Bob Rollin
Virgin McIntosh Owner
Does anyone out there own Electrovoice Interface speakers? Purchased mine in 1980 and still going strong. Does anyone know the collectability of these speakers?
Electrovoice Interface D Speakers
- Thread starter Bob Rollin
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I have the D's, they sound excellent, make sure you use the EQ that came with them to protect the woofers from subsonics, I had the woofer foams replaced, and I replaced the horn diaphragms, they were $2200/pair new in 1980, I have the brochure on them. Currently I have them on top of a pair of Altec A7's for my rear channels in my home theater, what a great combo!! 
Bob Rollin
Virgin McIntosh Owner
Serious rear channel speakers! I was wondering if I was the only person who bought these speakers. I agree that the sound is very good. I had the woofers replaced by an authorized Electrovoice shop and they never sounded the same on the low end. It is time to do it again. I hope I can bring ack the original slam - bang. What do you drive the speakers with?
Bob Rollin
Virgin McIntosh Owner
I AM USING A CARVER 4.0T @
375 watts. Looking to replace it with a MC275 if I can find a deal. The Carver is too noisy. I will eventually do the same as you and put these speakers in the rear of my home theatre set up.
375 watts. Looking to replace it with a MC275 if I can find a deal. The Carver is too noisy. I will eventually do the same as you and put these speakers in the rear of my home theatre set up.
gonzothegreat
Super Member
I was reading the manual from the Telex archive and they had a few details about the EQ should you find yourself without one. It mentions a sharp cutoff at 28Hz and some "sharp boost and cut contouring below 100Hz". The EQ is described as "four times normal power ... in the region of peak boost (around 32Hz)". In the back of the manual the gain is listed at 6db @ 32Hz with no specifics on the 28Hz cutoff. There are more details on page 11 where they discuss the problems with using the different Interface models with the Ds. It sounds like this would be a good reference if you wanted to convert an EQ to a C/D model.
The environment control is a nice touch if you want to use them up against a wall.
If you don't have an EQ and you're willing to lose some bottom end there might be a simple fix. Check out the Sentry VI EDS. The Sentry VI appears to be the pro version of the Interface D with one important exception. The Sentry VI can be used w/o an EQ!!! The conversion involves partially covering the bass port. On my Sentry V speakers there are two ports and you cover one to retune the cab for use with the EQ. Since the Ds and the VIs are essentially the same speaker, there's a chance the Ds might have the extra port needed for EQ-less operation and that it was simply covered at the factory. Any owners care to take a look?
Read the Interface D spec sheet closely on page 22 in the second column. The long term average sound pressure levels are categorized medium/loud, loud, loud/very loud and "Too Damn Loud 115db 500 watts"
Manual link for Interface D
http://archives.telex.com/archives/EV/Speakers/Owners Manuals/Interface D Owners Manual.pdf
Manual link for Sentry VI
http://archives.telex.com/archives/EV/Speakers/EDS/Sentry VI EDS.pdf
The environment control is a nice touch if you want to use them up against a wall.
If you don't have an EQ and you're willing to lose some bottom end there might be a simple fix. Check out the Sentry VI EDS. The Sentry VI appears to be the pro version of the Interface D with one important exception. The Sentry VI can be used w/o an EQ!!! The conversion involves partially covering the bass port. On my Sentry V speakers there are two ports and you cover one to retune the cab for use with the EQ. Since the Ds and the VIs are essentially the same speaker, there's a chance the Ds might have the extra port needed for EQ-less operation and that it was simply covered at the factory. Any owners care to take a look?
Read the Interface D spec sheet closely on page 22 in the second column. The long term average sound pressure levels are categorized medium/loud, loud, loud/very loud and "Too Damn Loud 115db 500 watts"
Manual link for Interface D
http://archives.telex.com/archives/EV/Speakers/Owners Manuals/Interface D Owners Manual.pdf
Manual link for Sentry VI
http://archives.telex.com/archives/EV/Speakers/EDS/Sentry VI EDS.pdf
CUlater
Member #287, thereabouts
Thanks for the notes on the equalizer - I have a pair of Interface B's without an equalizer, and have wondered if an appropriate curve could be created using a single octave EQ. Sounds like a decent approximation should be possible.
