AVID thread

[mhardy6647]

The Rhode Island AVID speaker company, that is!

A post today by lico (http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=116839 ) earlier today reminded me.

1) The AVIDs were pretty good acoustic suspension speakers of their time
2) There's not too much information available on them
3) I've scrounged up a number of photos of AVIDs (mostly from eBAY) over the years.

Seemed like a good opportunity to start a general info. AVID thread to me!

The only distinguishing feature of the AVID family of which I am aware was the use of a minimum diffraction grille design. The grill cloth was fitted to a hardboard sheet with holes cut for the drivers. In practice, when the grilles are installed, the faces of the drivers are flush with the grille's baffle. AVID noted that their speakers were thus intended to be used grilles on.

Herewith, some AVID speakers: Let's start with the BOTL AVID 60. Sorry that the "found" photographs feature an interesting surround repair on the twin-cone main drivers The grille is also featured.

EDIT: I am generally at a loss to identify the original source of most of these photos :-( If you know the source, please let me/us know and I will attribute them (or remove them if I've violated any terms-of-use).

 

[mhardy6647]

The AVID 80. This appeared to use CTS drivers(?).

 

[mhardy6647]

The AVID 100. Note, again, the phenolic ring (CTS?) tweeter.

EDIT: AVID still exists, and still even sells speakers... sort of.
http://www.avidproducts.com/

The other, well known "Avid" company (which makes products for video editing and production) is, AFAIK, not related. They are, interestingly enough, located in Tewksbury, MA (about 5 miles from where I sit as I type this).
http://www.avid.com/index.asp

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

The speaker with the oval (6x9?) driver has what appears to be a 3.5" CTS paper cone tweeter, similar to Pioneer's smaller FD66AP45-13F. The oval driver certainly looks like a car driver, doesn't it? Pioneer and many others copied that phenolic tweeter too.

 

[Nat]

It seems to me that a salesman told me that the grill cloth (which, incidentally was available in a variety of colors, and interesting option given the effect that color has on our perception of frequency balance) was actually supposed to touch the dome of the tweeter and damp out resonances. Don't know if this is correct.

 

[GordonW]

I have a pair of Avid 110s... 8" 2-way, dome tweeter, with the low-diffraction grille/driver flange configuration, as described above... which I am very impressed with. Very flat midrange response. Does NOT have the "BBC dip" in the mids, like many speakers... but still is NOT harsh. I can understand why people would like these as studio monitors- they sort of sound like a Yamaha NS10, but with more bass extension, and WITHOUT the annoying (IMHO) response peak (well documented by many people measuring the NS10, BTW) in the midrange that the NS10 always has!

They do need to be near a wall to get good bass balance... but OTOH, the means they do NOT need to be way out in a room for the bass to sound good. And near a wall, they get pretty low (as in mid-low 30s). Sounds like a reasonable trade-off to me! :thmbsp:

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[MarkAnderson]

My little contribution...

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=900973&postcount=6

 

[mhardy6647]

Thanks; I hope you don't mind if rip it off!

Boy, it sure is yellow, isn't it? Weren't the '70's fun times...?

 

[gearhound]

Thanks for starting this post!!

I have a pair of AVID 100 speakers....with bright brothel-RED grill cloths!
They are a 2-way acoustic suspension design.
Roughly 21" x 12 1/2" x 8 1/2" and weighs 25 pounds.
8" CTS woofer & CTS phenolic ring tweeter.
Has a three position speaker attenuation switch UNDER the grill cloth.
8 ohm, 10-75 watts, and a freq. res. of 54-16,500hz. +/- 3db.
Good, tight (but not deep) bass, a more forward midrange than most NE made speakers, and good, but slightly rolled off highs.
I've been using this pair with a H-K 450 receiver....a good match.
I really like these speaker alot!

Steve

 

[mhardy6647]

Thanks to lico for inspiring it.

The old CTS OEM drivers were quite musical -- surprisingly so, IMO.

I'll drag out and photograph my 102's when I get a chance and enough gumption to locate them under the rubble (they're doing duty as shelving for other gear, I think).

 

[Strangeband]

We had a pair of Avid 102 speakers set up for last winter's guys' getaway. They sounded great and were in mint shape. They belong to a friend's father, who does not use them.

I have a pair of Avid 100s down in the workshop. I'm going to try recapping them as they sound lousy.

 

[mhardy6647]

Mine 102's have the dreaded "sticky vinyl syndrome"
Pointless aside: a sick tweeter in one of these 102's was the catalyst for my very first post at AudioKarma.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1490&highlight=philips+tweeter

 

[mhardy6647]

Some scans courtesy of the ca. 1977 Gordon Miller Music Catalog.

 

[mhardy6647]

 

[lico]

Here's a better pic than the last one I posted (hopefully) of the 103. Like others have mentioned, I wish these had real wood veneer - but guess I can't have everything for $20 .

The 103s sound great with my Pioneer SX-1050. Makes me wonder why I spend more money on new speakers for the home theater when you can find something like these.

Great info in this thread.

 

[MarkAnderson]

Thanks; I hope you don't mind if rip it off!

Well, that's what I did.

 

[OvenMaster]

I have a pair of Avid 110s... 8" 2-way, dome tweeter, with the low-diffraction grille/driver flange configuration, as described above... which I am very impressed with. Very flat midrange response. Does NOT have the "BBC dip" in the mids, like many speakers... but still is NOT harsh. I can understand why people would like these as studio monitors- they sort of sound like a Yamaha NS10, but with more bass extension, and WITHOUT the annoying (IMHO) response peak (well documented by many people measuring the NS10, BTW) in the midrange that the NS10 always has!

They do need to be near a wall to get good bass balance... but OTOH, the means they do NOT need to be way out in a room for the bass to sound good. And near a wall, they get pretty low (as in mid-low 30s). Sounds like a reasonable trade-off to me! :thmbsp:

Regards,
Gordon.

I owned a pair of these $hitboxes for 16 years (I couldn't even give them away!). I (and everyone who heard them) thought they were the worst excuse for "hi fi" speakers I've ever had the misfortune to own. Weak bass, rolled-off treble, warped grilles, sticky cabinets. I tore my hair out in frustration moving them around various listening rooms over the years, trying in vain to improve imaging and response. Even the individual response graphs supplied with each speaker showed the treble rolloff starting at around 10kHz, and falling like a cliff at about 15kHz. The day the surrounds were found to be rotted, I put them on the curb. Good riddance.

In retrospect, I can only assume that my pair was part of a defective early run.

Tom

 

[GordonW]

I accidentally posted my pics in the OTHER Avid thread- here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=116839&page=2

Here's a pic of my 110s. Just want to make sure we're talking about the SAME Avid 110s. As I said before, the tag on the back of mine is sort of illegible... but it sure LOOKS like it says "110"...

As I mentioned... the bass in these is WELL DAMPED... which CAN give the impression of "weak bass", compared to other speakers of the era, which had underdamped, "boomy" bass... but, get them near a boundary, and they really DO have NICE bass quality.

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[ponderbear]

mrh, thanks for those great scans! The setup with the Avid 60s is actually what my stepdad had- I inherited the speakers only. I liked them for a long time, then had to upgrade, as is my nature..

 

[OvenMaster]

Gordon, those are indeed 110's. I'd recognize 'em anywheres.
Don't get me wrong, sir: I hated mine and regretted every moment I owned them, but if you find yours pleasing to the ear, then by all means, enjoy them! :yes: I would never dream of knocking someone else's gear, only my own!
Tom