Above: “The Drumssette.” (Source)
I was doing some research for our upcoming series of 80’s-themed posts (since ‘Speaker-weeks’ seemed to put most of you to sleep…) when I stumbled across RetroThing dot com. Really some great bits on here. Where else r u gonna find out abt “The Drumsette,” a DIY’d melotron-type-drum-machine. Come on! Check em out…
Download an 8pp catalog/poster with specs on every Fostex cone, compression, and super-tweeter driver, and their cast and wooden radial horns, circa 1981:
DOWNLOAD: Fostex_Comps_1981
I’d get carpal tunnel syndrome re-typing every model # in this thing, but trust me there’s a lot of info here… of use to whom, that’s another question i suppose.
Got a pretty odd one for y’all today… download the 1981 Fostex “Professional Sound Reinforcement Components” catalog/guide:
DOWNLOAD: Fostex_SR_1981
Featuring: Fostex speaker systems GS3001, GS3003, SV22, SV30, BS1502, G700, SP104F, SP102, SP109, SP89, SP109F, SP109, SP104, SP82S, SP84S, and many more enclosures. I can’t recall ever having seen ANY of these; were they even sold in the US?
Download the 6pp catalog introducing the KEF Model 101 of 1979:
DOWNLOAD: KEF_101_speakers
Tiny speakers with high-performance, the 101 remains coveted 35 years after its introduction.
Download the 6pp catalog introducing the iconic B&W model 801 speaker system:
One of the few speakers that has seen extensive use in both pro-studio and audiophile environments, the 801 is high on my personal wish-list… someday I’ll replace my Dahlquist DQ-12s with these…
Download a rather lengthy brochure introducing the KEF model 105 Hi-Fi speaker system:
DOWNLOAD: KEF_105_speakers
Download the 4pp product-sheet for the Barco MLS 1/80 studio monitor:
DOWNLOAD: Barco_MLS_1_80
These industrially-styled monitors incorporated an unusual circuit which introduces a 30db pad when the speaker THD exceeds 1%. Crazy. Anyone?
Download the original 4pp catalog for the Technics SB-10 “R&B Series” Honeycomb Disc Speaker System:
DOWNLOAD: Technics_SB-10_spkrs
We’ve featured a ton of late-70’s Technics materials here at PS dot com, but I think this is the first of their period speakers we’ve described… and wow these things are unusual. The woofer and midrange use rigid flat diaphragms, and the tweeter is a “Leaf” design; check the download for deets on that. Anyone ever listen to these? Thoughts?
Download the 4-page catalog for the Fostex “Laboratory Series” studio monitors of 1980:
DOWNLOAD: Fostex_Lab_1980
Featuring the Fostex LS/2, LS/3, and the massive LS/4: 458lbs each, with response down to 19hz. Good lord. BTW I have come across several period FOSTEX speaker pieces; expect more in the next few days…
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Update 12.10.13:
Michael Gillespie, designer of the Fostex Laboratory Series, got in touch with PS dot com regarding these speakers. Here’s what he had to say:
“I designed these speakers in the late seventies. This was the inaugural Fostex product to launch in North America, setting the stage for huge success. At the time we did this, Fostex had 18 employees in Japan; today they have 67,000 worldwide.”
Click here for a better copy of the main brochure.
“Above are images of the “V” series; these were the same systems re-tuned for free-standing (full-space 4π) operation as opposed to the main brochure which shows soffit-mounted (half-space 2π) models.”
“Above is the the original development team, reunited in 2012: (L-R) Ted Telesky, Michael Gillespie, Bob Oliver.“
“And above is an – LS/4 is one of my personal pair – which I have owned for almost 35 years.”
How y’all doing. Sitting here on the (what feels like) first day of fall, listening to a pile of weirdo 70’s UK punk LPs: The 999, Steve Harley, The Stranglers, and The Doctors Of Madness. What better match than some musty old paper describing some oddball British speakers of the era: Jordan Watts. This is the first of what will be many uploads of late-70s speaker ephemera, both HiFi and pro-audio. I have 100s of pieces of this stuff to go thru, and finally a free minute to do it. So get ready… and remember to check if Orange County Speakers has re-edge kits available for any foam-edged 35 year-old-speaker yr thinking of buying. Anyhow, download a complete late-1970s JORDAN WATTS hi-fi speaker catalog:
DOWNLOAD: Jordan_Watts_spkrs
On offer: the Jordan Watts models Juno, Juliet, Jumbo, GT, Jodrell, Jupiter, TLS, Jericho, Centurion, Qubique, and Flagon.
The Jordan-Watts speakers used a very unusual 4″ metal-coned driver unit that came in its own integral mini-enclosure. Even stranger tho are their Arabesque and Romanesque “Qubiqe” and “Flagon” models:
