Question on old EV speakers

[Numistrek09]

For awhile now i've liked the looks of the old EV speakers like the Georgian, Regency, Patrician and Aristocrats. But having never heard any of these before, i thought i'd see what the "ears of AK" have to say about these models. What are their strong points and weaknesses? If you could have any of these which one would it be? Any others i should have a look at as well?

All thoughts and comments/suggestions welcomed.

 

[Cadillac Kid]

I am a rookie with the E-Vs since I just found a pair of Regency in the furniture department of my local thrift yesterday. I have them in the garage hooked up to a Pioneer SX-850. I am thrilled with the punchy, dynamic sound. Mine are the standard SP15 15 inch woofer, T35 horn tweeter, 1823M mid and X8 /X36 crossover. I was doing a comparison test and they are blowing my Polk 10's away. One of them is not as clean sounding so I am going to take it apart tomorrow.

Some people think the T35 tweeter sounds harsh and the size of these speakers can be a problem, but so far I am loving them and plan on moving em into my listening room and giving them some tube power. They are fun speaker.

I will be interested in hearing what other think about them. I will post some pictures if you want.

 

[theebadone]

Compared to the speakers i have listened to, I think they have a sound all their own. I would say its a little of that, (in your face) sound, but not so much its fatiguing or overbearing. What i am hearing out of their old 15" triax speaker is, pretty decent highs, with not much bass at all. But you have to remember, this is a fifty year old speaker that has never been rebuilt. I will report back about the sound, after, I have them rebuilt.

 

[Cadillac Kid]

Are you making new crossover networks?

 

[Stephen J]

I am a rookie with the E-Vs since I just found a pair of Regency in the furniture department of my local thrift yesterday. I have them in the garage hooked up to a Pioneer SX-850. I am thrilled with the punchy, dynamic sound. Mine are the standard SP15 15 inch woofer, T35 horn tweeter, 1823M mid and X8 /X36 crossover. I was doing a comparison test and they are blowing my Polk 10's away. One of them is not as clean sounding so I am going to take it apart tomorrow.

Some people think the T35 tweeter sounds harsh and the size of these speakers can be a problem, but so far I am loving them and plan on moving em into my listening room and giving them some tube power. They are fun speaker.

I will be interested in hearing what other think about them. I will post some pictures if you want.

Yes! I would like to see pic's of those ! :yes: Nice find !

 

[willhowl]

We need pix.......

+1 on the Regency Pix............ Visual Is Good...........

Maybe a new thread?? Hmmmmmm.....??.....willhowl:yes:

 

[Cactus Bob]

I am a rookie with the E-Vs since I just found a pair of Regency in the furniture department of my local thrift yesterday.

Holy Cow!!! Congrats!!! Let's see those babies!!!


Mine sound great!! They sound better with Jazz & acoustic music than my JBL 240Ti's but different with a sound all their own, very articulate, chimey with great bass. They can really fill a room with a lot of sound. I have yet to get a tube amp with them. They also have no problem doing rock as well. But I am using JBL's for hard rock etc. They take up a ton of room though and weigh 140lbs each. If given the chance I would get them in a moments notice as long as you have the room. They do not need to be in the corners, they work perfectly on a straight wall as well I found out. Bob

Here's mine . . .

 

[Ohighway]

I am a rookie with the E-Vs since I just found a pair of Regency in the furniture department of my local thrift yesterday.

Nice! :thmbsp::thmbsp:

Did you find a matching pair, or are there differences between the two speakers? If you found a -matching- pair you are indeed lucky.

 

[Stephen J]

Nice! :thmbsp::thmbsp:

Did you find a matching pair, or are there differences between the two speakers? If you found a -matching- pair you are indeed lucky.

Damn near no such thing as a matching pair. As they were primarily sold as satellite speakers for consoles. :yes:
The vertical configuration on that mid horn is supposed to be sonically superior to the horizontal position. :scratch2:

 

[karlo]

you left out the Esquire . an sp12w, wolverine 8 subenclosed, and t35 ...about the size of an L100 .

