SpeakerLab 7

[NH-MAN]

I picked up a free set of Super 7's (With the larger T-350 tweeter) the other day, the vinyl was stripped off the cabinets and they were covered in cobwebs but when I popped off the grills I knew what they were and loaded them in my car. I tested them out with a Realistic STA-46 and everything works, the pots are quiet and they sound great. I've heard good things about them but have never heard them, my gf had a set in the 80's and really liked them but said they were fairly big, We have K-horns and DQ-20's in the living room so she may not consider them big anymore. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet but thinking they'll end up being shop speakers. For now I think I'll just hit them with some wood filler and paint them black.

Please no paint they at least deserve some new Vinyl. Hope you enjoy them

 

[Jim Fitting]

Thanks. That shows me that what I have for boxes were not this design but the drivers I have are. The old fellow was into many things, so I have to assume he had a design in mind. I will continue to search for his papers and also the original design/instructions. I was given the entire lot for free, so I think I did okay. That includes the organ, boxes of extra components for organ, a Leslie 120. I did agree to pay $50 for 2 DBX speakers and subwoofer. I will post some pics of the boxes and components.

I picked up a free set of Super 7's (With the larger T-350 tweeter) the other day, the vinyl was stripped off the cabinets and they were covered in cobwebs but when I popped off the grills I knew what they were and loaded them in my car. I tested them out with a Realistic STA-46 and everything works, the pots are quiet and they sound great. I've heard good things about them but have never heard them, my gf had a set in the 80's and really liked them but said they were fairly big, We have K-horns and DQ-20's in the living room so she may not consider them big anymore. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet but thinking they'll end up being shop speakers. For now I think I'll just hit them with some wood filler and paint them black.

 

[Jim Fitting]

What a score! Make them pretty and they could be worth a couple thousand $. The tweeters go for $800 now if you can find them. Jim

 

[kfa888]

Get a nice tube amp...

 

[tanker 200]

I listened to the Super 7's a little more yesterday and they deserve more than black paint and thinking they may make their way into the house into a spare bedroom replacing the quad system in there now that never gets used. I think with a nice veneer and new grill cloth they'd look much better, I peeled the excess silicone off them and it really helped their looks. I have an ST-70 awaiting a rebuild that I was planning on using with the Khorns and will use my G-8700DB to power the Super 7's. I also have a pair of .1's behind the seat of my truck and a pair of 2.5's in storage.

 

[Jim Fitting]

I listened to the Super 7's a little more yesterday and they deserve more than black paint and thinking they may make their way into the house into a spare bedroom replacing the quad system in there now that never gets used. I think with a nice veneer and new grill cloth they'd look much better, I peeled the excess silicone off them and it really helped their looks. I have an ST-70 awaiting a rebuild that I was planning on using with the Khorns and will use my G-8700DB to power the Super 7's. I also have a pair of .1's behind the seat of my truck and a pair of 2.5's in storage.

I have a pair of .1's connected to a Harmon Kardon receiver on each side of my office computer desk for my PC speakers. I've had them since the early 70's. They used to be in my 425hp 66 chevy II SS before I totaled it. They sound great real close to your ears. I've had them almost 50 years.

 

[surprisinguy]

I've posted a few times on my original S7s here with some original documentation as well. Here's another recent pic in my current home theatre.

gotta love em!

 

[superdog]

These are my 7wa Speakerlabs.These really come alive with some juice.

 

[surprisinguy]

Nice! My grills still look great, had to replace them years ago (speakerlab replacements at the time) - my cabinets are actual wood, thinking walnut or oak? Not sure - that was a long time ago.

 

[superdog]

Nice! My grills still look great, had to replace them years ago (speakerlab replacements at the time) - my cabinets are actual wood, thinking walnut or oak? Not sure - that was a long time ago.

If I had to guess mine are oak.I wish the grills were black.These speakers are real brutes.100lbs each.I have not tried them with tubes but they can really come alive with clean power and sound great in doing so.

 

[Jim Fitting]

Would love the WA version ad. Thats the version I have. Man if I ever ran across some Super Sevens I'd be in heaven if I got them. I believe my search might be over! So what did a pair of the Supers go for?

I have a pair of Super 7's and they are pretty great but when I switch over to my Super K's it's a game changer. Every speaker SpeakerLab made was an exceptional value and would compair of exceed in sound quality to anything in their class range.

 

[Jim Fitting]

I was just reading where Speakerlab used a Klipsch design that the patent had expired on, but don't know more than that. What actually brings me here is a recent acquisition. I collect all sorts of musical gear, and was picking up an organ at some older folks house. While there I noticed some DBX speakers and asked about them. The person in charge of the estate said he also had some other speakers I might want. Upstairs in the garage were 4 or 5 boxes the old fella had built but not completed. In a cardboard carton, all still packed as shipped, was a speaker kit. It is written by hand on the outside ... DAS 7.5 or maybe s. I have the packing list but cannot find the assembly instructions. The kit includes port tubes, but I haven't seen any examples showing the port. The front panels that were made up do not look like any 7 examples I have found. By the way, the organ I went to get was a Schober kit theater organ with a true leslie speaker.

Pat Snider, Founder of speakerlab, told me the throat of the horn Klipsch used for the Klipschorn was more squair shaped but Pat said he "improved it by redesigning it making it more oblong". I didn't question it because after listening to both, Klipsch doesn't sound better, especially if the K Horn buyer opted for the "Super K" option with the "magnar" mid drivers and T350 tweeters as I did.

