A 12mm Experiment

Gentle Reader,

I have a 12mm Sigma very wide angle lens in "T" mount. Largest aperture is f8. It stops down to f16. I have been thinking of mounting it on my M39mount Bessa R 35mm rangefinder camera, shown below with a Soviet 35mm lens:
Then mounting it on a sturdy tripod, vertically, and moving it at 30 degree increments taking a shot each time. Since it is a rangefinder and thus has no mirror to slap up and down, plus being mounted on said tripod, a flash will not be needed. That, plus I have some Kodak Max 800 speed film.

I tested fitted the lens on my Nikon N90S film SLR. Very wide view, of course. Then on my Nikon D70S digital SLR. The view is equal to 18mm on a 35mm film camera. NOTE: The "18mm" on a standard 18-55mm lens for a digital SLR is equal to 27mm to 82.5mm on a film camera.

So, the view with this 12mm lens is a true 18mm field of view. I was trying to get the camera to fire with a flash, it would not do so. Experimenting, I tried sans-flash with various shutter speeds and found 1/4 second doable. Below, see the results, hand-held at 1/4 second shooting in a rough circle.
Now, imagine if you will, these pictures with 25% more visible on each side, with the walls and ceiling showing even more curvature. That is what this lens shows on 35mm film.

I'm hoping, but haven't checked yet, that my version of Photoshop Elements has a stitching program so that I can create a 360 degree image.

Thanks for looking!

Scott

Update on the Collections

Gentle Reader,

I want to thank you for following my blog. I know I don't update it often. Much to do with my time................

I came across a picture I made long ago of Nancy's Beanie Babys collection. It is from the late 1990's. I'm sure we have more now. 99% of them are located in vacuum sealed bags under the stairs. Been there since we bought this place in 2001..........Here:
This was in the dining room in the townhouse we rented all those years. Taken with a film camera, or perhaps the first 1.3 megapixel Fuji digital camera Nancy bought me.

I had once again shrunk the camera collection. Every time I looked at the collection while sitting here, I thought, "Why do I have so many cameras? I'm not going to use them. Time to pass some on to other collectors."

So, here is the cabinet as the collection sits today:
Here is what is on the shelves, starting with the Nikon N90s 35mm film SLR and Pentax Auto 110 110 film SLR with flash and wider:
Next is the last 110 rangefinder camera from what was an extensive collection; the Kodak Trimlite 48 with a Kodak film box on top. Next to it is Nancy's Mom's Minolta 16 camera and film box. Both cameras use 16mm film. Kodak added a paper back and changed the sprocket holes to make 110 film:
Finally on the right side of the top shelf is the collection of ceramic "Boyd's Bears" most of which are camera related. Nancy bought them all for me:
On the next shelf down, we have the Voigtlander Vitessa that our dear friend, Jim, gave me when I announced sometime in the late 1990's that I was going to collect cameras.
He carried it all over Korea when he was there during the "police action" in the 1950's.
Next to that is a Walz Envoy. A particularly shapely camera I found in an antiques mall:
The Vitessa has "barn doors" that pop open when the shutter button is pressed. The doors open and the lens pops out. Great picture taker.

Next is the Kurubiashi Petri Automate. Another shapely model with a fast f1.9 lens.
To the right of it and to the left of the camera below is the same King Regula IIId. It was made in Germany. The one on the right below is the Yashica J that Nancy's Dad used for many years. It doesn't work now.

Funnily, the very first camera I bought at a church bazaar was also a Yashica J. Julio, (Nancy's Dad) showed me how to tell it was in focus. My first exposure to what became the focus of my camera collection: Rangefinders. Next shelf holds one of the million plus made Argus C3 "brick" camera. Mine is a very early pre-WWII model. On top sits the optional selenium light meter. Next to it is a modern (for the time) interpretation of a rangefinder camera: Olympus XA with removable A16 flash. The door on the middle slides to the side to reveal the lens and light meter.
Below is a photo of the beautiful Leica IIIC that I covered in red sea-snake skin. Below it is a Japanese Aires 35 IIIC. A blatant visual copy of the Leica M3. Hidden behind that rubber folded lens shade on the left below is the most sophisticated 110 film camera made. Like the Pentax Auto 110 shown above, it is an SLR. Unlike the Pentax, it has a non-removable zoom lens with macro capabilities. It's name? Minolta Zoom 110 SLR Mark 2: Mark 2 (II) because they'd beaten Pentax to the punch by bringing out the world's first 110 film SLR. It was ugly. They'd grafted a prism and smaller zoom lens to a standard 110 flat camera. It worked and sold well, but.........The Mark II looks like a small 35mm SLR and feels great in the hands. A great picture taker.

