Speakerlab S50 speakers

[mike eckert 1]

Any body have any experience with these beauties ? I picked up a pair off Craigslist the other day for $100. I figured at that price they would be all beat to hell but they are really in decent condition. Removed both 10" woofers (sealed in with silicone) for refoaming and will be picking them up in a few days. All the other drivers look really good so a little cleaning with some glass cleaner and they are good to go. The rosewood cabinets were in really dirty condition with white paint speckels all over them. Fortunately there was a nice coating of nicotine on them so the paint wasn't stuck very good and it all came off with a little elbow grease. A good wipe down with glass cleaner and the cabinets are ready for a couple coats of MinWax paste finishing wax which will happen tomorrow. The 4 grill panels recieved a good washing with hot water and car wash/wax and came out looking fantastic. Looks like the biggest problem is turning out to be the mounting board where the top 3 drivers are mounted. The original foam has disintegrated and I've got to come up with something that looks like it was installed by the factory. The drivers are all sealed into the cabinet with a silicone sealer and I don't think I'm going to try to remove them, so making this board look really good is going to take some time and labor. Hopefully I'll be compareing them with a couple other nice pairs of speakers I've got.

[danowood 2,167]

We love pictures  Hint> Hint>

[oldtexasdog 2,461]

I believe the woofers were supposed to be coated with some sort of dampening compound for freq response with the crossovers?

[fill35U 1,847]

I've never seen or heard them. But they're supposed to be big, heavy, well-made, and *rare*. Nice find, Mike!

 

Note to mods: should this thread be moved? 

[Gene C 1,748]

Moved.

 

 

Welcome to the forum Mike.

 

 

[srinath 34]

I have speakerlabs model P458 (I think) - either way they are Bose 901 series 1 copies. I didn't get the drivers that were in em, I just got cabs, and plan on stuffing em with 901 S1 drivers. But these are plywood and damn fine if you ask me. Way better than particle board 901 garbage. Also these came with big square magnet 901 copy drivers that didn't need an equalizer.

 

Anyway speaker lab cabinets are great, I also have an EV driver filled set that is a speaker lab (likely) set.

 

Cool.

Srinath.

[PMAT 2,042]

Wow! I sure could use a picture or two. That would be so very nice. Every time I try to visualize I see whirled peas.

[srinath 34]

Is this Them ???

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/album.php?albumid=470&attachmentid=27150

 

Cool.

Srinath.

[mike eckert 1]

PMAT--That sounds like a nightmare ! Yeah-- I've tried to post pictures before without much luck. I'm going to give it another shot tonight.

I've picked up a little more information on these Speakerlabs. One post said they only made 75 pairs of them because the cost of manufacturing was to high. They originally sold for $3600 a pair in 1981. They are 4-way systems with 10" and 12" woofers in a nestorovic configuration, a 6.5" mid-bass, 1 1/2" dome samarium upper midrange and a cobalt leaf tweeter. The crossover is the most complicated I've ever seen. They are 50" high and weigh about 85#.

I'll do my best with posting "before" pictures and hope the "after" pics will come soon. Mike

[fill35U 1,847]

Didn't Speakerlab make plans for/copies of the Klipschorns as well?

[srinath 34]

Didn't Speakerlab make plans for/copies of the Klipschorns as well?

 

They did, - http://techtalk.parts-express.com/album.php?albumid=470&attachmentid=27152

 

I dont have one of those copies, I however have an electrovoice twist on the KHorn - same drivers, 4" shorter cabinet with a downfiring woofer. Apparently the regular KHorn needs to be put in a corner very very tight. These are way more forgiving, can even be stood parallel facing the room like a regular speaker. Let me see, I have not got the drivers in it yet. I plan on stuffing ti with altec VOTT components or a altec 421 + M1823 + T35 or other alternate components from the 50's meant for similar systems.

 

Cool.

Srinath.

[PMAT 2,042]

 

 

[mike eckert 1]

srinath-- YES that's them. I'm still having diffaculties with redoing the boards that the top 3 high end drivers are installed in. Not sure what will work and look the best but I'm working on it. I'm going to replace the speaker binding posts with something a little more "up to date" that will accept banana plugs. I pried the 12" woofers off today so I can have easy access to the crossovers to change out the binding posts. I sure hope I can figure out how to post pics.

[zumbini 6,150]

...I sure hope I can figure out how to post pics.

 

From the "post a reply box" click the INSERT IMAGE icon on the top tool bar (4th from the right).

 

 

From the INSERT IMAGE applet you can insert a link to a public photo or browse to one on your hard drive:

 

 

If uploading wait for the upload complete message to pop up and click OK.

Edit the WIDTH or HEIGHT to resize the image (</=800 pixels wide please) then click INSERT:

 

[mike eckert 1]

zumbini--I hate to waste your time because I'm not very computer savy but-- in my post a reply box, all I get is a blank white box. There is no row of icons across the top, no tool bar. I've got an 8 year old neighbor kid next door. Maybe I can coax him to come over and post some pics for me if I give him a gallon of gas for his 4-wheeler.

[zumbini 6,150]

zumbini--I hate to waste your time because I'm not very computer savy but-- in my post a reply box, all I get is a blank white box. There is no row of icons across the top, no tool bar. I've got an 8 year old neighbor kid next door. Maybe I can coax him to come over and post some pics for me if I give him a gallon of gas for his 4-wheeler.

No problem Mike. We were all in the same boat at one point or another.

 

Which browser are you using? If I recall correctly there was a compatibility issue with newer versions of Internet Explorer.

 

Also click on MY PROFILE (top left of most pages to the right of LOGGED IN AS:), then EDIT PROFILE.

At the bottom under FORUM SETTINGS check to see if CuteEditor Editor(html) is selected as your text editor.

[4krow 6,640]

Bro,

  In my opinion, you have got the deal of a lifetime. I built the Speakerlab 'K horns', and havealso  owned the S30? (I forget the exact model number). In the end, I was very impressed with both. Actually, I like the S30 better. It was a 3 way with 12" bass, 6" mid, 1" tweet. I have not heard of the S50 before, but I just know that these guys had a genuine interest in fidelity and quality. Hell, as I recall, the made many of their own drivers, and even had a giant 'magnetizer' they called "Magnatron" for the drivers magnets, IIRC. Maybe it all makes sense due to their past, being engineers for Boeing('Boing' heh heh)

[mike eckert 1]

zumbini-- Yes I an using Internet Explorer. I followed your instructions and still no icons across the top, or anywhere else for that matter. I know I can post pics on Craigslist. Maybe someone can download them from there although that is most likely frowned upon.

[AndrewJohn 10,507]

zumbini-- Yes I an using Internet Explorer. I followed your instructions and still no icons across the top, or anywhere else for that matter. I know I can post pics on Craigslist. Maybe someone can download them from there although that is most likely frowned upon.

 

Try the Google Chrome browser. That's what I use, and it does the pictures, and the cute editor, just fine.

 

...and it's free. 

[PMAT 2,042]

 

 

[PMAT 2,042]

You know what that rubbery baffle panel reminds me of? Engineered flooring. The back pad is like that. Its thin stuff, some of it. Its very hard thin stuff with the rubbery padding. I wonder if you could use that somehow.