I've tried to find some info on these speakers online with no luck so far! I bought them from a guy who never used them and doesn't know anything about them except that they are good speakers that his musician friend had until he died a few years ago. So any info I can get before I dismantle them to replace the capacitors in the crossovers would be great. They are fairly heavy at about 20kg each.
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There is quite a few information already at hand and it looks as if this was designed properly from the beginning. Worth to be refurbished.
Where is this information? I can't find any reference to these speakers anywhere? I've even tried different search engines?
Very interesting stuff, not only the info on the Quasar speakers but all of the other tidbits from the early seventies. Thanks, mate, it's appreciated. When I first hooked these speakers up I put on Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd, I knew immediately that these speakers were the real deal and this article confirms it. That link should be a Sticky here at DIYAudio, I love it!😀
Here are some photos of the drivers, crossover and insides, There's a Goodman's 12-inch woofer, the mid-range has no identifying marks except for Made in England? The tweeter is Made in Japan 8 ohms, 20W and the Super-Tweeter is also 8 ohms, 20W and made by Eagle International. The cabinets are what looks like veneered marine ply with an insert of a cork-like damping material. None of the crossover capacitors is electrolytic so I take it that the present polymer ones don't need replacing?
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Those caps with 'elcap' on the side are all electrolytic, and will all need replacing.
You may also want to consider changing the orientation of the inductors to reduce interactions
You may also want to consider changing the orientation of the inductors to reduce interactions
Are the drivers identical in both enclosures? Quite the curiosity, these. Quasar was a Matsushita brand from 1974 on, applied to tv products, so they may have been an early attempt to try hifi. I do think your crossover caps are electrolytic, just better dressed than the generic.
This is why you should read the post through first mate! There is a link explaining this? These speakers were made in about 1973 by an English company Eagle International. The CEO Gerry Alder says that the Quasar QS1 is their Top of the range very high-quality Studio Loudspeaker. He goes on to say he is going to the USA to talk to potential distributors there because they can't be trusted to assemble them there blah, blah, blah!
Thanks for pointing out those Elcap electros for me. Tricky things! Could you give me a Reference/Link to (Changing the orientation of the Inductors to reduce Interactions)? I've never heard of this before and I've recapped a lot of speakers? I would've thought that this manufacturer had done its R/D properly in the first place? You wouldn't make a high-performance car and not tune it properly? 😀
Let the internet be your friend - 😀
There are a number of articles around - check for crossover design chats - but here is a primer that's pretty good about explaining things.
Inductor Coil Crosstalk Basics | Audioholics
Re:'I would've thought that this manufacturer had done its R/D properly in the first place?" - it wasn't thought important in the 70s, we've become more fussy...🙂
If they sound OK with just the caps replaced, then it's probably not a big deal.
Those caps were used in KEF crossovers, but the ones I've measured have usually drifted quite a lot in value...
If they sound OK with just the caps replaced, then it's probably not a big deal.
Those caps were used in KEF crossovers, but the ones I've measured have usually drifted quite a lot in value...
Quote(It wasn't thought important in the 70s, we've become more fussy)Quote. If you had read the post through and the link that Geotone has provided you would've seen that these speakers were considered very high-quality and top of the range. The CEO was hesitant to export them unassembled to the USA, he said he couldn't trust them to do it properly because ""they are best tuned in the factory.""
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I replaced the electrolytic caps with polypropylene caps the small ones 8 x 3.3uf and 2 x 4.2uf were not that expensive about $20. I replaced the bigger values 2 x 16uf and 2 x 60uf with polypropylene motor run caps. $3 and $6 respectively, all from Taiwan and all up about $40 for the lot. I was really disappointed with the sound at first, there was hardly any bass and midrange but I found they take time to burn in or whatever the word is and now they are sounding as good or better as any stereo Hi-Fi speakers I've ever heard in my 66 years. From top to bottom and all parts between the sound is great and it seems to be getting better all the time! I hot glued the big caps on the bottom for the time being just to see if they were going to be OK and I will hot glue them securely to the wooden struts soon.😀
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That does look like quality manufacturing, including the carefully applied spongeboard.
Minimum CtC distances, big magnets, cast woofer frame. Serious stuff!
You might want to add some medium amount of stuffing in there - difficult to say how high the woofer reaches, but it will do either nothing or good, hard to go wrong.
Minimum CtC distances, big magnets, cast woofer frame. Serious stuff!
You might want to add some medium amount of stuffing in there - difficult to say how high the woofer reaches, but it will do either nothing or good, hard to go wrong.
I didn't think anyone would notice the spongeboard? You have amazing powers of perception. lol, I found a big piece of fairyfloss/fiberglass stuff in one of the speakers, it looked old enough to be original, there was only the one piece in one speaker so I binned it and replaced both with some white felt polymer type material. Other than that both speakers were identical. Both speakers read 11 ohms across the banana plugs and are hard to drive compared to other speakers. Normally the Sansui AU11000 amplifier volume would be set at about 9 o'clock, with these speakers it's at about 12 o'clock.😀
I just dug a pair of these QS1s out of my cellar. I have had them since 1976 when they sounded good but they don't now. Where do I start to refurb them? Any advice will be useful!
I just noticed your post, sorry about the late reply. You have unearthed a treasure! No, Really. You need to recap the crossovers as I have done and play some heavy bass to loosen up the woofer cones. It will take a while but your ears will tell you. Any questions you have don't hesitate to ask? I played these test tracks off of YT over and over again to the applause and appreciation of my neighbors, NOT. lol [Lossless] - Music Test for Audio System - High End Audiophile Test - audiophile music - NbR Music - YouTube How about some photos? Did your speakers have any extra damping material inside the cabinets?
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