Technics Speakers
bAZZ
unable to find any info on a set of speakers.
Does anyone know of a site where I can find spec sheets or info ? They are
EX Series model number SB-EX3. They have dual bannana posts instead of the
usual one set. One set labelled HF and the other LF. I have deduced that
they are for high frequencies and lower ones. Is there a way of bridging or
joining them from a single speaker wire. I ask in case doing so will damage
anything.
The only other info is wattage 250 Music and 125 DIN and serial number
JH2LAO6119.
Any info/help most welcome.
bazz
bAZZ
"Frank" <f...@yahoo.co.nz> wrote in message
news:vd3290p0u78a6q8bf...@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 00:17:37 +1200, "bAZZ" <bd...@XXXwebnet.co.nzXXXX>
wrote:
>
> Also check the resistance they might not be standard..
>
Do you mean as in ohms ? They are 4 according to small print on label. Had
thought they were off a custom amp but could not find any info. Thanks.
BAZZ
Dave Taylor
news:4091...@news.orcon.net.nz:
They probably do not have an internal cross over. You will need one of
those for each speaker, and a very big amp to use them properly. They
are probably made to go in a tower for concerts.
Ciao, Dave
bAZZ
"Dave Taylor" <dave...@nospamplshotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94DB8A6BF69E1da...@202.20.93.13...
Probably right there Dave about the crossover. Wonder why they made them
like that. They are definitly home type speakers with good finish and solid
as. Very nice hooked up to kids el cheapo 5.1 home theatre system on their
xboxx/pc. Hooked them up and joined the wire together and presto, it worked.
What a difference to the sound. They were seized by noise control and
auctioned when unclaimed so got them for under $20 so can't go wrong using
them for this use. Wished rest of system was with them LOL.
Bazz
RdM
in nz.tech<4091...@news.orcon.net.nz>,
: "Frank" <f...@yahoo.co.nz> wrote in message
: > They go into a Custom Amp..
: >
: > Also check the resistance they might not be standard..
: >
: Do you mean as in ohms ? They are 4 according to small print on label. Had
: thought they were off a custom amp but could not find any info. Thanks.
Don't take too much notice of Wogers ignorant & stupid guesses!
In fact IMO everybody would be better off if they refused to respond
unless or until he posts under his real name ... and owns his "advice".
Anyway ...
First off, so they are a (nominal) 4 ohms *impedance* ... OK.
Make sure your amp is happy driving a 4 ohm load (ie 4-8ohms), as some,
especially wimpy receivers, just can't deliver the current (twice the
current into 4ohms vs 8ohms) and will coyly say "suitable 8-16ohms".
Even then, it will still work, but not at all well at any high volume!
I mean, you could still test them out, but the amp may overheat at
sustained high volume, although they would sound poor before that!
IMO it is *extremely* unlikely that these were designed for a "custom
amp", whatever that might mean to Woger, or, as you (or he) might be
thinking, that they are intended to be used with an external crossover -
ie having no internal crossover network, but instead just the speaker
connections brought out to the back. Easy enough to check this.[1]
In fact, Googling on them shows them being sold with other utterly
conventional amps as part of systems, so put your mind at ease ...
IMO it is *far* more likely that these are following the later and in
some quarters still fashionable trend of providing a "biwiring"
facility, wherein the crossover network *parts* for the treble/mid and
bass are separated, so that *optionally*, TWO sets of cable may be run
from each set of posts back to the SAME speaker output posts on the amp.
This is basically of dubious or zero technical merit, but sells cables.
[It's been discussed to death in the audio technical groups - just do a
Google Groups search on "Bi-wiring" - I won't discuss it further here!]
Speakers with this "facility" are supplied with copper or plated metal
connecting strips to join those terminals at the speaker in case you
don't wish to bi-wire (or bi-amp, which involves a separate amp for HF &
LF and an electronic line-level crossover ahead of the amps) them.
(And in that case, the amps would be in a sense "custom", but not
nexcessarily - merely a grunty amp for the bass and lower powered,
perhaps chosen for sweetness and clarity or other terminological
fluffery, for the treble - but don't even think about going there,
because you'd have to second-guess the designers crossover points and
speaker design and reproduce it in an electronic crossover etcetera)
They could easily have been lost at some point in the past ...
Yours may simply be missing them. Just join with some bare wire.
That's vertically, red to red and black to black - parallel them.
Make sure the wire is clean bright metal - doesn't have to be "bare"
wire, doesn't have to be that thick, or "special". Take your speaker
leads to the "LF" posts and use whatever you have on hand to further
join up the "HF" posts. Test out gingerly at low volume if doubtful!
Should be fine. See below.
RdM
[1] Is there continuity between each black/-ve terminal?. Likely there
is an internal crossover then - only the positive paths are separated.
Want to really really check? Gain access to the cabinet and look.
Unscrew carefully one of the drivers and have a peek. Reseal well!
Once again: it is *extremely* unlikely that a commercial hifi set like
these is intended for an external crossover without saying so - there
have only been a very few IME - and *extremely* likely that they merely
have a bi-wiring facility, which you may join as above for normal use.
RdM
: > They probably do not have an internal cross over. You will need one of
: > those for each speaker, and a very big amp to use them properly. They
: > are probably made to go in a tower for concerts.
: > Ciao, Dave
:
: Probably right there Dave about the crossover. Wonder why they made them
Everybody's guessing. They're clearly just home speakers with a "bi-wire"
facility. On Googling "Technics SB-EX3" the first (or lucky) link is a
picture of them. Googling groups shows them for sale in home stereo context.
Sounds like you've tried them out OK below. Assume you've linked the posts.
: like that. They are definitly home type speakers with good finish and solid
: as. Very nice hooked up to kids el cheapo 5.1 home theatre system on their
: xboxx/pc. Hooked them up and joined the wire together and presto, it worked.
: What a difference to the sound. They were seized by noise control and
: auctioned when unclaimed so got them for under $20 so can't go wrong using
: them for this use. Wished rest of system was with them LOL.
I wonder if the owners knew about the auction ... what a system!
I mean, er, of auctioning off speakers seized by noise control!
I didn't know they did that ...
Well FWIW they are listed in the July 1991 What HiFi as costing £250.
Confirms 4 ohms. 125W max input. No sensitivity figure.
In May 1992 What Hi-Fi there's an SB-EX3K instead, £250, 4 ohms, 125W, 84dB,
floor or stand mount, suggests "wall" rather than "free" (space) placement.
That doesn't mean hard against the wall, but near to it rather than well out
into the room as some are designed for. Experiment anyway.
A few inches to and fro the wall can make a lot of difference - too close
and the bass will be all boomy and the "imaging" fall apart.
84dB is not very sensitive (normally measured 1 watt @ 1m) especially for
4ohm speakers (actually the "1 watt" is often 2.83V across 8 ohms - the same
2.83V across 4 ohms will be 2 watts used, - maybe this is at 1W) but should
be OK for listening at non-headbanging levels in a family home!
Somebody clearly pissed off the neighbours with them ... maybe @ 3am!
Maybe you can score an amp & etc from another auction or whatever.
Or even re-sell them. (Maybe the original owner is looking for a pair:-))
They might be at a different volume level than the cheapo 5.1 system - but
if you subsitute them for the L-R fronts (rather than add them in parallel!)
at least you'll have separate volume control to balance them.
RdM
: "bAZZ" <bd...@XXXwebnet.co.nzXXXX> wrote:
: in nz.tech<4091...@news.orcon.net.nz>,
:
: : "Frank" <f...@yahoo.co.nz> wrote in message
:
: : > They go into a Custom Amp..
: : >
: : > Also check the resistance they might not be standard..
: Don't take too much notice of Wogers ignorant & stupid guesses!
I regret my displays of annoyance. I might perhaps have more kindly typed;-
"Frank" may have been too hasty &/or not thinking at 2am when he wrote that"
I apologise!:=})
RdM
bAZZ
Hey there
Thanks for the informative and helpful answers to this and my other
cable question. You are spot on with regards to these speakears. Like I
said earlier I did *bridge* them and are working OK. What frustrated me
was not finding info on them by googling. Seems you had better luck than
me. Must have been holding my mouth wrong LOL. I've ordered a s-vid
cable a bit longer so that should arrive soon. It is only from the
tv-out on a geforce2 to tv for the kids machine , so quality is not
*that* important. Doubt they will notice. When we lost the outside ariel
in the big winds a month or so it turned it about 60 degrees and some
channels were like a snowstorm. They moaned but watched them anyway in
their room so they don't care too much about the quality.
They are quite happy with the speakers though as the little 5.1 (voxon?)
speakers are crap whereas the technics have added a lot of lowend boost
(bass is like bass finally). got some old wharfedales got at recycle
centre awhile ago in shed might hook up to it too. Now trhey were a
challenge to find info on. Looks like they were home made in wooden
cabinets and are about 30 years old I'd say but still worked fine. They
had cloth grills glued to the front so cut it off with knife and the
speakers are like new ! Sound good too. Only realised they were quality
by noticing a little sticker much faded on back with just wharfdale unit
three on one of them. Got em home and found they were what they say. My
mate was in Balclutha last week and scored an immaculate set of
Wharfdale E30 speakers with an old sonofone amp for $22.00 and 2 boxes
LPs included. Everything mint. Seems some olde quality stuff can be got
from ppl *upgrading* to new plastic sounding 3in1 and cheap 5.1 systems.
See ya
Bazz
Dave Taylor
> Seems some olde quality stuff can be got
> from ppl *upgrading* to new plastic sounding 3in1 and cheap 5.1 systems.
>
> See ya
New may not be better but it sure takes up less space. Granny flats are
typically small, besides, the ears usually age, so the seller won't notice
the difference.
Ciao, Dave
spamsp...@lovelyspam.com
"bAZZ" <ba...@spam.plonker> wrote in message
news:4092...@news.orcon.net.nz...
> What frustrated me
> was not finding info on them by googling.
probably because these particular technics appear to have been only sold as
part of a system package.
Patrick Dunford
Active crossover speakers are not confined to professional use, they are
used in higher end gear including some for domestic use. The crossover
occurs prior to the power amps, with an amp for each frequency band,
whereas passive crossovers are placed in the speakers themselves and have
to use components that are rated to the speaker power levels. For that
reason active crossovers are used in sound reinforcement work.
Patrick Dunford
Don't confuse this biwire as you call it with active crossover systems,
used in sound reinforcement and some high end domestic gear.
Active crossovers are a proven technology with real benefits in sound,
especially at high powers where the passive gear isn't suited.
Richard
> Active crossover speakers are not confined to professional use, they are
> used in higher end gear including some for domestic use. The crossover
> occurs prior to the power amps, with an amp for each frequency band,
> whereas passive crossovers are placed in the speakers themselves and have
> to use components that are rated to the speaker power levels. For that
> reason active crossovers are used in sound reinforcement work.
Even common on bottem feeder stereos, not just high end home stuff.
I saw a aiwa some time back that was bi-amped, just means they can distort the
hell out of the one driving the woofer without worrying about blowing the tweeters.