Hi
I recently acquired a pair of Solavox TK30 speakers and I'm wondering if anyone knows of the history or any tweaks that exist for this Speaker from a rare British Brand (Comet Electrical own-brand). The boxes are in excellent condition and are almost certainly the same as Leak 2020s as the overall dimensions are identical, the aluminium “picture frame” bezel on the front is the same as are the colour, round shape and typeface on the serial number labels. The speaker frets are the same material as the 2020s.
The only significant difference in the external appearance is that the drive units are stacked one above another, rather than having the tweeter offset to one side. The tweeter looks identical to that of the 2020, but there are no markings, and the bass/midrange is a paper cone unit with a single capacitor for a crossover, not the Leak sandwich type cone. The only other feature that might aid identification is a frequency response curve dated April 1976 on the back of one enclosure.
My theory is that, after Rank bought Leak, it was looking for ways to make the business more profitable and Leak had new designs on the drawing board that they could not afford to put in production because their existing range was not generating enough profit.
So when Comet came along enquiring about the supply of “mass market” hifi speakers, Rank saw a way to generate some funds without reducing the value of the Leak name, by using the Leak 20 series production facilities with component cost savings such as cheaper drive units and simpler crossovers which Wharfedale could provide as their speaker range went further down the price range.
I therefore think that the drive units are from Wharfedale (possibly from the Denton), and the combination of Leak enclosure with the Denton drive units should have resulted in a reasonable loudspeaker. I believe that the Solavox speakers were slated for muffled treble but I don’t recall any reviews.
The facts to support my hypothesis are:
1)The Leak company was acquired by the Rank Organization in 1969.
2) Rank had acquired Wharfdale Loudspeakers in 1958 prior to that it has acquired Bush Radio in 1945 and soon afterwards, in 1960, Murphy Radio. Rank therefore had a “stable” of companies with the ability to make audio electronics.
3) In the early 1970s Leak stopped making the 20 series speakers. These were superseded in about 1976 by the 30 series speakers e.g. 3030, with a “stepped baffle” front and different drive units. Leak also introduced a revised range of tuners and amplifiers.
4) From 1975 Comet Electricals started selling their own range of Hifi equipment, starting with a tuner-amplifier and a range of speakers. These were sold with the brand name "Solavox".
I would love to hear from anyone who either worked for the Rank Organisation or Comet who knows the true story of Solavox and Leak.
As an aside, I first became aware of the Solavox kit just after I had already set my sights on a pair of Goodmans Ministers which came from the Comet store in Dudley, along with either a Pioneer CTF-6161cassette deck and a Trio KD-1033 turntable. Whichever of those didn’t come from Dudley came from the Comet store in Selly Oak! Together with a pre-assembled Sinclair Project 80 amplifier from Laskeys in Corporation Street, they formed my first hifi.
I recently acquired a pair of Solavox TK30 speakers and I'm wondering if anyone knows of the history or any tweaks that exist for this Speaker from a rare British Brand (Comet Electrical own-brand). The boxes are in excellent condition and are almost certainly the same as Leak 2020s as the overall dimensions are identical, the aluminium “picture frame” bezel on the front is the same as are the colour, round shape and typeface on the serial number labels. The speaker frets are the same material as the 2020s.
The only significant difference in the external appearance is that the drive units are stacked one above another, rather than having the tweeter offset to one side. The tweeter looks identical to that of the 2020, but there are no markings, and the bass/midrange is a paper cone unit with a single capacitor for a crossover, not the Leak sandwich type cone. The only other feature that might aid identification is a frequency response curve dated April 1976 on the back of one enclosure.
My theory is that, after Rank bought Leak, it was looking for ways to make the business more profitable and Leak had new designs on the drawing board that they could not afford to put in production because their existing range was not generating enough profit.
So when Comet came along enquiring about the supply of “mass market” hifi speakers, Rank saw a way to generate some funds without reducing the value of the Leak name, by using the Leak 20 series production facilities with component cost savings such as cheaper drive units and simpler crossovers which Wharfedale could provide as their speaker range went further down the price range.
I therefore think that the drive units are from Wharfedale (possibly from the Denton), and the combination of Leak enclosure with the Denton drive units should have resulted in a reasonable loudspeaker. I believe that the Solavox speakers were slated for muffled treble but I don’t recall any reviews.
The facts to support my hypothesis are:
1)The Leak company was acquired by the Rank Organization in 1969.
2) Rank had acquired Wharfdale Loudspeakers in 1958 prior to that it has acquired Bush Radio in 1945 and soon afterwards, in 1960, Murphy Radio. Rank therefore had a “stable” of companies with the ability to make audio electronics.
