Magnavox 9302-00 EL84 tube amplifier

Another win on Ebay is this top of the line Magnavox 9302-00 push/pull EL84 tube amplifier. This unit will run around 15WPC when completed. These were units pulled from console stereo units from the mid 60's. This unit will get all the capacitors and resistors replaced along with a whole new tube set.

There is lots of support for this amplifier over on AudioKarma discussion boards with David Gillespie leading the forum.

This is my third vintage console push/pull EL84 amplifier with the first being the Electrohome Lorainne 40.

And this RCA RS-177J push/pull EL84 tube amp. 

Although this is a speaker blog, I have enjoyed working and learning about tube amplifiers. Tubes are my preferred way to enjoy the music and these older tube amps are easy to work on since they are point to point wiring and really basic in their layout. Schematics are easy to find as are the parts.

Advent/1 Speakers

A recent trip to Vancouver yielded this pair of Advent/1 speakers from a local thrift store. I have had many Advents Speakers come my way including the Advent 5012, the New Large Advent, the Smaller Advent, the Baby Advent, the Advent 2002 and a pair of Advent 2W that were in my possession before the birth of this blog. Needless to say I have been a big fan of Advents along with EPI speakers as both are well designed 2 way acoustic suspension speakers.


This pair is a later version with the metal woofer basket but still with the fried egg tweeter. New foam surrounds were needed after 40 years. The cabinets are real wood veneer and I would rate them a 7 out of 10 at this point. These definitely needed some serious dust cleaning at this point.

 I really like  this set of Advent/1 speakers and they remind me of the New Large Advent I had but the cabinet is not as nice and the bass extension is close but not as deep as the New Large Advents, the rest of the speaker has the same acoustic signature as its' big brother.

I am currently running these off my Electrohome Push/Pull tube amp and I am really pleased with the detail of the sound plus the warm deep bass that these are known for. Although I am a big open baffle fan I will keep this pair of speakers around for a bit, these are easily my favorite 2 way 10 inch speaker that I have come across. Just to note that the EPI 100 are my favorite 2 way 8 inch speaker.

There is plenty of opinions on how these speakers won accolades in the 1970's as one of the best speakers for the money. I would tend to agree that these are great speakers and I am pleased as punch to come across a pair, Way to go Henry Kloss.

Speakerlab Super 7 and a Push Pull Tube Amp

This has been the cause of the lack of postings for the past month.

Audio nirvana has hit with the combination of the Speakerlab Super 7's and the push pull tube amp.

It has evoked a minimum of 2 hours an evening of listening with a few solid 12-14 hour days of non stop music thrown in.

At this point in the journey, not to much can touch this combo.

Speakerlab Model 3

Another summer project that I finally got around to getting most of the work done is this pair of Speakerlab Model 3 circa 1975.

These units needed the woofers re foamed and the mids need to be done which I will do next.

Speakerlab was a California Seattle company that most have not heard of. the sold kits that you could build or have units built for you.

They still have a site up where you can peruse their catalogues of yesteryear.

 
This pair of Model 3's feature Peerless mid range and tweeters, I would also assume that this would be a 12'" Peerless woofer.

The cabinets are a beautiful walnut veneer that I will look into re finishing when the weather gets nicer. Although there is a tiny separation in the mid range surround I have found that it has not affected the sound at all. This will be fixed in short order

Very similar in size and bass as the Altec Model 9's this pair is a bit more refined with the same efficiency that pairs well with the tube amp. I had these speakers at the same time as the Altec's so it was an easy decision to let the Altec speakers go to the same person that bought the Cerwin Vegas.

I have been running this pair of speakers with the Magnavox Push/Pull tube amp and the sound is pure liquid gold to my ears. Extremely full bass, lush, lush mids and sparkling highs. The sound stage is deep and wide.

This pair of Speakerlabs are going to be around in the listening room for some time.