Bolivar Speaker Works Model 125

[Mothman]

I recently acquried these Bolivar 70's vintage speakers in need of some restoration off fleabay. As the seem to have been a relatively obsucre short lived brand I thought I'd post some photos as point of reference.

Manufacturer: Bolivar Speaker Works (Offshoot of JBL\Harmon)
Yr of Manufacture: 1975-1980 (ish)
Model: 125
Type: 2-Way - 8" Woofer - Paper Cone Tweeter
Dimensions: H23"(58.5cm) W12.5"(32cm) D10.5"(26cm)
Weight: 12kgs
Impedence:4ohms
Power Rating: Unknown
UK price when new: Unknown


Grill Badges are wood which is a nice touch


Cabinets were foil wrapped to reduce cost




Cabinet back


Flimsy spring loaded binding posts

[Mothman]

Substantial, well made grille frames


Unmasked. The blue foam on the tweeters has had it, but hope it is only cosmetic


Woofer cleaned ready for new surround




Close up of a tweeter, the blue foam removed


Inside the cabinet


The few references I can find to this model say it was manufactured with no crossover, if so then what's this?

[Reid Malenfant]

Looks like a crossover

Decent sized magnet on the bass/mid, that's the expensive bit, i guess these are promising

[pentode10]

I had a pair of Bolivar 64s from new in the late 70s. They were the 3 way version with the 10" bass driver. They were actually very good speakers especially if raised off the floor on low stands.
If you get the bass driver re foamed they should be good.
I think the 64s were around the £100 mark back then.
Andy.

[Jac Hawk]

The Cabs look in good nic too, get the cones refoamed or do it yourself and you should have a nice pair of rare speakers

[Mothman]

Never done it before but gonna have a go at the refoam myself. The speakers only cost a few sheckles so if I cock it up I won't lose much.

[Jac Hawk]

Never done it before but gonna have a go at the refoam myself. The speakers only cost a few sheckles so if I cock it up I won't lose much.

It's all good fun, when you've done them post a thread on the forum detailing how you did it, take photos too, i for one would like to read about it.

[Jac Hawk]

the foam rings round the tweeters, maybe tweeter diffractors? read this http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2113

[Mothman]

Well my handywork wouldn't win any prizes in a beauty contest but I've refoamed the woofers and it appears to have been a success



I reassembled the speakers and connected them to an old Sanui amp and these things sound great. There is loads of bass (probably too much for my small listening room) and the mids and highs aren't too shabby either for a two way speaker. Certainly not the last word in detail but then I wasn't expecting that from a pair of budget\mid price 70's speakers.



Next I decided to connect them to my Hlly T-20 T-amp without much expectation, as I had assumed the Bolly's would need more juice to drive them than the Hlly could offer. Well what a surprise! these two make a wonderfull pairing, there is of course less bass with the Hlly but what bass there is is more controlled, mids and highs are also improved.

These speakers have exceeded my expectations, I think DSJR described their sound as FUN and that is exactly what they are, a really most enjoyable unfatiquing sound that I would be happy to live with as my main system speakers. Well chuffed

[Reid Malenfant]

Looks like you did a decent job on the Rich At least they are actually usable now & apart from actually having learn't something new that may well be handy in the future, you can get them boogying

Nicely done! I have messed about with speaers for years buy i have never refoamed a driver notworthy.gif


All the best