Zenith Allegros: Guts and All

[avguytx]

I had a pair of the big Allegro's back when I was a kid along with that Zenith all in one system with the TT, cassette and 8-track. It was pretty darn good and expensive for it's time frame. I think my grandfather shelled out about $400 for it or so. I can't remember exactly but it sure served it's purpose till I discovered separates a year or 2 later. I may have to keep my eyes open for a pair of these speakers!

 

[Nat]

Zenith made a Large Advent sized Allegro (3000?) which had (if I recall) a 10 inch woofer and a horn tweeter with the groovy front mounted level adjustment. Prior to picking a pair of them up at the dump, I had disdained Allegros (despite Consumer Reports' enthusiasm for them (they have a very mixed record on evaluating audio equipment, but generally they are trying, and they certainly deserve credit for daring to mix it up with the Bose 'libel suit if you don't give us a good review' machine)). I suspect my disdain had to do with the wretched turntables that were always at the front end of systems with the small Allegros in them, rather than the fundamental qualities of the Allegros, but in those systems, they did sound like crap. But these larger ones with good sources and amplification were really quite nice.
One of the great things about the interest in old equipment that AK (and other groups) foster is the reevaluation of older equipment once its placed in a different context than it was usually found when current. Often there are good qualities unsuspected back then.

 

[willhowl]

Allegros- A Real Sleeper?

I have a "fuzzy memory" about these Zenith Allegros. I just can't remember clearly, it's really bugging me!

It seems to go something like this- Somebody gave me, or loaned to me a pair of these things, and I used them for a while as my only system. I feel sure it was a hodgepodge system, a puny receiver (or amp), and a cassette deck(?)

The thing is, they sounded good! They were laid-back,sure- but they were alright. The main thing I remember was a mental note to myself- Keep An Eye Out For Allegros! I, too, am watching now( rejuvenated). I have seen these from time to time. Now that I know what's in them, I will look out for bargain pairs!

I seem to recall thinking that these couldn't possibly sound good- but they did! Nat's comments(above) apply strongly here.

Old time brand snobbery for sure...........willhowl:scratch2:

 

[dat521gatherer]

nice score. i had some allegro's once and i loved them. i was a teen and threw a pencil across my room and it stuck right in the woofer:screwy: i ended up selling them to my sister-in-law for $50. they were cool even though they were vinyl. i recovered the grills. they were the 2000 model i believe but dont know if they were mc-2000 or not. i miss those and would get another pair if the chance arises. here's the only pic i have.

oh yeah they fuqing rocked!! tight bass.

 

[ivel]

I think the 3 way Allegro was called a 4000 or 4500.

 

[fsjonsey]

You have no idea how many sets of these I passed up thinking they were the zenith equivalent of thrusters. I may have to buy the next set I see.

 

[Kernel86]

There are two classes of the Allegro speakers, the just plain Allegro speakers and the late '70s MC series. I have pictures and spec sheets for the MC-500, MC-1500, MC-2500, MC-3000 and MC-4000 if anyone is interested. Strangely MC isn't marked on the badge of those later models. :

dat521gatherer: I can confirm that the speakers in the picture aren't Allegro 2000's or MC-2000's, at least the '70s and early '80s models. They resemble the MC-4000 but the driver configuration is wrong, dunno anything beyond that.

 

[Nat]

I'm all in favor of reconsidering baby, but lets not get too wound up -- unless you must have lots of speakers, I wouldn't stay up late worrying about missing out on Allegros. They were not as bad as snobs thought they were, but they also were not miracle speakers -- they were pretty decent inexpensive speakers from a large corporation which was not going to spend a lot of money and time to wring the last little bit of realism out of them. A nice surprise if you find them cheap (which is easy to do), but no holy grail.

 

[sealy]

I'm all in favor of reconsidering baby, but lets not get too wound up -- unless you must have lots of speakers, I wouldn't stay up late worrying about missing out on Allegros. They were not as bad as snobs thought they were, but they also were not miracle speakers -- they were pretty decent inexpensive speakers from a large corporation which was not going to spend a lot of money and time to wring the last little bit of realism out of them. A nice surprise if you find them cheap (which is easy to do), but no holy grail.

Agree completely. But consider the following analogy. A car collector might have a bunch of rare and expensive cars in his collection, but, darned if one day he doesn't come upon a spotless Nash Metropolitan. He loves the look of it and the sound the little motor makes as it goes down the road. So he happily adds it to his collection. Every once in a while, when the sun shines, he putt-putts out of his garage in his little Nash and travels into the countryside. Of course it'll only do 60, and of course there is only room for two, but within it's limitations, it is still a great little car.

