Vintage German Speaker Identification

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dffdff

New Member
Silent lurker here who's had nothing to contribute in ages, finally posting and it's to ask for help.

I've been trying to identify these old German speakers. The black front grills went missing and with them the metallic golden badges, which I know were there on a corner but was too young last time I saw them to remember in detail.

All I know is they came from Germany a few decades ago, they were fitted with those awful-looking aftermarket tweeters you can see on top (originally 2-way speakers), and they've not received the proper care over the years, so it's up to me now to make them decent again.

Anyway, any help figuring out at least the make would help. Cheers!

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That tweeter is a Philips 0160, not a bad tweeter but as you say, not original. The terminals cups makes me think these date to the 1980s. I'd suggest pulling the drivers and see if there are any brand markings on them. They're definitely not Canton; most Cantons had a pretty distinctive style. Could be HECO; their designs were all over the place.
 
swechsler said:
That tweeter is a Philips 0160, not a bad tweeter but as you say, not original. The terminals cups makes me think these date to the 1980s. I'd suggest pulling the drivers and see if there are any brand markings on them. They're definitely not Canton; most Cantons had a pretty distinctive style. Could be HECO; their designs were all over the place.
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Good idea, I should take some gutshots.
That's really helpful already though! It confirms some of the stuff I vaguely remember my father telling me about them, the era and the tweeters.
Heco does ring a bell too, but after a lot of looking around pretty much anything does, haha.
Thanks for your help.
 
Def not Heco or Visonik. Are these German? They dont look German in terms of styling. Any pics of the drivers?
 
Why would a german speaker have an input cup that said 'input'? And why would it be missing two of the bolts? Why are the grill post sockets halfway into the side panels? Why is there a carrying strap on the side, with holes drilled through that will alter the low end response? Though given that the Philips tweeter (which is the best thing about these speakers in my view) has simply been bolted over the cutout for the original tweeter, there are probably massive air leaks there, too.
Were they my speakers, I wouldn't waste any time on them. I'd save the tweeters and send them on their way.
 
They may have come from Germany, but I doubt that they are made in Germany. The terminals are not typical of German speakers of that time.

Most of the European brands used DIN sockets back then.

(DIN = Deutsche Industrie Norm)

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I have a pair of HECOs from the 70s and they have push-type connectors. And a 2.1 set of Cantons from the 1980s and they have some sort push/slide connector. No, not the same as the OP's, but not DIN either.
 
Alright, so @Nat doesn't like my speakers, haha.
Anyway, I'm sorry it took me so long, but I finally managed to get some gutshots.

I'm afraid I don't have a decent answer to any of the questions above.
I don't know about the cups, but the crossovers inside have the input labeled as "E", which I'd assume stands for "Eingang".
It also seems like they were actually 3-way speakers originally (at least the crossover is), so the tweeters might have been a replacement and not an addition as I initially thought.
Either way, the job doesn't look pretty, and they were probably done by the same guy who installed the carrying straps.
I know he used to do weddings and parties so he might have been used to always having handles on speakers, but I'm speculating.

Other than that, they're obviously beat-up and I've no idea why screws would be missing, but I remember them sounding really nice, which is why I want to know a bit about them and possibly rescue them to some degree.
I wish I'd kept the grills, or at least the emblems.
There was a model with a number on them and many years ago I remember googling them, confirming they were German.

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Some nice looking drivers, but looks like they may have pulled club duty at one time (rope handle). The original tweeter cutout is visible, gives a hint to the shape of it. Fun project
 
Midrange is an Audax MHD 12 P25. One of the best small midrange drivers of all time.. Unfortunately, uses a flat foam surround which is very difficult to replace (no direct replacement available). I would see if I could find an inverted-roll foam surround somewhere, of the same size...

The woofer is likely an Audax MHD 24 or PR 24.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Damn, that's specific! Now that they have a name, the foams can be found!

That's great. I probably wouldn't do the job myself, but I know someone who probably could, so all gotta do is find the foam surrounds now.

Thanks!
 
Those crossovers are better than you think, even if they do look DIY.
All film caps (:thumbsup:) (the red ones are probably Wima), no need to replace anything there. I can only see a bit of the coils but they do look like they are air-core = good.

E = Endstufe = Amplifier, so, input as you guessed.
T = Tieftöner = Woofer.
M = Mitteltöner = Midrange.
H = Hochtöner = Tweeter.

Cheers,
James
 
Bratwurst7s said:
Those crossovers are better than you think, even if they do look DIY.
All film caps :)thumbsup:) (the red ones are probably Wima), no need to replace anything there. I can only see a bit of the coils but they do look like they are air-core = good.

E = Endstufe = Amplifier, so, input as you guessed.
T = Tieftöner = Woofer.
M = Mitteltöner = Midrange.
H = Hochtöner = Tweeter.

Cheers,
James
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Awesome, thanks!
Yeah, I think they're air-core indeed, couldn't get a better shot without taking the thing apart.
I hope I can get replacement surroundings for the drivers.
 
I found the plates from the grills!
I'm not sure anyone cares, but does W. Prenk Modell 4 ring anyone's bell?

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There had been countless small and smallest Hifi manufacturers in Germany in the late 20th century. Most of them existed only for a quite short period. Think of "Bonsai" speakers.

"W. Prenk" had obviously been one of them.

A "Thanks" for my research efforts would courteously be nice.

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