Paradigm 9SE

A friend of the blog stumbled upon these Paradigm 9Se speakers by the side of the road and was stoked to drop them by and ask for my opinion and wanted to know if there was much to do to improve upon these speakers.

The vinyl veneer had seen better days but the job would be laborious considering their size.

The 9Se is the second from the top of the line with the range staring with the 3SE Mini, 3SE, 5SE, 7SE, 9SE and the 11SE. I have had 4 pairs of the 3SE, which I like very much 2 pairs of 3SE a pair of 5SE. I always found the 3SE and the 5SE a tad bit boomy in the bass.

These 9Se have a double 8 inch woofer that makes the very efficient running at 4 ohms. The bass is done right and is tight unlike the 3SE and the 5SE.

The 9SE are very airy with a wide sound stage, the mid range is upfront and full.

These are a fabulous speaker from Paradigm and worthy of seeking out if the price is right. You will need a good amp to drive them properly.

PSB 50R Speakers finished

The PSB 50R speakers have been finished for over a week and this was another very worthy project. These speakers are typical 8 inch woofer paired with a dome tweeter.

These speakers are designed by Paul Barton using Philips drivers. The cabinets are very well built with bracing behind the woofer. Apparently Paul used the NRC testing facilities to design these speakers. I remember the 50R's getting really good reviews in the early 80's

These speakers got a re foam which was tedious as the foam surrounds are unique but I found a correct pair.

The crossover 4.7uf cap was replaced with a polyester foil cap, which opened up the high end.

The sound is incredibly smooth from these speakers with tight bass smooth mid range and 3 dimensional depth. They do not give off the spaciousness or airiness of other speakers I have but they put the instruments in the right place 3 dimensionally.

I always wanted to try the 50R speakers and I am glad I have the time to audition these classics.

PSB 50R speakers, just arrived

I picked up a pair of Paul Barton's 50R speakers yesterday. These were well regarded 8" woofer and 1" dome bass reflex speakers from the mid eighties. The drivers are from Philips and the woofer's need to be refoamed.

Pictures will be up once the work is done.

EPI T/E 100 cabinets with AR4X CTS Alnico woofers and CTS Phenolic Ring tweeters

I have accumulated enough free speakers lately that I managed to create a nice hybrid system.

I am a  fan of EPI 100 speakers but never really liked the EPI T/E100 speakers. So the cabinets got swapped with 8 inch CTS Alnico woofer that were found in AR4X speakers with a pair of CTS 2T2 Phenolic Ring tweeters. I changed the crossover to a first order 8uf cap on the tweeters and the woofer just rolls off naturally as per the organ donor  they came from, EDS 1000.


I am really impressed with the sound, I tried a pair of CTS 2T8 tweeters but found their output was to brash for the 8 inch woofer and swapped back in the CTS 2T2 tweeters.

Fabulous combination.......

Update: I moved the crossover point to 3000hz by making the cap a 6.7uf instead of the 8uf value. It has helped out in the the midrange but I still believe a 5 watt 10ohm resistor still may be needed.

1974 Audio Magazine's Audio hifi handbook

Pretty cool score today at a thrift store is this 226 page complete reference guide to vintage hi fi circa 1974.

"a complete reference guide to all hi fi and stereo equipment including prices, specifications and comparisons"

This magazine is in great condition for it's vintage and full of great articles.

Energy ESM-2

I just finished this pair of Energy ESM-2 speakers today.

These speakers were a step own from Audio Products International flagship speakers the Energy 22's. They look very similar to the Energy 22's but no where near the same build quality or sound stage.

These speakers are well braced on the inside and I added a bit more dampening materiel when I put them back together.

Of course the crossover got a new polyester cap at the same value but with closer tolerance and the woofers got new surrounds. I am breaking in the speakers as I wright this post and I absolutely loving these speakers.

I had a pair of Energy ESM-3 speakers in the past and I am no fan of the Vifa D19  tweeter and found that pair fatiguing, this pair of ESM-2 speakers is outfitted with a pair of Vifa D 25 TG which are much smoother.

The ESM-2 is a nicely balanced musical loudspeaker, the sound stage is three dimensional  with great imaging. This pair of speakers is worth restoring to original or better spec if you come  across a pair in need of rehab.

Advent 5012

When I went to pick up the ADS L420's a few weeks back the seller threw in a pair of Advent 5012's for a reasonable price. They needed work though.

The Advent 5012, from what I gather are the last rendition of the large Advent and the best with the soft dome tweeter. These speakers are large, larger than the Pioneer HPM-60's and larger than the JBL L26's.

These speakers needed a re foam on the woofers, bracing on the inside cabinet, sanding and a new coat of Minwax and crossover work along with new speaker terminals.

Here is how they ended up.

So far I have really enjoyed these speakers, the 10" woofer goes as deep as the JBL L26's I just recently had but the dome tweeter just images way better.

I have read lots of stuff on the Large Advent and the consensus is this is the best out of the lot.

I did do a few tweaks tot he cabinet and installed a brace at the weakest point of the front baffle.

I tried changing the 7uF and the 32uF series cap into a single 5.6uF but found I was blowing the fuses, this aspect of the crossover still needs some work. My best option is sourcing polyester caps of the original value and going the series route.

Update: I have since returned the crossover to the original cap values in series using polyester film caps (7uf) and a Solen electrolytic cap in the 33uf value. 

This is the third pair of Advent to date, I once had a pair of Advent 2/W's and a pair of 2002 of which I swapped the EPI tweeters for.

Woofer re foam