 

[JohnVF]

I picked up a pair of Allegro 3000 last year at a thrift for $25. I no longer have them. Well, I have the drivers and crossover, but the cabinets were awful. Mine were white with blue grills (part of a white and blue all-in-one system that looked really space age). I've seen non white and blue 3000s that seemed to have better cabinets. Mine literally were screwed together and smaller than they needed to be (they sounded really congested). I have to say that they were nothing special. They sounded foggy...everything was really muddy. I eventually took the drivers and crossover out and put them as is into empty Infinity SM-100 cabinets, as everything fit. These were good drivers, and this sounded better than either the original 3000 or the SM-100 (which was pretty bad to begin with).

I wouldn't buy another pair, and wouldn't feel too bad about missing them. But if you're like me and want to try any speaker you can get your hands on, go for it. It was at least $25 worth of fun....
j

 

[sealy]

Here are the revamped and repaired Allegros. I cannot believe anyone would subject speakers to such abuse. One box was literally falling apart, and had to be completely reglued. The other was nearly the same. I cut all the baffle framing away, as it was beyond help and beveled the baffle edges for better dispersion. I rewired the interior with 14 gauge wire and added some horns crossed over at 4000 hz to augment the highs. Fibreglass mesh was used for the new grilles. The mock wood wrapping was sanded away, and the speakers given 4 coats of black paint.

I put on Pink Floyd's "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", and sat back. The speakers were transformed. Much better than I had hoped. The clarity was startling with just a touch of brightness. Voices were superbly reproduced, and bass was surprisingly good. The overall sound was a step above the already good sound the original speakers possessed. Clearly there was a synergy with the new horns that was not previously there.

I'm not sure what these new horns are, but they are pretty special.

 

[sealy]

I stumbled on pair of Zenith Allegro 2000's at a thrift store, and these were in pristine condition. Nary a pull or tear in the grills even. I didn't test them before bringing them home for the princely sum of $6.72 after taxes!

As expected they sounded just fine. The horn tweeter is identical to the larger 3000, the woofer 8 in. instead of the 3000's 10 in. With the exception of the bass extension, the sound is identical. A nice touch is a front brilliance control switch which the 3000's don't have. The 2000's are about 1 in. shorter, and have 1 in. less depth than the 3000's. It is nice to have a pair of Allegros that are 100 % original, cheesy grills and all.

The second photo shows the 2000's next to my newly refoamed Mach II woofers.
The last photo is of what is probably my most cherished piece of vinyl, a Mobile Fidelity Labs half-speed master of Abbey Road.

 

[Tinyelvis]

Here is a set I picked up today for $20 bones. Seem in working order. The vinyl veneer is crappy, but meh*

---Forgive n00bness comment ahead---
Is that the original Cap? Easy to replace?
I just wished they had the "normal" hookup (binding post)? I'm sure there is a way to fix that, right.....?

TinyE

 

[KentTeffeteller]

Hi,

The tweeters on this system are Foster (Fostex) and Japanese. The woofers are made by Rola/Celestion. Very excellent performers these drivers are. The Zenith Allegro was a very fine sounding system for a compact system. The amplifier system in these was very powerful for compacts. My brother owns one to this day. His is still in working order.

 

[AltecDarpa]

well, add me to the group that had second thoughts about grabbing a pair of these, I've seen several sizes of them in the goodwills around here, I'm gona make sure there in my sights from now on when I'm out.

 

[happo13]

I picked up a pair of Zenith Allegro 2500's awhile ago. They ended up being surprisingly decent speakers. Funny thing, mine sounded to my ears to have a weak bass response, while I've read a bit about the Allegro speaker line and many say they have a good bass response. Anyways, nice speakers, interesting random find.

 

[snifty]

I hope someone has already wrote this, so forgive me if I step-on-toes. The Allegro has two versions of woofers. The extra lucky ones will find 10 inch Alnico woofers made by Rola. Cloth surrounds much like Jensen. Some Allegros have the huge Ceramic magnet. The 1000, and 2000, will have ceramic magnets. I have picked up pairs and pairs of these great sounding speakers, and transfered the Alnico woofers into Frazier models with 10 inch woofers

 

[sealy]

My 3000's have the 2 piece, rather large ceramic magnets. I haven't busted open the 2000's, and probably won't because they are in such superb original condition. I enjoy the sound of both pairs. I think the bass is pretty good, not in the Advent class, but pretty good. The mids and highs are very good, considering the simplicity of the design. Sometimes simpler is better.

 

[Tube Radio]

I have the drivers from a pair of Zenith Allegro speakers. My tweeters look like the ones posted here except they do not have Foster on them. Also the 8 inch woofers have Zenith on the round magnet. Are those any good?

 

[sealy]

Yes they are. Large magnet size + light, stiff paper cone = good woofer.