Radford monitor m.90

[andyrlb]

Some lovely rare vintage monitors.
Getting recapped soon .https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180605/be910b258108558811571af87be3e21a.heichttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180605/051ec63557597e95c39b4b3daa406d4d.heic


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[realysm42]

Very nice, how big are the woofers? How low do they go?

[walpurgis]

My guess, knowing Goodmans drivers, is that the bass will extend to maybe around 30 Hz.

[Frazeur1]

Those look like they would be a ton of fun Geoff!

Edit, oops, meant Andy, long day...

[montesquieu]

Nice find, I've always fancied picking up a pair of Radford speakers for interest's sake (being a bit of a RAdford fan).

[andyrlb]

Very nice, how big are the woofers? How low do they go?

They have a 12” woofer and not so low..
50Hz to 25khz
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180606/46fb787a2dae632ff06851c12100ecc3.png


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[andyrlb]

Nice find, I've always fancied picking up a pair of Radford speakers for interest's sake (being a bit of a RAdford fan).

Well you’re not far away Tom


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[andyrlb]

Very nice, how big are the woofers? How low do they go?

A bit confusing because the literature say 12” but they’re 10” 🤷🏼*♂️


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[walpurgis]

They have a 12” woofer and not so low

That's probably the -3db point. They'll go lower.

[Marco]

Very nice, Andy. Those look 'propa'!:thumbsup:

Look forward to finding out how the recapping goes. Having done this myself now with a few different pairs of vintage speakers, it should make a big difference:)

Marco.

[andyrlb]

You seem to have a knack for finding classic old loudspeakers. How do you do it?

🤫


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[andyrlb]

Very nice, Andy. Those look 'propa'!:thumbsup:

Look forward to finding out how the recapping goes. Having done this myself now with a few different pairs of vintage speakers, it should make a big difference:)

Marco.

Cheers Marco, they’re pretty cool .
Recap tomorrow


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[walpurgis]

A bit confusing because the literature say 12” but they’re 10”

The width of drivers is usually quoted as the measurement across the chassis front, which should be around 12", the cone may be 10".

[hornucopia]

Old monitor club on horizon? I wonder how many survive? Big Wharfedales......I'll put my Leak 3090s in this category.

[andyrlb]

The width of drivers is usually quoted as the measurement across the chassis front, which should be around 12", the cone may be 10".

That explains it then , it is an odd shape certainly not round


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[andyrlb]

Old monitor club on horizon? I wonder how many survive? Big Wharfedales......I'll put my Leak 3090s in this category.

Mmmm nice


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[montesquieu]

I've had these for a week or so now. I'm pretty impressed with them. Sat on the floor they didn't quite sound their best but on lowish (20cm) stands the sound was a lot more integrated.

Bass is nicely articulated, not earth-shatteringly low but extends usefully in room below 40hz which is plenty for most purposes. Overall the progression up through the octaves is smooth and the highs in particular ... at first I thought the amp sounded a bit bright but I think the reason for that is the 10w Pass Aleph M clone was a bit underpowered ... with the Radford STA25 this brightness reduced markedly and with 90w class D it went away altogether. I think the reason for this is that these are from the late 70s era of high-power solid state amps, and need a decent amount of power up them to come to life and for the frequency response to even out - I don't think the woofers were firing on all cylinders at 10w or even entirely at 35w. 80w or 100w+ of solid state power are what these are craving.

I'm currently running them in the study which is a bit silly because it's a very small room and they aren't really able to stretch their legs. I'd put these in the same bracket as, say, small floorstander Kefs or Spendors, they need a firm hand and a bit of space to properly bloom.

In the main setup they sounded pretty good though not quite with the scale of my Tannoys. Overall the sound is detailed and listenable - a lot of fun, slightly power hungry (not uncommon in the period) but with a pleasant overall feel.

Out of curiosity I want to hear them with the Raford STA100 when I get it back, but after that I suspect they will probably be for sale or swap for something bookshelf sized.

[andyrlb]

Auditoriums [emoji16]

[struth]

yup, i'd agree on them probably needing a lot of watts. had a set of imf's and they needed it to spring into life

[andyrlb]

Auditoriums Tom [emoji16]

[andyrlb]

Sticking with the radford theme I’m confused with what I’ve found with the auditoriums, with the ions you could not place the speakers in room ( like I’ve never known) but the volume was at over half way for a normal listening level so I thought I’d try the pm4 in class A and wow what a difference ( soundstage not as good )
Now I’d love to hear them with a lot more grunt .


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[montesquieu]

Sticking with the radford theme I’m confused with what I’ve found with the auditoriums, with the ions you could not place the speakers in room ( like I’ve never known) but the volume was at over half way for a normal listening level so I thought I’d try the pm4 in class A and wow what a difference ( soundstage not as good )
Now I’d love to hear them with a lot more grunt .


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The Auditoriums are at least a decade earlier than the M90s but having so many drivers to integrate means inevitably the crossover is more complex, so consequently would I expect power requirements to be higher than most (simpler) speakers of the time ... a lot more power hungry than the equivalent Tannoy Monitor Gold of the period which is happy with 20w of push-pull, I'd expect to double that or more to get the best out of the Auditoriums. Interestingly the top Radford Valve amp in 1967, when the Auditoriums were current, was my STA100 (100w class AB).

[andyrlb]

That would explain it [emoji1303]


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