Speaker id please

[kmagnuss]

Hi guys. I could've sworn I saw these exact speakers posted on here a couple days ago but I can't find them now for the life of me. Strangely enough, these popped up on the side of the road near my house today for free so I grabbed them. What model speakers are these? There's no label or anything on them that I can see.

Thanks
-Mag

 

[swechsler]

I'm not sure what they are, but I think I can list some similar speakers that they aren't (per Roger Russell's site):

EICO HFS-2
Zenith circle of sound
Harman/Kardon HK-50
H/K Citation X

 

[homebrew]

Ugly.

 

[Sammcamos]

I posted a vaguely similar speaker a while back. I'd be interested to know what's inside these. Personally, they look cool.

 

[kmagnuss]

Crazy enough, they don't sound that bad if they're on the ground and you're also sitting on the ground. But in reality they're really just more to have some background music and not obviously have speakers in a room. They're pretty quiet. They also have some sort of attentuator dial or something, but I couldn't tell a difference in the sound one way or the other. I'll post up some pics in a bit.

 

[kmagnuss]

Pics

 

[Sammcamos]

That sure looks like a lafayette tweeter control. I would bet these are japanese sourced lafayettes.

 

[Sammcamos]

Also probably worth stating that they are a copy of Harmon Kardon's HK-40.

 

[swechsler]

Also probably worth stating that they are a copy of Harmon Kardon's HK-40.

I think you mean HK-50. I mentioned them in my earlier response.

 

[Sammcamos]

Shoot that was a mistype, yes I meant the HK-50. However, I think the important thing is that I nearly guarantee that the HK-50 was the model speaker for these that Lafayette or whatever company actually made them was trying to imitate. Too bad they didn't try and do an imitation of the original HK omni speaker, which used some Lowther drivers. I'd imagine the Lafayette copy of that would be pretty killer.

 

[kmagnuss]

Here's a few more pictures. That's one heckuva capacitor.

 

[kmagnuss]

I'm thinking these are homemade... possibly from a kit.
The woofers are replacements and actually are too big for the original cutout. The tweeter, cap and dial all seem much older than the woofers.
I can't think of a use for them in my house so they'll probably be going out to the curb.

 

[bowtie427ss]

That walnut veneer would have spiked my curiosity too.

Sadly, they didn't turn out to be Tannoy Orbitus Gold.

 

[swechsler]

That cap probably definitely contains PCBs. It's safe to use as long as it's not leaking, but it needs to be disposed of properly if it's failing. You can't just toss it in the trash.

From Google:

Dykanol A is a synthetic, non-flammable insulating liquid. "Dykanol" was Cornell-Dubilier’s specific brand name for Askarel, which is a generic term for fluids where PCBs are the major ingredient (often 45% to 80% concentration).

 

[Mr Boochie]

That cap probably definitely contains PCBs. It's safe to use as long as it's not leaking, but it needs to be disposed of properly if it's failing. You can't just toss it in the trash.

From Google:

Sometimes, those old caps evaporate or sweat small amounts of the PCB fluid. You can smell the solvent around the cap. Especially, those big ones.

I have gotten rid of all my old stock.

 

[mrswakka]

I think they’re pretty cool looking myself.

 

[Lucky Pierre]

Here's a few more pictures. That's one heckuva capacitor.

That's a valuable capacitor.

 

[kmagnuss]

That's a valuable capacitor.

Funny, I saw them on eBay for around $20 and thought about selling them on there but didn't want to deal with it.