I Counted Up ALL of The Stereo And Audio Components And Speakers I Have Owned Since 1975 PART THREE

September 11, 2019

#329

Gentle reader,

I started writing this chapter on the 18th anniversary of the day the United States endured another, "...date that will live in infamy." 

But enough sad thoughts, you are here to see and read the next chapter in my saga. The previous chapter can be seen here:I Counted Up ALL of The Stereo And Audio Components And Speakers I Have Owned Since 1975 PART TWO

There is a link at the beginning of that chapter to PART ONE.

NOTE: If you click on any photo, a second window will open OVER this one. The pictures will be larger and you can either click through them or use < and > arrow keys to look at them.

I left off there with the Lyric speakers that I restomodded, so now we get into the M's. 

I came across a pair of Radio Shack's Minimus 11 speakers. The drivers and crossovers were not up to snuff. They did try and align the driver's voice coils, however, which gave me an idea.  NOW finished: Upgrading old diecast Realistic Minimus 11 speakers Part 2.5 The earlier chapters are linked in the article. I won't go into it here, you can see the results. The first time I tried that type of ribbon tweeters. 

I have have numerous Radio Shack and RCA versions of the more compact cast aluminum speakers sold via Radio Shack, but never the wooden versions called Minimus 7W.

Working with wooden cabinets, it was easier to get the right components.

Converted my already upgraded Minimus 7 speakers to ribbon tweeters! 

Again, the earlier chapters are linked in the article. The series has been one of the most read of all. And I truly appreciate it!

Speaking of wooden speakers, I came across a pair of homemade speakers at a thrift store. The maker was in Maryland, I used to be an insurance investigator and recognized a Maryland driver's license number, which the maker had engraved into them.

Beautifully constructed of SOLID oak, no particle board or MDF. Usually not a good idea, but oak is very dense and heavy.

All Radio Shack components were used and he had ported them. Whether he used a speaker box calculator program, I do not know.

I removed everything and since I needed to block the old ports, I screwed the R/S tweeters over them. I loved their sound, but eventually sold them. They are back in Maryland.

These unusually pretty speakers were made by Onkyo, perhaps as part of an "executive" stereo. Very nice veneers and mirror image construction. Their model numbers are: D-062AX.

The woven Kevlar woofers I used in my Minimus 7W conversion came from "Cult following" Optimus PRO LX4 speakers. One of which is shown here. 

Since they are ported and have larger cabinets, they bass goes deeper, but their Linaeum ribbon tweeters do not go as high as the ones I put in the M7Ws. 

Here they are about eight feet from me now. In fact, Heidi is right there now, but facing the hall on guard duty. A stack of classic wooden speakers.

Since I was buying legendary Radio Shack speakers, I had to have a pair of the Optimus PRO LX5s which have the 360 degree ribbon tweeters.

I do not have a photo of the speakers I found in another thrift store which I believe are descended from the MACH ONE speakers. They were Optimus PRO 4000 models. 

Like many of us, when the stereo was in the living room, it had to meet spouse approval. BTW, these are the "big speakers" which she hoped I would stop using and use the BOSE 301 Series V models she bought for me. I did not. ANYWAY, the speakers had to be arranged as you see them.

Here is a naked one, 15" woofer, 6" midrange and horn tweeters. That enormous Adcom amp, a GFA-585, cost me those speakers. One day, the left channel would not play. 

I checked the amp's fuse and it was blown. The woofer's voicecoil had melted. And I was not driving them hard the previous  session. 

Research showed that some Adcom power amps are prone to do that. So I sold the amp for what I paid for the preamp, amp and power conditioner, for parts or repair. 

Since Optimus PRO 4000 speakers are so rare, I knew I could never find another woofer, so I parted them out but could not bear to part with the pretty walnut cabinets. This was my solution. The black horns were just to fill the holes. Those are the Lyric speakers shoehorned into the cabinets.

 Now we have reached a paradigm. Or speakers named as such. The tweeters were bad on the Mini Monitors above, so someone had squeezed those into them.

These are model: 5se MKII. I think the translucent woofers are cool.

I found these in their original boxes. But I was not impressed, so passed them on.

Philips sold a number of compact systems which had ribbon tweeters. I found these MCD-702 units and later sold them.

These much larger and better sounding are MCD-908 models. They have curved sides, Lexan tops (to prevent drink rings?) and are three-way units. I regret selling them.

Much more vintage are these Pioneer R500 models with their two-piece, two-color grilles. 

It was difficult to get the shiny center caps on the midrange drivers to return to something approaching their original shape. Fortunately, the dome tweeters are protected.

More modern and compact are these Pioneer S-HF21-LR speakers. They are not the legendary one that also end in "LR".

Tasteful design, nonetheless and did sound nice for their size.

Some people like POLK speakers, others hate them. The ones above with passive radiators are 5A models.

I actually found one of these Polk Monitor 4 models and used it as a center channel with the BOSE 301 speakers when I put together a 6-channel system in addition to the stereo in the listening room. Then I found this pair.

There they are in the crowded, and it had been more so, front wall of the listening room. Only the power amp of the stereo system is seen here in these 2014 photos. 

I just realized, the Polk center channel above and the same era front speakers (yes, they are designed with the tweeters on the bottom) which I bought new are not listed in my, well, list. See? Even more crowded just two months later.

I still have 18 speakers to show you and tell you about. So this is a good stopping place for PART THREE. 

Thank you once again for taking the time to read my humble blog. It truly warms my heart that people do so. Even if just for a laugh.

Scott 

September 11, 2019

#329