Sure would be nice if they would have just published the EQ curve, eh? Maybe customer service might be able to help...
Sure would be nice if they would have just published the EQ curve, eh? Maybe customer service might be able to help...
I have the adjustable bass ports on my D's, you can see them next to the woofer if you remove the bottom crossover panel. My "D" EQ is marked acceptable for both models C/D, and my "C" EQ is marked acceptable for the B/C models. Enjoy the pics, I never played with the ports as I was too excited to get them back together with the re-foamed woofers to delay anything, Dave.
I was reading the manual from the Telex archive and they had a few details about the EQ should you find yourself without one. It mentions a sharp cutoff at 28Hz and some "sharp boost and cut contouring below 100Hz". The EQ is described as "four times normal power ... in the region of peak boost (around 32Hz)". In the back of the manual the gain is listed at 6db @ 32Hz with no specifics on the 28Hz cutoff. There are more details on page 11 where they discuss the problems with using the different Interface models with the Ds. It sounds like this would be a good reference if you wanted to convert an EQ to a C/D model.
The environment control is a nice touch if you want to use them up against a wall.
If you don't have an EQ and you're willing to lose some bottom end there might be a simple fix. Check out the Sentry VI EDS. The Sentry VI appears to be the pro version of the Interface D with one important exception. The Sentry VI can be used w/o an EQ!!! The conversion involves partially covering the bass port. On my Sentry V speakers there are two ports and you cover one to retune the cab for use with the EQ. Since the Ds and the VIs are essentially the same speaker, there's a chance the Ds might have the extra port needed for EQ-less operation and that it was simply covered at the factory. Any owners care to take a look?
Read the Interface D spec sheet closely on page 22 in the second column. The long term average sound pressure levels are categorized medium/loud, loud, loud/very loud and "Too Damn Loud 115db 500 watts"
Manual link for Interface D
http://archives.telex.com/archives/EV/Speakers/Owners Manuals/Interface D Owners Manual.pdf
Manual link for Sentry VI
http://archives.telex.com/archives/EV/Speakers/EDS/Sentry VI EDS.pdf
I have a access panel, or a tuning port on the bottom of my D's, i was told by a guy locally that has a pair that they were the latter. I have taken them out and played them, also i have left them in and played them, and the bass really didnt seem to change a whole lot to my ears, but i really never gave it much time, the panel seems like it is meant to come on and off often as it is held on by wingnuts.......... as a sidenote i dont have an EQ, however i borrowed one from the same guy afore mentioned, and was not impressed at all, it attenuated the volume HUGELY and didnt change the overall sound, i had to play my sx1980 at half power to even get a respectable listening level. Half power on this amp usually makes my ears bleed. So after about 2 years with these speakers wuthout an EQ i am still impressed, but as you said before i do have to boost the bass controls a bit to get them to sound "full". It seems somewhat impossible to find these damn eq's..................:thmbsp:
totem
Addicted Member
EV EQ,s
Dave thanks for posting a pic of the EQ,s. I have a pair of the Sentry III,s
and have read that the D series EQ can be used with the III,s. But if the C/D series are interchangeable, then that would make all 3 speaker models able to use the same EQ! That seems seems odd to me.
Have you come across any info in this regards?
Or even better, do you have a series III EQ. that we can compare?
Dave thanks for posting a pic of the EQ,s. I have a pair of the Sentry III,s
and have read that the D series EQ can be used with the III,s. But if the C/D series are interchangeable, then that would make all 3 speaker models able to use the same EQ! That seems seems odd to me.
Have you come across any info in this regards?
Or even better, do you have a series III EQ. that we can compare?
Coytee
Super Member
I have a pair of D's also. I am original buyer, about 1978. I've got the original owners manual that although is posted above in pdf format, might be a bit more clear copy.
