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Mitsubishi Diatone speaker line

myu701

myu701

Vintage futurist
Anybody here familiar with any of the Mitsubishi Diatone speaker models? They appear to be very well made. I've heard that Mitsubishi actually supplied some monitor speaker core driver components to other speaker manufacturers.

Are these something worth exploring, or are there other speaker brands of the same general value that would be a better choice (higher end JBL for instance)?
 
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A couple members own them, that I know of, probably more. Highly regarded speakers.

cubdog
 
Seems they had quite a respectable range of models.
Diatone up to the 70's.
Diatone up through the 80's.
The DS-V9000 looks amazing, aesthetically and spec-wise.

I heard that these were made for the Asian market only, and that although Mitsubishi sold speakers in the USA, there weren't direct model translations (USA got the less desirable models). Many of them weigh a hefty amount for their size. Looks like best way to get a set is via local venues.

John, I remember you have the DS-77HRX. They're not in your sig... I take it they're great, but not better than the ones in your current systems?
 
I own a pair of Diatone ds-1000c's – they are set up in the same room with a pair of JBL-112's. I consider the 112 a very good speaker but the Diatone’s sound much better to me.
Not sure if this is a good comparison though – I believe the Diatone’s sold for a lot more than the JBL’s did originally
You would probably have a difficult time finding Diatones in the US – doesn’t seem to be many of them around
 
The JBL L-112 is nearly legendary... that's pretty impressive to hear the DS-1000C's sound much better to you. They were originally 150,000 JPY, and based on the exchange back then that was about $1100 in 1990.
 
they look like the same build quality as jbl some of those speaker look like a jbl monitor cabinents
 
kb9qkc said:
they look like the same build quality as jbl some of those speaker look like a jbl monitor cabinents
Click to expand...

My Diatones are in much heavier cabinets than any similar sized JBL I've run across. Certainly leagues away (above) from the L-100 in build quality and about half again as heavy. Not that the L100 represents in any way what JBL was/is capable of, its just for comparison.

Here is what the woofer to a DS-77hrx looks like:

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Here is one of the woofers and the midrange from my DS-1000c's - very heavy built!
My only complaint with the Diatone's is the vynal covering on the cabinets - I'm a woodworker - vynal seems kinda tacky - especially for such great speakers.

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^ Heck, who cares about keeping it original. Put some quality real wood veneer on those babies! ;)
 
Seriously, cover those things with something ! Those drivers look amazing, BTW.

I have the same problem with mine. My solution is going to be a bit, um, divisive. I'm going to have them refinished, professionally, in high gloss white :)
 
Those Mitsus are nice! looked at the d5000's in your link 15" woofers 10" mid,
2 boron tweeters. They describe the woofer and mid cone as {quote}" Aramid honeycomb curved corn." (l think they are mis - translating cone to corn. ) Tweeters "The D.U.D. boron dome is adopted as a mid high as well as a tweeter. In the diaphragm adopted by DS-5000, boron diffusion is improved powerfully, with the crystal growth boron, boron-ization of a titanium base material is promoted further and the proper tone of metal titanium is conjointly stopped with the rigidity of the boron. " sounds pretty high end for 80's . Now the baffle is made by "Direct pasting of good lauan plywood is given to a baffle plate, and a Canadian needle-leaf forest 2 ply particle board is used for it at other portions." "Moreover, the acoustic characteristic of resulting in a sound-absorbing material from a material is pursued to a limit by embedding solid walnut material in the center of a baffle plate " etc.( Not to sure about the Canadian needle-leaf forest 2 ply particle board. either) But I wouldn't mind giving these a listen. 495,000 yen for a set in 1982 was about $2500.00 then . Allowing for inflation and exchange rates they would be about $ 6850.00 now thanks for posting them for sure. The description was worth a read . Didn't know Mitsubishi made statement speakers . They should have lost the vinyl for some " Honduran needle -leaf forest mahogany veneer" Seems like they and other mfrs. kept a lot of higher end stuff for the Japan market. I like the DS 3000 speakers as well . links
http://audio-database.com/MITSUBISHI-DIATONE/diatoneds/ds-5000-e.htm
http://audio-database.com/MITSUBISHI-DIATONE/diatoneds/ds-3000.-e.htm
regards all
 
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myu701 said:
You want some white speakers? ;)

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It is actually a pair of Cantons that gave me this idea. :thmbsp: That, and my mid-century furniture, which is often of white plastic or fiberglass. I don't like the monolithic black look, and think the black NS-1000s are hideous- and that is what my Diatones look like. So they're in the closet until I give them a makeover. I admit it- gear must both sound good, and look good, to get a place in one of my systems. There's too much good looking gear out there for the uglies to get a shot.
 
Ah, OK--I see where you're coming from. :) I like the mid-century look too. I was in Sweden the summer before last and it was amazing to see how much new furniture of mid-century design was still being actively sold and used in public places. A lot of those designs pioneered in the 60's are very much alive there and in many cases just updated slightly (or minor variations). It's really cool.

Yeah, I'd never seen a white speaker before until I found Canton. They've had quite a few models produced in white (still have a couple these days). I don't mind monolithic black, as long as it exists sparingly and can blend in with the surroundings (dark walls).
 
JohnVF said:
It is actually a pair of Cantons that gave me this idea. :thmbsp: That, and my mid-century furniture, which is often of white plastic or fiberglass. I don't like the monolithic black look, and think the black NS-1000s are hideous- and that is what my Diatones look like. So they're in the closet until I give them a makeover. I admit it- gear must both sound good, and look good, to get a place in one of my systems. There's too much good looking gear out there for the uglies to get a shot.
Click to expand...

I got lucky and found a pair of the DS-77HRX that are the brown instead of black. While you can still tell that they have fake veneer, they do look better than the black.
 
Bump for Diatone. I'm bringing this thread back from the dead with some mediocre pictures!!!! Here are my DS-50CS speakers. When they're not being photographed by a amateur they are REAL pretty and they weigh 77lbs a piece........real rosewood veneer too.

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I have 10 sets of Diatone DSV5000 and 10 sets of DS 1000ZX and some replacement drivers. All imported form Diatone in Koryama in 1998. All sets still new inside their packages in a special room.

DSV5000 is fantastic. I have a lot of information about Diatone. The factory was closed in 1998/1999 but its seems they still keeping some activities...
 
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