Zenith Allegro 3000 vs Zenith Allegro MC-3000

[donetodeath]

I have an option to buy the latter (Zenith Allegro mc 3000). And i was curious what the difference between the two models are. I've found lots of information about the original allegro 3000 with the weird grills and corner horns. General consensus seemed to be, good drivers, terrible cabinets.

Theres a second type of allegro 3000 pictured, i believe it's a mc-3000. It has a different tweeter arrangement, different cabinets, and a knob on the front center under the grill. Does this use the same type of drivers as the original 3000? Are the cabinets any better? Did they get rid of the horn tweeter? Any information would be appreciated.

Here's the original allegro 3000 (i think?)

Heres one of the few pics i can find of the other version

 

[jlovda]

Being on this board for a number of years, the impression I "perceive" is that 98% of the stuff made by mid-fi TV mfg (Zenith, Admiral, Magnavox, etc.) in not worthy of the hi-fi rating although I have not heard one. Good luck.

 

[SleeperSupra]

I'd pass.

 

[Guest158]

I had the original models in your last picture but never heard the others.Not bad speakers,better than some newer Cerwin Vega,Infinity,Polk models that I have owned.HiFi?Whats that?

 

[cnh2]

I barely remember what these sound like. All I recall is that they had exaggerated bass that we "youngsters" thought was "cool" back then.

I do know that both models have the horn tweeters. Not sure what other differences there are. I'm pretty sure the specs are similar (horn tweeter and 10" woofer)...something like 40hz-15,000hz or the like. Not particularly hi-fidelity. You might be better off buying an old pair of Realistic Optimus 1Bs or Nova 7bs instead (also from around that era).

Or some Cerwin Vega horns...as they also produce a lot of "bottom" end. Again, not that accurate, though.

cnh2

 

[AFP1]

allegro

I have played around with these speakers quite a bit and the drivers are not junk. The woofers, sourced from a few different manufacturers over the years, are efficient, well built, and sound good. The woofers I had were made by Rola as I recall. The tweeters, made by foster/fostex were indeed horn loaded phenolic domes and similar to/same as the tweetes found in Cerwin Vegas and other speakers of that era. I would not pay a lot for these speakers, but they are listenable as is and are an experimenters paradise. There is a gentleman, DavidLD, over at the Audio Asylum who spent a lot of time and effort working with these drivers. Do a search there, it will be enlightening. Andrew.

 

[ricohman]

I had a pair of the mc3000's in my garage. My buddy like them and bought them for what I paid. Which was $15.

 

[cnh2]

AFP1, good info/advice there. Yes, those tweeters are made by foster/fostex and decent for horns. Didn't know about the woofers. Only remember the sound. Also, not enough damping materials in the cabs--if I remember internal shots well enough.

cnh2

 

[MAXZ28]

My dad still has his Zenith stereo he bought in the mid 70's with the Allegro 3000's in the basement. I grew up listening to music on that system until I bought my first stereo in 1987. That picture brings back memories. :thmbsp:

 

[DRMcD]

General consensus seemed to be, good drivers, terrible cabinets.

All I recall is that they had exaggerated bass that we "youngsters" thought was "cool" back then.

I can vouch for these statements - I grew up with a pair of the square port 3000s and The Wedge. My old man worked for Zenith in the late 40s-early 50s, so everything in the house (down to clock radios) was Zenith until he passed. Except the Curtis-Mathes console they got for a housewarming gift.

Super Bonus Mid Fi/TV Fun Fact: the Allegro badges in the square ports were spring loaded, for indexing in the horizontal position :thmbsp:

They survived all the Journey my sister cranked. Her thing was Escape.

Mine was Infinity.

Guess which sounded better!

 

[AAA3330]

My dad still has his Zenith stereo he bought in the mid 70's with the Allegro 3000's in the basement. I grew up listening to music on that system until I bought my first stereo in 1987. That picture brings back memories. :thmbsp:

Me too and about the same timing. I'm not sure how the drivers compare. My dad had a component system with the Allegro 3000's with the removeable covers. Definitely not junk. He had the MC-7050 receiver, MC-9070 cassette deck, and a Garrard record changer with the Zenith name on it. It was actually a pretty decent setup.

 

[Mazlem]

I've found lots of information about the original allegro 3000 with the weird grills and corner horns. General consensus seemed to be, good drivers, terrible cabinets.

Here's some pics of the original 3000's. I got that same consensus and decided to tear mine apart and build new cabinets for them at some point (still haven't gotten to that).

 

[backmd]

Zenith Allegro 3000

Definitely not junk. Similar dimensions to the original large advent, similar sound, and surprisingly similar weight.

 

[backmd]

Definitely not junk. Similar dimensions to the original large advent, similar sound, and surprisingly similar weight.

Zenith Allegro 3000
Width Height Depth Cubic inches
14 23 9 2898

 

[Nat]

There is an allegro that is Advent sized, and surprisingly decent, but the ones shown aren't it. The ones with that grill were much smaller -- and you could remove the drivers from the front of the Advent sized ones, so the poster wouldn't have had to saw his way in to get at them.

 

[gkwolfman]

I know this thread is old, but I just had to chime in on these Zenith Allegros. Not sure of my model (which I got for free). But, I decided to take one apart,
seeing how I have screws on the back of cabs. Other than the bass, these don't sound too bad.

 

[NH-MAN]

My best friends family growing up had an Allegro system (It was a very big all in one unit) I want to say it had some slanted face attributes to it (It didn't look cheap) It always surprised me how well it could rock the house and sound good doing it. He even plugged his electric guitar into it and never hurt it.

Like this but nicer.

 

[gkwolfman]

I just found out that the allegro speakers I have are the 1000's, and with the numbers on the speaker(drivers)are est. 1974.
The speaker label is not mine, but, it would be the one that were on the back side of my cabs.

 

[ultumax]

How did old brands like Zenith with flagship TVs and audio lines just vanish ??
Did they get bought up by bigger brands and dismantled? Or did satellite speakers kill them off .

 

[ultumax]

Look like good speakers maybe lacking in bass. Try with old records or something