3) In the early 1970s Leak stopped making the 20 series speakers. These were superseded in about 1976 by the 30 series speakers e.g. 3030, with a “stepped baffle” front and different drive units. Leak also introduced a revised range of tuners and amplifiers.
4) From 1975 Comet Electricals started selling their own range of Hifi equipment, starting with a tuner-amplifier and a range of speakers. These were sold with the brand name "Solavox".
I would love to hear from anyone who either worked for the Rank Organisation or Comet who knows the true story of Solavox and Leak.
As an aside, I first became aware of the Solavox kit just after I had already set my sights on a pair of Goodmans Ministers which came from the Comet store in Dudley, along with either a Pioneer CTF-6161cassette deck and a Trio KD-1033 turntable. Whichever of those didn’t come from Dudley came from the Comet store in Selly Oak! Together with a pre-assembled Sinclair Project 80 amplifier from Laskeys in Corporation Street, they formed my first hifi.
Attachments
Thank you for your posts.
I am always interested in loudspeaker history.
I am a big fan of Leak Sandwich speakers. Glad to hear more about it.
I do sandwich cones myself with paper cones and mellow aluminium foil and not with hard foam and duraluminium like in the Leak construction aiming for maximum stability.
Difference is that this combination is ideal for fullrange drivers. You need no network.
And you get the good impulse reproduction of the sandwich technique.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...loudspeaker-sandwich-cone.402917/post-7448058
I am always interested in loudspeaker history.
I am a big fan of Leak Sandwich speakers. Glad to hear more about it.
I do sandwich cones myself with paper cones and mellow aluminium foil and not with hard foam and duraluminium like in the Leak construction aiming for maximum stability.
Difference is that this combination is ideal for fullrange drivers. You need no network.
And you get the good impulse reproduction of the sandwich technique.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...loudspeaker-sandwich-cone.402917/post-7448058
I like the leak sandwich enclosures.
Their damping in the box really does a perfect job. Seldom a wooden box is so quiet.
What I do not understand is the fallback to paper cones. It's a sonic regression.
Kef had stiff cones in the 60ies but later preferred plastic cones
Their damping in the box really does a perfect job. Seldom a wooden box is so quiet.
What I do not understand is the fallback to paper cones. It's a sonic regression.
Kef had stiff cones in the 60ies but later preferred plastic cones
Yes, Solavox was a brand name of retail giant Comet which was used from the end of 1975. I did some research a while back.
It seems the original name was SolarVox, but Comet dropped the 'r' in late 1975.
The original SolarVox TK series is said to have been made in Scandinavia.
The Series 1 Solavox speakers used Wharfedale drive units from the discontinued range of Denton/Linton/Glendale models which had been relaunched as the XP range.
In the late 1970s, the Series 2 Solavox speaker models were sourced from Amstrad. These are identifiable by the use of chrome driver trims.
Illustrated above is the Solavox PR30. Below is the PR40, whose Wharfedale looks are unmistakable.
Compare the above image with that of the Wharfedale Glendale 3XP below.
The only obvious major difference is that the Glendale used a more sophisticated Wharfedale/Leak midrange unit.
P.S. Your Solavox TK 30 looks very much like a cross between the larger Wharfedale Linton 2 and the smaller Denton 2 (illustrated), each of which has an 8" (200 mm) mid/bass driver.
You may be interested to know what's behind that acoustically transparent tweeter cover (see attachment).
The famous Wharfedale/Leak synthetic purple tweeter material is used for the cone.
Wharfedale was purchased by The Rank Organisation in 1958, who went on to buy Leak in 1969.
Rank decided to make Leak their high-end loudspeaker brand, but individual drivers, such as tweeters and mids were frequently common to both Leak and Wharfedale loudspeakers.
By 1975, Wharfedale had returned to high-end designs.
The famous Wharfedale/Leak synthetic purple tweeter material is used for the cone.
Wharfedale was purchased by The Rank Organisation in 1958, who went on to buy Leak in 1969.
Rank decided to make Leak their high-end loudspeaker brand, but individual drivers, such as tweeters and mids were frequently common to both Leak and Wharfedale loudspeakers.
By 1975, Wharfedale had returned to high-end designs.
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Thank you both .
Freedom 666, I assume that sandwich cones are more expensive to make than paper and Solavox was aimed at the low-price end of the market.
Galu, I'm intrigued by the idea that the TK series speakers might have been made in Scandanavia, from the construction of the enclosure I would be quite confident the enclosure is the same as that of the Leak 2020 and that was made in England. Your info on the tweeters is very interesting as I agree the tweeter frame looks like the Wharfedale Denton one, whereas the frame for the bass unit in the Solavox only has 4 fixing holes in comparison to the Denton's eight. The holes could have been deleted as a cost saving for the Solavox frames but then they would not be common with the Denton units, so perhaps there was a production run of "cost reduced" Denton drive units. What we need is info from someone who worked at Leak/Rank/Comet and knows the inside story! All part of the fun of Hi Fi history.
