Calling all GTE/Sylvania's!

[tchuck]

Oh. My. God.

These things sound incredible! I'm playing an album on my phone via YouTube through one of those tiny little parts express micro amps right now and they are blowing me away. I can't wait to give them a respectable input tomorrow when my wife and daughter aren't sleeping upstairs. Very shocked and excited right now. These just may dethrone the paradigm studio 60s in my av system... [0_0]

 

[cleonjr]

ok Here is a link to the ones I have I just took them out of rotation,It was hard to do since they are proballly the sweetest sounding bookshelfs I own.they are in storage so I could not do pictures. here is the link Sylvania AS-5708 Speakers http://vintagesylvania.net/?page=components&category=spkr&model=AS-5708
these speakers are awesome in reproducing music.I am looking for more sylvanias all the time.I

I was not expecting much when I got these AS-5708's but I was really surprised at the sound coming from themcould not believe it and they are built solid these speakers are truly a dream.I really like them a lot and I have lots of speakers ,but these are the easiest to listen too.

 

[Phil73]

AS-4000 suspension speakers

I have yet to remove the panels and post photos, but there are a pair of AS4000 suspension speakers in my recently acquired 1965(?not sure yet on this) Sylvania "Maestro" SC817PW(polynesian teak wood finish with walnut and veneers). One other member here asked about this unit, and disappeared with some spec information, some amp and tuner views, but no speaker photos. Without a doubt, these are massive speakers - not sure, but I believe it's a pair of 15" woofers and 2 horns per side...and some other smaller speakers. I'll get photos uploaded soon.

 

[Rex Runner]

I have a gorgeous pair of 235,s. Anybody got a domed midrange for sale?

 

[Twanx]

Bringing this thread back from the dead, I acquired (3) of the GTE 412.

Initially I thought that two of the domed midranges were completely dead, so I ordered a pair on eBay. Later I realized that they were just disconnected inside, but played distorted when I reconnected them. The replacements were also distorted. As a last ditch effort, I decided to pry the metal grill off the front and it actually cured the units of distortion!

They are a bit more delicate than before but sound fabulous!

 

[Wheel-right]

Picked up a pair of AS 105W-1s from SA, great sound the goes well with the KLH 6s. Could use some info on the proper replacement caps for the Mallory 2MFD 25VNP,has the numbers 41-14304-2 then 235-7232KC. Replaced the other two caps but wasn't sure on these that go to the tweeter. Thanks

 

[Pavementfan]

I am looking for a pair of 3 way GTE's. I have the 10" 2 ways and adore them. I really want to TOTL. Anyone near Detroit let me know I very much want a nicer pair of my favorite speakers.

 

[dogwan]

Hey hey, reviving this thread!

I just picked up a pair of GTE210's for next to nothing. My buddy called me from a thrift asking if I wanted him to pick them up for me. He described the condition while I was quickly googling them. After seeing a couple quick results we both decided that for less than $20 it was a no-brainer.

When I finally got over to his house to pick them up I was both shocked at the size, and surprised at the good physical condition. After getting them home and hooked up I was disappointed that one of the woofers wasn't working. However, I quickly discovered the push on connectors were corroded enough to prevent signal flow. A quick shot of DeOxit and we were in business.

Now I have been listening this evening for around 3 hours continuously and they are really opening up. Boy are they smooth! I just love an Acoustic Suspension 2-way speaker!

A couple nicks here and there in the faux Walnut vinyl wrap, but not bad at all. Grills are in good shape even if a rather unfortunate 70's color reminiscent of baby poop tan. Missing one badge. Switches on the back are working fine without any static or inconsistencies. Luckily all drivers work.

This pair has the Jensen E400 tweeters and Rola woofers. I treated the rubber surrounds on the woofers with Zymol rubber conditioner (Glycerin and Coconut Oil based) just for preventative measures. They are very, very compliant as is.

Here's a pic in my living room. They definitely sounded muddy on the floor. But up on 12" plant stands they are a delight! Maybe a little rolled off on the top, but not excessively so. I can't wait to see what they sound like with a good re-cap. That's probably all I will do to them. Well, that and delete the corroded push-on connectors in favor of a hard solder connection at all the drivers.


