Speakers with questionable "upgrades"... post your findings here.
- Thread starter leesonic
- Start date
Well that’s after 20 years in an attic. The surrounds were ok...once. I have no excuse for the gluing in part other than to stop air leaks from making them a “sealed” design. I’ll rescue them tho. Will be a resto-mod.So, 1/3 no surround, 1/3 rotten surround, 1/3 woofer permanently glued to basket? Got it. Should sound at least 3/3 excellent!
chip18sw
Well-Known Member
Hey I remember those, sorta. There was a larger version of them that got a lot of notice! They were, pretty good as I recall. I did not know they made a "smaller version" of the same deal??
The larger version, as I recall, were very, very good! I would imagine a smaller version would have been a very good speaker?? But most likely .. few consumers, would have been aware of that line of "Sony" speakers??
Of course what is interesting is that people continue to use the speakers despite the disastrous effects these fixes and improvements must have on the sound. One could wail and gnash their teeth at how contemptible these uncaring listeners must be, or one could consider what this tells us about human hearing - that we are remarkably able to figure out what something originally sounded like, and focus on that despite the only fitful resemblance of the reproduced sound to the original. And it might give us pause about how much to trust our own ears - how many of us have loved some component, and then later decided it wasn't so hot (or vice versa, as in claims about electronics burning in) - is that the same adaptability in play? To some degree, everything about audio is a bit of a shell game (how did an orchestra manage to fit into your living room, anyway?), and clearly some people have an awe inspiring ability to believe they are hearing a reasonable facsimile of reality.
swechsler
Frog Whisperer
Seller says he utilized the L212 "system" (whatever that means) but I don't see any components from a 212. The only similarity is that they both have a base that's larger than the panels themselves.
As both a speaker tinkerer and a producer of live edge slabs:
Oh. My. Gawd.
Oh. My. Gawd.
mad shadows
Super Member
Gnesen
Super Member
As both a speaker tinkerer and a producer of live edge slabs:
Oh. My. Gawd.
Yep. I bet it seemed like a good idea at the time. Been there and done that with a few projects, though nothing that quite rises to this level.
I guess the 212s were mated with a subwoofer as three speaker system, so producing low bass wouldn't be critical in such a system, but that (undamped and probably highly resonant) enclosure seems significantly smaller than the admittedly thin box the original system used. So I wonder how much bass the speaker produce, and how good it is.
Roadrash
Super Member
Oh, I'm sure we've all done that. I had some experience with two pairs of Cerwin Vegas recently. The pair of U-321s came to me looking exactly like this, with "Splash" brand car subwoofers installed. After sourcing the correct woofers that needed refoaming, I tried selling the Splash subs. But even at my job, where there are young guys wanting to boom their cars out, I had no takers. I eventually just sold the CV woofers on again, put the Splash subs back in, and sold them.
These AT-12s, I bought them in a right old state. Two blown tweeters, woofers needing refoaming, the cabinets had been used in a garage or paint booth, and were covered with overspray. I contemplated doing a resto-mod job like @lokerola did in his VS-120 build. But the cost of two new tweeters, plus refoaming the woofers, I knew I would never get my money back, plus I have a bunch of other speaker projects. So I sold the CV woofers, put in some Fisher woofers that I saved from another pair of speakers that someone was trashing, and fitted some GRS horn tweeters that I bought from Parts Express for a buck or two.
But here's the important difference. Neither pair I sold stating that they were "upgraded", and in my Craiglist listing, I stated that the woofers (and tweeters for the AT-12s) were not the originals. They still sounded fine, and would be ideal for a garage, or outside at parties. I think I sold them both for $20 a pair.
Lee.
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I think it's legit when you haven't done anything irreversible to the speaker (someone could still get those back to original), AND you're not claiming it as upgrades. You kept em out of the landfill for another tour of duty. Well done.
teal'c
Nuclear Cardiac Parent
As a CV fan, you're killing me here.
Click the pic for the article.
This could have been interesting. Ever hear of Fordite?
Click the pic for the article.
If you were in MI I'd've guessed you got them from my brother.
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Audi0
Super Member
Well at least they didn't replace the midrange.
You could say they tied to colour match with the woofer and tweeter surround colour. Took me forever to get it off in a way not to damage the thin paper cone. They plugged it solid with like an inch or more of silicon with a nice even hand smoothed finished.
You could say they tied to colour match with the woofer and tweeter surround colour. Took me forever to get it off in a way not to damage the thin paper cone. They plugged it solid with like an inch or more of silicon with a nice even hand smoothed finished.
Nightwisher
Farer In The Goldilocks Zone
Another bad "refoam" job. Well they won't have to worry about over-excursion at least 
My eyes, my eyes!
