Sansui SP-1500's and unknown enlcosures - Today's Free Haul

They're beautiful! I'm going back to get the frames that held the tweeter/midrange panel thingies. I should be able to do something fun with them. I like the dual 12" subwoofer option. I can't afford that at the moment. I got time.

Turns out they're Fostex rp 2001 ribbon planar speakers.

Biggles

You said he had the woofers you should try to get those and the maybe some horns for the top of the boxes some day. The frames might help for the mounting as well.
 
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You said he had the woofers you sould try to get those and the maybe some horns for the top of the boxes some day. The frames might help for the mounting as well.

I agree. But he was asking 500 for the two woofers. He had an offer for 400, but passed it up. He now regrets it because they're still sitting, collecting dust. From the looks of them, they're worth it at 400. They're like space woofers or something. He might still have the crossovers. I think he does.

Biggles
 
I agree. But he was asking 500 for the two woofers. He had an offer for 400, but passed it up. He now regrets it because they're still sitting, collecting dust. From the looks of them, they're worth it at 400. They're like space woofers or something. He might still have the crossovers. I think he does.

Biggles

offer 100 bucks, because really you don't need any more speakers or the boxes.
 
They're beautiful! I'm going back to get the frames that held the tweeter/midrange panel thingies. I should be able to do something fun with them. I like the dual 12" subwoofer option. I can't afford that at the moment. I got time.

Turns out they're Fostex rp 2001 ribbon planar speakers.

Biggles

sorry, i see where you said that before. i just get so caught up in this stuff
 
No, don't offer anything, especially if you are serious about the dual sub option. There are modern equivalents that will do a far superior job on deep bass for a lot less money. In fact, subs are the one place where car audio and audiophilia can intersect. Watch your CL for a pair of 12" JL subs (for example). Car competition guys change drivers like they change underwear and you an often find very excellent drivers for not too much coin.
 
Even if you go new, something like this will crush most options as far as bang for the buck goes. The ideal sealed box for these is a little smaller than what you are working with, but I suspect that will only raise the resonant frequency from the low 20s to the mid 30s and should still be fine for your purposes. Find a pair of these used for $20-30 and you can have lots of fun experimentation for very little coin.
 
The only caution I'll give is that with the layout of those boxes, you may have to watch the depth. Some of those drivers might hit the back wall of those cabs.
 
I have 2 pair of SP-2000 which are 4-way 6 drivers per cabinet. Admittedly Sansui was not known for great sounding speakers, their build quality and cabinets are really really nice. Obtaining and restoring mine with original drivers was more of a sentimental thing. I wanted to remember what my dads system sounded like when I was kid which got me started into Audio in the first place.

That said I sourced replacement Tweeters and super-tweeters for mine via the ebay. I re-capped the x-overs using Theta-Film Audio Caps. HUGE difference. I did modify a couple of the values to reduce a HMMMMMM in the lower end. So they sound cleaner, less agressive in the mid-range/mid-bass.
 
The only caution I'll give is that with the layout of those boxes, you may have to watch the depth. Some of those drivers might hit the back wall of those cabs.

Hey Mark,

All understood and will take another look through CL later on today and see what comes up. You're correct about the depth of these boxes, there isn't much there.

Am going back over there the beginning of next week, I'll talk to him about the woofers. Just to see, eh?

I have 2 pair of SP-2000 which are 4-way 6 drivers per cabinet. Admittedly Sansui was not known for great sounding speakers, their build quality and cabinets are really really nice. Obtaining and restoring mine with original drivers was more of a sentimental thing. I wanted to remember what my dads system sounded like when I was kid which got me started into Audio in the first place.

That said I sourced replacement Tweeters and super-tweeters for mine via the ebay. I re-capped the x-overs using Theta-Film Audio Caps. HUGE difference. I did modify a couple of the values to reduce a HMMMMMM in the lower end. So they sound cleaner, less agressive in the mid-range/mid-bass.

I'm finding that people's opinions of many speakers, not only Sansui, are a lot more subjective than I once thought. These things have inexpensive capacitors and today, they're old and creaky. Do the people who've reviewed them, install new capacitors? But most of all, which genre of music do they put through them? I have a decent collection of vinyl and I'd have to say more than 90% of them don't dig too far in the bass department. The bass that's probably missing actually isn't there in older music.

I have to admit the 3500's weren't all that great being powered by a more modern late 1970's solid state amplifier. They sounded just fine, I wanted to keep them, but I've heard better. But once I put them on tubes or an older, warmer amplifier, the light bulb over my head went off. For the price point, build quality and the right amplifier, they're tough to beat. And once again, this is my opinion, not a solid scientific fact that's real in the world.

Biggles
 
You make a very good point about caps in older speakers. If I had a nickel for every time I brought that up with relative novices who just got some old speakers, well, I'd have enough to buy those woofers for you. :D

I don't doubt that some older music doesn't have much bass, but some does, and some classic speakers don't (even expensive ones). We're talking Sansui here but one I actually have some experience with is the Pioneer CS-99a. Huge 15" woofer in a box much too small. Looks impressive but doesn't dig very deep. Which is not intended to start a debate, I think there are speakers to fit any generalization we might want to make, or to be an exception.
 