To the right (above) is one of my most precious cameras because it was a surprise gift from my brother, Jim. Also German, it's a Rollei 35. The most compact full-frame 35mm camera. Very sharp photos it makes.

Here's a better picture of the Minolta Mark II, sans lens cap and below it a better picture of the Pentax Auto 110 without all the added parts:
Back to the current collections as on the shelves. The bottom shelf of cameras starts with a camera I've had before, then sold, then realized it had a nice lens that I could use on my Voigtlander Bessa R which is truly a modern 35mm rangefinder camera. The Zorki 4K. So, I bought this one for a song because it doesn't work. The lens this one has on it is from an older FED camera. The all-black Jupiter-8 lens (not shown) is a Soviet copy of a Zeiss Sonnar lens. It matches the all-black Bessa R. Next to it is the Zorki 3M. One of the nicest Zorkis. It is what the Leica could have been but wasn't until the M3 came out.
The Aires you've already seen, so that leaves the last two. Re-badged camera sold by Sears and Wards.
The one on the left, sold by Wards was made by Konica. The Sears model on the right was made by Ricoh. It is a spring-motor drive model. The knob on the bottom right is wound and will move the film with each shot.

Below that shelf, in the center is a 1/18th scale 1963 Ford Falcon. Nancy's first car was
a '63 Falcon, only hers was a four door and a beater. To the point of this blog though is that on the left of the car is:
Believe it or not, the one on the left is a REAL camera. It is of the "Hit" variety of cheap Japanese "spy" cameras of the 1950's and '60's. The next one is a pencil sharpener and the one on the right is ceramic and made by Boyds like the bears above. To the right of the Falcon is:
The two on the left are clock/cameras with small watch movements in them. The all black one was a cigarette lighter. The last one is just a tiny toy camera.
Below is the rest of the cameras that are on display. They sit on what was once the middle shelf but is now the top shelf of the almost eight foot tall shelf.

They are: Vrebbit all-paper pin-hole camera I made from a kit Nancy bought me. Hardest part was making the bellows. Next from the left is a real gem, a pre-WWII Rolleiflex Automat. It uses 120 roll film which is still widely used. It's a TLR, or Twin-Lens-Reflex camera. Next is a folding Kodak camera and box Kodak camera. Both given to me by my sister, Rebecca. Next is one of Nancy's Dad's movie cameras. It shoots 8mm film. Somewhere in the attic is his 16mm movie camera. Speaking of Julio, the last on the right is a post-WWII Busch Pressman camera. It shoots 4x5" sheet film.

He sent it to me as a gift from Puerto Rico. It blew me away once I figured out how to open it. Box just came in the mail. No note. I'd never messed with a "Press" camera before and it was in pieces in the box. On top amongst the newspaper was the reflector, front side down. Then the folded body. A large black metal box. Last was the flash battery holder.
Interestingly, that is the basis for Luke Skywalker's light saber. No kidding.

I'd called Nancy at work and told her a box had arrived from her Dad addressed to me. "Open it." She said. I talked through each thing as I pulled it out. It wasn't until I pressed the body release button on the top front and the front opened and I saw "Linhof". Was I surprised? You bet!

Now, below is the cabinet as it currently is arranged:

Compare it to the photo at the very bottom of the page to see how many cameras now reside in other collections around the world.

Thanks for looking!

Scott

A Fisher and 78 RPM record albums join the family.

Gentle Reader,

I came across a record album at Salvation Army. First of all, let me tell the history of why music discs are referred to as "albums".

Because the rotating speed of 78 RPM was chosen by record companies and electronics companies, for a specific reason related to a common motor's rotating speed, songs and music had to be not much more than two minutes long to fit on one side. In the early years, ten inches was the diameter of records.

If one liked and could afford to buy lots of records, they needed someplace to keep them safe as they were/are fragile. Someone, I know not who, came up with the idea of creating books with record sleeves instead of pages to keep ten to twelve records in.
The result looked like a photo album of the time and thus were dubbed "record
albums".

The name stuck to this day. Making a CD is still called "cutting and album". CDs are often referred to as being "pressed". Even though no pressing or cutting of grooves is involved like in the making a vinyl record. Yes the CD discs are flat, but no music is cut into them. Ones and zeros are burned into the pits of the aluminum sheet sandwiched in between two clear plastic discs. MANY, MANY ones and zeros.

