Anyone recognize these speakers from the 60s/70s?
- Thread starter savoirfaire
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Looks like Kabuki to me.
SimplySound
Kent Engineering & Fondry
Wow! Those grills are 60's no doubt. Can almost see sitting around diggin' tunes in an herb filled room with an alter state of conciousness and just being mesmerized by those grills!
savoirfaire
Member
I don't know, I thought it would be useful to take a look behind the grills, but if there's an easy way to take them off, it's not immediately obvious. I found a photo of some Panasonic SB-3057 speakers that bear a similar pattern, but the ones I have are a much tighter pattern. Each circle is only about 1.5 cm in diameter.
savoirfaire
Member
Thanks, 2string1! It definitely looks like the same pattern, and you might be able to see in the photo that there are a few areas where the rather fragile latticework is damaged. Somehow, I don't think these are JBL's, but I could be wrong.
2string1
Super Member
Yes when I found my Apollo's there was only 1 grill. Was lucky to find another.It was damage but he had pieces from another grill that was non repairable so he sent the pieces and I clued them on and re stained them. They do break easy. Have you figured out how to get at the speakers? Can you see through the grill. Mine had a cloth backing that I removed so I can see my speakers. Would be cool if they where JBL's
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savoirfaire
Member
Ah, mystery solved. The guy who gave them to me got back to me and said they were custom built back in the day by an audio shop in Harvard Square that has since closed its doors. I might have to ask the guys at Audio Proz or the Audio Lab if they know anything about the place...
cablephil212
Super Member
Why not try taking the terminal plate off, and peeking into the hole. You might see the back of the speaker, and it might have some kind of ID or name on it.
If the plate is from the inside, good luck.
If the plate is from the inside, good luck.
Custom built...there could be ANYthing in there! Deffly worth a look.
savoirfaire
Member
I'll do that and report back on what I find. I'm a novice when it comes to speakers, so I'd be interested in hearing what people think of them.
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Those are bloody cool. Love all my Kabuki speakers, OK it's mostly a visual thing.
Anyway, back in those days speaker shops couldn't build intricate grills like that, way way too much cost, i.e. overhead. Chances are they were simply acquired from wood suppliers. It's already a know fact that many speaker manufacturers farmed out cabinetry to local wood shops and cabinet shops for their expertise.
Today that type of work could be easily duplicated on any of many available CNC machines. Wow, I've just given myself an excuse to finally buy one. Make grills and let my hobby pay for itself. With my luck someone will beat me to it. Fun thought for a brief moment.
Anyway, can't wait to hear a report on the drivers. More images by the way!
savoirfaire
Member
Well, I don't know much about speakers, but it looks like these were strictly a "budget" build. It looks like the grills were not made to be removable, so I opened them up from the back. The builder used funny square-drive screws. First time I've ever used those bits from my set! Each box holds a single oval-shaped driver that measures about 6 x 9 inches. The back of one of them has some printing that reads "DW18" and "69CCR8W". Any insight?
I thought they sounded pretty awful when first hooking it up to a Marantz 2230, but once I boosted the top and bottom ends, they actually sounded surprisingly decent for single-speaker systems.
I thought they sounded pretty awful when first hooking it up to a Marantz 2230, but once I boosted the top and bottom ends, they actually sounded surprisingly decent for single-speaker systems.
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savoirfaire
Member
Anyone think these are worth keeping?
bob smog
Creebling at the Turntables
Only if you plan on reusing the cabinets. Looks like a auto rear deck speaker from a '73 Camaro.
My thoughts were a 1970 Ford LTD but if memory serves those were 4x10's.
cablephil212
Super Member
This may be a dumb question, but here goes. Did you ask the seller what was the origin of the speakers were? Did he have them built, or buy them like that? Were they "custom made" for him, or made for sale? If he bought them new, and they were made for him, he should know what he paid money for. Just a thought.
Now that you know how to get inside, why not see how the speaker is mounted to the baffle, and remove it. Get a look and post pic's of the front of it. Also, if you have a multi-meter, you can check the ohms of it. I'm guessing it's 4ohms, like a car speaker.
Worst case, if it's a car speaker, you can replace it with a better 2 or 3 way (speaker), and you might enjoy them the way they are. If not, the people here might be able to suggest real hi-fi drivers that would work in that size cabinet. The only "downside" will be getting those grills off intact, 'cause you'll have to cut new holes for the drivers.
And if you go that way, I DAMN SURE wouldn't want to you getting those grills off. LOL
Good luck.
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