Braun L830 Speakers

Another fine example of Deiter Rams iconic Braun L830 speakers, if you ever get a chance to audition a pair of these wonderful speakers do so. The detail and depth of sound is like the finest set of headphones on your ears.

This pair was full re capped with Solen polyester caps and new speaker terminals added.

The clarity of the mid range dome is unreal and the dome tweeter sparkles while the 10" woofer takes care of the bottom end with plenty of oomph..

Tannoy C-10 Speakers

Another set of speakers showed up this week, Canadian made Tannoy C-10, manufactured under license by API, the same makers of Energy, Mirage, Sound Dynamics, ESM, Image, DB Plus, and probably a few more.

These Tannoy's use a 10 inch woofer pair up with a Vifa dome tweeter, the crossover is a simple first cross on the woofer and a second cross to the tweeter. This pair needed a new 6.8uf Solen cap installed as no signal was getting through to the tweeter. New foam surrounds were also installed as the old set had sen their day.

This is my second pair of Canadian made Tannoy's, I had a pair of Tannoy C-6's a few years back.

I am impressed with this Tannoy offering from API, the bottom end is full and with any Vifa tweeter the upper mid range and high end is crisp and clean.

At 92db sensitivity these Tannoy's run well with a tube amp and sound right at home with the rest of my speaker collection. They are non fatiguing with a great open sound stage. the imaging, although not as precise ad the Tannoy Oxford Gold's is pretty good, API really do make good consumer orientated speakers.

Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitors finished.

The Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitors were finished this week but not without a bunch of extra delicate work.

I choose to use black foam surrounds as I like the look better than the red foam that were original.

The crossover got two new Solen caps in 3.3uf and 4,7uf value. The build quality is pretty good as there is a brace from the front baffle to the rear baffle.

I was all ready to audition these speakers through the tube amp only to find out the right tweeter was non functional. These horn tweeters with the black face are hard to come by and I did not want to buy a silver one from Ebay as they would not match.

I opted to take the horn tweeter apart and carefully remove the old voice coil. I found a donor voice coil from another pair of tweeters kicking around.

It was a very delicate operation to get the two very thin wires from the new voice coil to attach to the leads on the tweeter. Once I got them soldered I used model glue to attach the new voice coil to the diaphragm.
After several attempts I got the tweeter centered and working.

I really like these speakers when paired to the tube amp, I believe the sensitivity is north of 95db @ 1 watt so they sound nice and full when powered by the tubes.

Aesthetically I think they are gorgeous, the bottom end is full and the compression horn tweeters are spot on.

Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitor

These speakers followed me home today, Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitors. I am happy to have another pair of these wonderful speakers that match up very well with my tube amp.

I sold off my Sound Dynamics 10S a while back and kind of regretted it since. I am happy to have an updated pair of the same speakers fall back into the rotation.

Of course this pair will get re foamed with black foams instead of the orange originals as I like the look of the black foams. Also new Solen caps will be put in place along with new speaker terminals.

These 500 Concert Monitors are the later version of the 10S, they still have the 10" woofer and horn loaded tweeter, they come in a mirror image set and the cabinet is just a bit smaller.

I really look forward to listening to these speaker again.

Speakerholic Sale

I need to slim down the collection of vintage gear. Local sale in Vancouver.

Sherwood S-7200

Mint condition 32 WPC of old school goodness.

Asking $150.00: Sold

Visonik Euro 7

German made from the same lineage as Braun and A/D/S. Some of the best sounding speakers you will ever come across.

Asking $200.00 SOLD

Rotel RA-840BX

Dual power supply conservatively rated at 40WPC, English design made in Taiwan, been a powerhouse staple since I bought it new. MM and MC phono stage. Straight line design.

Asking $200.00 Sold

Merak Mk1

Canadian knock offs of the original Mission 770's. All Seas drivers, wonderful sounding loudspeaker. Very non fatiguing with an open and deep sound stage, a joy to listen too.

Asking $150.00 Sold

 Celestion Ditton 110

A wonderful sounding British loudspeaker that has been fully recapped. Incredible detail.

Asking $100.00 Sold

Sony SS-G5 Speakers

The SS-G series was Sony's King Daddy offering in the mid 70's. Absolute fantastic speaker with a build quality that is very rare to find. Very rare to find these speakers on this side of the Pacific.

Sony pulled out all the stops when building these monsters.

