Unknown Single / What is it ?? / HELP!!

[gyusher]

I picked this speaker up as a single a few weeks ago for use as a center channel but now after buying a new one dedicated MTM just for center I now have 1 single speaker left that I know not what to do with.

Can you guys tell anything from these pics??

12in 3 way
aprox 22-23" tall x 14Wx about 10" Deep
No markings anywhere / none on the drivers
I can tell its a pretty cheap speaker but not which one
Vinyl (cheap vinyl)
Decent grill velcro attachment

Help. . .Help Cecil. . . Help. . .

 

[gyusher]

Best guess? ? ?

 

[MOPAR3]

That cab looks a lot like some CV's I have. Definitly similar but the drivers are different,grills are different. Does the woofer have a cast aluminum basket? Can't tell in the picture. All the CV's I've seen have the cast woofers.

 

[KingBubba]

That might be one of the upper models in the Altec Series 1, maybe a model 5????

 

[gyusher]

The woofer is stamped steel about 2 steps up from as cheap as they come. Very similiar to a cheap RS replacement woofer. Crossover consists of inline caps or resisters whatever you want to call them. . .The cab does have some stuffing. . .but otherwise it is pretty low line. . .That said however it sounds very nice all things considered.

I would have continued using it as center but because of its size I had to lay it on its side under the TV. My TV is LCD so no worry about shielding but since it was right on the floor it became boomier than I might like. Too big and too heavy to put her on top so. . . either I find another one where it would do nicely in the garage or find someone who wants a single or can it because I'm out of room.

 

[bowtie427ss]

Any manufacturer codes on the drivers?

Has a styling similar to the above mentioned Altec line, but it's definitely not altec.

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Looks like some of the speakers that were used in package systems in the 70's by companies like Monteverdi (made by Sanyo as I recall). Back then appliance and furniture stores sold them on a pay-per-week basis. The Monteverdi stuff was far better than the likes of Electrophonic and Soundesign. The receivers were usually around 30 wpc and came with BSR McDonald/ADC TT's.

 

[gyusher]

Looks like some of the speakers that were used in package systems in the 70's by companies like Monteverdi (made by Sanyo as I recall). Back then appliance and furniture stores sold them on a pay-per-week basis. The Monteverdi stuff was far better than the likes of Electrophonic and Soundesign. The receivers were usually around 30 wpc and came with BSR McDonald/ADC TT's.

I think the same. . Garrard had a line too that I remember. . . This guy is cheap but not junk. . .I had a friend in the speaker buisness (Sound Source) they had their own line plus cotracted with Sharp among others and built thousands of speakers. Also cheap but not junk. . These remind me of that type of speaker. Construction is decent drivers are nothing special but in the right box with the right math do reasonably well. . .I imagine this woofer was about 12-15 bucks in the quanitys they would buy, another 6 or 8 bucks for the other 2 and a few cents for the port and misc. I would think they had around 20 bucks in this box. Retail most likely was around 100 bucks. . .

Junk like Electrophonic etc might be 8 or 10 bucks in the speaker. . .big difference. Of course you can't compare them to a 3 way 12 from a JBL or the like but there is a place for them. . .

 

[kfa888]

That looks suspiciously similar to some Pioneer / Sonic offerings. The smallest driver under the port looks EXACTLY like a pioneer one I have. My guess is low end Pioneer offering under another or no name.

k

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

They could have sourced their drivers from Pioneer. Pioneer supplied a lot of drivers to other companies back then.

 

[gyusher]

Years ago when I bought my first Kenwood receiver (about 1968- 1970) the only speakers I owned were a pair of huge oval shaped auto speakers that I used 'free-air'.

That lasted about a week until I found the precurser to white vann speakers I think. . .Some guy was selling these 3 way speakers out of his car along side the road. They had the name 'Sonic' 'by Pioneer' on their logo.

If I remember right they were 12in 3 ways with cone mids and highs very similiar to these only slightly smaller.

Those things were amazing. . .every 4th of july or at New Years eve we would crank them up to some un-godly level and disrupt the entire neihborhood. They sounded great.

My brother was so impressed with those speakers that I gave him the entire setup which he still has today in his shop at his car lot. . . The drivers have long been replaced and repaired but along with that old Kenwood (1st SS I think 14wpc I'm told) they still rattle the walls. . .

I had forgot about those until you mention it here. . .They are very similiar.

 

[gyusher]

Miracle of the ages. . . I was in this same Thrift store today looking for 'stuff' and lo and behold what did I spot? Right the mate to this speaker. . .

Turns out that they remembered me. . . seems that one of the workers hid this the best of the two after pricing them thinking no body would want a single. . . Reason they remembered me was because I bought that single ruining the guy's plan. . .Plus since I paid for both already she let me have the mate free. . .cool beans. . .

The surround on this one is intact, brittle and gone for all intents but still intact. . .Together these are not bad. . . not bad at all.

I'll refoam this guy tonight so I'll have music this weekend from this system. . .I recently bought a mint Kenwood amp (106) then today found the matching preamp (106) plus a suprisingly decent Fisher FM-9025 tuner. Also grabed a near mint PL-4 Pioneer direct drive TT today for 4 bucks, cover cracked but not scratched. This will be my wife's new system for her oldies station and the few records she has but loves. . . I spied a very decent cassette deck (Sanyo. . . but a nice one) today that I think I'll grab tomorrow for her tapes and we are in buisness.