At one of my favorite thrift stores I came across a record album of Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra playing Brahms' Symphony #1.

What was odd to me was that the records are 12 inches not 10 inches like I thought all 78s are. No where was "long playing" or LP on the labels. So, out of curiosity, I bought them. Research proved they are 78s. So now, how to play them.............

"I know," I thought, "I'll buy an old turntable that plays 78s on eBay." So, the search began. While we have a "retro" stereo in the living room that has a record player that will run 78 RPM, it has an LP/45 RPM stylus which is way to narrow for the wide 78 grooves.

Note, when LP (long playing) records came about it was because they'd figured out a way to cut "microgrooves" and make records "unbreakable". Singles which is what all 78s are except ones that are made of some long music like the Brahms above, were then made on 7 inch records with a 1 inch hole in them at that spin at 45 RPM.

LPs were made in 10 and 12 inches in the beginning depending on the record label. Eventually 12 inches won out like VHS did over Betamax. For those younger readers,
like Blu-Ray won out over HD-DVD.

The cheapest record player that I found was to my surprise a Fisher console. AND it was located a few miles from me. Starting price was $10. So, I bid on it and won.

The owner is a retired gentleman that is even more obsessed with stereo and HiFi than I am. The difference is he has more money than I do to buy stuff and he is into TUBE
equipment. Which I would love to be. He has the largest collection of a Belgian companie's equipment in the world. He bought the Fisher with the intent to use it but never did. The original owner that bought it new in 1967 sold it to him. It was quite expensive when new.

It is officially called the "FISHER METROPOLITAN" and has the "Modern" cabinet which was made in Canada of black walnut solids and veneers. The Fisher receiver is stereo and is not tube but early "solid state" i.e., transistors. The turntable that came with it is a DUAL (made-in-Germany) 1014 four speed changer. That means it will rotate at 16, 33 1/3rd, 45 and 78 RPM. 16 was used for books on record. The speakers are 12 inch woofers, six inch squawkers, and 3 inch cone tweeters. The only part of the cabinet that is "particle board" in the speaker cabinets as it should be. Solid wood resonates at certain frequencies. The Fisher Console Website

So, getting my youngest, Daniel to help me, we went over on a Saturday to pick it up.
QUITE heavy it is.

Brought it home to the family room. It sits where the radio collection originally sat in the family room downstairs. I put on side one of the Brahms and it played fine. Put on side two and at first is was OK. The all of a sudden it was not making music but scratching the record! WTF?

Something failed in the 43-year-old record player as it was jerking back and forth. Vintage mechanical record changers are incredibly complex mechanisms. There was no way I could fix it. So, back to eBay.............Duals were going for a lot of money.

I found and bought another German turntable an Elac Miracord H50 which was a very expensive player and considered "professional". I got it for just over $23.

In the mean time waiting for it to arrive I'd replaced the 43 year old cheap RCA interconnecting cables from the record player to the receiver with much better modern ones. Also, I replaced the cheap, thin, old speaker wires with the twisted pair ones that bring music in here from the living room. Plus I added some fiberglass to the speaker cabinets. All in the interest of improving the sound.

Once the H50 arrived, I made a template from the base it came on and hand cut the new shape to fit this larger player. ONE small problem. Being wider, there is NO room for the rear of the tone arm, with the big counterweight on it, to swing to the right as the records play! ARGGHH!

I sadly cut a rectangular hole in the side of the cabinet to allow it to move. I hated to do it, but it was needed. I was not giving up!

So, I put a record on and hit start.......Nothing! It played separately from the cabinet!
Under I went and poked around. Now it's running but only 45 RPM!!!!! Out it came, off came the platter. I played with the controls and got it going at 78. Whew!

Back in it went. Now it won't work on auto! No problem, since this is truly "old school" stuff, I can play it manually. Now it won't shut off!!!!!!

Back on eBay, I saw another one that had a rocker switch on the front. AH! I can put
a switch on mine too. Which I did. A toggle switch mounted on a bracket screwed to the back of the cabinet. Now I can turn the beast on and off.

All this because I wanted to play this one Symphony at 78 RPM!

Well, naturally, now I wanted more 78s. Saw a bunch when we went down to Old Town in Fredericksburg. Too expensive at $3.00 each. A week or so later at Salvation Army, I found SIX albums. All with 12 records in them. Proper 10 inch ones. I went through all of them picking out seventeen then had to whittle it down to 12: One album. I was delighted to find is my favorite song (i.e., music with singing) from the era: "Jingle, Jangle, Jingle" by Kay Kyser and his Orchestra. Long story as to why I like it. Some other time. Sadly, it had been in a juke box and was worn out. I've got a pristine one coming from an eBay seller.

Here's what's in the ALBUM:
Jingle, Jangle, Jingle Kay Kyser and his Orchestra
He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings ditto
On A Slow Boat To China ditto
In The Market Place of Old Monterey ditto
What are You Doing New Year's Eve? ditto
On The Old Spanish Trail ditto
Ole Buttermilk Sky ditto
On The Wrong Side of You ditto
The Old Lamp Lighter ditto
Huggin' and Chalkin' ditto
Close as Pages in a Book Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me ditto Oh! What it Seemed to Be Frank Sinatra with orchestra
Day By Day ditto
Just For Now ditto
Everybody Loves Somebody ditto
But None Like You ditto*
We Just Couldn't Say Good-Bye ditto
I'd Be lost Without You Frankie Carle and His Orchestra
Cynthia's In Love ditto
My Promise to You ditto
Tell Me A Story ditto
I'll Be There Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra
Kate ditto

All the records EXCEPT the last one are on Columbia with a red label. The Dorsey record is on RCA Victor with a black label. All are in amazing condition. I wanted "Big Band" music. I love the stuff. Even though it was from decades before I was born. Reincarnation?

The album itself, the best of the bunch was made by FREEMAN RADIO & ELECTRIC CO., INC. 1225 Main St. Springfield, Massachusetts and is H. R. S. Special Album Design D. Printed in the U.S.A. Just thought I'd throw that in.

At the top of the page is "The Fisher" as it sits now in the family room. Below it is open but off:
You can see the two albums in the built-in pocket on the left. Also, you can see the small window I had to cut to clear the tone arm and weight.

Below is the two albums closed:
And now, they are open and below that with a record of 12 inches and 10 inches.
Below is the 12" Toscannini open and below that is the 10" regular album. Note the lists of records that once were housed in it.

Below, at last, is side one of the Brahms playing. YAY! It sounds great.
WHOA! What is that? It is the modern version of "The Fisher". It too is a Fisher. It has all that one would want: CD player, AM/FM Stereo tuner, Aux. inputs for MP3 player or cassette if so inclined.
I found it, still sealed, at the same Salvation Army. Being it was Wednesday, which is 25% off day, it was $22.50. New. It is capable of being wall mounted like a flat screen TV and the speakers detach as well and can be wall mounted. A wall is a bad place for speakers to live. The ONLY thing is doesn't have is a HD radio tuner or satellite tuner.
Can't have it all for less than $25!

It sits next to me, here in the office. Thing is, I hardly listen to the living room system via the speakers in here anymore.

Thanks for looking!

Scott

A FEW FINAL changes. NOW I'm truly done!

Gentle Reader,

I've made a few, final changes to the stereo. I'd experimented with the speakers being toed in so that they pointed directly at me.

After a while, listening, I decided to try them facing forward. This occurred after buying (via eBay, of course) a set of really nice, heavy black chrome speaker spikes. The speaker's bases were pre-drilled for spikes, but had none. The hole required for these was EXACTLY the size in the bases. So installing them was a snap. Here they are on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Set-8-New-Dark-Silver-Black-Chrome-Speaker-Spikes-/160543206330?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25611eebba

I very carefully measured and placed the speakers exactly 22" from the side and back walls. The combination of spikes and square placement has nicely improved the sound, especially the soundstage. I can close my eyes and point to the individual instruments.
The music sounds like it's coming from behind the speakers.

Which when you think about it makes sense. The microphones were in front of the musicians, therefore the sound's image should appear behind the speakers, being they are the opposite and end-user of the music.

As you can see in the photo at the top of the page, compared to the last photo posted of the speakers, that I have wired the subwoofer. I bought Monster Cable THX certified subwoofer cable and two "Y" cables. That way, both left and right channel's bass will be reproduced. Since the Power amp and RCA interconnects as well as the speaker wiring is all THX certified, it makes sense to have the sub supplied by THX cable as well.

With the bass response of these A/D/S/ speakers, the sub is not really needed. Only something with cannons, like the Telarc SACD or LP of the 1812 Overture does the
sub really add to the experience. In fact, sitting in the listening chair with my legs on the ottoman, when the cannons fire, the back wave from the sub actually blows up my pants legs!

The other changes were to the power cord for the Denon SACD/CD player. It is equipped with an IEC power cord inlet. Like the kind on the back of your computer's power supply. There is a huge market for replacement "audiophile" cords/cables. I admit that I have subscribed to this way of thinking. As you may recall all the Liberty RCA cables I installed on the stereo and home theater.

I'd replaced all the power cords with Belden 19364 cable and heavy duty three-way hospital grade plugs. I'd gotten a nice Audio Research brand C7 type power cord for a great price, even though it was WAY too long.

The Denon SACD/CD player is newest component and since the prices for in-the-USA
IEC plugs is ridiculous, I finally bought one via eBay from China. It arrived today, so I connected it to the Belden cable and power plug. Hooked it all up.

You can see the A/R blue power cord coiled in the lower left and snaking up to the Pioneer CD recorder. The Belden cable is kind of hard to see, well all the thick round black ones are Belden, but the newest one coils around the other two that are climbing upward.

Lastly, you can see in the top-of-the-page photo, that I installed the red cryrogenically treated hospital grade AC receptacle in the wall. I feel that the main cable from the AC surge suppressor and power cables from the two Adcom ACE-515 power conditioners do not require the Belden cable.

Why? Because all the components, save the turntable, have Belden cables that plug into the ACE-515s. Since they condition and clean the AC power for the actual components, the Belden cables are right where they should be.


Google Belden 19364 cable and see what they have to say about it. Here's a HOW-TO:
http://www.audiotweaks.com/diy/bobcrump_pc/page01.htm

So, you may be thinking, "Why didn't he put Belden 19364 on the turntable?" Because the power cord for the turntable is for the motor. There is no reason to shield the power for a motor that has no physical function in the audio stream other than to maintain 33 1/3rd RPM speed.

So that's it. Aside from possibly replacing the Denon CD changer (DCM-290) with a DCM-390 which decodes HDCDs, I can not think of a thing that needs doing with the stereo.

Thanks for looking and reading!

Scott

Baby's got new shoes!

Gentle Reader,

Hello. It's been a while since I've made a posting to the blog. Things have been happening, naturally.

Since buying the '91 Capri XR2, I've wanted to replace the nasty original alloy wheels with something nicer.

I've restarted on the simplification of my live, visa ve, my possessions. So, I went through the cameras and picked out the few that I really wanted to keep and started selling the rest on eBay.

They've been selling well, so the first expense was the new wheels and tires. I got them via Tirerack.com.

The wheels are 15x6.5" verses the stock 14x5.5". They are Sport Tuning T6:
http://www.tirerack.com/upgrade_garage/BigPic.jsp?wheelMake=Sport+Tuning&wheelModel=T6&wheelFinish=Machined+w%2FBlack+Accent
The tires are General Exclaim UHP (Ultra High Performance):
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic.jsp?sidewall=Blackwall&tireMake=General&tireModel=Exclaim+UHP
They are the same tires I put on the Audi TT quattro. Only smaller to fit this car.
I've been a Tirerack.com customer for years. Saves a lot of money.
The tires arrived the NEXT day after ordering, ready to bolt on. GREAT!If you look at the photos of the original wheels:
http://therobbcollections.blogspot.com/2010/10/tt-is-gone-and-austrailian-ford-takes.html
you'll have to agree how much better, newer even the car looks. The old tires were about worn out too. The increase in grip and handling is terrific!

That's it for now. Thanks for looking!

OK, NOW I'm REALLY done. I swear!

Gentle reader,

OK, so I know I've said a few times that I was done with the stereo. But this time, I'm finally satisfied! I'm really, truly DONE!

Obtaining the A/D/S/ speakers was the first step on the final approach to audio nirvana.
See that blog: http://therobbcollections.blogspot.com/2011/01/amazing-speaker-find.html

The next step was acquiring (again) a Dynaco QD-1 Series II via eBay for only $27.00. It's actually a QD-1 Series II L. Other than having a much nicer front panel, I don't know what makes it a "L". See the one I got rid of a while back on:
http://therobbcollections.blogspot.com/2010/11/too-many-speakers.html

Now, take a look at what the room looked like with the big DCM speakers:
Now, take a look what it looks line now with the A/D/S/ speakers AND the Pioneer stack gone. Note, no more dangling wires. Here's where I moved the speaker switch to and added the Dynaco surround sound device: They are on top of the Denon DCM-290 CD changer. Here's the whole stereo in its FINAL state: That yellow box contains a Cryogenically treated hospital-grade power outlet. I'd bought one from an eBay seller that specializes in treating these things by slowly dipping them in liquid nitrogen then slowly removing them. Supposedly the treatment makes the copper molecules work better. Hey, he gave me two when I bought one, because he felt it took too long for him to mail them.