Asking $400.00  Sold

Myryad T-40 Integrated Amp

British designed and built integrated amplifier that does everything perfectly. Spot on mid range, deep bass control and sparkling highs. Under rated 50WPC with loads of headroom to handle 2 ohm loads.

Asking $300.00 Sold

NAD Model 30 Speakers

Similar to Braun's L1030 speakers, NAD's Model 30 uses the same high end German woofer, mid range and tweeter.

As with all German made speakers they are like having the best headphones on your ears, that is how precise the sound is. Along with the Visonik's these are a must have in any audiophiles rotation.

Asking $300.00  : Sold

If interested contact me at bankofdave@gmail.com.

Selling on Craigslist, the dark side.....

So I got a response to one of my ads on Craigslist today for my Sherwood S-7200 Receiver and the conversation went like this..

The crap you go through on Craigslist.
So I am selling a Sherwood S-7200 in this ad and here is the first response/conversation, it is a must share.
1st the ad
http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/ele/5286079521.html

FZ: Omg my offer is 20 dollars it's 52 years old u clown it's worthless it can't do anything

Me: If it is worthless then why are you offering anything

FZ: I offered 20 bucks that's it

Me: Why are you so angry to call people a clown?
Terrible way to go through life condescending others.

FZ: Because u think it's worth 400 bucks hahahahaha are on crack u know what kind of recover now I can get for 1000 bucks one that would kick the shit out yours that recover new in 1975 wasn't worth 400 bucks u really are on glue hahahahaha

Me:That made no sense at all.
Me: Stop texting and driving

FZ: Fuck u I do it all the time and I drink and drive to every week

FZ: Reciver

Me: Well that was fun... I am sure you have $1000 receivers that trounce a Sherwood amp.
I have a tube amp that I picked for $50 and at 5 watts per channel makes all my solid state stuff sound dull and now I am hooked on tube amps
Good luck on your journey down the 2 channel stereo highway

FZ: Listen son I have a lindor amp thAts 100 watts a channel by 7 that would shit kick yours my friend your amp is shit it's ww2 worth 20 bucks that's why it hasn't sold yet

Me: Hey Dad,
I tried to google Lindor and all that came up was chocolate.
Lindor amp did not get me any results either

Me: I just posted it like at 10 am this morning.
Any who.... I don't do 7 channel stuff
So you win.
By the way this convo has been fun. I am going to repost it on my blog
I am usually pretty creative but I could not make this conversation up

FZ: Sorry I meant to say luxman the iPhone spel did lindor I was driving and didn't notice it

Sony SS-G5 Speakers

Super rare to wash up on the shores of North America is a pair of Sony SS-G5 speakers. These were Sony's audiophile speaker line just below the SS-G7 at the time.

Definitely the larger brother of the wonderful Sony SS-E70 that graced this blog a few years back. Sony pulled out no stops in the build of these speakers including large Alnico 12 inch woofers and titanium tweeters.

Listening test are ongoing.....

More on this speaker over here at audio-heritage. 

Merak Mk1speaker update

So I have been listening to the Merak's on a pretty constant basis the past week and when hooked to the Creek 4040s2 amp the Merak's sound incredibly deep and full.

As with some speakers I get fatigued listening to them after an hour or so but the Merak's are as smooth as silk. They give a very deep image in where the instruments are laid out in front of you in a very 3 dimensional way and that is what I mean by depth.

The mid range is very smooth and the highs are just perfect without the brashness.

These speakers really do remind me of my Mission 770 Freedom IV's, they are just not as forward in the mid range as the Missions.

Matched with the Creek Merak Mk1's are a great find and a real pleasure to listen to and almost rival my tube amp/Tannoy combo in openness and clarity, and that is very high praise.

Merak Mk1 Speakers

Another pair of speakers showed today, the Merak Mk1 Speakers. These are a Canadian version of a Mission 770 speaker that uses Seas drivers. The 8 inch woofer looks to have been re foamed already and the cabinets are in pretty good shape.

I have only had a small audition of these speakers and so far I am impressed with what I hear. I will run these through the solid state amplifiers including the Creek 4040s2, Yamaha CR-400 and the Sherwood S-7200.

JBL L16 Decade finished

It was a bit of work but well worth the effort for this beautiful pair of JBL L16 Decade speakers.