I have as well, a nice color glossy sales brochure on them. All together, this makes for 19 scanned documents. File sizes anywhere from 196 kb to 1,243 kb.
I don't know if those will fit here or not.
If anyone wants me to try to post them here I will, otherwise, if anyone wants a copy, I'd be happy to email them.
Right now, my D's are hurting. Rotted foam on both woofers (duh) and my ()*&$)@#$*#@$ cat got to the VMR on one of them and decided to use it as a scratching post :tears:. Fortunately it didn't like it as it only damaged the cone and didn't shread it (like theres much difference?)
That is another side benefit of fully loaded horn bass bins and monster horns on the HF side (note avatar).... cat proof :thmbsp:
I have as well, a nice color glossy sales brochure on them. All together, this makes for 19 scanned documents. File sizes anywhere from 196 kb to 1,243 kb.
I don't know if those will fit here or not.
If anyone wants me to try to post them here I will, otherwise, if anyone wants a copy, I'd be happy to email them.
Right now, my D's are hurting. Rotted foam on both woofers (duh) and my ()*&$)@#$*#@$ cat got to the VMR on one of them and decided to use it as a scratching post :tears:. Fortunately it didn't like it as it only damaged the cone and didn't shread it (like theres much difference?)
That is another side benefit of fully loaded horn bass bins and monster horns on the HF side (note avatar).... cat proof :thmbsp:
I have the same C's sitting behind the couch right now!!!I have a pair of C's with the ST350 tweeters and I need one of those EQ's, dgwojo!
gonzothegreat
Super Member
I think the SEQ on the lower right side of the first pic is for the Sentry III. I suspect it would have minor differences in the EQ for the woofer but would have essentially the same high freq EQ section as the D/VI since they use the ST350 tweeter. Does the Sentry III use the same woofer as the Ds?
As for using the B/C EQ with the D, I'd say it wouldn't hurt but it won't be optimal. AFAIK the C/D models both used the ST350 tweeter and similar box tuning (32hz boost and 28hz cutoff). The A/B both used a failure-prone dome tweeter that needed an additional 3db of boost above 10khz compared to the ST350. The B/C EQ I have is probably for the B/C models that used the dome tweeter (ie the 3 way Interface C with the VMR midrange). If I understand everything correctly, this means to use my B/C EQ with my ST350 Sentry V (aka Interface Cs) I would have to drop the tweeter 3db above 10khz.
The EQ curve that is really important is the 28hz cutoff to prevent woofer damage. The subsonic filter on many preamps might not cut out high enough to protect the woofer at high levels. The 6db boost at 32hz could probably be done with any good quality EQ.
On some audio review site, there are comments about how the EQ introduced hum and noise into the system. That sounds like nothing more than a ground loop issue or possibly bad caps in the no-frills power supply. If somebody wanted to, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out the EQ curve and build a replacement using modern opamps.
The good news is that it looks like the differences are merely different caps and resistors in the EQ circuit. If somebody could get schematics from EV for the various models it should be trivial (if I'm correct) to convert one model to another. Maybe even create a universal EQ by mounting the components on a DIP block/socket and swapping the DIP to change EQ curves. I think the EQ for McIntosh speakers used a similar idea.
Finally, I don't think the EQs are especially rare. I've counted at least four of them in the last year or two and I snagged mine for $35 IIRC.
The owner told me they were from around 1980, I couldn't pass them up for $50, spent another $100 rebuilding them. :yes:
Not that i expect you to ever remember, but if you happen to see one on that auction site etc, maybe just a pm if it wouldnt hurt, i am looking for the D EQ, i have had luck finding a's and b's, but no d's yet
avguytx
Lunatic Member
50 bucks???? Sheesh. I woulda been all over that, too, and had no problem spending a couple hundred on them if need be. I still hope I come across a pair.
dgwojo, if you ever come across a spare EQ for the C's, keep me in mind. I'd like to have one to work with on them. I'm always watching on the 'Bay for one, too.
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