Bulldog approved!

 

[dogwan]

I recapped the 210's last night it made a significant difference. Transition between drivers seems more coherent and the top end is much smoother.

The crossover is pretty simple with only 2 caps.
The woofer is run full range.
All the original caps had drifted up.
The 2uf caps measured 2.25 and 2.6
The 10uf caps measured 12.0 and 12.8
The caps I had in my spares are nothing special, but I'm sure replacing that 10uf EC in series with the Tweeter with a film cap is surely helping smooth out the top end. I didn't bother with trying to compensate for the fact that the cap would have lower ESR than the electrolytic. The replacement caps all measured within 1% of spec.

I spent about 4 hours listening to them last night after the recap and thoroughly enjoyed these speakers. Not sure what I'm going to do with them as I have plenty of better speakers (at least on paper), but these are just too fun!




Before:



After:

 

[es125tcd]

Hey hey, reviving this thread!

I just picked up a pair of GTE210's for next to nothing. My buddy called me from a thrift asking if I wanted him to pick them up for me. He described the condition while I was quickly googling them. After seeing a couple quick results we both decided that for less than $20 it was a no-brainer.

When I finally got over to his house to pick them up I was both shocked at the size, and surprised at the good physical condition. After getting them home and hooked up I was disappointed that one of the woofers wasn't working. However, I quickly discovered the push on connectors were corroded enough to prevent signal flow. A quick shot of DeOxit and we were in business.

Now I have been listening this evening for around 3 hours continuously and they are really opening up. Boy are they smooth! I just love an Acoustic Suspension 2-way speaker!

A couple nicks here and there in the faux Walnut vinyl wrap, but not bad at all. Grills are in good shape even if a rather unfortunate 70's color reminiscent of baby poop tan. Missing one badge. Switches on the back are working fine without any static or inconsistencies. Luckily all drivers work.

This pair has the Jensen E400 tweeters and Rola woofers. I treated the rubber surrounds on the woofers with Zymol rubber conditioner (Glycerin and Coconut Oil based) just for preventative measures. They are very, very compliant as is.

Here's a pic in my living room. They definitely sounded muddy on the floor. But up on 12" plant stands they are a delight! Maybe a little rolled off on the top, but not excessively so. I can't wait to see what they sound like with a good re-cap. That's probably all I will do to them. Well, that and delete the corroded push-on connectors in favor of a hard solder connection at all the drivers.


Bulldog approved!
View attachment 2341866

Amazing. Happy to have discovered this thread! I have owned my AS125Bs since new in 1975. They were the only speakers I owned for decades and I was never dissatisfied with their sound as generated by a Pioneer SX-838 receiver (also acquired at the same time). Learning about them here has been an encouraging eye-opener. I refoamed the woofers around 2001 and they’ve been moving air equally well. These speakers rock! The bass is monstrous if you want it to be; so much so that I usually have to keep it rolled back a notch or two on the receiver. Having the option of controlling the crossover network for the tweeter and midrange drivers is a welcome feature, though I wish the option to do so was more than just a “Hi - Lo - Normal” selection. I feel like a pot would be even better for these adjustments. I think a re-cap may be in order for these babies. Glad to know it was a positive endeavor for you!

 

[tchuck]

Hi Everyone. I still have my As225s. Since the refoam and tweeter replacement they have been going strong.

But now that time has come to move them along, and I've got a decision to make which is essentially "to ruin them or not". I don't have space for them and no one I talk to has ever heard about them. I never see them for sale anywhere, and I fear if I put them up on some local site (defs no shipping option) I'm just going to get brow-beaten and low-balled into a state of wishing I had just harvested the drivers and trashed them in the first place.

Unless one of you fine pronouns wants to adopt them. I didn't pay very much for them... It just kills me to trash them when they're so cool and rare.

Thoughts?

 

[dogwan]

Hi Everyone. I still have my As225s. Since the refoam and tweeter replacement they have been going strong.

