Attic Find: Utah Speaker Pair

[baniels]

I actually haven't inspected the drivers. The plaid grill cover is not removable and I haven't taken the drivers out. Perhaps that should be my first step.

The cabinets are front ported.

I would not replace the drivers you kill the value and the speakers original voice. I don't remember mine s being bass shy.

IIR these have paper/cloth surrounds? get a surround sealant and make sure they are not leaking. I don’t remember if these were sealed, but if they are, is there air resistance if you move the cones in? Do they come back slowly?

 

[toxcrusadr]

If they are ported you'd have a hard time finding a suitable replacement driver because its parameters would have to be compatible with the original in order to sound right. The cabinet volume and port size are tuned to the woofer's parameters. And of course they probably don't exist for that driver. My impression is that sealed enclosures are more forgiving wrt woofer replacement than ported ones.

More likely you have problems with crispy surrounds, etc.

 

[dirkmc3]

Hey StarMover,
I have a similar Utah bookshelf. It must be its little brother. Same styling and grille fabric. Designed to sit on its side instead of upright. Walnut veneer.

It is badged as a Utah AS-2A, two way. Not a bad sounding speaker at all. Very well balanced.

Yours might be a AS-3A but its just a guess. Im sure you will enjoy them.

RC

Utah AS-2A's ...... $4.20 yesterday at a thrift store.....no crossovers...just a cap to the tweteer......supposed to be a sealed cabinet but not "exactly" air tight these days...LOL

They sound fair right now....tweeter isn't the best....

I'll re-cap them this weekend and see how they sound...

 

[DonQuixote99]

Hello all. This seems to be the Utah speakers thread--at least, it's the one I found....

I've got a line on a pair of 'Utah HS5A Heritage' speakers. The seller says they date to the '70, are really heavy (60 lbs each) 25" high, and 14x15. Can't find out anything about them from Google. Anyone got any particulars? Like, does that 5 in there mean they have 5 drivers in them?

Where I'm at is the home theatre has moved upstairs, but I'd like to make the basement the vinyl center. I didn't really like my main theatre speakers, Sony SS-B1000's, as pure music speakers anyway--they just lack 'presence' and 'richness,' though they seem clear and accurate, and are tons better than what they replaced. I was kind of thinking that some vintage speakers would be just the ticket to make the vintage rock sound like it used to.

The available amp at the moment is a Technics SA-120--35 w RMS. Is it going to drive these Utahs?

 

[yrly]

Utah speakers are generally efficient, and tend to be bass heavy. I actually have HS1Cs as the rear surround channel of my bedroom system for that very reason. My bedroom is relatively large, 19x15 approx. I have a Pioneer VSX-1017 THX receiver which cranks out the watts but still I want the system to be plenty loud. The other things about Utah speakers. They almost always have cloth surrounds which don't disintegrate, because of this the crossover caps are almost always past their prime, replace them, trust me. They almost always have Alnico magnets if they're early 70s. The Heritage series models usually are bass reflex with horn tweeters. The others are usually acoustic suspension. The common acoustic suspension model is the WD90 and derivatives, a 12" woofer, 6" mid and 3" tweeter if I recall, they go by several models and are common. I have several pairs, and find them to be good because of their efficiency. Be wary that the seals of the acoustic suspension are surely shot because the rubber like material they seal them with, kind of akin to weather stripping, is dried up at this point. Reseal the cabinets when you replace the crossover caps and you'll hear how they shoudl sound.

Because of their efficiency and bass capability Utah speakers are great in HT setups even with low powered crappy modern HT receivers. Use a good modern HT receiver and they're even better.

 

[DonQuixote99]

Appreciate the input, yrly.

Hmmm...well there's no room for these big floor boxes upstairs where my HT is. Tons of room in the basement room though. Have to see if I like how they sound. Bass reflex can be boomish, I know that much. Seller has them hooked up and will demonstrate. I'll take Virgil Fox doing Bach on the organ, maybe....

How does $60.00 sound?

 

[DonQuixote99]

Well, I got the Utah HS5-A pair. I am a happy man. Best speakers I've had in years, even without any work on 'em. $50.00 well spent from my POV at least....

You'll note that the tone of the wood finish is different on the two. This is one of two big reasons I have to think this pair met up late in life....

Here's the inside of one of them:

Bass reflex, as yrly suggested. And these speakers are bass-heavy. I don't care for now, I've been bass-deprived. I don't care what they say, subwoofers aren't the same.

Now an interior detail, which shows why I haven't inspected the surrounds:

That black fringe you see is the edge of the cover cloth. There basically is no grill to pop-off of these critters. To get at the front of the drivers I'd have to totally remove the front baffle. For now I am very happy to assume that yrly is correct, these woofers have cloth surrounds* that will never need attention. Utah built for the ages.

[*ON EDIT: actually, the surrounds are paper. I've now looked at them]

There's also some bit of something loose in one of the woofer cones. Hear it shifting when I handle the speakers. I don't hear from it any other time, so since there's no easy way to get it out, I guess it stays.

One woofer also has one loose mounting bolt--can't tighten the nut cause I can't get at the other side to keep it from rotating. So I just put some black tape on it to hopefully keep it from buzzing, or getting any looser. Tightened up all the other nuts. That's about the extent of maintenance done so far.

