Parks Systems Speakers

[Bob Smell]

This is my first post, and hello out there,

I bought a pair of these Parks Systems, bookshelf speakers at an estate sale, and I can't find any information, on them. There are model 103's, 8 ohms, serial #'s 1611, and 1695. The back of the speakers, says they were located in Pineville, LA, 71360, and that they are a division, of PWP INC.

They are a cone type 3-way, with a 2" tweeter, a 5" mid, and an 8" woofer.

Does anyone, have any knowledge, of these 103's?

Thanks, in advance,

Bob Smell

 

[ewollowe]

Does the front cover come off Bob? The actual drivers might ring a few bells to someone here?

 

[Bob Smell]

Yes, and it's a 3-way, with cone speakers. The tweeter is 2", the mid is a 5", and the woofer, is an 8".

 

[planet10]

Pictures Bob?

And we might make you pull the drivers out to look at them.

How do they sound?

dave

 

[Bob Smell]

The foam, on the woofer, is gone. I'm trying to add pictures; however, I get this: please enter the url, of your image.

 

[Bob Smell]

The woofer foam, is gone. The dimensions, are 9-1/2 deep x 13-1/2 wide x 22-1/4 tall.

 

[kevinkr]

You can probably just refoam the existing woofers. Given their obscurity (probably a house brand of a long defunct local retailer) you will only find generic foam surrounds unless you can identify the maker of the woofer. (And maybe even then.)

Kits available from many sources online:

Parts Express Speaker Surround Re-Foam Repair Kit For 8" Speaker

Speaker Repair Kits for Surround Edge Repair & Re-Foaming with New Foam

 

[Lojzek]

Yeah, I reckon it would pay off to refoam the units and possibly redesign the crossover which is quite an undertaking. I have done something alike with some Aiwa's and the cabinet was subjected to a major facelift.


Can we see the crossover filter?

 

[Bob Smell]

It's not much of a crossover. It's a 2.2uf cap, on the tweeter, and a 10uf cap, on the mid. The woofer, is full range. There's damping, in the enclosure, and they aren't bad. I'll probably buy new drivers, and crossovers.

 

[Galu]

Welcome to the forum!

Yes Bob, the drivers don't look anything special. Acting as a friendly voice, I caution you to make sure you definitely consider that the cabinets are worth repopulating.

Finding new drivers with the parameters to suit an existing cabinet is a major design challenge and not for the fainthearted. 🙂

 

[buggers]

+1

 

[planet10]

To repeat what someone else said… someone’s cheaphousebrand. The drivers can be screwed to a wal and used to hold screwdrivers and such, the boxes burned. What you have is worth less than what new surrounds would cost (even if you fixed the woofers).

dave

 

[Galu]

. . .the boxes burned.

And there was me, trying to be subtle! 😀

 

[Lojzek]

Nonsense, the cabinets are worth the new pine veneer, some braces, new damping and pretty much stuffed for the woofer's Qts is in the 1.5 range. I would quickly turn this one into a keeper, provided new surround was attached properly. No offense lads!

 

[bentoronto]

To repeat what someone else said… someone’s cheaphousebrand....

+1
From glimpses of the boxes and drivers, does look like low quality construction, parts, and materials. Had the surrounds been in good shape, would have been a bargain even if not great sound quality.

OP deserves credit for taking risk at flea sale. Pity it didn't go well. My own hit rate is like 10%.

B.

 

[kevinkr]

Note I never said "cheap" when I referenced house brand.. 😀

I am not sure what the end goal is here, if the idea is to play around, have fun and learn something about speaker design in the process, why not?

Madisound may have a suitable inexpensive 8 inch driver, and a generic 3 way XO might be a significant improvement.

What ever you do you don't want to put enough cash into these that you could have potentially done better by not doing so.

Madisound kits are another excellent avenue if you just want to build something decent for not too much money.

 

[Moondog55]

Learning exercise and how I got started

 

[bentoronto]

...and learn something about speaker design in the process, why not?

A wise new thought.

But if we were nice folks, we'd think of a structured approach for OP to learning something from the item he bought. Step One is buying surrounds for fixing the cheap drivers. I guess that's educational...

B.

 

[Bob Smell]

To repeat what someone else said… someone’s cheaphousebrand. The drivers can be screwed to a wal and used to hold screwdrivers and such, the boxes burned. What you have is worth less than what new surrounds would cost (even if you fixed the woofers).

dave

So what? I think they're cool, and I'm going to rebuild/update them! I'm going to start reusing, my knowledge in Electronics again. The enclosures, after some wax, and $200 for Parts Express' parts, will make these speakers, wonderful.

 

[Bob Smell]

Nonsense, the cabinets are worth the new pine veneer, some braces, new damping and pretty much stuffed for the woofer's Qts is in the 1.5 range. I would quickly turn this one into a keeper, provided new surround was attached properly. No offense lads!

Absolutely! The suggestion, for braces, is very good. When I rebuild, and update them, your suggestion, will be used. At the very, very least, I'll keep these Parks Systems speakers working! And if the "experts and audiophiles" think this is heresy, visit the new thread, I'm starting about updating my Infinity speakers! Heresy!