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JVC SP-97 Speakers. Any info?

alexkerhead

alexkerhead

To High For Infinity
Today I got a pair of JVC SP-97 Speakers, technics SL-222, and a Pioneer CT-F800.

I found info on all but the JVC speakers. These things are huge, and supposedly top of the line for JVC when they were made.

The treble is smooth and nice, and the bass is deep and un-boomy(if that is a word), the woofers are assisted with passive radiators. I cannot judge the mid-range as the mids are blown.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as the mid-ranges are blown and JVC's website says $75 each for them. So I need to make a decision to know if these are worth fixing.

Here are some images.
 

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bolly said:
sorry alex, no bluebook on them
Click to expand...
Thanks for checking Bolly.

Wow, these things are scarce.

I think i am going to split for the mids, I think i can get my money back out of them locally if they don't sound good, but I think they might just sound nice. They really seem like they had a lot of thought and time put into their development.
 
I have a pair of JVC SP95 which is essentially the same model less the radiator.
Same mids and tweets with single 12" woofer.
Mine have blown mids as well.


IMHO.....Nothing special.....Personally I would not spend $150 to fix them.

Just my .02
 
While the dual woofers look impressive, I've seen similar designs on cheap rack systems. Flimsy stamped basket drivers with cheap metal dustcovers. I bet the crossovers are junk. Not trying to piss on your parade but having seen Technics stuff of the same caliber, I wouldn't drop $75 for a midrange that probably cost $15 or less.

My suggestion is use these to learn about speaker design. Try and dig up driver specs for the DOA mids then dig around Parts Express for something similar and you'll have a great pair of garage speakers. Doesn't PE have message boards? You could try asking there.
 
They sound good

I have those speakers and they do have some of the best un subwoofer assisted bass i have ever heard. I run a 150w RMS amp into mine and they rock. For the midrange you will need a speaker capable of playing the 3Khz to 13Khz range. I looked at the crossovers and they are pretty lousy. But using the math that is the frequencies they run at.
 
As a followup to my last message, check out Parts Express' line of cheap midranges from either Goldwood or Pioneer. Pull the bad driver out and post a picture so we can look at it. Once we determine some of the basics (sealed back or not, impedance, etc), it shouldn't be too hard to find a generic driver that would get the job done for *far* less than JVC's price.

Just two examples of possible replacements

Pioneer 5.25" cone midrange 500-14000Hz 90dB, 50w RMS Z=8 ohm
Pioneer 4.5" cone full range 70-15000Hz 90dB 20w RMS Z=8 ohm

<obligatory disclaimer about how dropping generic drivers into any speaker design will result in an almost certain loss of performance unless the speaker is completely redesigned around said new driver (ie GordonW's Law)>

Having covered my own Irish ass with the previous statement, I suspect they were using cheap drivers in the first place so any step down from the original is likely to be minimal compared with more expensive designs.

Welcome to Audiokarma irishboym4!
 
dropping new drivers in

I agree with gonzothegreat on the you will need to redesign the speaker around the new drivers. As i have said that i own these speakers. My only complaint is the midrange is a little harsh so if the right driver could be found that is high quality and the crossovers reworked to send signals appropriately i think that it could be a even better performing speaker. One note on the replacement driver. The cabinet inside is not sectionalized so make sure the new midrange driver has isolation from the air compression within the box so that the bass excursions will not cause the midrange to distort from unnecessary excursion.

Thanks for the welcome gonzothegreat.
 
JVC's.......

Hi Alex,
If you measure the mids, both O.D., and I.D. , pm me, got a bunch of
loose drivers around here, can probably find some that will work, but
they won't be JVC.......Cheers, T:yes:
 
Use them as subwoofers

I set the speakers up as subwoofers unmodified and the perform amazingly. I would recommend building another box for them and using them for that. I used them with a computer sound card with a pair of headphones to see how well they play bass and they are shaking my house as i write this. For subwoofer use i would go for a 150w per channel amp and then will belt out some super nice bass lines. I do not normally use them in this fashion but because you have a blown midrange its a idea for you to consider. If this was a permanent setup i would build another box and put set of drivers in the corner of the room. The passive radiator or the lower 12 inch driver should be in the box and it lowers the extension of the bass on the speakers.

just something to consider.

Irishboym4
 
i have a set of these (midranges not blown) and the matching numbered amp,tuner and tape deck to go with them sad thing about it is there was four of these speakers,and i sold two of them if you notice on the front of the boxes where it bares the "AV digital performance SP-97" logo and then a JVC logo, they and both on the right side of the boxes, u have the two rights that someone sold off, this was an amazing sound system for its time and a 7-band sea graphic equalizer on the AX-R97X integrated amplifier, four of those monster speakers have a great bass sound and the nice clear crisp sound from the tweeters and mids.just pure amazing!
 
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