IMF owners thread!
- Thread starter canuckaudiog
- Start date
Glass Prison
Well-Known Member
Excellent thread fellas. :thmbsp:
Yes, mine do have the P prefix in the serial number. :yes:
captouch
Addicted Member
Thanks, that satisfies my curiosity. I guess they reused the same metal plates and opted to use stickers.
Since mine only have 3 out of 4 Improved drivers, I guess I could make a "Semi-Improved" or "Mostly Improved" sticker.
Wow, just caught up with this thread, Congrats Captouch! Too bad I didn't have time to swing by to see those in person while I was in the Bay area. What was the story on finding and acquiring them? Sounds like they weren't quite local but within reasonable driving distance?
Some of the Pics of the drivers close up aren't coming through, at least on my Chrome browser.
Flyquail56
Active Member
Purchased a new pair of Model Rs in the mid-70s. I think they were labeled IMF but could have been Fried; it's been a while. I replaced the IMFs sometime later with a pair of FMIs, what are the odds of that
captouch
Addicted Member
I just fixed the pics that weren't coming through. Thanks for letting me know and for the congrats.
The story on how I found/acquired them (too long winded, but here goes). . .
These were posted on Audiogon, but I didn't see the ad until 10 days after it was posted. I corresponded with the seller many times for the next week and a half, asking for more pictures, details about history, and passing along what I learned along the way about the particular drivers and version of RSPM he had (Jerry at Falcon UK was very helpful). The information unfolded kind of slowly, because at first there was only a single smaller picture with grills on - based on my request for more pictures, he slowly added more pictures to the ad which made it clearer what they were.
History-wise, these were purchased by the father of the seller, so they've been in the family all these years. The father had them upgraded (to the improved drivers except for tweeter), and apparently one of the tweeters blew at some point later, but that was replaced by a shop.
Anyway, at the original price listed (which was on the upper end of U.S. market value), I couldn't convince myself to pull the trigger, as I already had TLS 50 II's and 3 other sets of speakers. I asked if he was firm on the price, and he lowered the price by a pretty good chunk, but it was still too much for me to agree to spend without selling something else to offset the price (I've been on a serious buying spree for the last year).
He had a deadline he wanted to meet to get the speakers out of the house, so he was motivated to sell and I was trying hard to sell things and meet that deadline. Along the way, I threw out a price that I could pull the trigger on without selling anything, but he didn't want to go that low. A couple days later, he lowered his price by just a bit more, but it was still pretty far from meeting my budget. The evening before his deadline, since what I had posted to sell wasn't selling, I told him I just couldn't do it. But I was really tossing and turning all night thinking about the speakers that I was letting get away. I was pretty bummed.
The next day, he sent me a message mid-day saying he'd lower the price even further (to within $50 of what I had offered earlier), but I HAD to get them out that day. Then began the mad scramble to figure out how to get 200 lbs of speakers from Berkeley (50-60 miles from home) with enough time to still pick up my daughter. Luckily I was having lunch with a buddy who had a friend working in Oakland with a VW Golf, so we drove up there, borrowed his car, and picked up the speakers.
It all worked out, but it was very rushed and I didn't have time to really check out all drivers at the seller's house. When I got them home, the left tweeter wasn't working, so I thought I'd have to source another, which was disappointing. But I remembered a comment about the tone switches needing DeOxit, so I played around with the switches and found a combination that woke the tweeter, so I at least knew it wasn't blown. I DeOxit'd the switches on Monday when I refreshed the veneer, and now all settings work fine.
I just ordered new caps from Falcon, so in about a week or two, they should be sounding as good as can be. I'm driving them now with 120W tube monoblocks, but after PMing with Jeffrey, I'm not sure that's fully unlocking their potential - I don't know how much current the tubes are capable of putting out and apparently IMF's like plenty of current. I'll try my 200W/350W SS amp at some point and see how they respond to more power.
So that's the story.
You just picked up a second set of TLS50 II's on your road trip, didn't you? All that go smoothly?
