too rare to go unmentioned... APM-8!

[axel]

ala, no, I didn't score them APMs for 20$ at my local junk store.

But there's a pair here: http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&?ViewItem&item=7511622740

Some foam damage on the woofs but otherwise they seem MINT!
I dare not think of the shipping fees so these will probably remain local... hence a price that probably will remain fairly acceptable? Who knows. I wish I could know. Argh.

(no affiliation.)

[bolly]

check here (http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8783) .

[axel]

hello bolly,

thanks I know the thread!

If the price stays low on them (has happened on several other big Sonys in the past because the seller wouldn't ship at all), I might take the plunge and go get them with a car. A big car. A van. A big van. With a friend. Two friends. Probably three friends.

Minimal hopes, though.

[DaWoofer]

I wonder if DonC ever got his fired up?

[Don C]

No, they are just holding the garage floor down still.
Axel, let me know if you learn the serial numbers of those.

[axel]

Don,
I eMailed the seller, of course, and will keep you posted.

cheers
a

[axel]

Don,
the seller has answered my eMail but asked me to rephrase in English... I thought my German was pretty good :D

He also added on his listing that the pair was bought from Sony GmBH in Germany and was used throughout the 80s in a Sony recording studio there...
I hope he will understand my english :D:D, provide the s/n and mostly transmit the registering info the the future owner.

Two pairs so far - how many left?

[bully]

Only about 18 pairs made or something like that, IIRC. So, whatever the actual number very rare.

[axel]

I have no firm proof so far (working hard on that!) but 16 pairs only is myth.

I'm not saying they made 1000 pairs but they made much more than 16, just like they made more than fifty PS-X9. 16 pairs exported outside Japan, perhaps (but I doubt very much), 16 pairs exported to the US, maybe. But 16 in toto... no go.

Still, anyway, nevertheless - damn' rare indeed!
I hope the seller wil transmit the s/n - as these were used at Sony (and thus "bought" by... Sony :) ), they probably were very early ones so a comparison with Don_C's numbers would prove to be quiteinteresting!

...checking my eMail every 5 minutes :nutz: !! (I must be)

[Inspiribomb]

Good luck finding square replacement foam...

[Don C]

The bad news is that they were owned by Sony, and it appears that even Sony themselves could not obtain the correct replacement foams. The foam that this set has is in better condition than the ones that I have, suggesting that the foam, or maybe the whole drivers, may have been replaced at some point in their history.

[Charivari]

I've been kicking myself since the start of this thread because just three weeks ago I passed on a pair of APM-77s (http://www.massto.nl/ES-LUIDSPR1.html) at a Goodwill thinking that they weren't worth the effort picking up, being Sony. However, this has gotten me to thinking about your refoam problem.

There are some companies out there that make cheap, square subwoofers, such as Pyramid (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=39777&item=5769028593&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW). I can't help but wonder if replacement surrounds might be obtained for one of these drivers that might fit your Sonys. These cheap subwoofers are largely 8" and 12".

Don C, I believe you said that you measured the large driver to be around 15" in the other thread and as I cannot read German, I'll have to refer to your measurements. Was this taken diagonally? If so, then maybe a square surround from one of those cheap 12" woofers might fit, as I think they're measured on a side and not diagonally. Kind of like how four points in a square about 10 inches on a side will transcrive a 12 inch circle as measured diagonally.

If all else fails, you could always resort to Ed in SoDak's method (http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29265&highlight=plaid) to repaired surrounds.

If you ever get tired of them holding down your floor, I can always make room for them. :naughty: I do have quite an infinity for big speakers.

- JP

Edit: I was wrong about those 12" square woofers, rereading has shown them to be measured on the diagonal as well. Still, there may be some 15" out there.

[axel]

sorry, my mistake - I re-read the seller's listing addendum and it states that:

"these were bought direct from Sony Germany", ie. not through a reseller,

"these were the Sony reference speakers for the Sony Studios", NOT that THESE were used in a studio...

The addendum ends with "I am the 1st and original owner so far".
Argh - I'm definitely not 20 anymore and cannot do 5 things at the same time :(


I am inclined to think that these saw little use after a while, were stored away and the foam rotted "naturally" in some basement or garage. At least that one spot seen in the picture he posted, but perhaps the rest of the surround wouldn't need much to go awry as well?

[Charivari]

Alright, to make up for my mistake on the dimensions of those little 12" square woofers, I've been doing some more research. Kicker (http://www.kicker.com/05/05kicker.html) makes an 18" square subwoofer called the SoloX, which being 18 in diameter should be similar in size to your 15" straight across driver (now that I've reread your other thread). However, the roll of the surround is quite large, so I'm uncertain how good of a match it would be. Then, you'd also have to double up your taboo of having a Sony by adding car subwoofer parts to the mix, but don't worry, we'd forgive you.