I first hooked them up to a solid state amplifier and thought they sound good but not great, then I connected them to the tube amp and Oh My Goodness..... completely different speaker. These little speakers were meant for tube gear, not as good with the imaging as the Tannoy Oxford Gold.

The 8" JBL 116A woofer is from the same pedigree as the L26 and L100's that use a cast basket and Alnico magnet.

I could not source the proper surrounds locally so I turned to my good friend Audio Dogs Vintage Stereo in Comox for my hard to get parts, Thank you guys for the prompt and expert service.

The woofers where re foamed using a 50 hertz sine wave from my iPhone.

This is a really simple way of re foaming your drivers without cutting to dust cap off and shimming the voice coil, so far I have had a 100% success rate with this method.

The cabinets which were in excellent condition just got a light 220 grit sanding and a coat of Circa 1850 wood oil to bring out the grain richness. the small dimples in the tweeter were pulled out with a pin and re sealed with a dab of glue.

I have been really enjoying this set of JBL L16's through the tube amp, the bass is nice and deep for an8" woofer, the mid range is spot on without the fatigue I got from the JBL L26's that I have had in the past. It is a shame as the the bigger brother L26 gets more press than these speakers do.

I really like these speakers and I have a feeling they will be in the rotation for quite some time, absolutely amazing through the tube amp.....

ReVox Piccolo sub woofer & Beovox MCX-35 satellites

I spotted a ReVox Piccolo sub recently and figured it would be worth the purchase even to hook up to a pair of Realistic Minimus 7's that I have on hand. ReVox subs were made in Germany and they have the distinctive Braun, A/D/S, Canton, etc look.

Later I came across this entry level B&O Beovox offering, the Beovox MCX-35 for a price I could not refuse. These Beovox speakers are very entry level but use a Vifa D19td tweeter and a 5.25" German made woofer that you would find in most Braun A/D/S/ compact speaker systems, I figured I got a winning combination on my hands.

As a stand alone system the Beovox MCX-35's small woofer strives to hit the low notes only to break up the bass and become muddy. The ReVox sub crossover the Beovox at 150Hz which is perfect for the diminutive woofer to focus on the music above that cut off, which it does very well. Once the Beovox does not have to focus on the lower registries, these speakers can shine in the mid range and highs.

One of the speakers needed an extensive tweeter and crossover fix, my trusty solder iron did the trick along with a hot glue gun. Since I had the crossovers out I replaced the tweeter cap with a Solen metalized polyester cap (3.3uf).

This pairing of satellites and sub along with the Creek 4040s2 sounds pretty amazing. The ReVox sub needed to be off the floor by about 18" to clean up the bass. I found the bass a little boomy and muddled when on the floor. This system really works well and I am enjoying how open and clear the music is.

Creek 4040s2 with NAD Model 30 speakers.

So I have had some time to run through the speaker line up with the recently purchased Creek 4040s2 amp.

These two were meant to play together, the Creek 4040s2 has incredible detail and sound stage and the clarity of the NAD Model 30 pinpoints the music perfectly.

Due to the fact that the NAD Model 30 runs at 4 ohms it pulls 40WPC out of the Creek and fills the bottom end better than an 8 ohm speaker.

The Creek 4040s2 has been compared in many ways to the A&R A60 amp that I almost bought in the 80's but I opted for the Rotel RA840BX instead.

I spent hours running the Creek with Mission 770 Freedom IV's, the Tannoy Oxford Gold's, B&W D5's and by far the best pairing is the NAD Model 30's.

Wow!!!

Sherwood S-7200 Receiver

Along with the JBL L16 Decades that I got last night, this Sherwood S-7200 receiver was also available.
This one is in absolute mint condition with not a scratch in the wood veneer and all bulbs working. the second Sherwood that I have picked up in the past week, I recently came home with an 18WPC Sherwood S-7100A.

The Sherwood S-7200 is the middle of the line 32 watt per channel unit and from the limited time I have spent with the S-7100A I expect great things from this receiver.

From my research online, these early model Sherwood's rival the Marantz and Pioneer's of their day but flew way under the radar and still do.

 

JBL L16 Decade Speakers

Just arrived home late last night was this pair of JBL L16 Decade Speakers. The 8" version of the JBL L26 Decade Speakers that have been featured on this blog a few times, here and here.

These speakers have to be re foamed and the caps replaced. I will sand and re finish the Oak wood veneer.

I look forward to finishing this project and listening to these speakers.