Speaker identification

[spoonman74]

Found these speakers recently. They are missing the grills and have no identifying labels or marks on the exterior. They measure 26" high, 20 1/4" wide and 16 1/4" deep. 15" woofers. Midrange, tweeter adjustment and reset on a recessed panel on front. No speaker connections. The speaker wire exits from a hole in the bottom. I haven't opened them up so I don't know anything about the speakers yet. Anyone seen these before?

 

[Sammcamos]

These look homemade to me. I had a similar set of speakers, as-in four way with 15" woofers, which used entirely radio shack components. They were very nice speakers, but huge. Like yours, they had the connections on the bottom, and a phenolic ring tweeter.

Mine had nice smoked glass tops, and you could tell they were homemade by a cabinet maker or by someone of a similar profession because the fit and finish of them was better than any speaker you would ever see made in a factory setting.

 

[mfenberg]

These look homemade to me. I had a similar set of speakers, as-in four way with 15" woofers, which used entirely radio shack components. They were very nice speakers, but huge. Like yours, they had the connections on the bottom, and a phenolic ring tweeter.

Mine had nice smoked glass tops, and you could tell they were homemade by a cabinet maker or by someone of a similar profession because the fit and finish of them was better than any speaker you would ever see made in a factory setting.

I'm also thinking that these are homemade, but nicely done! The speaker layout is an odd one, too! The phenolic ring tweeter appears to be of the famous CTS design. Adding the soft-dome tweeter, also, is an odd choice. The fact that there are no speaker wire terminals, but just the wire coming out of the bottom, also tells me that these were made to serve a specific purpose. I would certainly open them up and see what's inside. Is there a decent crossover? How about any type of acoustic material? If you didn't pay too much for them, I'd certainly just hook them up and enjoy the thumping bass from those 15" woofers! Please let us know, with pictures, what's inside! Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[WillRobinson]

Probably produced by a small house brand manufacturer, here is a similar pair branded with "Cad" badges. IIRC "Cad" was an acronym for California audio design.

 

[mfenberg]

Probably produced by a small house brand manufacturer, here is a similar pair branded with "Cad" badges. IIRC "Cad" was an acronym for California audio design.

Thanks for posting those pictures, which look nearly identical to the OP's post.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Adding the soft-dome tweeter

Philips polycarbonate(hard) dome tweeters. Both, in the OP(AD 160) and post #4(AD 163) above.

 

[spoonman74]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.
I opened them up today and it looks like someones been inside and disconnected the old crossover and put in a newer one. One of the tweeters isn't even hooked up. They did leave the original external speaker connectors inside. It's filled to the brim with polyfill.

 

[spoonman74]

Here's the backs of all the speakers.
Looks like they could be a knockoff/clone of the Rectilinear III Lowboy.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Interesting, what i thought was a Philips polycarb is actually a Matsushita(Technics, Panasonic) clone. Maybe a replacement?

The phenolic ring appears to be a fresh, modern facsimile of the original CTS, etc. version, probably a replacement.

The woofer is a GEFCO, they supplied many manufacturers.

 

[GordonW]

I think whoever made these, also made the AcoustiPhase speakers. That driver complement is very similar to the drivers I've seen in some AcoustiPhase speakers.

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[Nat]

Looks like some Essex speakers I saw years ago. Essex made speakers for catalogue sales, but I read that the large lowboys were made for their executives.

 

[onehorsepony]

They were made by a short-lived company BRG out of Oregon back in the mid 70's. They didn't sound bad, but like most speakers from that era, they didn't sound good either.