Gauss speaker information

[CORALX8]

Came across this intriguing pair of gauss speakers (Model 1154) when browsing, anyone have any info on it? Cant find anything online

The response range doesnt seem too good with the high cutoff at only 15k

 

[tgmartin]

I associate Gauss more with P.A. and musical instrument applications than "HiFi". They were certainly dependable, high power handling equipment. I used a Fender branded Gauss 15" in my 1960 Fender Pro amp for years, after replacing a number of Jensens ...

 

[CORALX8]

I associate Gauss more with P.A. and musical instrument applications than "HiFi". They were certainly dependable, high power handling equipment. I used a Fender branded Gauss 15" in my 1960 Fender Pro amp for years, after replacing a number of Jensens ...

Would they work for hifi applications in theory? Or is it very much a monitor sound

I heard the later gauss 3/4 ways ( 38xx ) are also pretty good for hifi , dont know about this

 

[tgmartin]

I've just been poking around on the web and see that in their last years in the 80s as a speaker concern they were marketing a number of different HiFi type Studio Monitor speakers. Some big 3-ways, some co-axials. I don't have any personal experience with any of these. It looks like after EV bought them out the documentation seems to have evaporated. You're just going to have to dig ... I found a picture of a Cetec-Gauss catalog cover from 1978-79 with what appears to be the speaker you are asking about:

 

[bowtie427ss]

There's a lot of Bart Locanthi DNA there. After his tenure at Cetec Gauss he went to Japan where he would play instrumental roles in the Gauss-Optonica monitors, Pioneer HPM, and Pioneer Exclusive/TAD lines.

It looks like after EV bought them out the documentation seems to have evaporated

The parent corporation of EV liked to buy competing speaker companies and euthanize them.

 

[loudnoises]

I used a bunch of gauss pa stuff in the 90s. Was one of the options at THAS. They went out a bunch, vs the renkus heinz stuff that was just too damn heavy.

Gauss was no slouch, that 15k is likely not an audible drop. I've not heard the near field horns, but I would place the drivers on par with others of the era. I bet the monitors are quite capable of hifi, if you like horns that is. I would love to hear these.

 

[CORALX8]

he went to Japan where he would play instrumental roles in the Gauss-Optonica monitors

Can you elaborate on this? Is gauss and gauss optonica two different brands? The only three models i see for gauss optonica are the big jbl inspired 3/4 ways (3820, 3824, 3830) whilst other gauss stuff (the 1154 speakers im researching, 3588 coaxial, standalone units etc) dont seem to have any association with optonica / sharp. Was there an accquisition deal

 

[CORALX8]

The parent corporation of EV liked to buy competing speaker companies and euthanize them.

Maybe this explains the very odd looking mid-late 1980s EV flagship releases, perhaps they took some inspiration from gauss designs?


Im referring to the georgian and patrician to be exact, those are quite far off of ev's normal design style to say the least

 

[swechsler]

I think a lot would depend on the room size. These speakers were designed to play loudly and clearly to an audience. If you've got a small room I'd look elsewhere.

 

[CORALX8]

I think a lot would depend on the room size. These speakers were designed to play loudly and clearly to an audience. If you've got a small room I'd look elsewhere.

My room is around 8x10 meters, Ive run altec a5s in my room before so i dont think the gauss will be too big of a problem

 

[bowtie427ss]

Can you elaborate on this?

I'm sorry, i can't to any great degree as most of my notes pertaining to this are long gone. Suffice to say that Mr Locanthi's list of contacts, and associations in the business was practically endless having also worked for Altec, and serving as vice president of engineering at JBL. One of the few things i remember is that it seems he was deeply involved with recording technology at Cetec, likely more so than driver/speaker design.

 

[CORALX8]

I'm sorry, i can't to any great degree as most of my notes pertaining to this are long gone. Suffice to say that Mr Locanthi's list of contacts, and associations in the business was practically endless having also worked for Altec, and serving as vice president of engineering at JBL. One of the few things i remember is that it seems he was deeply involved with recording technology at Cetec, likely more so than driver/speaker design.

