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Utah Heritage ID

toxcrusadr

toxcrusadr

Omelette au Fromage
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Snagged a pair of these off Freecycle and trying to figure out which model.
One of em works, one has a blown woofer. I think they would clean up nice and find a home. Once I figure out the model I can look for a woofer. Seems like someone should have a Utah sitting around, they are not that rare.

They seem to be bigger than other ones discussed here. 14 x 15 x 24, walnut veneer, 3-way so they give the impression of being a bit upscale as Utah goes. Although large they are meant to sit sideways as evidenced by the badges. 12" woofer with a decent looking magnet, 5" mid, 3 x 7 horn tweet. What puzzles me is the almost complete absence of a crossover. There is an HF pot, one resistor and one cap. Not much of a crossover design for a 3-way where they spent money on decent drivers, a big cabinet and walnut veneer. I'm wondering whether a crossover upgrade would be a good idea, but getting them running is the first priority.
 
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Tox, You might have the same ones I have in my basement!

IMO: They're mellow, old sounding speakers. By old, I mean that they are lacking in both frequency extremes, and not very detailed....

my L-Pads never worked, so I bypassed them. Also, these are the speakers where I broke one of the horn drivers, and fixed it. Sounds so much better that I might do it to the other driver. I can give instructions if you want me to....

They're really very nicely made cabs, and I might stuff them with something new someday....at least in the high end.....it does not go up very high.

They do sound good on fifties mono classical, though.

Mine currently reside in my basement awaiting a permanent home in my work area as amp test speakers, and a basement system.

I can post pix if you would like.

Also, the dimensions of yours seem to be a little smaller than mine. Mine have no badges, so I dunno which why they're supposed to sit. Mine are model HS3-5a.
 
They sound for all the world like Utah Heritage HS1-C.

I totally rebuilt the crossovers on a pair with new L-pad, resistor, cap, posts, and wires. I like them far better than is entirely reasonable. I set some friends up with that pair and a Kenwood KA-3500. The set is still in daily use. I always wondered how they'd sound with tubes.
 
Pix of mine:

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They may say Heritage HS5-A, but they look exactly like the inside of my Heritage HS1-C. Sounds like the same type of "cross-over" as mine as well. I'm making Frankenspeakers out of mine using parts from an HPM 700 and keeping the woofers, adding some extra bracing and putting a new baffle on the front. That's my way of saying I was not impressed with the mid or the tweet or the xover but I thought the cabinet and woofers were worth keeping.
 
Those look like mine as well, to a T, except for a different grille cloth and a different brand of capacitor. Thanks man! At least I know what they are now.
 
cgnman59 said:
They may say Heritage HS5-A, but they look exactly like the inside of my Heritage HS1-C. Sounds like the same type of "cross-over" as mine as well. I'm making Frankenspeakers out of mine using parts from an HPM 700 and keeping the woofers, adding some extra bracing and putting a new baffle on the front. That's my way of saying I was not impressed with the mid or the tweet or the xover but I thought the cabinet and woofers were worth keeping.
Click to expand...

Any ideas on how high the woofer in that can be run?


I LIKE the sound of the tweeter, but it just doesn't go high at all....a supertweeter might be a better option for me, with a new crossover, too.
 
Upon further examination these are HS1-C's. One is missing the label completely, and the other was torn, but I found a fragment of the model number folded under.


Here's a pic of the front, I'll save the inside pic for the thread where I'm looking for the woofer since it looks just like yours anyway.

Sorry this is sideways, I swear I rotated it. Oh well, this model wants to be sideways anyhow!
 

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I'm not sure of the specs on the woofers and that could be an issue since I'll be using the xover from an hpm700 which crosses at a rather high 1,700Hz. I also don't have a way to measure them.They don't seem to do a bad job right now but once again that could be just my ears and they could be telling me what I think I want to hear and not what is actually there! :) For all I know their response could be well below 1,700Hz leaving a sizable hole.
 
TOX, I think I have a pair just like yours the HS1-C'S. Tags were missing on back so not sure of my model number either. I picked them up at a garage sale early this summer. Like you when I opened them up I was shocked at the cross-over or lack there of. I hooked them up to my adcom didn't like them at all thought this mainly due to the cross-over and I plan to upgrade them sometime. I ended up turning the pot almost all the way up on backs of the speakers then they sounded a little better.
 

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One wonders what they would sound like with some stuffing and a better crossover. Changing crossovers can be a minefield, but if the speaker already sucks...
 
I remember this line of Utah speakers. They were marketed through many Electronics Supply Houses, IIRC. Seems that Utah generally dealt with distributors who wanted to get into the retail audio biz. I suspect they had rather good markup/margins versus more popular JBL/Advent lines offered in the Audio Salons of the 70s. As you can see, this is confirmed by the simplistic crossover systems.

Problem was that they just never sounded all that good. The Salon I worked in had some traded in and we never were able to find a way to get them to sound decent, IMHO. The drivers never seemed to be much more than middle-of-the-road.

BTW, that stuffing arrangement of 2 sides and the back was considered the standard way to damp a cabinet. Check many of the David Weems DIY speaker books of that era and you'll see it recommended.

Sorry to be the bearer of less than stellar accolades but many, many - but not all - Utah speakers weren't that hot. I will tell you that I heard a couple of their top of the line speakers, though, that did indeed perform well. Problem was that they rarely showed up in an Electronic Supply house's showroom floor due to their expense.

Cheers,

David
 
Alas, I now have a pair of boatanchors that will likely never have a coveted spot in any of my systems. Although if I could get that woofer replaced, there are plenty of students in this town with tin ears who would love to have them.
 
toxcrusadr said:
Alas, I now have a pair of boatanchors that will likely never have a coveted spot in any of my systems. Although if I could get that woofer replaced, there are plenty of students in this town with tin ears who would love to have them.
Click to expand...

Call me "tin ears"! :music:
 
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