SimplySound
Kent Engineering & Fondry
Man, if I had the room and lived close to Florida, I'd be lining these up. Yeah they need work, but a potential $1000 head shot!!! :yes:
Sniper Alert! SOUND LAB A5 ELECTROSTATIC SPEAKERS
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SimplySound
Kent Engineering & Fondry
3 Days left and no bites yet.... I hope someone is lining these up. This is a steal waiting to happen folks!!! :yes:
So how would I go about refurbishing? Buy the damn things and then send the transformers out to SoundLab and have them troubleshoot/repair them on the bench. Get them back and install them in the panels and see if everything comes back to life. If not, then things get a bit more complicated, but the panels can be repaired.
Even if you ended up putting a couple grand into them, you are WAY ahead of what these would cost new. :yes:
So how would I go about refurbishing? Buy the damn things and then send the transformers out to SoundLab and have them troubleshoot/repair them on the bench. Get them back and install them in the panels and see if everything comes back to life. If not, then things get a bit more complicated, but the panels can be repaired.
Even if you ended up putting a couple grand into them, you are WAY ahead of what these would cost new. :yes:
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Arkay
Lunatic Member
:scratch2:... I wonder what shipping costs would be from Florida to Hong Kong?
NO! I do NOT need another pair of speakers! 
Seriously, earlier today for the first time ever my wife walked by one of my favorite audio shops with me. The shop was generally crammed with audio stuff, including a conspicuous pair of Yamaha NS-2000 speakers right beside the front entrance door. Seeing those, the only comment she made was, "Why don't you take some of those speakers you have and sell them to those guys?" (Where is that guilty-face emoticon?)
Those sure are nice electrostatics, though. If I lived in Florida, I'd be all over them, regardless of what my wife said. Get rid of something lesser and grab those, someone!
NO! I do NOT need another pair of speakers! Seriously, earlier today for the first time ever my wife walked by one of my favorite audio shops with me. The shop was generally crammed with audio stuff, including a conspicuous pair of Yamaha NS-2000 speakers right beside the front entrance door. Seeing those, the only comment she made was, "Why don't you take some of those speakers you have and sell them to those guys?" (Where is that guilty-face emoticon?)
Those sure are nice electrostatics, though. If I lived in Florida, I'd be all over them, regardless of what my wife said. Get rid of something lesser and grab those, someone!
I have yet to hear from anyone who owns a pair of these, mostly Maggie's and Martin Logans. But I have seen a few pairs for sale and the ones I saw sold for very low money compared to what they cost new, that is not usually a good sign, they don't have a cult following as some people would put it.
Silversleep
Super Member
Great speaks are always toooooo far away from the person that really wants them at the moment. Why is that?:scratch2::scratch2::scratch2::scratch2:
SimplySound
Kent Engineering & Fondry
Well E-Stat has a pair of U-1's at what $35K a pop and he loves those... and I guess I can see why there might not be too many folks sporting SoundLab when you factor in the cost. Now these are an older model than the current A-3PX's which go for what $24K. I'm thinking they might actually be A-3's with the optional "wings". If these were brought back to full reconstructed life, I'd say they are worth $5K easy.
Now I have never heard a pair of SoundLabs, but if they are A-3's, they were Gordon Holt's fav's for years and I bet they'd easily give Maggies a run for their money and I'm not sure ML's would one up them.
E-Stat? Comments? :scratch2:
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SimplySound
Kent Engineering & Fondry
Kaaapooowww... somebody took a shot... anyone here nail 'em? 
bigjimmiey
New Member
Yaaah I did. Wanted to see what they were about......long drive to get them though. Will let you know how they sound when I get back and fix them.......my guess is shorted transformer or diodes.
SimplySound
Kent Engineering & Fondry
Nice Jimmiey!!! I just had Sound Lab give me a base cost for refurbishing some A3 Plates. $400 is what Roger West quoted me. Not sure if that is per plate... Here is his email... soundlab@burgoyne.com
Good luck and let us know how you make out.
By the way, do you think these are A3's or are they really A5's. The reason I ask is I haven't seen ANY reference to an A5. If they are early A3's... you scroed!!! :thmbsp:
frommerstop
Super Member
They look like A-5s, probably from the early nineties. Their panels were 4.6" narrower than the A-3 used.
Specs for the A-5;
Radiating area = 1400 sq in
100wt min - 3000wt max @ 8ohm
Response = 34hz to ultrasonic
Aprox. Dim. = 72x28x8 (not including the Acoustic wave-delay panels)
Wt = 152lbs
MSRP in '93 was $7990 pr ...I think the side panels were about a grand extra, so about $9k back in the day.
A-3s were a little bigger (aprox. 73x35x11),went down to 32hz and were priced about a grand higher IIRC.
Those look like they were a very good deal. It's unlikely there's anything wrong with the panels - they are pretty trouble free as long as they aren't physically damaged. Most likely it's just a matter of servicing the PSs.
frommerstop
Super Member
Congratulations and welcome to AK!
I'd say very "well bought" at that price. As I mentioned in my last post, I doubt you'll find any problems with the panels and Soundlab will repair & update the boxes reasonably, so you should be up & running quickly.
If I had the room, or they had been closer, I might have jumped on those myself. I'm trying to scale down (just sold my last pr of ML CLSs - FINALLY) and buying another pr of Soundlabs would really have been a step backwards in my 12 step recovery program!
SimplySound
Kent Engineering & Fondry
So there are A5's!!! Thanks Cliff!!! :thmbsp:
