Found ONE unique CD rack and.....

Gentle reader,

Thanks once again for taking the time to read and view my humble blog. It's nice to know that so many people are interested in my obsess, er hobbies.

Below, you can see the speaker "field" as it is right now. Right-click on this link below, to see "before" in a new tab or window:  

The Robb Collections: New Polk speakers, JBL subwoofer and wiring tweaks

Then come right back!

See the difference? The light wood racks are gone, the speaker stands that for so long displayed two of the vintage-looking radios, now hold the Acutex speakers atop the two subwoofers. 

BTW, these Acutex speakers are currently for sale (10-20-2014) on ebay:

Super RARE Acutex Speakers Model Mts 3 Restored and Improved Get Them Now | eBay

Plus, the scene is less cluttered. Once some lucky soul buys the Acutex speakers, I'll have space to try out other small speakers that I may happen upon.

Below, is that new unique rack that is mentioned in the title of this blog episode. Cool, huh? 

Each section of the new rack holds 13 CDs. I was able to move the SACDs, HDCDs, classic rock/pop, more modern rock/pop, Herb Alpert, and more all to this rack and have room to spare.

 

I also found and bought two Japanese paintings found by someone in Osaka, Japan in 1985. 

Kind of hard to see the scenes due to the reflections. Had to take down three of the Battlestar Galactica posters to make room. Now where to put those posters.....

The radios on the outsides had sat upon the two speaker stands on both sides of this tall LP shelf. Since I don't use any of them, due to the floor radio (featured in a previous post) working so well and sounding so good. The one on the right I sometimes take with me outside or to the workroom in the basement for music while I work on the car or some project.

Above are the now empty racks. The tall one held the SACDs, HDCDs, test CDs and comedy CDs. The two light wooden ones held the Beethoven's 9th symphonies and all the CDs that have the red/yellow case labels from various labels. The hybrid wood/plastic one held Copland CDs.

All are being donated unless you want some.

Above, you can see the wire rack below the Classical CDs that once held rock/pop CDs now hold the Beethoven's 9th symphonies, Copland CDs all the CDs that have the red/yellow case labels from various labels. They started out Pro Arte and changed names several times. Mostly Classical, some other formats. Also, note the large Dragon no longer sits upon the left Sub, but now guards the Classical CDs. 

I have more stories and photos for future blogs featuring other hobbies.

Thanks for looking,

Scott

Some rare vintage speakers....that I never heard of, PART TWO

Gentle reader,

I completed my restoration of the Acutex speakers. I made some minor improvements as well.

As you can see above and in the two photos immediately below, that I reversed one of the "4CM Acutex Dome Carbonized Reflexer" and tweeter panels so that the speakers are mirror images. There is belief that doing so improves the "Sound stage". I chose not to try and repair the broken tweeter protector cage below. I would not be able to do so and match the original.

I also chose not to touch up the chipped black paint on the front panels. Again, I felt that matching the original paint would be difficult to do.

Other things that I DID do are, I rubberized the woofer's foam surrounds, but only on the back side. I wanted to preserve the originality of these uber-rare speakers, yet tweak the sound. I replaced factory fiberglass inside with polyfil which is said to perform better. 

As you can see, I removed the cheap plastic spring terminals with 3/4" spaced 3-way terminals that accept banana plugs, spade lugs or bare wires, larger of the latter that the spring terminals would accept.

Just check out the glow and shine of the happily Tung oiled black walnut veneer and solid pieces in the following photos!

These are the bottoms which of course were the worst. The wood sucked up the Tung oil "and there was much rejoicing". Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Compare these photos to the original condition on The Robb Collections: Some rare vintage speakers....that I never heard of.

Thanks for looking,

Scott  

Some rare vintage speakers....that I never heard of.

Gentle reader,

Thanks once again for taking the time to look at my humble blog. Your comments are so kind and so make it worth the effort.

I found a nice pair of compact bookshelf speakers at the Salvation Army last Wednesday. First electronics in quite a while that caught my eye.

They are Acutex MTS/3 models. Made from 1979 to 1984 and they were the top of the Acutex line retailing for $300 which is almost $1000 in today's dollars.

Very good shape for their age and they work fine. Almost no info Acutex speakers on the Internet.

Above, you are seeing the bottom of one on the left. Ideally, when buying speakers with real wood veneer, walnut (my favorite!) in this case, one hopes for somewhat matching grain. No such luck, but for the price.....can't complain.

It looks like they are 3-way speakers, but in fact, the larger domed unit is "4CM Acutex Dome Carbonized Reflexer" What it does is act like a tiny passive radiator. The crossover point is a very high 5000 Hertz which is asking a lot of any woofer, even a 6 1/2" one. Also, note the tweeter protector is partially missing on the left unit. I'll have to see what I can do about that.

Above and below are the stickers that were applied up to 35 years ago. Serial numbers have faded away. Nice that they explained the characteristics of their speaker. I like, "We believe you will find its (sic) overall musical performance as convincing as that of any loudspeaker regardless of price, size, or design." Modest, weren't they. Easy to tell a Japanese with ESL skills wrote the document. Still, their English is WAY better than my ANY foreign language skill!

The holes in the factory spring terminals are too small for banana plugs or the size of the speaker wires that I use. I plan to replace them with three-way banana jacks.

While I cannot comment as to whether they sound better than any speakers made in the late '70's to mid 80's, they do sound very nice. I plan to restore them and perhaps make tiny improvements.

I just can't help it! I'm that way about many things. A perfectionist? Hardly, a neat-freak? Perhaps, but I have made parts of my environment a mess from time to time. But I digress. I'll update you with the finished product. I already bought new Tung oil! 

Thanks for looking,

Scott

JBL Subwoofer and rewired with Monsters, again!

Gentle reader,

WOW! Over 45,000 page views! I SO appreciate you're taking the time to read about my obsessions, I mean collections! "Yeah, that's the ticket!" Quote from the liar on Saturday Night Live a L-O-N-G time ago.

First off, I found another subwoofer at Salvation Army. Got it at a great price. Reviews are mixed for these JBL Venue Series subs. Based on what I read, the fact that this one still works indicates that it is a survivor. It replaces the Klipsch which was also a "Sally" find. 

Both have ten in woofers. I don't recall the Klipsch's specs, but one reviewer stated the JBL sounds much better than the Klipsch ten-incher. 

I like the fact that it is front-firing verses bottom firing of the other four subs in the house. It has that metal grille which brings some brightness to the mostly black components in the living room.

Below, shows each unit's reflex port. The JBL's is appears larger, but it may be that the flare is wider than the Klipsch's. JBL's port fires down, Klipsch's fires to the rear.

JBL's amplifier is rated at 150 watts with peak capability of 300 watts with a low of 27 Hertz.

Neither has speaker level outputs which makes me wonder why they have a crossover adjustment knob. JBL has a separate LFE RCA input which eliminates having to use a "Y" cable if your receiver only has a single RCA output as our Yamaha does.

JBL's woofer is more stylish looking since it is on display. Convex center cap verses Klipsch's concave. Both have rubber surrounds which make for longer life. No decaying of foam surround.

Now that that is out of the way. I was able to get some more used Monster Cable M Series speaker cables. They feature fine multi-strand wires for high frequencies and thicker single strands for lower frequencies. I attempted to make them bi-wired by separating them, but it was very difficult to get them into the speaker pants, so I nixed that idea.

Above is the fait acompli. I'm not sure if that Latin spelling is correct. Can't tell the difference? Neither can my wife. I KNOW it's there. 

Above is the older less modern Monster Cables on the left entering the bigger 12" subwoofer with the new M Series on the right going out to the Polk Audio Monitor 30 speakers of the six-channel surround sound SACD system. I plan to get some more of the connectors on the left to replace the ones on the right.

Above shows the double-banana plugs at the rear of the SONY receiver. Note the different look of the old verses new. If I can get another six to eight feet of the M Series cables, I'll replace the last two cables.

Above is the cables on the right side. Below is the ones on the left of the cabinet.

Below is the cables going into and out of the ten inch sub one the left. The light gray pieces are the speaker "pants". 

Lastly, note that I removed all the music/history books from this shelf as well as the FM/AM antenna. I never listen to the radio through that system, so why have the antenna?

Finally, once again, thanks for taking the time to look at and read my blog.
Scott 

Today, I finally got a chance to listen to both systems. O. M. G! They both sound AWESOME! Such clarity, tight bass, high and wide soundstage. Gotta love it! And I do.

"New" "Executive" stereo. "Antique" CD Player, and more!

Gentle reader,

Once again, thanks for taking the time to read my blog and the photos that go with it. I really appreciate your kind words. Glad to know that you're out there and that you enjoy my efforts.

Recently, I decided to simplify my life. Again. I know, I've done it before and told/showed you all about it. I think that I just keep it complicated but in different ways. My long suffering wife would agree.

Firstly, and yes, that IS a word, I came across another vintage-looking electronic component. You may recall the "floor radio" in a recent post. I'm still enjoying that and in fact thinking of selling the rest of the radio collection. Well, all but the Halicrafters. Below is the "Antique" CD player/radio. It's an Emerson. There are many companies that have produced modern versions of the classic radios that yesterday's generations enjoyed and relied upon for their news and entertainment. Yes, children, there was a time when NOTHING had a screen. That is except for windows. That's house windows. You know, the kind you look out of. No TV, no smart anything, no tablets, no phones that weren't attached to a wall with wires. No air conditioning, well, I could go on and on. Below, pretty isn't it?

Above, you think I was making up "Antique Compact Disc Player"? You lift the tab and place the disc on the spindle. Lower the arm and it spins it up to read the disc. Then press play. Works well and sounds surprisingly good.

Above and below you can see the speaker grille cloth behind the fancy woodwork. A pair of 4" drivers lurk behind. I never tried to hear if it is truly stereo, but it probably is. With the speakers angled 45 degrees, one could obtain a fairly nice sound stage.

The one problem is that it doesn't have the usual wire that sticks out of a hole in the back that functions as a FM antenna. So, after much searching and testing, I found the right terminal to attach a wire for this black antenna. It was one of a pair on an amplified Radio Shack TV antenna. More on that later. As you can see, it rotates and of course extends to standard length. It greatly improves reception and sensitivity. Sounds better as well.

So, what about this "Executive" stereo? Exactly one week after finding this Emerson (25% off Wednesday at the Salvation Army store) I found what I feel is the ideal replacement for the stack of Onkyo equipment I had here in the "office" next to me. They have traveled across the USA to their new owner in Arizona. He's quite happy with them.

Below is the Panasonic SA-PM19. It is not listed in my 2002 Orion's Blue Book of Audio equipment, so it is newer than that. The little TV is not part of it.

Below as you can see, the speaker wires are long enough to separate them by at least eight feet. I don't have the desire to do so as you will find out below.

Above is a non-flash photo of the units. Inside the front panel at the bottom is five CD trays. It has an AM/FM stereo radio tuner with 15 station memory. Also, on top is a button and a panel that pops open when the button is pressed. Inside is a cassette player. When I think about it, this is the modern version of the plastic fold-up record player I had when I was 17, forty-one years ago. There were cassettes then, but they were for voice recording at that time. 8-track tapes ruled then. Sheesh do I feel old, now! Anyway, I thought that little fold-up record player, all-plastic, too, sounded just fine. That is until I visited my new friend, Phillip's house and heard a real stereo.........

Above and below is the little 7" digital TV that also was a thrift store find. It's digital so it picks up all the TV stations. Well, with a roof antenna it does. Nice picture too. It was in the original box in new condition. Who donates new stuff?

Above, the AM antenna that came with the Panasonic serves dual-duty by propping the TV up a little more. I could tune just 2 AM stations, both Spanish language. 

Above, note the eight speaker terminals with the unusual blue and white colors. Turns out, this kit has two amplifiers, one for bass and lower frequencies and one for mid-to-high frequencies. This is called "Bi-wire" by the Audiophile crowd. The Polk Audio Monitor 30 speakers I just got are made for bi-wiring have been others that I have owned and enjoyed.

Above, you can see the custom shortened wires and the splitter that sends the signals from the FM antenna I put up on the roof. The TV gets great reception from it. FM used to be located between channels 6 and 7 in the analog TV days.

Above you can see the bass reflex port on the rear of each speaker. When they do that (speaker makers) they often align it with the rear of the tweeter, for some reason.

Above, you can see the foam surround "mid-bass" driver and cone tweeter. Don't poo-poo cone tweeters. They work very well. In fact, that's all that BOSE uses. The BOSE 301 speakers in here use two cone tweeters and they sound amazing.

Looking back through older posts, I found the one constant as far as the listening room speakers are those 301s. I moved them in here to make room for the older Polks and now the new Polks that replaced them. I blogged about the ingenious way I mounted them on the walls in here. Also in here are the solid oak speakers that I bought and improved. They are subject of another older post. ANYWAY, since I sold the Onkyos, I had no way to drive them. Thanks to the vast amount of wiring I had in the attic that originally was used to "pipe" music in here from the stereo that was once located in the living room, clear at the other end of the house. 

Note the twisted blue/silver wires in the photos below. In case you're wondering, the pretty girl on the left is my older daughter at 13, the gorgeous brunette on the right is my wife at 29. She's still gorgeous, twenty years later.

Above is the terminal that was once behind me and above my left shoulder. What was in this spot once was my first attempt at sending sound in here. THAT was when the stereo was once in the dining room. And my wife thinks I keep changing things!

Above, with STAR WARS out of the way, you can see the speaker switch and attendant wiring. It may look confusing, but a pair of wires comes down and in and one pair goes up to the BOSE 301s and unseen is the two that go down to the oak speakers. 

Thanks to the modern DYNACO Stereo 200 power amplifier in the den/listening room which has two pairs of speaker terminals, I can have two, four and even six speakers all playing at once. Cool, huh?

If you look at older blogs, the most popular of which can be seen above/right, you will see the other speakers and amps and such of which I wrote today.

Thanks for looking,

Scott