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Thrift store Technics find (1st post)

xwhit3devilx

xwhit3devilx

New Member
Hey all, I'm new here but I wanted to share a story. I posted this already on head-fi and it got a lot of views but little discussion, and was pretty much ignored on audioholics.

I was snooping around my local thrift store as I do occasionally to look for a nice vintage amp when I stumbled across a bunch of speakers in a corner. Most were junk as you would expect; mid-70's cheap-o Japenese imports with blown/mangled cones. But one set caught my eye, lo and behold it was a set of Technics. Having owned and restored a Technics record player for years with nothing but good experiences I figured for the $40 asking price these could be decent. Then I took the grills off to get a better look. Never had I seen a speaker like this before in my life; the driver was FLAT, looked like it was made of carbon fiber and set in a brushed metal frame with large bolts holding it in. The tweeter was set in the middle of all this, bridged (litterally not the audio term) by polished metal and a covered with a metal mesh. Towards the bottom on the front was the inscription "Sb-RX50".
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I had no idea what this speaker was, but I knew one thing; it looked like it sounded good, and that it was worth something; despite a crumbling surround. (Typical I thought, easily fixed from my understanding) One speakers surround is in better shape than the other but both will need fixing, seen here
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When I got home I did some research on it and found some people were selling these things for $1600! Wow. So I asked around if anyone knew where I could get them fixed and I was pointed to Orange County Speaker repair, who said they could fix them for $95 each, plus shipping. Figure all in around a $300 job with shipping/insurance both ways. This price is fine by me knowing the unorthodox drivers of the speakers, but I'm only a college student; I don't HAVE $300 just sitting in my couch. My question to you guys is this; should I store these away safely until the day comes where I can pay to have them fixed, or try to sell them as-is. I don't know what these things are capable of, or in what regard they are held, but from listings online between $800-1600 I assume these are something special right? I don't want to regret parting these if they really are fantastic.


For reference my current setup is 2 NHT 2.3's hooked to a Kenwood Kr-V5550 with a Technics Sl-B350 turntable. (Grado green series stylus)
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Unusual speaker for sure there are good close up pictures of the driver here they are listed for 1299.00 € or $1756.00 on this site.
Technics made some unique products now and then even some rare and highly
regarded phono cartidges. Maybe we should start a thread about esoteric Technics products .
 
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Those look great :) I would hang on to them for a bit until you can get them working. I have never heard them, but I would say they may be a very nice speaker. Plus, selling them when you really can't listen to them, would net you not very much money IMHO
 
Their flat driver speakers are pretty impressive. I've heard two pairs and I was floored by their clarity. A little unrefined but that almost becomes a moot point in comparison to how good they really are.

You should refoam them.
 
I've seen these, or a similar model at least, before. Could not listen to them though. I always like fullrange and coaxial designs for some reason. :)

Hope you can get them fixed and enjoy them!

az
 
RamblinE said:
Their flat driver speakers are pretty impressive. I've heard two pairs and I was floored by their clarity. A little unrefined but that almost becomes a moot point in comparison to how good they really are.

You should refoam them.
Click to expand...

in my late teens I became interested in audio but lived in a small town and didn't have any exposure to real quality gear. I started reading magazines and thought anything from Japan was mass market and not the real thing

But one day I went into the local Record/Stereo store and they had some really nice Technics gear and it was playing.

it was about 1990 and the system was CD based and was powered by Technics separates. The power amp had meters and was somewhere in the 2k - 3k price range. The speakers were the flat driver ones, I think they were around 800-1k in price

I couldn't believe how good it sounded :thmbsp:
 
I've enjoyed a lot of Technics gear through the years.I have been using a Technics SL-D303 turntable for 35+ years now, it is built like a tank ! With an Ortofon OM30 cart/stylus. It first appeared in the mid to late '70s (SL-D303). I still have a SA-800 that sounds great (Re-Capped) it is the baby brother to the SA-1000.Back in the receiver war days between (Pioneer,Sansui,Marantz,& Technics) which Technics won BTW with the 330 Watt per channel SA-1000. I also like some of the Technics pre-amp sections, they have some Fabulous decoders in some of the nicer models ....

Hope they work out for ya !
 
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Those are very cool. I would have snagged them also but...

I'll be curious to see if you can even find surrounds for the flat woofers. One of the links above says they have a 9.5 inch woofer. If you can find that size I wonder if the foam attachment points are typical or unique.

I hope you can fix them! Let us know.

-Jim
 
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Jimesis said:
Those are very cool. I would have snagged them also but...

I'll be curious to see if you can even find surrounds for the flat woofers. One of the links above says they have a 9.5 inch woofer. If you can find that size I wonder if the foam attachment points are typical or unique.

I hope you can fix them! Let us know.

-Jim
Click to expand...

I've looked around and shot some emails out; there is no do-it-yourself parts that will match with this. None. They have to be re-foamed professionally using custom made and fitted surrounds. The surround on the outer edge starts under the black plastic edge, literally under; as in sandwiched between it an the metal. A decorative piece of metal has to be removed for proper access in this case, then the plastic carefully taken off. The inner surround is where things get hard; the woofers have passive radiators on them that start in the middle of them; not the edge. These block access to the underside of the tweeter housing, which is where the other surround is nestled. There is no way I can do this myself and most shops near me refuse to touch them. Orange County speaker repair is the only place thus far that said they can do it and have done so for others in the past.
 
Those look really neat; great score. I remember reading about the Technics "Honeycomb Disc" drivers back in the mid-80s when I was first getting into audio. I've never heard or seen a pair. I would advise you to store them in a climate-controlled place until you can save enough to have them refoamed at Orange County. Then you can listen to them and decide if they're worth keeping for yourself. If you decide then to sell them, you should be able to more than recover your investment.
 
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