 

[Cactus Bob]

Damn near no such thing as a matching pair. As they were primarily sold as satellite speakers for consoles. :yes:
The vertical configuration on that mid horn is supposed to be sonically superior to the horizontal position. :scratch2:

I really can't tell any difference between the sound of my 2 Regency's Vertical or Horizonal layouts after owning them for a year. There is no reason to change a thing to me.

 

[Cactus Bob]

you left out the Esquire . an sp12w, wolverine 8 subenclosed, and t35 ...about the size of an L100 .

I really believe the large cabs give the sound people would be looking for in a speaker like this. Like the Khorns compared to the rest of the Klipsch line with the possible exclusion of the LaScala.

 

[Nat]

I had a single Regency for a while -- by itself it was one of the most fun satisfying speaker set ups I've had.

 

[Stephen J]

I really can't tell any difference between the sound of my 2 Regency's Vertical or Horizonal layouts after owning them for a year. There is no reason to change a thing to me.

I wasn't suggesting you should change anything....

 

[Cactus Bob]

I wasn't suggesting you should change anything....

I know you weren't . . . I'll tear em' apart tomorrow for kicks

 

[Sir.Byrd]

If you are unhappy with the performance of the T35, replace it with the CT 125 tweeters from critesspeakers.com I HIGHLY recommend it.

 

[DaWoofer]

I am a rookie with the E-Vs since I just found a pair of Regency in the furniture department of my local thrift yesterday. I have them in the garage hooked up to a Pioneer SX-850. I am thrilled with the punchy, dynamic sound. Mine are the standard SP15 15 inch woofer, T35 horn tweeter, 1823M mid and X8 /X36 crossover. I was doing a comparison test and they are blowing my Polk 10's away. One of them is not as clean sounding so I am going to take it apart tomorrow.

Some people think the T35 tweeter sounds harsh and the size of these speakers can be a problem, but so far I am loving them and plan on moving em into my listening room and giving them some tube power. They are fun speaker.

I will be interested in hearing what other think about them. I will post some pictures if you want.

That is the same drivers as in the Sentry III's except for the T-35, which the T-350 with the baby cheek horn is used. Different? Yes. Vastly? I think they are vary similar in sound. However, they are some fine sounding components used together and I think it's that 1823 that gives the voicing that sounds so clear. Although a different horn is used with it in the Sentry.
Although the Sentry's use a vastly different crossover too. You can find it at that Telex site. You are going to fall in love with a pair of those. I have retired many speakers since finding my Sentry's. The JBL 100T's were retired to the Home Theater setup and I've never had a second thought about that move. Keep us posted!

 

[superdog]

Nice! :thmbsp::thmbsp:

Did you find a matching pair, or are there differences between the two speakers? If you found a -matching- pair you are indeed lucky.

Very lucky indeed.CactusBob may be the only one one I have read where they found a pair.

 

[ddeland]

EV Cardinals

I too am a rookie when it comes to EVs but I couldn’t help but show off a pair of Cardinals I just picked up. Interestingly enough there isn’t near as much info on these as the Georgians or the Patricians. As best as I can tell they were manufactured in the late 50’s (1958??).

They are definitely factory assembled cabinets, unlike some hand built versions. These cornerhorns come equipped with the 15WK woofer, T-35 VHF driver, 828HF coaxial driver, and the X-336 crossover. I believe that that the original Cardinal package had the T-350 driver, but these have the T-35’s installed.

The sound is hard to describe, it literally fills the room with sound in a much different way than any other speaker that I’ve ever heard.

Even though the original x-over didn’t use electrolytic caps, they’re over 50 years old and could definitely use an upgrade. Bob Crites has replicated an X-336 before and I’ll more than likely get him to make me a pair as well.

I’m getting ready to tear these down and perform a full restoration on the cabinets. My neighbor and good friend, is a master woodworker and cabinet maker, and he’s going to help me with getting these beauties back into pristine condition.

The pics show just how massive these things are.

 

[Steelman]

I finally found plans for the Marquis cabinets. I am planning to build them for a pair of LT-12 Wolverines I picked up.