Leslie Home Speakers...

[mainmansam]

I bought a set of Leslie Plus 2 home speakers model 430 at a yard sale last year. Odd fellows that they are. They have a 50 watt amp built in one and runs a seperate cord to the sattelite other speaker. Both run sound around a rotating drum. Beautiful walnut enclosures,have warrenty cards and manuals, but weigh about 125# each. Have original boxes and they are still on packaging pallets. I hooked them up to a Pioneer SX780 and after a few minutes of testing the amp went dead and not just blew a fuse. Before I employ them with my Pioneer Sx1010 or QX9900 are they really worth using or just as a speaker stands for two of my Pioneer CS99A,s? As you can tell I like old Pioneer but can't really afford to blow any more recievers up. Thanks.

 

[dirkmc3]

http://www.theatreorgans.com/hammond/faq/mystery/mystery.html


LESLIE™ Model: 430
Has 2 Power Amplifiers for a total of 100 watts standard
Speaker Arrangement is:
(1) Horn Tweeter
(1) 12" Woofer



was it a tube amp??? and you toasted something??

 

[hypertone]

Those sound like the organ speakers. Why on earth would you want sound through a rotating drum on a home stereo?

 

[mainmansam]

Thanks for the reply I do see something light up with power on but I don't think the speaker amp has tubes. I would have to remove the whole amp to see it better. Yeah I blew a fuse in my reciever replaced it and now the reciever powers up but the distintive click of a Pioneer relay isn't present. The transformer doesn't get warm. something blew

 

[fdrennen]

I have been looking for a leslie for one of the church's that I play for. How much did you pay for them at a yard sale?

 

[KingBubba]

My guess would be that you hooked up the speakers using your speaker out on the receiver. I would expect a setup like those would take a line level out using a tape out or preamp out.

 

[FredC]

Those are Musical Instrument speakers. Most typically used with organs, usually Hammonds. Unless you are connecting them to an organ that has a specific output for a Leslie, you will need a special "Leslie Pre-Amp." Some Leslies, however, were designed only to be used with a specific organ, but they can be modified. DO NOT attempt to connect these directly to a receiver (as it sounds like you already found out) or any other amp or preamp other than the LPA. If anything, the route would be: TAPE OUT > LESLIE PRE-AMP > LESLIE SPEAKER. You should be more concerned with what damage you may have done to the Leslie, since you could easily trade one 430 for a dozen SX780's.

STANDARD LESLIE PRE-AMP

http://www.captain-foldback.com/Leslie_sub/combo_preamps.htm
​

The Leslie is the magic that gives the rich organ sound on such recordings as Booker T's "Green Onions" and Deep Purple's "Hush" as well as a zillion other tunes. Keith Emerson would have no sound without one. Leslie's in any condition (especially the 100W variety) are highly sought after by keyboard players all over the world.

To find one at a garage sale is incredible. To find TWO with boxes, pallets and manuals is IMPOSSIBLE. They should bring in top-dollar should you decide to sell them. (Today's market would probably bear $1000+ each). Leslie speakers are currently manufactured by Hammond-Suzuki and start at around $2,000 for the 525 "non-rotating" slave cabinet. The rotating cabinets start at $3,895. each.

Hammond-Suzuki Leslie Model 525
MSRP: $1,995.00

Generic Leslie Diagram

Leslie Model 145​

 

[HypnoToad]

I remember going to a dances years ago and some of the bands used the Leslie boxes, they were incredible. You could see this rotating driver speed up and slow down all the time.

 

[mainmansam]

sorry I didn't get back sooner but I thought it was a dead subject. These are personal home speakers, not for an organ. They are designed to augument contempary stereo systems, using a presence and thrilling realism unobtainable with conventional equipment(Word for word from the owner's manual). Thought they would be a great addition to my quad system. I paid forty bucks for them for the original boxes and the the cabinets are pristine. Personally I think they are turds and I have a reverb on my QX-9900 that is just as Hokie for the auditorium effect. These will make good conversation pieces and great speaker stands for the retro 70's basementrec room I'm building. Thanks for the replys and I'll try to look more often at replys. This is a great website.