Transonic Mini Speakers

This Transonic speaker was an OE brand of speakers for a department store in British Columbia called Woodwards. Back in the day Sears had their OE line of stereos and so did the Bay, theirs went by the name BayCrest.

These little guys are a direct knock off of the Minimus 7 speaker by Realistic. With woofers and tweeters from Art Audio in Japan. The woofer is a 1st order cross and the tweeter is a 2nd order crossed at 3000hz.

I recapped the crossover with a polypropylene cap of the same value.These are doing duty in my office and are hooked to a Yamaha receiver. These speakers need a small room and a little bass boost. The bass is limited but the mids are great and the tweeter is nice and airy.

Sony SS-E70 complete

The Sony SS-E70 are complete. The crossover have been recapped and the speaker wire has been upgraded. The veneer on the cabinets have been fixed and extra sound dampening has been stuffed into the box. The terminals on the back have been swapped to accept banana plugs.

From what I have found on the internet is these speakers are a step down from Sony's SS-G1 using the same drivers but a different cabinet.

According to the Vintageknob The SS-G1 was given a "Best Buy" rating in the UK in 1980.

 

The SS series speakers were tuned to the European market and tastes and it really shows. Bass is full and tight while the midrange is smooth and revealing and the tweeter is just right.

These speakers are really easy to listen to and never fatiguing, in fact they sound surprising close to the Dual  CL390 that I own which are basically Braun L830's, one of the best vintage bookshelf speakers ever made.

A 1980 Sony catalogue can be found here.

These are truly a wonderful pair of speakers and they will be sticking around for a little while.

EPI 70C

Last update on these little gems, the woofers have been replaced with Dayton Classic 6.5" drivers. The capacitor was switched out with a Solen 10uf polypropylene cap. Previous upgrades include 14 gauge speaker wire and banana plug binding posts.

And of course the original EPI tweeter were swapped out with a much more aesthetically pleasing Epicure tweeter. 

These are a great little speaker that throws out an amazing sound stage.

Sony SS-E70 Speakers

I stumbled upon this intriguing pair of Sony speakers and what caught my eye was that they were made in Germany.

There is not a lot of information on these speakers but from the sources I found the SS-E70 are from Sony's mid HIFI line from the late 70's to early 80's. The Sony "E" Series was a step down from their King of the Line up SS-G Series. This series was super seeded by the APM Series.

These speakers were designed and produces in Sony's WEGA Division in Germany.

WEGA, pronounced "Vega", was founded as Wuerttembergische Radio-Gesellschaft mbh in Stuttgart, Germany in the year 1923. In 1975, it was acquired by Sony Corporation. At this point, they were known throughout Europe for stylish and high-quality stereo equipment, designed by Hartmut Esslinger amongst others.

What attracted me was the use of high quality SEAS drivers in these speakers.The 10 inch bass has a cast aluminum basket. Another cool thing about this pair is the serial number, 11 and 12.

When I picked up these speakers they were pretty dirty but all the cabinet corners are square. The vinyl veneer on one speaker is peeling away but is an easy fix. The tweeter dome was pushed in and a vacuum cleaner quickly popped it back out. The crappy spring clips are going to be replaced with 5 way binding posts and the mid range caps will be replaced with Solen electrolytic caps and the tweeters will be done with polypropylene caps. Also the speaker wire will be upgraded to 14 gauge to the woofers.

Carver SD/A-390t CD Player

Not a new pair of speakers but this unit might as well be. This is an audiophile grade CD player with vacuum tube outputs that create a very warm detailed sound.

I think it ended up in a thrift store as the variable output does not work very well but the flat output is perfect. So I can't turn it up and down with the remote, who cares for the price I paid for it.

The sound is absolutely stunning from this player.

Linear Single-Bit 5-Disc Carousel Changer with Vacuum Tube Output Section. Designed for Audiophiles who want the classic warm sound of tubes and the convenience of a carousel style changer. Full function remote control. Linear single-bit D/A converter. 3 beam laser pickup. Allows user to change up to 4 discs without interruption. Multi-disc programming plays up to 20 tracks from any of the 5 discs. 5 repeat modes. 3 random play modes. Coaxial digital output allows use of outboard converter. Fixed and variable outputs. Remote volume control. Headphone jack. 100 disc volume level memory. Carver's exclusive Soil EQ circuit to enhance tonal balance and spatial ambience of CDs.

The SD/A-390t features two 6DJ8 vacuum tubes in the final output stage - they achieve very low static and transient distortion while providing extremely high dynamic headroom.

Update: I have been listening to this player for a few hours, the bass is warm tight and low, the midrange is like silk and the the high sparkle. Everything is in its' place and the airiness abounds all around you. Everything is revealed, this player is nothing short of legendary. No wonder it still commands a huge premium used and has a cult like following.

JBL L26 Finished

The JBL L26 refresh project is complete.

These speakers turned out great, when they were first dropped off we hooked them up and had a hard time getting my thick speaker wire to attach to the original spring post. Also the L Pad pots were sounding pretty scratchy with sound coming out intermittently in one tweeter. These classics would have to wait to be properly auditioned.

After breaking down the speakers, one woofer surround needed to be reattached in one spot.

I started off with sanding the first speaker with 220 grit sandpaper and then using extra fine steal wool. This speaker had a water ring mark on it from a pot. I got most of the ring out but the ghost of it is there to stay. Once sanded the first coat of Minwax was applied.

While the one speaker was curing it was time to do the crossovers. I left the old cap in place and made up a 8.1uf out of 2 poly caps that had a +/-5% tolerance and soldered them in place. I replaced the lead wires with thicker copper replacements. Trying to get into the inductors with all that glue attached was not worth the effort. It is best to leave that sleeping dog lie. The original ALPS L pads are really good and got a thorough cleaning .

The top crossover is finished, the bottom one is original.

I added a gasket to the backside of the crossover to seal any airflow from around the L pad adjuster knob.

The left speaker has had two coats of Minwax and it was time to get started on the right speaker. This speaker had a bit of water damage to it that caused little ripples in the wood grain.

The left speaker has been sanded and is ready for Minwax.

Before reassembly I needed to install proper 5 way binding post.

Re assembled and ready to rock

In good company with other fine classics, Mission 770's and Energy 22's.

So how do they sound? Classic JBL, these are an amazing speaker for their vintage. The bass is full and warm, almost thunderous. JBL always prided their speakers on being loud and clear and these are no exception. They drove my family members out of the room listening to Van Halen's Jump at half volume.

There is a hump around the 2000hz which is clearly audible and brings the vocals forward. It has a resonance sound and it can be a bit brash on some tracks. This characteristic has been referenced on this JBL site. Below is a screen shot from Troels Gravesen site documenting the frequency response.

 

These speakers are classics in both finish and sound, I can understand the premium they command to today's vintage collector. I will miss their classic sound when they are gone, next JBL's on the list is sourcing a pair of L19's or L16's.

JBL L26 Decade

 
The Gentlemen that bought my JBL L60T speakers from me dropped off this pair of JBL L26's for a restoration job.

The woofers have been re foamed once so I will leave them as is. Who ever did the foam job attached the foam to the up side of the woofer instead of the backside. It will not affect the sound but it is more of an aesthetic thing.

There are a few restoration sites out there for these classics speakers.
The work I am going to do is recap the crossovers, add 5 way binding posts, upgrade the internal wiring and refinish the veneer.

Here is a few links to other JBL L26 restoration jobs.

http://www.audiovintage.fr/leforum/viewtopic.php?t=14443

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/JBL-L26.htm