 

[bakes]

Rebuilt a set of the 7s with the leaf tweeters (also had 6" mids and 10" and 12" woofers) for my next door neighbor, whose son was about to pitch them in the rolloff when I happened to be walking by as they were preparing to move. Phenomenal sounding speakers with astonishing bass response.

 

[slater529]

I picked up a set of c. 1978 S7s this past spring. They were sold to me as 7s and on the way home with them I had buyers remorse for paying too much. But once I discovered I had actually purchased Super 7s I felt OK with the price I paid. Funny how stuff works out... Anyway, they are phenomenal speakers and I love them to pieces!

 

[Mister Pig]

When I was a kid a friend of mine used to go up to Speakerlab in Tacoma, it was on Bridgeport way. We loved looking and hearing the speakers, and of course the Super 7 were the top of the line at that time.

This year I go to Pacific Audio Fest in Seatac and Speakerlab has a room. When I visited them they had something playing that they called a Speakerlab 7. I don't know if they were a restored pair or their current product, I thought it was a current product. The sound was pretty underwhelming, and they were ugly to boot. The only room I liked less were the ones with the re-invented Altec Bolero using GPA drivers, and the Avantgarde room.

It was these, and nowhere near $6K worth of sound that I could tell.

 

[Jim Fitting]

I picked up a set of c. 1978 S7s this past spring. They were sold to me as 7s and on the way home with them I had buyers remorse for paying too much. But once I discovered I had actually purchased Super 7s I felt OK with the price I paid. Funny how stuff works out... Anyway, they are phenomenal speakers and I love them to pieces!

That would have made me a happy guy! Congratulations!!!
I'm excited! I bought a Sansui 1000A (1967-69 Tube Amp) and received it yesterday. I had one in 1972 when I was 18 and always loved it paired with JBL L100's it was my first nice stereo. 50 years later and I have one again and it still impresses me. This one has some 60 cycle hum I need to deal with and probably needs a bit of work but sounds very nice. I have many hi quality SS amps and several tube amps but something about this Model 1000A just sounds better. I paid $100 for my first one. They are getting pricey these days sometimes even for junky beat ones.

 

[Jim Fitting]

When I was a kid a friend of mine used to go up to Speakerlab in Tacoma, it was on Bridgeport way. We loved looking and hearing the speakers, and of course the Super 7 were the top of the line at that time.

This year I go to Pacific Audio Fest in Seatac and Speakerlab has a room. When I visited them they had something playing that they called a Speakerlab 7. I don't know if they were a restored pair or their current product, I thought it was a current product. The sound was pretty underwhelming, and they were ugly to boot. The only room I liked less were the ones with the re-invented Altec Bolero using GPA drivers, and the Avantgarde room.

It was these, and nowhere near $6K worth of sound that I could tell.

Paul Johnston; Owner and Chief Loudspeaker Biologist at The LoudSpeaker Store, owns the rights to "Speakerlab" and their name. The people calling themselves Speakerlab now, have nothing to do with the original company. True story. FYI

 

[slater529]

That would have made me a happy guy! Congratulations!!!
I'm excited! I bought a Sansui 1000A (1967-69 Tube Amp) and received it yesterday. I had one in 1972 when I was 18 and always loved it paired with JBL L100's it was my first nice stereo. 50 years later and I have one again and it still impresses me. This one has some 60 cycle hum I need to deal with and probably needs a bit of work but sounds very nice. I have many hi quality SS amps and several tube amps but something about this Model 1000A just sounds better. I paid $100 for my first one. They are getting pricey these days sometimes even for junky beat ones.

Pricey is right! There's one listed on Seattle CL right now for $1999! Too rich for my blood.
Your 1000A looks very nice! I have one in similar cosmetic condition on the bench right now getting refurbished. I bought mine as a basket case - OPTs had been removed by the previous owner but were included, no speaker impedance switch, missing several tubes and one of the knobs. I plan to have it completed sometime this winter. I'm looking forward to hearing it through my Super 7s!

 

[Jim Fitting]

Pricey is right! There's one listed on Seattle CL right now for $1999! Too rich for my blood.
Your 1000A looks very nice! I have one in similar cosmetic condition on the bench right now getting refurbished. I bought mine as a basket case - OPTs had been removed by the previous owner but were included, no speaker impedance switch, missing several tubes and one of the knobs. I plan to have it completed sometime this winter. I'm looking forward to hearing it through my Super 7s!

Cool! You have one too...There is a youtube video where a guy is changing the power supply from a half wave to full wave rectifier and increasing the size of the capacitors. I've read Sansui went all out when designing this amp so it seems strange to me they would have scrimped on the power supply. I'm not qualified to comment on bad design but I'm fortunate to have North West Electronics in Sequim WA. Vintage is his gig so I'll let him have a go with mine and get the signal to noise ratio as good as possible. I paid under $600 for mine and another $170 shipping on eBay. There is a guy on eBay parting one out but is charging $25 each for some knobs and such. Glad mine are all there!
P.S. I used to live in the woods near Duvall for 35 years. Moved here in 2016.

 

[Mister Pig]

Paul Johnston; Owner and Chief Loudspeaker Biologist at The LoudSpeaker Store, owns the rights to "Speakerlab" and their name. The people calling themselves Speakerlab now, have nothing to do with the original company. True story. FYI

Oh I have heard of Paul, it appears he is a good resource for speaker surround work and reconing. At least I have heard he has refurbished Speakerlab drivers for owners here in the PNW. Supposed to be a good guy.

With that said, I was not excited about what I heard in that room, hope his products perform at a higher level than what I heard that day.