You make a very good point about caps in older speakers. If I had a nickel for every time I brought that up with relative novices who just got some old speakers, well, I'd have enough to buy those woofers for you. :D

I don't doubt that some older music doesn't have much bass, but some does, and some classic speakers don't (even expensive ones). We're talking Sansui here but one I actually have some experience with is the Pioneer CS-99a. Huge 15" woofer in a box much too small. Looks impressive but doesn't dig very deep. Which is not intended to start a debate, I think there are speakers to fit any generalization we might want to make, or to be an exception.

Exception to every rule, eh? For me, I have enough music on LP and MP3 to last me a lifetime and sound great on the 3500's and probably the 1500's. If they were the only speakers I had, I'd be searching for a pair that would dig deeper and deliver the more modern music. I need to make my ears bleed every once in a while with something tasty.

I don't have the specs on the 1500's vs the 3500's. My initial listening to the 1500's tell me they very well could go a bit deeper than the 3500's. They certainly are warmer, what with having no horns and all. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they sound like on the Scott.

Biggles
 
This particular set is a 3-way design with 5 drivers (the midrange stage uses two different sizes), 8 Ohm impedance accepting 50W of power with an efficiency of 97 dB (1W*1m) and frequency response from 40Hz-20KHz. They’re quite heavy weighing in at 47 lbs. each
 
This particular set is a 3-way design with 5 drivers (the midrange stage uses two different sizes), 8 Ohm impedance accepting 50W of power with an efficiency of 97 dB (1W*1m) and frequency response from 40Hz-20KHz. They’re quite heavy weighing in at 47 lbs. each

OooOo, sounds as though they'll do fine. And, yeah they're hefty little buggers. I'm dyin' over here waiting for the capacitors, neeeeeeed.

Biggles
 
Even if you go new, something like this will crush most options as far as bang for the buck goes. The ideal sealed box for these is a little smaller than what you are working with, but I suspect that will only raise the resonant frequency from the low 20s to the mid 30s and should still be fine for your purposes. Find a pair of these used for $20-30 and you can have lots of fun experimentation for very little coin.

Hey Mark,

This could very well be doable, meaning the Sound Ordnance 12". It says it has a top-mount depth of 6 5/8". Am guessing that'd be the measurement I need to check to see if it'll hit the back of the enclosure.

I texted my oldest boy (19) to see if he had any friends with 12" subwoofer castoffs, no luck. That's fine, will keep looking or get those ones you recommended from Crutchfield. I'm in no hurry.

For today, I like the idea of making dual 12" subwoofers with these enclosures the best. I've never owned or used a subwoofer, so it would be a new trail for me to follow. I really don't like the idea of having to jack in yet another amplifier. But the alternative is to buy a plate amp, I hate that even more.

These enclosures will lend themselves to restoration the easiest of all. Every face is flat, no trim, no detail. I should be able to get both of them down smooth and ready for oil in less than a day without much effort, I would think.

Biggles
 
Hmm, there's a pair of JBL GT122 Subwoofers for sale semi-locally for 60 bux. Probably about an hour and a half round-trip for me, at least I know they're out there. There's others too.

Biggles
 
I just looked at the manual for those JBLs on line. Looks like they would want a 3" port for that size box, but that's no big deal.
 
I just looked at the manual for those JBLs on line. Looks like they would want a 3" port for that size box, but that's no big deal.

It's not. Excellent and thank you for your time!

Now it's time for Biggles to head for a day of fun and merriment, earning money.

Biggles
 
If you don't want a plate amp or separate amp, you could always go with a passive xover like this. I had the impression that you were going in a low powered tube direction, so you would benefit from some extra watts going to the sub. But those JBLs claim 95 db sensitivity, so you might be okay. Plus, with the passive solution, you don't get to easily control the balance between sub and mains.
 
If you don't want a plate amp or separate amp, you could always go with a passive xover like this. I had the impression that you were going in a low powered tube direction, so you would benefit from some extra watts going to the sub. But those JBLs claim 95 db sensitivity, so you might be okay. Plus, with the passive solution, you don't get to easily control the balance between sub and mains.

If we'd had this same conversation a week or two ago, yes. But today? I got no idea where I'm going at the moment. Right now I'm playing with the new QRX-6001 with the Rectilinear III's. So, wondering what a pair of 12" subwoofers would do here. Within a few days I'll have 4 Sansui SP-3500's up and running in the III's place, maybe they'd like 2 12" subwoofers.

Maybe the QRX would like 1 subwoofer to play with and the Scott 222c playing the SP-1500's would like a subwoofer to play with?

See where I'm going and not going with this? I have options and choices. Which is why I decided to put on Martin Denny and have a chocolate chip cookie.

I always enjoy helping you spend your money.:thmbsp:

Yes, and thanks to you it's going to be well spent!

Biggles
 
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