Occasionally I'll throw in a Mystery Gear item and let you, the HiFiCollector.com community help identify it and provide some information on it. Here's today's Mystery Gear - a pair of Sound Research speakers. Judging by the style of the grill, cabinet, drivers, and constructions, I'd guess these were constructed in the 1969 to 1973 time frame. They have all the earmarks of an Advent copy, but who knows? A quick search on Google didn't pull in any info on vintage Sound Research speakers, so it's your turn.If you have any information on Sound Research Speakers, please leave a comment or send me an email.
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I have a pair of Sound Research SR50 speakers. They were originally made by an IBM computer engineer in Melbourne. There was a review of speakers in the Melbourne Green Guide but the SR speakers werent ready in time fkr the test so he sent them to B&K Labs for independant testing and they couldnt beleive the results so they recalibrated their equipment jhst to be sure. The results were incredible and these speakers are incrediible. The reviewer from Green Guide bought 2 pairs. I bought a pair and compared them to a friends Kef Concertos. He sold his Kefs andbought 2 sets of SR50s. I beleive that the guy moved to Sydney but I havnt been able to find anything further. I dont recall his name. I dont know if the Age newspaper have any history on these. The address on the back of my speakers (early seventies) is PO Box 206, Forestville NSW 2087. Ph was 451 9468. I hope any of this helps. Kevin@rocketman.rocks
ReplyDeleteEdwin Anderson 2/3/16
ReplyDeleteI came upon a pair of Sound Research speakers at our local Goodwill. Upon inspection, I discovered the bass speaker foams completely disintegrated. They also had solid walnut cabinets. Knowing that I could re-edge the speakers I pointed out the "damage" and acquired them for $4.99 for the pair(sans 39.95). Miraculously they still had the original card/ warrantee stapled to the back. Company info as follows... Sound Research 2062 So. West 4th St. Ontario, Oregon 97914. Mine are a model "SR-V". A single 10" woofer with a horn tweeter. The rear hookup looks exactly as you have pictured. A search produced no information on the speaker itself except for a single image that looked similar. That image linked me to your site and "mystery gear" page. According to Bizapedia, the company debuted in June of 1989 and is still in existence today. I just ordered aftermarket re-edge kits and will install those when they get here. Hopefully, I will see what they sound like connected to my Sansui 7070. In the mean time I'll clean up those beautiful solid cabinets. Anyway, thats what I can contribute. Thanks for your site and the "mystery gear" feature. -Ed ejanderson8@msn.com
I have a pair of Sound Research speakers. They are similar to what you have pictured except mine have a single ten inch woofer and a single horn tweeter. The rear looks exactly as you have pictured above. I stumbled across these at a local Goodwill. I think they wanted $39.99 but when I peeked behind the front screens, the bass foam surrounds were rotted away. I pointed this out to the manager and told him I really just wanted the cabinets. He sold them to me for $4.99! I have the aftermarket re-foam kits on order now. The boxes are solid walnut. Front mesh is in good shape also. Miraculously, they still had the warrantee card stapled to the back.It had the following info on it... Sound Research Inc. 2062 So. west 4th St. Ontario, Oregon. 97914. They are a Model #SR-V "Hi Fidelity Reproducer" with a five year warrantee.
ReplyDeleteA quick web search shows(according to "Bizapedia") that the company originated in 1989 and is currently inactive. The Principal was a guy named Jerry O Stone from the same town. I found no additional info about these on a web search except for a single picture that looked similarto mine. Sourcing that photo brought me to your "Mystery Gear" page. There you have it. Once I complete the re-foam, I'll give them a test on an old Sansui 7070 that I just picked up for twenty bucks. It's in perfect condition. Should make a nice little combo. Furthermore, I'm glad this has led me to your HFC site as I had not yet discovered it. Thanks! Hope this helps. ejanderson8@msn.com
I have a pair of Sound Research 1200-G speakers. I bought them from a pawn shop in 1982, in Fayetteville, NC; I think I paid $120.00 for them. I have never seen another pair like them since. I have kept them as they sound sooo "Hot-Damn." A couple of years ago, I re-foamed the 12" sub-woofers, and it was very nice to hear the bass response afterward. These speakers have centrally aligned 12"/4"/3" speaker in them. To the left of the $" speaker, is a metal panel with two post adjusters for mid-range and high frequency, as well as a circuit breaker. To the right of the 4" speaker is an open port to the interior of the cabinett. They are not made of real wood, having a walnut veneer all over them. I run them off of a Pioneer VSX-403 audio visual amp. I have them paired with a pair of vintage Bose SA-10 bookshelf speakers built in 1976. Everything sounds pretty good in my den.
ReplyDeleteI would be glad to hear from anyone that may have such a pair of speakers, to compare notes on them. Ray/whitrs22@bellsouth.net
I have a pair of Sound Research AL-10 speakers. I've been trying to find more information on them, but this blog is the most information I've seen so far. Mine actually say Sacramento, CA on the back of them. There is another company called Sound Research in California that's active today, but I called them, sent pictures, and the owner didn't recognize the speakers, so it's not them.
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never… I recently acquired a pair of “Sound research no. XII monitors. Ser. No 28231 & 18831. Listed in Carson, CA. The kid I got them from sold them to me cheap, made me promise to take extra special care of them. He had gotten them from a gentleman that had swore him to a dutiful oath also. The aforementioned gentleman was an employee or part owner of the company, and this pair apparently had been an experimental pair , not really sure in what capacity they were ‘experimental’ but I know these speakers are absolutely my favorite for any kinda rock n roll, but they need a pretty good size receiver to open up. I run mine currently on a Nikko ALPHA II with a beta II preamp. I have yet to manage to over power these speakers…they’ll take all I can give them with the Nikko. ( 120 wpc rms with like .08% total distortion at 75% .. just keep playing louder and louder. 12” , 4”, 1”. But they sound phenomenal under the Nikko, and almost as good on my realistic as-2600.
ReplyDeleteHello. I also have a couple of Sound Research speakers. They were purchased in Germany in the 80s. On the back of the sticker it says Sound Research Inc. Carson. California U.S.A. They sound great!
ReplyDelete