Argos Speakers

[cableguy2]

Anybody heard of these speakers? Friend has a pair that are like triangles, can't tell from the pictures he sent how much power they handle. Look OLD.

 

[Captain Scary]

Hey cableguy2

I have a pair of those trapezoidal Argos cabs mounted in
the corners by the ceiling behind my bench,should be able to see them
in my avatar?

Argos made cabs of different shapes and sizes,I beleive they were in the midwest somewhere.

Popular in coffee\donut shops back in the day and schools etc.
Cab construction is pretty cheesy w/vinyl cover but
with the right drivers you could be pleasantly surprised.

Never know what could be in there for drivers.
When I found mine (empty) and was looking for info
there was a pair on the bay,lady said they had Altec drivers in them.

I put some 8" Philips\Norelco fullrangers in mine and they really sound
cool coming from the corner up high.

Drivers are quite efficient and take little power to sound great
although not much bass to speak of.

If you can get them for short $ go for it.
If they don't have decent drivers throw something interesting in them
and try them out.

Given the age of them may be something cool in there or not?
thats about all I know,hope it helps.

Show some pics if you get them?

Cheers,
Barry

 

[ozmoid]

I got an Argos in a mono setup I purchased - AFAIK, they were strictly a cabinet maker. Mine is a largish square floor cab on feet, with an Electro-Voice driver in it. No telling what you might find inside... Could be something mediocre, could be something really cool .

 

[Captain Scary]

Thats a beauty ozmoid

All of the info I found never mentioned Argos
making speakers that size,very nice with the EV.

Did you ever put a TW-35 in it?
If your still looking for one I have one 16 Ohm and one 8 Ohm,
no X-overs though.

Your welcome to either one if you are interested ?

Cheers,
Barry

 

[mhardy6647]

Argos built cabinets -- typically some sort of particle board construction, with a vinyl/Tolex outer covering. They also, apparently, made most of the TV reparmen's tube caddies!

I had a pair of two-way, ported Argos speakers loaded with cermaic Jensen drivers. I found these at the dump. They were OK.

 

[ozmoid]

All of the info I found never mentioned Argos
making speakers that size,very nice with the EV.

Did you ever put a TW-35 in it?
If your still looking for one I have one 16 Ohm and one 8 Ohm,
no X-overs though.

Your welcome to either one if you are interested ?

Cheers,
Barry

No, I found this University Driver instead and I'm going to turn it all into a "three-way" system. Paul C has set me up with a crossover schematic, and I'm going to build one of the classic EV corner cabinet styles to hold the big EV driver, with a small extra cab on top for the University Coaxial. I was originally going to build a folded horn design, but then I found all the EV lit on their cabinets thanks to member mhardy6647.

Hopefully this Summer - I'm still working on the little Grommes, replaced several components and now have an open capacitor somewhere I haven't tracked down yet...:tears: Oh well, it'll run eventually! :yes: Then I'll need to get that mono Garrad TT running too... :scratch2:

 

[mhardy6647]

FWIW, here's a peek at the ones I had for a bit...

EDIT: Ooops, the tweeters were Jensen AlNiCo cones... I forgot.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Back in the early 70's, our church sanctuary had a pair of Argos line arrays on each side of the organ pipes for the PA. Each had six 8" drivers with a 70-15k Hz response. Boxes were walnut vinyl veneer over plywood and cane grilles. They did their job well.

 

[Mike Stehr]

FWIW, here's a peek at the ones I had for a bit...

EDIT: Ooops, the tweeters were Jensen AlNiCo cones... I forgot.

Those Argos enclosures look like the pair I have, right down to the oversized port.

I received mine from a guy who bought the enclosures and put JBL signature D208's in them some time in the mid to late sixties.
50 bucks. Those drivers were like new.......

Wanted to keep the D208's, but cash got tight. Over 300 bucks for the pair, however.

 

[mhardy6647]

The other little detail I forgot, but has been mentioned by others, was that the cabinets were in fact plywood, covered with vinyl.

duh.

 

[ozmoid]

The other little detail I forgot, but has been mentioned by others, was that the cabinets were in fact plywood, covered with vinyl.

duh.

The "vinyl" on mine is thick, heavy, and textured. Never seen any quite like it - very durable stuff.

 

[Mike Stehr]

Interesting.....mine actually have some pretty decent walnut veneer....

 

[similost]

I just picked up a really small Argos today... I was really surprised by the sound.. I expected cheap am radio sound...

Pics in this link:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112398

 

[ozmoid]

Back in the early 70's, our church sanctuary had a pair of Argos line arrays on each side of the organ pipes for the PA. Each had six 8" drivers with a 70-15k Hz response. Boxes were walnut vinyl veneer over plywood and cane grilles. They did their job well.

Lo and behold, guess what turned up in deep dark forgotten storage in the attic at our Church? Argos Line arrays! Match your description exactly, Celt. :yes:

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Lo and behold, guess what turned up in deep dark forgotten storage in the attic at our Church? Argos Line arrays! Match your description exactly, Celt. :yes:

w00t! My failing memory was right!

 

[RichPA]

Realized while cleaning the garage today that I have a pair of these, too, also with Jensen drivers. One of the risks of accepting freebies sight unseen, I guess.

 

[ozmoid]

I've had a chance to play with those line arrays a little. Very nice full sound. Light on the bass, but the frequency range they cover sounds good and flat.

 

[Nat]

Their complete loudspeakers used Jensen drivers, and they were plywood covered with a particularly durable vinyl/cloth material. Their ads played on that durability -- they showed drinks and cigarettes sitting on them. Even though they were pretty affordable, they had a lifetime guarantee, and also guaranteed that you would think they were as good as any speaker made, or your money back. I suspect this overblown claim worked for them, since they were pretty decent speakers for the time and most of their buyers would not have heard better. And probably those for whom resisting cigarette burns is an important quality in speakers were simply delighted.

 

[ericj]

Followed me home from the thrift store yesterday.

They appear to be full particle board construction with shelf paper for style.

One of 'em had period-correct telephone wire dangling from the terminals. Yup, 26awg solid copper twisted pair in a putty jacket.

 

[ericj]

Looks like Quam 6" drivers from 1971.
And i guess the baffle is real wood, which is nice.