british bargain but what is it? kef b200 celestion hf1300 coles 4001 (wimslow??)

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charlie2

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#1
OK picked these up of ripbay😀 for £33

They conist of kef b200 bass/mid celestion hf1300 mid/tweeter and coles 4001 super tweeter.

the guy selling says he bought them as a kit around 1975-80 while at college and built them (i do not doubt he was very geniune) as on the walls in his garage was a pair of diy kef b110+t15 tweeters, would not part with them,

so here are the pics and a measurement

thing is what can i do with them, as i was looking for decent reference monitor????
 
#3
British is spelt with a capital B, old boy...🙄

As is the BBC. Who had a huge influence on loudspeakers of this era.

You doubtless have some variation of the Spendor BC1 or B&W DM4.

Spendor BC1

DM standing for Domestic Monitor.
 

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#4
system7 said:
British is spelt with a capital B, old boy...🙄

As is the BBC. Who had a huge influence on loudspeakers of this era.

You doubtless have some variation of the Spendor BC1 or B&W DM4.

Spendor BC1

DM standing for Domestic Monitor.
Click to expand...

Oh sorry Sir the great BBC licence ripp off

Quite true it is some sort of spendor BC1 as in Spencer Dorothy🙂 and quite right a B+W DM of sorts (even Griffin??)

I googled lots for the combination of drivers and imges but came up blank.

If you (system7) or Sreten did not pipe up I thought it would be a pointless thread 😉 cheers
 
#5
Ah, good. Your capitalisation is improving, though still weak on full stops and commas. 🙂

I'd hope that I am the lesser of two evils, when compared to that old so and so. You may disagree. 😉

This is just a stab in the dark, but I think Heathkit made some diy stuff like this.
 
#6
system7 said:
Ah, good. Your capitalisation is improving, though still weak on full stops and commas. 🙂

I'd hope that I am the lesser of two evils, when compared to that old so and so. You may disagree. 😉

This is just a stab in the dark, but I think Heathkit made some diy stuff like this.
Click to expand...

All knowledge is welcome be it old or young.


Keep getting this message, when trying upload images.??????

Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing.
 
#9
Those image servers come and go in my experience. So I'll save it for posterity with the paperclip thingie on diyaudio's server.

But, yes, a very nice find. The boxes are worth the £33 alone. 😎

How's the sound? Ought to be fairly faultless.

I'd have it apart in a flash and check all the wiring and soldering and electrolytic capacitors. Which doubtless are getting rusty.
 

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#10
system7 said:
Those image servers come and go in my experience. So I'll save it for posterity with the paperclip thingie on diyaudio's server.

But, yes, a very nice find. The boxes are worth the £33 alone. 😎

How's the sound? Ought to be fairly faultless.

I'd have it apart in a flash and check all the wiring and soldering and electrolytic capacitors. Which doubtless are getting rusty.
Click to expand...

Here you go chuck


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
#11
Fantastic standard of construction there. Probably only a dozen engineers of that era could have done work like that. Someone like Robin Marshall.

I'd be loathe to tinker with such a fine antique. 😎

But any clues who made it?
 

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#12
system7 said:
Fantastic standard of construction there. Probably only a dozen engineers of that era could have done work like that. Someone like Robin Marshall.

I'd be loathe to tinker with such a fine antique. 😎

But any clues who made it?
Click to expand...

The guy I bought them from said he made them? in his college years

but who designed it im unsure/ he says from a kit from Wimslow audio.??????????
 
#13
Old speakers often have terrific cabinets. Those look professionally made.

Wharfedale had an enormous cabinet factory back in the day, and they quite likely supplied a lot to other companies. It has the look of the Wharfedale Linton or Celestion Ditton.

The crossover looks like it was built by a professional wireman too.

Speaker Repair, Speaker Kits, Loudspeaker Repair, Kits and Drive Units, Subwoofer Amplifier Kit

A kit is quite possible. But that guy you bought them from knew what he was doing, for sure. 😎
 
#19
Hi charlie2, nice buy!
Getting back to your original post you might put them in a taller cabinet......i.e. rebuild them in a style like the B&W DM4 that System7 posted. That will probably make for a better stereo image.......but the crossover may then cease to be optimum.
Are the pair mirror image or not? If not, rebuilding one to match the other would be a step forward.
What model B200 did you get....there are at least three types from that era. If you got a big magnet version you could consider a vented box or an ABR and have a Cadenza clone. Lots of options depending on your needs, space etc.
planet10 has the data sheets for the B200 family on his website.
Cabinet construction has moved on a bit in the last third of a century. Matrix construction or a good study of constrained layer damping might keep you awake at might pondering improvement, ha ha.
The electro's (the black caps) could well be a bit "tired" now and the yellow ones may benefit from being upgraded to polypropylene.
Cheers,
Jonathan
 
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#20
Hi,

I'd hazard an opinion its an early DIY design by Martin Colloms.
I'm pretty sure he published a design with those 3 drivers.
(HFN+RR?). I recall a rather similar bizarre driver layout.

Thought (at the time I looked up the design) that
he didn't really know what he was doing enough.

I'd be very surprised if it was "fairly faultless".

rgds, sreten.
 
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