Before I do any investigating of the tweeter foam cover, I'll listen to the speakers in action. I only acquired them for my garage, but the enclosures are in such good condition and are so heavy and well constructed it seems a shame not to consider doing something else and replacing the drive units as the frames are a bit corroded - possibly been stored somewhere damp and at nearly 50 years old probably past their peak.
Freedom 666, I assume that sandwich cones are more expensive to make than paper and Solavox was aimed at the low-price end of the market.
Galu, I'm intrigued by the idea that the TK series speakers might have been made in Scandanavia, from the construction of the enclosure I would be quite confident the enclosure is the same as that of the Leak 2020 and that was made in England. Your info on the tweeters is very interesting as I agree the tweeter frame looks like the Wharfedale Denton one, whereas the frame for the bass unit in the Solavox only has 4 fixing holes in comparison to the Denton's eight. The holes could have been deleted as a cost saving for the Solavox frames but then they would not be common with the Denton units, so perhaps there was a production run of "cost reduced" Denton drive units. What we need is info from someone who worked at Leak/Rank/Comet and knows the inside story! All part of the fun of Hi Fi history.
Before I do any investigating of the tweeter foam cover, I'll listen to the speakers in action. I only acquired them for my garage, but the enclosures are in such good condition and are so heavy and well constructed it seems a shame not to consider doing something else and replacing the drive units as the frames are a bit corroded - possibly been stored somewhere damp and at nearly 50 years old probably past their peak.
Note that I said the original SolarVox TK series (i.e. not Solavox like yours) is said to have been made in Scandanavia. Unfortunately, I've not retained the salient reference material.
The best aspect of the Denton/Linton etc. speakers is the solidity of their real wood veneered enclosures and your Solavox speakers obviously share that virtue.
As for identifying the mid/bass driver, supplying an image of its reverse side may be helpful.
The best aspect of the Denton/Linton etc. speakers is the solidity of their real wood veneered enclosures and your Solavox speakers obviously share that virtue.
As for identifying the mid/bass driver, supplying an image of its reverse side may be helpful.
Hi Gaul, Thanks for the photo, that does look rather similar to the bass unit in the TK30.
I've attached the rear viw of the drive units, a bit of corrosion but the cones seemed ok although I haven't remove the foam from the tweeters. the single capacitor across the bass unit terminals is an ELCAP 6MFD 50V item - no inductors. I have now tested the speakers and all four drive units are working so at the moment I'll use them in the garage until I find out if there are any reasonably priced upgrades for the drive units.
Sorry if I appeared to be challenging your statement on SOLARVOX TK series, but mine are SOLAVOX TK30s and they say made in England and look like Leak 2020s. I've checked and there are e-bay adverts showing that, presumably earlier, SOLARVOX TK 19s and the TR series were made in Norway
I've attached the rear viw of the drive units, a bit of corrosion but the cones seemed ok although I haven't remove the foam from the tweeters. the single capacitor across the bass unit terminals is an ELCAP 6MFD 50V item - no inductors. I have now tested the speakers and all four drive units are working so at the moment I'll use them in the garage until I find out if there are any reasonably priced upgrades for the drive units.
Sorry if I appeared to be challenging your statement on SOLARVOX TK series, but mine are SOLAVOX TK30s and they say made in England and look like Leak 2020s. I've checked and there are e-bay adverts showing that, presumably earlier, SOLARVOX TK 19s and the TR series were made in Norway
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That's OK, I didn't think you were challenging, I just felt I needed to clarify the distinction between SolarVox and Solavox.
The mid/bass driver looks identical to those inside the Dentons I have in my collection, apart from the four terminal arrangement which permits support for the tweeter capacitor. The tweeter is connected to the outer terminals of the four.
To be clear, the capacitor as not connected across the mid/bass driver voice coil, but is in series with the tweeter.
To use a single capacitor as the HF filter was an obvious cost saving exercise, as my Dentons have a full second order crossover network comprising two capacitors and two inductors.
The mid/bass driver looks identical to those inside the Dentons I have in my collection, apart from the four terminal arrangement which permits support for the tweeter capacitor. The tweeter is connected to the outer terminals of the four.
To be clear, the capacitor as not connected across the mid/bass driver voice coil, but is in series with the tweeter.
To use a single capacitor as the HF filter was an obvious cost saving exercise, as my Dentons have a full second order crossover network comprising two capacitors and two inductors.