Heh, great story and thanks for filling us in. I was in Berkeley last Friday through Sunday for the wedding, actually held near the Faculty Club. We went up in our handicapped accessible Toyota Sienna minivan. Already knowing the size of the speakers allowed me to pack sufficient gear (lucky it was only a two day trip) and still have room for both speakers. Its really an ideal vehicle for hunting and hauling back speakers.
In my case, I was leaving the Berkeley-Emeryville area and heading to Palo Alto, a 43 mile trip which took about 50 minutes. Met the owner's son who was selling them for his elderly father. He stated his father was a physicist who worked in the Bay area and bought the speakers new, and tinkered with building speakers from scratch as well.
After a few minutes to clear space, we loaded the speakers into the left side rear compartment (seats angled forward) standing upright (36" tall) with about 4 inches to spare, and added blankets and bath towels to cover the cabinets and keep them from banging into each other. Once our portable cooler and soft luggage was reloaded and settled, we headed into downtown Palo Alto for lunch, and then down 101, crossed over via hwy 152 to hwy 5 all the way home to OC La Habra. Took about 7 hours after a few stops.
Here's a few pics. Oddly enough, there are some rather jagged scratches on one cabinet that almost look like graffiti and are somewhat dark stained from previous treatments I think. These scratches look peculiarly similar to another pair of TLS-50 Mk II's that were in Sunnyvale that were posted on Audiogon last August, only about 10 miles from my pickup point.
Attachments
Gravelyguy
Active Member
Great thread Guys,
I wish I could join in, but all I have are their little cousins, Fried Model R's.
Love the pictures!
Dave
I wish I could join in, but all I have are their little cousins, Fried Model R's.
Love the pictures!
Dave
captouch
Addicted Member
I've made that trip many times as I grew up in O.C. and my parents are still down there. Have lived in the Bay Area for over 20yrs now.
Those look to be in great shape.
You know, I think I'm the guy who got those Sunnyvale TLS50's last Sept. I saw them on CL after an AK'er posted a D&S heads up. The marks are cat scratches from what I can tell. I'll post pics of the scratches later today. Maybe there was a group of avant garde cats specializing in IMF speaker art!
canuckaudiog
On a quest for high fidelity
If you're ever in Edmonton you are welcome to come by for a listen. :yes:
captouch
Addicted Member
The staples were in the front baffle of the speaker, which happens to be veneered on some models - on others it's a relatively plain black painted particleboard that doesn't look great in the first place. So if you listen with the grills on, it's not visible, but your point is well taken anyway. If it was meant to be temporary, tape would have done fine.
Canuckaudiog was thinking the paper was there to guard against anything entering the front holes/vents that you probably see in some pictures. On some, they're completely open, on others there's a wide pitch screen there (I think you can see it in my last picture). I guess a rodent would be happy to camp in these IMF's - it's pretty cushy and padded in there.
As far as the pros and cons:
One of the pros would definitely have to be the deep/low effortless bass. If you were ever inclined to want a subwoofer, you wouldn't feel a need with these. But it's not boomy/flabby bass - it's deep/tight/impactful. I find the soundstage to be nice and wide, mids smooth, and both of my models are 4 ways with supertweeters, so there's no roll off on the high end either - lots of detail. The sound is just very full, complete, immersive, and engaging.
As far as cons - they're quite big being transmission line designs. They are also not very efficient, so you need a lot of power to drive them to their potential. I've read some said they're not the last word in imaging, but in the relatively short time I've had them, I haven't found this to be lacking.
wtaylorbasil
Active Member
captouch
Addicted Member
Those are all 80's?
canuckaudiog
On a quest for high fidelity
Those look like TLS 50 IIs to me, one being a slightly older set than the other. And then those are TLS 80 IIs missing stands in the back? Am I right about that?
You have quite a collection there! The TLS 50 II will always be a special speaker to me.
You have quite a collection there! The TLS 50 II will always be a special speaker to me.
Mech986, here are the scratches on the side of my cabs from the cat.
Yours look far more creative and interesting than mine. . . :yes:
I do think you're right, here's the pic from the original Audiogon ad, plus two of the drivers. One of the tweeters was different? and the mids needed the typical refoaming? Did you actually get them for under $200? :ntwrthy:
