The driver elements look to be Stratherns and very similar to this custom pair. Odds are, those elements were either originally purchased through Dr. Michael Marks or Brian Cheney after Michael sold him the rights to sell them stateside.
- JP
- JP
any idea what they are worth? there is a guy down the street from me selling them (the tower speakers, the subs), and a pair of power amps (custom made) for $300. seems like a good deal.
im still waiting to look at the site you posted, i wasn't a member and it's taking awhile for the registration to go through...
im still waiting to look at the site you posted, i wasn't a member and it's taking awhile for the registration to go through...
cowanrg said:
Well, were I not several states away, I'd be scrambling to get them. The Stratherns were considered the quasi-ribbon driver to beat in the '70s and some of the best speakers made at the time used them. The Infinity Quantum Reference Standard, the predecessor to the still industry reference IRS and IRS V, used three of these elements per channel with EMITs and sold circa 1977 for a whopping $6500. Some say that the Stratherns can still hold their own against the best speakers today though their tech is now aged and require additional tweeters to counter the treble roll-off.
The pictures of the speakers contained in the post I linked to look just like those except with three elements instead of two. I'm tempted to email Dr. Marks and see if that pair is one of those he used to build and sell as a medical student.
- JP
Make sure the transformers are available and in good condition. If need be, you could build an amplifier that would drive them directly but it would be a daunting task as the Stratherns (I agree that they appear to be Stratherns) were as close to a dead short as you could ask for.
Grey
Grey
ah ok. it does sound like a good deal. i figured they were older. i would probably recondition and sell them (or part them out on here or something). i have enough speakers right now. my main listening room has a pair of BG radia 520i's, revel salons, and revel revel studios (it's only a 2-channel system 🙂 )
here is a pic of the amp. it's probably just a simple class a/b design that's very stable. just from the pics, it appears to be pretty low power, but would have to be relatively stable.
here is a pic of the amp. it's probably just a simple class a/b design that's very stable. just from the pics, it appears to be pretty low power, but would have to be relatively stable.
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GRollins said:
are you saying that these speakers are electrostats and required transformers? or are you talking about the amps?
GRollins is likely speaking of an impedance matching transformer. Each Strathern driver offers up an impedance of just under 2 ohms, iirc, which is why three were typically used in series to offer a decent load to the amplifier driving them. With two or one driver, an impedance matching transformer would be needed, as with many quasi-ribbons and true ribbons, so the amplifier wouldn't be taxed too hard with low impedances and the typically low sensitivities. The amps may have been custom built to deal with the ~3 ohm impedance these likely offer.
If you get them and decide you don't want them, I may know of a couple of people who would be interested in buying them off of you. (Were I not broke, I'd try it myself.)
- JP
If you get them and decide you don't want them, I may know of a couple of people who would be interested in buying them off of you. (Were I not broke, I'd try it myself.)
- JP
ah ok.
i would assume that if it has 3 drivers, the impedence isn't much of an issue. i'm seeing if he still has them for sale, but i'll probably pick them up. they have got to be worth more than $300!
i'm having one helluva time finding any specs on those drivers (if that's what they are). anyone have a model number on them? i guess i'll just have to pull them out and see what they have written on the back.
i would assume that if it has 3 drivers, the impedence isn't much of an issue. i'm seeing if he still has them for sale, but i'll probably pick them up. they have got to be worth more than $300!
i'm having one helluva time finding any specs on those drivers (if that's what they are). anyone have a model number on them? i guess i'll just have to pull them out and see what they have written on the back.
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