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Glad you enjoy them. Do you think they sound good?

I came across a pair of their big brothers. The DBplus 880's, at a thrift. They were $20.00, I think. The owner tried quite hard to sell me on them. But without being able to hear them, and not being able find a thing out about them, not even here. on, AK.

I figured there will be other speakers more worthy. So I passed on them.
 
For 20$ i would have been on them like white on rice. Though, on the same token, they do reek of white van and the BPC era if you are unacquainted with them. I am thinking about getting a pair of 880's and something else and setting up a 5.1 with them.
 
They look white van-esque, but if they were owned by the same people that did Energy that's certainly not likely.
 
Hm, cool stuff mhardy. I don't know if it the same, however it is a "db" speaker with a similar XX0 model number (110, 440, 880). Also, it said west coast, and i know the speakers i have are Canadian made. Hmmm, the mystery continues:tears:
 
dB Plus was a custom house brand made (by API) for a company called Majestic that sold electronics back in the 80's in Toronto.
 
Urizen is closest to the mark. I sold them in another province in Canada, but as an independent retailer in the 80's. A high sensitivity speaker, lots of boom and high end.

API did in fact market them. They had better lines (Energy) and much worse (Audio pulse) These guys ran in the middle of the pack.

Enjoy 'em! The bookshelf models were a little more "refined" than the big floorstanders.....unless you like to party....
 
DB Plus was the house brand of the Newmark & Lewis chain in the Northeast in the 80s. I bought a pair once, and returned them a few days later because I thought the midrange was lacking. A few reshufflings of my BPC system later, I realized it was my receiver that was lacking, but by then the moment had passed... so I never gave them a fair tryout.
 
I believe that dB and dB Plus are not related to each other. The dB bookshelfs I had were well built and sounded quite good, and one of the local liquor stores has a pair of the floor standing models up on top of the shelves, also sounding pretty good. I gave mine to my brother in law -- his wife had banished the Allison Ones (not surprising since the surrounds were gone and he didn't listen to them) and she wanted to listen to music from domestically acceptable speakers. She was thrilled with them. Him, less so. I'm still trying to get my hands on the Allisons...
 
I have the 440's, got 'em for $14.95 at a thrift even though the price sticker said $24.95, lol. Pretty good speakers, thought they were white vans at first 'cause the name. Mine go down to 35hz, great for a bookshelf. The boxes are pretty big for a 6.5 inch woofer. So far they are my favorite speakers, the treble isn't harsh, the bass isn't overpowering, I use them with my SMSL SA50, great combo. Mine didn't have foam rot, so that was nice.
 
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