Dad's speakers.....

audiobliss

Wow!!!! I just took apart my dad's speakers to see exaclty what they've got. The grill is mounted so that it won't come off, so I've never seen the drivers. It has a tweeter, a mid, and 2 6.5" (I think) woofers.

Well, I just unscrewed the back and lifted it off (well, as much as I could; the wires don't have much slack), and I can't believe what I see!!!!! One of the woofers is indeed a woofer, but the other is a passive raidator!!! Man, I've always loved speakers with passive radiators. I don't know why, but they just seem neat to me.

What do you guys think about them? I'll post some pics of 'em.

audiobliss

I just looked at the magnets on the drivers, and the say.....Marantz!!!! I didn't know they ever made speakers? Man, does Dad actually have some nice speakers?

Here's the view of the passive radiator.

Edit: the number is: 841-1140-000

audiobliss

Woofer.....

Edit: the number is: 841-1134-00

audiobliss

the Mid....

The number is: 841-1136-000

nadams

Marantz made plenty of speakers....

http://search.ebay.com/marantz-speakers_W0QQsokeywordredirectZ1QQfromZR8

audiobliss

and, the tweeter....

The number is: 841-1138-000

audiobliss

So, what do you guys think about these speakers? Ever seen 'em or heard of 'em before?

Thanks.

audiobliss

Thanks, nadams; I'll check 'em out.

Did they make really nice speakers, or just speakers?

audiobliss

Wow!!! These are some nice speakers....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50597&item=5713440856&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

nadams

Those speakers you linked to on eBay are prolly from the early 80's. Just judging from the looks.

I have a pair of Marantz Imperial 4-G's. When I received them, the woofer surrounds were rotted out, so I threw a pair of Rockford Fosgate Punch 8" car subwoofers in and called it a day. I still have the original woofers, and would love to clean them up and put new surrounds on them. I'm gonna have to start getting good a foaming speakers, as I have 2 or 3 pair of woofers that need new surrounds.

Anyway, to answer your question, I haven't heard my speakers in stock form, so I don't know how good they are. The Punch woofers I put into them are not meant for the crossover points in the speakers and I doubt it sounds as good as it could. Also, mine are only rated for something like 60-16000hz. That's a bit of treble missing, but I'm only using them in a basement rig.....

I'll attach some pics for your viewing enjoyment.

Also, the model should be printed next to the terminals on the back. No?

nadams

They don't quite look right, do they?


Receiver that I'm using to drive them. Marantz SR225


Original woofer

audiobliss

hahahaha; funny looking speakers...

and, no; there is no model number written on the back. There is absolutley NOTHING written on the speakers ANYWHERE; only on the backs of the drivers.

Anyhoo, Dad just walked in and I exclaimed to him in excitement that he has Marantz speakers. He said, "I knew that." I'm like, "Why didn't you tell me?!?!?!" "Well, I didn't think they were anything special..."

man

scottvamp

Thier were TONS of nice 3 way speakers in the 80's. All the bass and watts you could feed'em. Cerwin Vega still makes awesome 3 ways.

George Grand

One of the first tenets of audio is.....

"Never buy a speaker from an ELECTRONICS manufacturer."

Except in extreme instances, they hardly compare sonically to speakers manufactured and offered by a dedicated SPEAKER MANUFACTURING COMPANY.

Cerwin-Vega? Big, obnoxious, and for speakers that have 15" woofers onboard, they don't really reach down far at all. Nice, fat, hump at around 55-60Hz in order to give the APPEARANCE of good low end response. To be honest, a kids speaker. Then after you're not a kid anymore, you get exposed to QUALITY loudspeakers, and see the sham of C-V, and others. The big Infinity's from the "SM" line also come to mind. The top of that line was the SM-150, 15" ported 3 way, in a cabinet so flimsily constructed you could literally rock the cabs back and forth with your pinky.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

scottvamp

Actualy I had the SM series 120 Infinity's and the sucked A$$. Plastic cabinets - drivers keep blowing out and off a bland 85 watt Yammie. Now in the day's of my PB2+ the woofers on those 3 way's don't seem to do much. Then again I was just referring to large 3 way's from the 80's (Sony - Pioneer - Fisher) not hi-end gear. Speakers I liked when I was a kid.

scottdawg

George, what is your take on the JBL L100 and the L100T series from the 80's.

audiobliss

What do you guys think about passive radiators vs. dual active drivers?

nadams

I prefer dual active drivers, PLUS a radiator

George Grand

I worked at an audio store when the JBL L100 "Century" was **** hot, and we sold them. 1974-1975. I much preferred listening to either the KLH 6, or Bozak B-302 speakers than ANY of the JBL models we carried. That would include a pair of JBL "Sovereigns" that were about 5 times bigger than a pair of 100's, and sold for around $1100/pair. The 100 price was $300/pair.

JBL's sound too "electric" for lack of a better term. Acoustic instruments don't sound like acoustic instruments coming out of a JBL. There is always a hissing or edgy sound to the top end. I'm not sure JBL ever made a good tweeter.

If all you're ever going to listen to is hard rock, the JBL speakers shortcomings will not be highlighted to an offensive extent. But the minute you switch from hard rock to classical, or jazz (not smooth jazz), or anything acoustic, the emperor has no clothes.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

scottdawg

George, accurate word "electric"
They did me good in my day, I might part them out on ebay cause their just takin up space. The SDA's and monitor 7's get all the playing time.