BTW, the other reason to figure these speakers didn't start out together is that the other woofer differs in finish, and in sub-number, from the one shown. But form-factor and basic model number are identical.

Here's a portrait of the crossover. I'm sure I should replace the pot and the capacitor.

Fortunately, one of the capacitors has legible markings:

Lastly, for positive ID, here's the label still found on the back of one of them:

I can report that these here big Utah's make the modern Sony bookshelves I've got sound sick. (The Sonys, to be fair, are cheapies--didn't run much more than what I gave for the Utah's.

I've decided the vintage approach is brilliant!

 

[theebadone]

Well, I got the Utah HS5-A pair. I am a happy man. Best speakers I've had in years, even without any work on 'em. $50.00 well spent from my POV at least....

You'll note that the tone of the wood finish is different on the two. This is one of two big reasons I have to think this pair met up late in life....

Here's the inside of one of them:

Bass reflex, as yrly suggested. And these speakers are bass-heavy. I don't care for now, I've been bass-deprived. I don't care what they say, subwoofers aren't the same.

Now an interior detail, which shows why I haven't inspected the surrounds:

That black fringe you see is the edge of the cover cloth. There basically is no grill to pop-off of these critters. To get at the front of the drivers I'd have to totally remove the front baffle. For now I am very happy to assume that yrly is correct, these woofers have cloth surrounds that will never need attention. Utah built for the ages.

There's also some bit of something loose in one of the woofer cones. Hear it shifting when I handle the speakers. I don't hear from it any other time, so since there's no easy way to get it out, I guess it stays.

One woofer also has one loose mounting bolt--can't tighten the nut cause I can't get at the other side to keep it from rotating. So I just put some black tape on it to hopefully keep it from buzzing, or getting any looser. Tightened up all the other nuts. That's about the extent of maintenance done so far.

BTW, the other reason to figure these speakers didn't start out together is that the other woofer differs in finish, and in sub-number, from the one shown. But form-factor and basic model number are identical.

Here's a portrait of the crossover. I'm sure I should replace the pot and the capacitor.

Fortunately, one of the capacitors has legible markings:

Lastly, for positive ID, here's the label still found on the back of one of them:

I can report that these here big Utah's make the modern Sony bookshelves I've got sound sick. (The Sonys, to be fair, are cheapies--didn't run much more than what I gave for the Utah's.

I've decided the vintage approach is brilliant!

I had a set of those about a year ago, I gave them to a friend, to start a vintage system. He paired them with a Sansui 8080 and loves them. Some of the Utahs are definitely sleepers.

 

[DonQuixote99]

I had a set of those about a year ago, I gave them to a friend, to start a vintage system. He paired them with a Sansui 8080 and loves them. Some of the Utahs are definitely sleepers.

Oh, you're a good friend to have, theebadone!

 

[yrly]

Could unbolt the woofer with a small nut driver on all the other bolts, then see if you can reach in and hold the remaining bolt from the front. The Front grill will likely flex forward enough to allow it. Then you could glue it or something then put it back together. As far as the buzzing, chances are a piece of glue that they gluded the grill on with broke off and fell inside there or the glue that holds that bolt from the front. I took my woofers out completely in my Heritages and inspected them. It was not terribly hard but didn't have that exact situation. Other way to do it would be cut the bolt off with a dremel, remove the woofer, remove the front of the bolt and then just screw the woofer down from one of the next unusued nearby holes.

 

[DonQuixote99]

Thanks yrly--good to know there's no great trick to removing the woofers (no seals to reseal or anything). Main thing I need is a long 5/16" socket to work those nuts--they used too-long bolts. Hey--I just rememberd I have a set of those <goes looking> ... yep, they were in the big automotive toolbox. Ok, woofer's coming off.

 

[DonQuixote99]

Well, both woofers have now been looked at. Had to fuss with that one loose stud some, but I managed. I think it was a good idea to shroud everything with newspaper and masking tape before flailing away with the Dremel, and I did that. Metal dust stuck to driver magnets would be untidy.

The picture shows one of the woofers, and to the right the thing that was bouncing around inside the cone. It was a chip of particle board, and the fact that it had come off was why the problem stud (right below it on the table) was loose. With the particle board weakened there, I didn't try installing any replacement fastner in that position.

The surrounds turn out to be paper, but in fine condition I'd say. There's a bit of a tear at one spot on the circumference on each--apparently the builders used a spot of glue there, but doesn't seem to compromise them. Not that I've looked at surrounds much, but I see no need to replace these. I just vacuumed the dust off the woofers and put them back in. But I'm glad to have been able to remove the stray chip of particle board and the loose stud.

 

[1ontop=]

Just got a pair of W-90's yesterday along with an Allied 995 integrated amp and Marantz Model 104 tuner. Neither of the latter are operational which was instrumental in my getting all for only 10 bucks. The speakers are in very nice condition. Not getting the extreme bass response as some have mentioned in previous posts. Will have to work on that later. Did not see mention of this in previous posts but unless the previous owner inverted the back panels on this pair, I believe these are top mounted woofers.