Pishanto man versus white van man

[Gordon Steadman]

As ever, my wife has some strange ideas about the allocation of our funds and, so I am told, the new roof is more important than me buying the materials for yet another pair of play speakers.

So I put out an add on our local Google group, asking if anyone had any old bashed up boxes lingering in their barn that they would part with for a bottle of red stuff.

And lo..... "we have a couple of speakers we used in our recording studio, made in America and sounded great when we used them.

Seemed a good idea to have a look and sure enough, thats what it says on the box. Very good nick though. I was expecting bashed as I said. Just a bit lighter than expected though, about half the weight of Ronnie's JBLs which smaller.

Got them home and opened them up:doh::doh::doh::doh::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::ee k::eek::eek::eek::eek::stalks::stalks::stalks::sta lks:

The good news is that the 12" actually look OK. Strange that it says made in China on the back though. The wiring is just about visible, any smaller guage would be invisible. The bass unit is wired direct to the input and the two other round things have a cap in series to a cheap and nasty pot. God knows what happens to the resistance.

Anyway, a quick search online reveals that they are the work of a gang that go round in a white van and whisper "er mate, got some stuff that was delivered twice, wanna bargin????"

Anyway, as its the boxes I want, I can beef that up OK and redo the baffle. I might retain the bass unit as my chosen woofer and tweeter combo is a bit lacking at the bottom end. Probably just crossover under 100htz or thereabouts.

Playing is a gas:)

Can't wait to hear how bad they are but that will have to wait til Monday as I have just got home knackered from doing a flower show and have to do it all again tomorrow. I hate gardening but its the wife's business.

[Firebottle]

Good one Gordon, I thought the 12" looked OK.

Hope you make pots of dosh at the show :eyebrows:

:cool:Alan

[walpurgis]

These speakers are well known. I've highlighted them in 'Bargains on eBay' a few times, as they are regularly being offered, presumably by people who got conned. They are to be avoided, the impedance load is capable of destroying some amplifiers apparently. There were a couple of mentions of this in the Hi-Fi press. If you do a Google search for 'White van man speakers', these come up!

[Macca]

I wonder if they could be modded into something half-decent. An inductor in front of the bass driver would be a start, then replace the crappy cone tweeter with a dome unit. The cabs look quite solid.

[Gordon Steadman]

I wonder if they could be modded into something half-decent. An inductor in front of the bass driver would be a start, then replace the crappy cone tweeter with a dome unit. The cabs look quite solid.

This is the plan. The chipboard is a bit thin but with regular bracing at the back as there is a big step, and struts up the sides and a strut front to back, it will actually be OK. Not much to be done with the black vinyl wrap but I'll think of something.

The plan is to put the T27 and proper crossover in first to see just how the 12" copes. Then its a matter of sorting out which unit to cover the mid and upper bass. If I can, I will try and squeeze the Celestion 8" in - should be nice and tight!! The two small units look worse than useless so the bin beckons.

I will need to check if the bass unit is 4 or 8ohms or somewhere else. Who do I know with a suitable piece of equipment???.... talking of whom....... Alan, we are absolutely shattered. Also, the silly buggers got the dates wrong on their website and it was cold and rained on and off all the weekend. We did well to take half what we did last year. Still, a profit is a profit so no complaints:)

I'll start playing in a couple of days once we have rested a bit.

[walpurgis]

I will need to check if the bass unit is 4 or 8ohms or somewhere else. Who do I know with a suitable piece of equipment???....

If you mean you just want to know the impedance of the bass driver, pop down to your nearest Maplins (or similar) and buy a cheap multimeter for about a fiver. If the DC reading of the coil is around 6 ohms then you have an 8 ohm impedance unit (approx). 3 ohms DC would equate to 4 ohms impedance and about 4.5 ohms DC is 6 ohms. These are just approximate as drivers will offer varying impedance curves.

[Gordon Steadman]

If you mean you just want to know the impedance of the bass driver, pop down to your nearest Maplins (or similar) and buy a cheap multimeter for about a fiver. If the DC reading of the coil is around 6 ohms then you have an 8 ohm impedance unit (approx). 3 ohms DC would equate to 4 ohms impedance and about 4.5 ohms DC is 6 ohms. These are just approximate as drivers will offer varying impedance curves.

Ah, thanks for that Geoff,

As soon as Maplins open a branch in France I'll be there:)

Over here things would be a bit more expensive which is why I have an audio consultant:eyebrows:

Just did a quick wire up of the T27 and the 12" with a KEF crossover. Yikes.

The bass quality isn't actually bad at all but crossing over at 3500htz is more than the 12" can stand. 'orrible it is. Heaven knows what it sounded like covering the whole range PLUS the two other rubbish drivers adding to the cacaphony. I couldn't risk my ears listening to it as originally er.... 'designed'. The port just boosts the mid bass to get a bit of 'boom boom'. Covering it up smoothes it all out nicely and its just as deep so sealed cabinet it is.

The balance between 12" and T27 sounds about right so its probably 8ohm but I will get this checked before choosing the coil. I reckon as a sub bass unit, it will be fine.

Let more playing commence.

[Firebottle]

Wheeey, playtime, isn't it great :)

'Audio consultant' - that'll look good on the CV :D

I've got an old multimeter you can have Gordon; I'll have to check it out again I think the voltage accuracy is a little off. Should be good for checking resistances.

Good news on the speakers, looks like a 3 way then?

I've tidied my workshop/shack so I'm prepared for a visit now.

:cool: Alan

[walpurgis]

As soon as Maplins open a branch in France I'll be there:)

Didn't notice you were in France.

They have the equivalent to Maplins though:

http://www.conrad.fr/ce/

Just found this on their site:

http://www.conrad.fr/ce/fr/product/122999/Multimtre-numrique-Voltcraft-VC11