Anyone know anyting about these speakers?

[cyclepath]

While crusing craigslist I came across some speakers I've never heard of before. I've tryed to find some info on them and there doesn't seem to be much on them. They are Bes Bertagni sm-80. Are these speakers any good?

 

[Farmhand]

I've seen enough of those to do research. I haven't actually heard any. Some sort of styrofoam electrostatic deal. They are known for material degradation and a need for rebuilds.

 

[cyclepath]

Thanks guys. I'm always interested in discovering new electronics I've never heard of before.
Sorry, never thought about doing a search here, just googled them.

 

[frommerstop]

IMO they're a bit better than their reputation. They are not the last word in resolution and do have a bit too warm of tonal character to be considered a really high end reference, but they are very forgiving of poor source material and can sound quite engaging if set up well. If you replace the cheesy Piezo tweeter with something a bit better, they can actually be Very good. As a matter of fact, I know a guy who used to run a pair of their biggest multi-panel models with a Decca ribbon and he really had them sounding great!

Bertagni used a formed Styrofoam resonating board to create sound, that board is excited by a magnet driver (they called it an "acoustic hammer") much like a conventional cone speaker. The idea was to create the sound by using the vibration across the "cone" like ripple across a pond, instead of trying to push the cone forward like a piston. The same principal was used for a while in some Yamaha speakers too, as well as later Meitner & Sumo speakers. Tuned well, it does work. Bertagni continued to make them for a number of years in many sizes, including 2x2 ceiling panels for office Muzak and PA systems. They are pretty robust, but the glue that bonds the driver's motor to the panel can give up causing little or no sound & some times just buzzing. It's a tedious, but not overly hard job to fix.