If you want to see if you can con them out of some surrounds, the Kicker Customer Support number is (405) 624-8510 M-F 8-5 PM CST.

Of course, it is a little bit of a distant shot. You can always bring those speakers up here to WA and I'll see what I can manage in the way of surround repair. Though, I'm sure I'd need a year or two of "testing" before I could return them.

- JP

[axel]

Ok,
So they went for 1040€, c. 1350$.
Seller probably was (is - rarely changes with age) a schmuck, given the blurry blurbs he added to his listing. Probably would've gone higher if he hadn't been one (schmuck), as he obviously didn't know much or describe it properly - "normal speaker posts" doesn't exactly fit the quadri-amping possiblities of the APM-8, does it?

Anyway, however, the BUYER has contacted me!
He's in the Netherlands and will keep me posted when he'll be back from picking them up in Germany, provide detailed photos and the serial numbers. Good! At least we will have two sets of s/n to make up some kind of approximative approximation of "how many" :)

Expect an expanded APM-8 post on TVK soon :banana:

[bolly]

that's the way to do it Sherlock Jr.! :D

[axel]

Thanks bolly!

Sherlock Jr. isn't my favorite Buster Keaton film but, well - The General seemed a tad presomptuous :D

[natlab_nl]

I feel like captain Slow in Top gear. On my search for refoam's on my APM-8's I stumbled upon this thread. It was me who outbid you two years ago, sorry Axel! ;-)

If it helps: it was hell getting them home: 600km away orso. Both of them fitted in the back of my Opel Vectra GTS hatchback. Just. Including covers. What an enourmous covers. They'd make a decent plasma screen together. Anyway. It fitted. With 3 cm spare. One big bump and my back window would have gone out. Luckily they did not move due to their wheight :-)

Getting them up the stairs was hell too. Even without the speakers, the wheight and volume is outrageous. My girlfriend helped lifting. Still have the same girlfriend. Don't know why ;-)

They still sound good. Powerfull bass. The foam on the woofers has almost come off completely. Maybe not the best speakers ever, but definately a special piece of work and crown on my APM collection.

Mark
http://audioidiots.com

[Chazzer]

OK.......here you go.....:worthless

[kfa888]

They still sound good. Powerfull bass. The foam on the woofers has almost come off completely.

How are these things coexisting?

[Kernel86]

When most if not all of the surround material was still intact coating them with silicon rubber would have been an acceptable repair measure in lack of proper replacements. Sounds like it's probably to late for that treatment however. I've only seen pictures of these elsewhere but they looked truly impressive to me. That's really saying something because I hate those dang square woofers. :p:

[Chazzer]

I feel like captain Slow in Top gear. On my search for refoam's on my APM-8's I stumbled upon this thread. It was me who outbid you two years ago, sorry Axel! ;-)

If it helps: it was hell getting them home: 600km away orso. Both of them fitted in the back of my Opel Vectra GTS hatchback. Just. Including covers. What an enourmous covers. They'd make a decent plasma screen together. Anyway. It fitted. With 3 cm spare. One big bump and my back window would have gone out. Luckily they did not move due to their wheight :-)

Getting them up the stairs was hell too. Even without the speakers, the wheight and volume is outrageous. My girlfriend helped lifting. Still have the same girlfriend. Don't know why ;-)

They still sound good. Powerfull bass. The foam on the woofers has almost come off completely. Maybe not the best speakers ever, but definately a special piece of work and crown on my APM collection.

Mark
http://audioidiots.com

OK.....seriously.....At least yours are complete. Mine are missing the woofers and the low-mid's.:tears:

[Stoffie]

Dang... getting 100kg + speakers up the stairs, twice, with the gf... keep her ! :D

There was a thread here a while ago about a store that actually sold APM foams. But I think only the small kind for the smaller APM series.

Have seen some APM-6's on Hifido a while ago that got a custom treatment, with white cloth surrounds or so it seemed. So I guess if you are inventive, you could come up with a solution for them.

http://homepage2.nifty.com/k-ooki/apm/apm-6-5.jpg

There is a Jap guy (the one with the APM site) that devised his own solution to fixing his surrounds, but that does require some of the material to still be on there.

Very nice speakers anyway, wish I had a pair... truly impressive engineering.

Are you in the Netherlands by any chance ? Would like to come and have a look and listen sometime if you don't mind :)