Sony APM Speakers

Kencat

Kencat

Super Member
I'm watching a pair of Sony APM 717 speakers (dare not say where). They sure do look unique - looks like something from Lost in Space - and would be a heck of a conversation piece......BUT.....what do they sound like ??

I searched this forum and followed the huge thread on the APM-8s that seemed to die without proper resolution, nor did anyone there get someone to say what the heck these square-speakered oddities SOUND LIKE !!!

Anyone ? or do I hafta buy em and then sell the audio review to pay for them ?? :scratch2:
 
I wish I could help you but info on most of the APM's is almost nonexistant. I don't think any of the later APM's are really in the same class as the early APM-4/6/8. There's also a pair of APM-930AV on that site and I haven't been able to find out anything about them either. If you do end up with a pair you'll have to be sure to let us know what you think.
 
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Speaker Timeshare Coalition

Here's an idea. A group of us forms a Coalition and we split the cost of purchasing rare, wierd, oddball speakers. Then somehow get the speakers moved to each member after a certain time-period for evaluation by each member. After everyone has a had a chance to listen, the speakers would be put up for auction or sale on AK. If someone really wanted them they could then buy them.

The discussion on AK would be interesting as the speakers moved from member to member of the STC.

God, i've got too much time on my hands today !!

Well, if these APM-717's languish and go for a reasonable (LOW) amount and they are in pickup distance to me , I may try em just for the H of it. :dunno:
 
Sony produced billions of APMs - from those attached to boomboxes or TVs to smallish bookshelf - little books on little shelves at any rate...
APMs after the initial ESPRIT APM-8/6/4, the smaller 77 & 55 and the later 66 and its own many very different versions were, well, just the the tail's end of it. Still looks cool, still foreshadowing the NEXT panels (which we still haven't got full-size)... mostly still much more expensive to make than traditional drivers - market-wise not possible.
Sound quality-wise, I sure would love to hear the ones mentioned above, even just once and even for 5 minutes!



As for the Coalition idea, yes comrade avery intelligent move that would benefit all! But the cost of shipping a pair of APM-8s to Paris would definitely prevent overseas members from participating! I therefore must vote against this motion!!

(see the end of Lubitsch's Ninotchka, 1939, for a trail on this:) )
 
axel said:
Sony produced billions of APMs - from those attached to boomboxes or TVs to smallish bookshelf
)
Click to expand...

Billions eh? ......And yet no-one admits to listening to any.......very strange indeed.

As for the STC - a prime directive in the Charter would be that no shipping costs would be incurred. The movement of the test pieces would be by the STC network members personally. Transfer overseas would have to be by personal air or seagoing vessels. (there is always a solution :thmbsp: ).

I wonder if the guy who had the APM-8 s ever got those running? That thread just kinda ended. Would have been nice to have had closure.
 
I have a pair-They were on a 1985 XBR TV I had-TV checked out in '91 or '92, I kept the speaks. They were not any better or any worse than any other TV speaks I've heard-except maybe lacking a bit in Bass. Now they do yeoman duty hooked up to a couple of my Boatanchors. I know they were supposed to be The Next Big Thing-but they were kinda like a Gilbert & Sullivan play-full of sound & fury & signifiying nothing.-Sandy G.
 
It would be nice if we could just find spec's on some of these APM's to at least figure out which ones are really 3 ways and which are 2 way with a passive radiator. A lot of the 6xx and 7xx look like 3 ways but they aren't. I think the 717 and 930 are 3 way and hopefully would be better in the bass response than the 2 ways. If you are close to the 717s it might be worth snagging them just to see. The 930s aren't close but the fixed shipping isn't too bad and I might grab them just for the heck of it if they don't get bid up too much.
 
I just ran across a pair of these in a thrift store - APM-615's. They have a "made in the USA" sticker on them. The drivers looked impressive but the cabinets and speaker terminals seemed a little wimpy. What do y'all think? Are they worth another look? The price was WAY high, but maybe they could be haggled down a bit...
 
My personal feeling would be if the price is right, you like the way they look, and the surrounds are in good shape then go for it. But the 615 is probably a 2 way system with a passive radiator, and not a particularly good one. The foam surrounds do rot and they can't be easily replaced. I certainly wouldn't pay more than $50 for them if that.
 
Well, I'm really in the market for a pair of speakers, but I think I'll let these slide unless the price comes way down. The foam looked OK for now, but I figure that foam rot would almost certainly be the end of these speakers. They are asking $140 for these! Interesting thing to run across, though.
 
That price is way out of line. None of the APMs are exactly common but the 6xx and 7xx series speakers do turn up fairly regularly on eBay and Craigslist and rarely go for more than $40-60.
 
To Pickoid

Look at other thread on APMs. Jgarcia got a pair of APM 930s. He is in Texas as well. I'll leave it at that. :naughty:
 
Thought you might like to see my APM collection? This little Sony boombox was a dump find... sounds pretty good, actually. CDP doesn't work, but it was such a WEIRD piece of hardware I had to bring it home...
 
So... what's the deal with these "APM" drivers? I don't know anything about them... but I'll bet that Axel does!
 
mhardy,

Wish I had, but I haven't heard ANY of the APMs. Ever.
Perhaps one of the boombox types but I don't remember and it more than probably sounded just like any other boombox boombox :D

As far as I'm concerned, the ESPRIT APM-8/6/4 still are full size science-fiction to me!
 
Billions were made?
Trillions were thrown out most probably!
I saw and heard many different pairs down through the years and was not impressed but hey that's just me:)
 
Hi Parsec,

I'm a fan of the APM speakers, but I wouldn't get those you were looking at. The APM-717 is supposed to be a 2-way speaker with a passive radiator.

http://img.canuckaudiomart.com/uploads/large/455542-sony_apm_717_speakers.jpg

It looks like someone had 2 pairs of 717's and the passive radiator foam rotted out, and then removed the tweeters and woofers to make those 2-way speakers in the ad you saw. Also, the APM-717's came from a lower line of Sony systems. The woofer's speaker frame/basket is actually plastic instead of cast aluminum that was used in the high-end APM's, or stamped steel as used in lesser models.
 
From all that I've been able to gather, the APM's with three digits in their model number are more conventional in the construction of their drivers and much less desirable than those with two or even one digit. I have a pair of APM-22ES's which are two way speakers that are kind of at the bottom of the top line of APM's and have woofers with just a single voice coil that is connected to the flat diaphragm of the speaker at four points through a lightweight frame. The higher end models like the APM-77ES which is a three way, have fairly complicated woofers with four separate voice coils each independently connected to the diaphragm.

Here is the TVK page on the APM-22ES:

http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-APM-22ES.html

And the page from TVK on the APM-77ES:

http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-APM-77.html

And finally the TVK page on the four way APM-8 with a great cutaway diagram of it's sophisticated woofer construction.

http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-APM-8.html
 
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BOUXY said:
Billions were made?
Trillions were thrown out most probably!
I saw and heard many different pairs down through the years and was not impressed but hey that's just me:)
Click to expand...

You're not alone. They were not impressive new IMHO.
 
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