Id assume he had some contribution to the jbl monitors (4343, 4344) and the altec 98xx line, if you take a look at the gauss vs altec vs jbl design its kinda different different but the same

and TAD 3401, 2301 maybe

 

[toddalin]

The woofers come up here on C/L once in a while. Great speakers but no re-cone kits available anymore. Enjoy them while they last.

 

[loudnoises]

The woofers come up here on C/L once in a while. Great speakers but no re-cone kits available anymore. Enjoy them while they last.

Same for the diaphragms. There are new production from somewhere, but we all know how that goes.

 

[Ziinda]

Came across this intriguing pair of gauss speakers (Model 1154) when browsing, anyone have any info on it? Cant find anything online

The response range doesnt seem too good with the high cutoff at only 15k View attachment 3812176View attachment 3812177

You'd be surprised to find out most peoples hearing quits at about 14kHz no matter what they think. I've found that the low end reproduction is by far the most important spec with most speakers since it's harder to reproduce no matter what the distortion level is, if it physically can't play low enough there's no amp or eq that can overcome that problem, plus there way less chance of fatigue when the drivers start to roll off after 16kHz. Making 30kHz tweeters is senseless and invites frequencies that affect your brain in negative ways. Thers always a give and take in speakers and when making a 2-way (not including electrostatics) you trade off the lowest tones and the highest tones due to the tweeters crossover point becoming the main focus that will determine the low frequency drivers.

A good electrostatic hybrid panel can play down to 150Hz easily which clears the path for any fast woofers and if timber matched even a small bit will allow subwoofers that will play to the teens and never break a sweat. You'll need to give them a listen before making an judgement calls on that speaker. The do call it a monitor. That in itself makes it subjective to many factors for near field listening.

Look at the db rating, they're saying at 1w and a 60 feet away it's in the 60db range. Typical rating of any monitor surly won't have any type of rating that includes a 60 foot reading! Theres no way of knowing it's true output without going into quite a bit of math to get an idea of levels at 2 meters which is more likely how they'd be used.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Look at the db rating, they're saying at 1w and a 60 feet away it's in the 60db range. Typical rating of any monitor surly won't have any type of rating that includes a 60 foot reading!

30 feet @ 1mW, exactly how JBL rated sensitivity on their drivers and speaker systems... for many years. It was once the standard for measuring sensitivity.

Power increase from 1mW to 1 watt = 30db, and the difference in distance from 30 feet to 1 meter = 19db

47db + 49db = 96db, I think most informed enthusiasts here would agree that's a reasonable 1W@1M sensitivity for the Gauss 1154 monitor.

This JBL slick sheet for the 2205 woofer explains it as precisely as the Gauss slick sheet above: 2205

Here's a snip from a 1977 slick sheet for the JBL 4343 monitor, note that by this time JBL was stating the sensitivity via both conventions.

 

[tgmartin]

I think it says "1m/W @ 30ft" for sensitivity data and "124dB @ 4ft" for max SPL. Regardless, doesn't seem to be using standard yardsticks ... (EDIT: I stand corrected)
At 71 years I'm only good to around 13kHz. I do remember when it went to 16kHz.

 

[orthophonic]

Several of the Discos I dJ'd at in the 70's and 80's used these along with 18' bass speakers and racks of BGW amplifiers. Absolutely the best club/PA sound I ever heard. I have not heard anything today that even comes close. Friends in our audio club would stop by once in a while and they agreed and were amazed a club could sound that good.
Very rugged, with smooth punchy sound, well balanced and it seemed like almost unlimited SPL.

 

[GordonW]

It's pretty simple IME- If you couldn't make a Gauss-based PA system sound good- maybe you shouldn't be installing or running PA systems.

We used to use a pair of QMS (from North Carolina, IIRC) built cabinets, each loaded with two Gauss 4583 15" drivers, and a JBL 2440 horn driver on a diffraction horn. They were bi-amped, with about a 1KHz active crossover point. You could just plop them on or next to a stage, and they would ALMOST AUTOMATICALLY sound good. I NEVER heard those sound bad at a gig we did.

The same system used dual-18 subs in custom cabinets, with dual Gauss 4883s in each. Those would play LOW, and would ABSOLUTELY HAMMER.

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Cetec/Gauss pre E-V made excellent speaker drivers. And usually quite excellent quality. Bart Locanthi knew how to design and engineer great loudspeakers. These are legitimately quality items.