Info wanted on latest speaker find

Jeff's Class

Jeff's Class

Member
Was trolling a yard sale and came across these speakers, which I wound up dragging home. Manufacturer is Acoustic out of Van Nuys, Model 616. Couldn't find anything searching here or on the web. As you can see from the photos they are 3-way with internal crossover network and adjustments on the front. One woof (they're 8") has been replaced with what appears to be a cheapy Radio Shack unit, the other appears to be original but the foam is shot.
The cabinets look to be well made with thick particle board structure and real wood veneer, although it's been painted over with a thick coat (or two) of latex. I had to clean pretty carefully to be able to read the manufacturer labels on the back to get the model number.
Any info on these speakers and the manufacturer?
Thanks in advance!
Jeff
 

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Interesting set of speakers. It looks like it was supposed to be some sort of JBL clone in its day. It's a shame that one of the original woofers is missing.
 
Looks like there might be some nice veneer under that paint. You might want to use the 8" advent driver as a replacement. Can you post pic of the origanal woofer, it is most likely from some other manufacturer. Cheers.
 
djnagle said:
Looks like there might be some nice veneer under that paint. You might want to use the 8" advent driver as a replacement. Can you post pic of the origanal woofer, it is most likely from some other manufacturer. Cheers.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the quick responses, here's a shot of the back of the original woofer. I measured it, turns out I was wrong, it's a 10", not 8" as I had originally said.
In case it's not clear in the lower resolution the numbers in the first row are 130088, second row 978 8028.
Thanks again,
Jeff
 

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I thought Acoustic was a scam brand?
Maybe these are different.

You may want to move one of the inductors in the crossover so it is perpendicular to the other.
 
Acoustic made PA equipment , Bass amps and guitar amps in the 70s . high
quality stuff ....
 
Urizen said:
Yep. Here's the logo, for comparison.
Click to expand...

Looks like you guys nailed it. Funny, I found some info on the acoustic music equipment but nothing about speakers.
Now I guess I have to decide what to do with them. The cabinets are really solid, I think I might try to strip the paint and refinish them, then I guess I can load them up with some replacement 10's, maybe the JBL's you guys mentioned. I'm really new to all this stuff so I'm definitely still learning.
Thanks for the ID, any other info is definitely appreciated.
later
Jeff
 
WOW! I've never seen Acoustic 'stereo' speakers. Like karlo said, Acoustic was musician stuff... Acoustic Control Corp. was the offical company name. Acoustic's claim to fame was a bass amp (the 370, I believe) with well over 300 watts of power back in the early 70's. It was one of the biggest available at the time and it was to die for. Coupled with their folded horn cabinet (the 303???) it was a killer!

Here's Jaco with the cabinet I'm talking about (I don't recognize the amps but they may be Acoustic). Of course, he's standing right in front of it but you'll see it. To me, the baby blue color always gave Acoustic stuff away:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwhkPSEXs1Q

It was also rumoured that Frank Marino of Mahagany Rush got all those "Hendrix-ish" tones out of a solid state Acoustic guitar amp. I can't confirm that rumour.
Brian
 
I would get the stock woofer refoamed just to hear what the speaker originally sounded like and try to get another woofer that's a close match. The "Acoustic" brand name was borrowed by the folks who make White Van speakers maybe as early as the 1980's. The white van Acoustic models tended to use clear plastic speaker cones with a little white coloring added (or maybe that's just the way the plastic used actually looked) to give them a cool looking appearance.
 
i've done a few church, p.a. installs , where the monitors were furniture veneered
on 6 sides . peavey has/d their worship line... sorta' hifi stuff, nice cabs. expensive.
 
Jeff's Class said:
Thanks for the quick responses, here's a shot of the back of the original woofer. I measured it, turns out I was wrong, it's a 10", not 8" as I had originally said.
In case it's not clear in the lower resolution the numbers in the first row are 130088, second row 978 8028.
Thanks again,
Jeff
Click to expand...
The woofer was made by a small OEM speaker manufacturer named Great America. The 8028 likely means it was made the 28th week of 1980.

I heard some company placed a significant order for woofers (something like 10,000 12's) without putting the money up front. The woofers were made, and when the company that ordered them couldn't pay for them, GA folded.

I still have some new old stock GA drivers in storage, not sure how many are 10". I'll make a point of doing some digging around during one of my almost daily storage unit visits. I have all kinds of raw drivers sitting in 4 storage units, and when I can find some obscure piece that someone else can really use, it makes my day! :)
 
Bob Orme said:
I still have some new old stock GA drivers in storage, not sure how many are 10". I'll make a point of doing some digging around during one of my almost daily storage unit visits. I have all kinds of raw drivers sitting in 4 storage units, and when I can find some obscure piece that someone else can really use, it makes my day! :)
Click to expand...


What a guy! You will make a bunch of friends here.:thmbsp:
 
I have been looking for info on that brand too, I have a set of M500 5 inch two way book shelf speakers, they do sound very good for the size.
 
Bob Orme said:
The woofer was made by a small OEM speaker manufacturer named Great America. The 8028 likely means it was made the 28th week of 1980.

I heard some company placed a significant order for woofers (something like 10,000 12's) without putting the money up front. The woofers were made, and when the company that ordered them couldn't pay for them, GA folded.

I still have some new old stock GA drivers in storage, not sure how many are 10". I'll make a point of doing some digging around during one of my almost daily storage unit visits. I have all kinds of raw drivers sitting in 4 storage units, and when I can find some obscure piece that someone else can really use, it makes my day! :)
Click to expand...


You guys are truly amazing! Less than 48 hours from my original post and not only are the speakers IDed, but so are the mystery woofers, and you're looking for replacements! What a great bunch of guys!

I did Google "Acoustic Model 616" and a few variants and didn't find the site referenced in the previous post. I must be a Google moron, seems hit or miss on actually locating what I'm trying to find...
 
Jeff's Class said:
Looks like you guys nailed it. Funny, I found some info on the acoustic music equipment but nothing about speakers.
Now I guess I have to decide what to do with them. The cabinets are really solid, I think I might try to strip the paint and refinish them, then I guess I can load them up with some replacement 10's, maybe the JBL's you guys mentioned. I'm really new to all this stuff so I'm definitely still learning.
Thanks for the ID, any other info is definitely appreciated.
later
Jeff
Click to expand...
Hi Jeff, If you're still around just wondering how your speaker replacement went. Did you replace surrounds?

I have some 616's I picked up 3 weeks ago. I'm enjoying them as they are but I'm getting ready to try an upgrade from the 130088. The 616s can be a little boomy but the 130088 is not bad really. Strange that the 616's did not have the square magnet like the others.
 
@616

This thread was from over 12 yrs ago, and "Jeff" hasn't posted since 2014. In the future you can click on the numerals (see pic) and then you can see what that poster has been up to and when, for example

Screen Shot 2021-04-12 at 8.17.20 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-04-12 at 8.19.33 PM.png
 
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