But now that time has come to move them along, and I've got a decision to make which is essentially "to ruin them or not". I don't have space for them and no one I talk to has ever heard about them. I never see them for sale anywhere, and I fear if I put them up on some local site (defs no shipping option) I'm just going to get brow-beaten and low-balled into a state of wishing I had just harvested the drivers and trashed them in the first place.

Unless one of you fine pronouns wants to adopt them. I didn't pay very much for them... It just kills me to trash them when they're so cool and rare.

Thoughts?

I sold my 210's on Craigslist without much grief. They went to the 1st person who listened to them for my full asking price. I think if you write your ad cleverly and give it a little time you'll not have too much trouble. IIRC it took me almost a week.

(and this was in Portland too!)

Here's the text from my ad on CL:

Classic 70's 2-way acoustic suspension speakers-GTE/Sylvania 210

Before you scoff at these, keep reading...

These were made in the 70's shortly after GTE (yes, the phone company) and Sylvania (behemoth American electronics company) merged. Sylvania was trying to salvage GTE's reputation and threw its engineering and manufacturing prowess behind an attempt to enter the audiophile home market.

These classic 2-way Acoustic Suspension speakers will blow you away if you just judge them by their looks.
10" paper coned Rola woofers with rubber surrounds for that warm 70's sound.
1-1/2" Jensen E-400 soft dome tweeters for smooth highs.

15 1/2" wide
24" tall
12" deep

Recently replaced crossover caps. So, with the rubber surrounds these will need virtually no maintenance for years to come!

Can demo on really good source equipment for serious buyers so that you can appreciate what these serious sleeper speakers are capable of!

 

[kfa888]

Hi Everyone. I still have my As225s. Since the refoam and tweeter replacement they have been going strong.

But now that time has come to move them along, and I've got a decision to make which is essentially "to ruin them or not". I don't have space for them and no one I talk to has ever heard about them. I never see them for sale anywhere, and I fear if I put them up on some local site (defs no shipping option) I'm just going to get brow-beaten and low-balled into a state of wishing I had just harvested the drivers and trashed them in the first place.

Unless one of you fine pronouns wants to adopt them. I didn't pay very much for them... It just kills me to trash them when they're so cool and rare.

Thoughts?

I still have mine too. Will always have them as my sister bought them new and they have some nostalgic value to me as well as being really good speakers. I'm temped to grab yours for spares but need to get rid of stuff, I'm overwhelmed with gear at he moment.

These are for sure sleepers with Alnico dome drivers, massive XO and well built cabs. They were really trying.

 

[alteclipsch]

Since this thread is revived, I'll mention the pair of AS 81W that were given to me last spring. 2 way, CTS 8" doped cloth surround woofer, 3" CTS paper cone tweeter, single capacitor. Strong, thick-walled, beautiful walnut cabinetry. I recapped, doped the surrounds, lightly sanded, and oiled. They were surprisingly good sounding. I only moved them along because of too many speakers, but they were small enough and sweet enough I should have kept them.

 

[kfa888]

Here are mine, all sitting in the corner waiting to come out and play again. My sister bought these new.

 

[tchuck]

So those are As125's then? Mine were 4-way with what looks like the high and mid from yours, a different woofer, plus a 5" mid in an internal enclosure.

-EDIT-

I see now that you said they're 125's above.

 

[kfa888]

So those are As125's then? Mine were 4-way with what looks like the high and mid from yours, a different woofer, plus a 5" mid in an internal enclosure.

-EDIT-

I see now that you said they're 125's above.

I replaced the woofer as I tossed the originals decades ago not knowing you could fix them at the time.

 

[kfa888]

This says "Long Engineering" makes the dome mids and tweeters. Never heard of them.

 

[kfa888]

 

[kirk57]

Since this thread is revived, I'll mention the pair of AS 81W that were given to me last spring. 2 way, CTS 8" doped cloth surround woofer, 3" CTS paper cone tweeter, single capacitor. Strong, thick-walled, beautiful walnut cabinetry. I recapped, doped the surrounds, lightly sanded, and oiled. They were surprisingly good sounding. I only moved them along because of too many speakers, but they were small enough and sweet enough I should have kept them.
View attachment 2414712

Man, those are beautiful cabinets!

Cabinets on my AS125A are also quite nice