Stromberg Carlson speakers

[hifiqs]

These look a bit beat-up; did Stromberg Carlson have a good reputation for speakers?

http://rochester.craigslist.org/ele/499460398.html

 

[tubino]

I think they made some desireable fullrange drivers, with red cones, but the rest is ordinary. I'm no expert though.

 

[clydeselsor]

Those aren't as bad as they seem. They were designed to go inside of a console or other wooden enclosures, similar to what Magnavox did with their styrofoam speaker enclosures.

 

[hifiqs]

Are you sure? They look like stand alone speakers. I've seen similar speakers that looked well-made and passed. In retrospect, I should have snagged them.

 

[clydeselsor]

Yeah, I had a pair of 3 ways years ago that looked just like those. The enclosure is made of particle board with a thin black cardboard outer wrap. The ones that I had sounded okay IIRC. I got mine in 1978, so they were only about 20 years old or so at the time.

 

[clydeselsor]

BTW: If you are looking for something that rivals Advent speakers or something like that, then I would pass on these. The ones that I had sounded decent I guess, but IMO they were not worth $35. The highs will likely be somewhat muted and the bass will be present, but definitely not earth shaking! Frequency response will likely be somewhere in the 60-16k range.

 

[hifiqs]

The speakers I saw were large and heavy; if not solid wood then veneer; don't recall the driver configuration though.

Thanks for the info.

 

[SixCats!]

Hi hifiqs,

Tubino is quite correct regarding the Stromberg Carlson Full range drivers.
I am very lucky indeed to own a single (seeming rare) 15" S.C. Series 400
Co-axial which indeed has a RED Cone (and Golden/Yellow) Horn Tweeter.
My Series 400 is in a circa 1955 CABINART K-3 "The Rebel" Corner Horn.
I listen to it most every day/night! LOVE it! Pretty efficent, use it mostly with a FISHER 400 Tube Receiver. I've been searching for nearly a year with no luck to find a second driver. Someday.

Regards,
SixCats!

 

[edwinh]

I had a pair that were given to me in high school by the Stereo Shop of Mass. in Newton Centre. They were huge scoop horns with front loaded red coaxial drivers. They were so big my folks made me keep them in the basement and I never really got to use them. Later, I traded the drivers in for some pro audio equipment. I don't remember what happened to the cabinets. As I recall, they didn't sound all that great.

Edwin

 

[Nat]

If they were in enclosures they likely were acoustic labyriths. They were basically damped tuned pipes, but unlike transimission lines, they were tuned to resonate with the driver, not tuned to damp driver resonance, so they didn't have even bass response. I found a moldering singleton at the dump and pulled it apart to look at it, and was suprised to find that the partition behind the driver had a whole bunch of holes drilled in it, which I assume was an attempt to smooth the response by making the line lossy.