Do not remove the tweeter covering, as it there as a dust cover to prevent unwanted particles entering the voice coil's magnetic gap.
You'll notice from my photo that the tweeter has no internal dust cap like the one normally found on a cone tweeter.
You may be interested to know that I have experimented with my Dentons by removing the full crossover network and simply running the mid/bass driver 'full range' with 4.4 uF worth of capacitance in series with the tweeter.
That seemed to bring a bit more life into the reproduction, even though I'd previously recapped the original crossover network.
I advise you to remove the ageing ELCAP capacitor and replace it with a new bipolar electrolytic like this 5.6 uF one:
https://wilmslowaudio.co.uk/mundorf-electrolytic-ecap-capacitors/56-fd-ecap70-electrolytic-capacitor
That seemed to bring a bit more life into the reproduction, even though I'd previously recapped the original crossover network.
I advise you to remove the ageing ELCAP capacitor and replace it with a new bipolar electrolytic like this 5.6 uF one:
https://wilmslowaudio.co.uk/mundorf-electrolytic-ecap-capacitors/56-fd-ecap70-electrolytic-capacitor
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Thanks, I'll have a look at that. As for the capacitor being in series with the tweeter, yes that was brain fade on my part. I should have spotted that there was no inductor to serve as the high-frequency reducing component to the woofer. I've recently been looking at second order crossovers and those have capacitors in parallel with the woofer.
Also, thinking loudspeakers from Norway, in the 1950s Tandberg spun off a loudspeaker subsidiary called Scandinavian Electro Acoustic Systems, or more well known as SEAS, so I wonder if the Norweigan-made Solarvox speakers were made by Tandberg using SEAS drivers...these days they wouldn't be budget end of the market!
I see a pair of Solavox TK30 speakers at auction right now.
Given your interest in the design/quality of the enclosures, I'd like to point out that the speakers carry the 'as selected for the Design Centre London' sticker.
Click on the image to magnify the sticker.
I visited the Design Centre premises in the late 1960s where I was quite taken by the design of a Rogers HG88 MKIII integrated valve amplifier which carried the Design Centre label, and which I subsequently purchased on returning to Scotland. It's still going strong some 55 years later!
Given your interest in the design/quality of the enclosures, I'd like to point out that the speakers carry the 'as selected for the Design Centre London' sticker.
Click on the image to magnify the sticker.
I visited the Design Centre premises in the late 1960s where I was quite taken by the design of a Rogers HG88 MKIII integrated valve amplifier which carried the Design Centre label, and which I subsequently purchased on returning to Scotland. It's still going strong some 55 years later!
BINGO! I've found the source from where I obtained some of the information relating to Comet, SolarVox and Solavox:
https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=77181
See post #16 from david freeman.
Stuart R in post #10 says he has read that the Solarvox TK 19 S used Norwegian SEAS drivers.
Here's what the TK 19 S drivers look like:
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The link to the manufacture of the early Solarvox speakers seems to answer all the questions, although I did notice that Leak 3020s are labled as being made by Leak in Idle, Bradford-the home of Wharfedale so there is another little storyline in there somewhere
As for the Design Centre label, my speakers have the same label and I tried to find the citation for why the TK30s deserved the award. Sadly the Design Centre no longer exists as such and the archive of awards appears to be at Brighton University and restricted in some way. There are photos of a selection of DC award products in Victoria & Albert Museum photo archives, but only a limited number of hifi items and no citations ,but the Rogers amplifier may be in there somewhere. When the awards were alive, they were a good way of drawing attention to good industrial design, so not only products that looked attractive but also those that were functionally distinctive - it is a bit sad that "design" nowdays is used mainly in the context of aesethic design rather than recognising the quality of performance!
As for the Design Centre label, my speakers have the same label and I tried to find the citation for why the TK30s deserved the award. Sadly the Design Centre no longer exists as such and the archive of awards appears to be at Brighton University and restricted in some way. There are photos of a selection of DC award products in Victoria & Albert Museum photo archives, but only a limited number of hifi items and no citations ,but the Rogers amplifier may be in there somewhere. When the awards were alive, they were a good way of drawing attention to good industrial design, so not only products that looked attractive but also those that were functionally distinctive - it is a bit sad that "design" nowdays is used mainly in the context of aesethic design rather than recognising the quality of performance!
I suspect that the Design Centre label related purely to the aesthetics of the TK30 enclosures.
As was the case with the Rogers HG88 MKIII which was visually distinctive for an amplifier produced in the late 1960s.
As was the case with the Rogers HG88 MKIII which was visually distinctive for an amplifier produced in the late 1960s.