Finally, here are the two Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 speakers wired as the surround speakers behind my listening chair.
Between them is an antique pole lamp I fixed up and behind them is the gaming chair and driving "platform" awaiting my next digital racing session on the PS-2.

The cool thing about how I wired this whole thing is that the BOSE 301 speakers are the fronts with the Wharfedale Diamond 7.1 speakers being the rear. They are on position #2 on the speaker switch. Speaker switch #1 is the A/D/S/ speakers in stereo only.

For an explanation of how the Dynaco QD-1 works, go to:
http://kantack.com/surround/surround4.html

It works great! The rear sounds are out of phase from the front, and quieter. They give the sense of reflected music off the back wall of a concert hall. If I really want to crank it, I have all six speakers going.

I have a THX certified sub-woofer cable coming for when I want a little extra "bottom" with the music via the big sub-woofer in front there. The Dynaco has provisions for a center speaker, but that is for movies, and it is switched off on the device.

So there you have it, or rather, I have it. The ultimate (for me) listening room. Nancy's happy because my speaker and equipment buying is at an end. In fact I've sold most of the speakers already. The rest is going on eBay Sunday the 16th of January.

Thanks for looking!

Scott

An Amazing speaker find!

Gentle reader,

Yesterday Nancy and I set off to the mall to buy a "Go Diego, Go!" backpack for grandson #3. She was driving and I asked if we could stop at the local pawn shop on the way back.

I'd seen some PSB Alpha speakers there last year, and hoped if they were still there, they would have dropped the price by now.

They were gone but they had a number of very nice speakers. They had the smaller versions of the DCM KX-12s: KX-6, KX-10 and the KX-C center channel. With some of those, I could had a kick-ass surround sound set-up, for sure. But I am getting RID
of speakers, not getting more.

THEN I spied these nice black towers, made by Analog & Digital Systems, A/D/S/ for short. They have pierced metal grilles held on, strangely, by small black square drive screws. I borrowed a tool from the sales woman and got the grilles off to look at the drivers.

Two 5 1/2" woofers with a 1" dome tweeter between them. I felt around the back and to my delight felt four big, heavy duty binding posts. Why four? So one can by-wire them.
In other words, since high frequencies, require a fraction of the power that low frequencies do, one can have say a 50 watt amp for the tweeters and a 200 watt one for the woofers. That means four wires per speaker.

THEN I tried to pick one up. HOLY MONKEYS! These things are heavy! That was another clue these were high dollar speakers.

They'd priced them at $129 each. Then dropped it to $129 for the pair. We struggled to carry them over to their speaker testing station and she hooked them up.

WOW! What crystal clear sound! I was blown away. "So," I said to her, "you have these marked $129. Can you do better?" "How does $90 sound?" "Sold."

Were had Nancy's Scion TC with the car seat in the back for aforementioned grandson.
They proved to wide to fit sideways in the hatch, and with the car seat, we couldn't drop the seat backs. We ended up stacking them on the car seat sideways. They JUST fit there, resting against the back of the front seats.

I haven't weighed these, but they are more than fifty pounds. Here's some pics:
Above is with one of the metal grilles off. I'd taken them off, as I prefer to listen that way, but Anthony walked in and immediately started to poke the center of one of the woofers. So, to save them and my sanity, I put the grilles back on.
Here's a rather over-exposed shot of the back terminals. If you click on it, it opens full sized and you can read the label.
Here they are "in situ". I've brought the powered 12" sub back in from the living room surround sound and put the passive woofer there. I was testing the latter and the DCM KX-12s and BOSE 301s with test CDs to see, rather hear how low they go. The DCMs have a resonant vibration at 63Hz. Other things in the room vibrated at different frequencies. Not a good situation, but I can't afford to set it up as a real listening room, with treatments and such.

So, my research in my Orion Blue Book for Audio revealed that these A/D/S/ MV-30T speakers were made in 1996 and retailed for $1200. WOW! Definitely the most expensive (when new) speakers I've ever had. Not the most expensive component, I think that big Yamaha receiver that retailed for $1600 was.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, a couple photos from outside:
Cool sky, huh?
Found this fellow, or female on the recycling can lid. Cool Praying Mantis, huh?

Thanks for looking and reading!

Scott