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E-V Patrician 800 speakers

W

woodog

Member
I scored a beat up pair (but not too beat up) for $74.20 (that's $70 with 6% KY sales tax)

:banana:

backstory:

August of 2011 a coworker comes to me (I am the resident audio snob) and tells me they are renovating the theater in our building at Western Kentucky Universiry. He wants me to see something.

Takes me to where they are putting in a new sound system and shows me these great big boxes. E-V Patrician 800. hmmmmmm....

I poke around the internets and find out they are good. So I go to Charlie Pride (no kidding, that's his name) and inquire what will become of them. He says they will most likely be thrown away. Can I have 'em? Sure, he says. I don't need speakers, but great. I get to thinking and compose the following email to David Emerson and Charlie Pride on 8/27

------------------------------------------

From: Forrest

Subject: E-V Patrician 800 speakers

If you are planning to sell them, sell them here:


www.audiogon.com


or


www.klipsch.com (garage sale area)



These are both high-end audiophile speaker forums and the folks there will know what they are worth and treat them right.



Label them as Electro-Voice Patrician 800 audio speakers.


These are VERY high end units, when used (placed) correctly they outshine most everything out there, with the exception of the Altec Voice of the Theater, which you have down there. I do HOPE you will keep and use that unit somewhere. It’s the kind of system they use in eyemax theaters, for instance.


Forrest

---------------------------------------------------



Sometime in November I get to poking around the theater and see them still in the back. I go to Charlie Pride again and ask 'what's up?'

Charlie says they will be auctioned. Ok, I say, be sure to advertise properly so they end up in the hands of someone who knows what to do with them.


In the meantime I offer more $$ for them than I can really afford, and Charlie and David say no, they'll have to go to auction.


They ended up advertising them as 'Theater Speakers' in the local paper and Vintage Speakers in a staff-all email. That's all the advertising they did.



I figure if they weren't going to pursue due diligence... I went, I bid, I won.

Since I'm new to this forum, not sure if I can post links... but here goes:

http://s140.photobucket.com/albums/r21/woodogs-world/Patrician 800/

this is the album where the few pictures with my crappy camera reside.

I plan on restoring these babys (having Bob Crites rebuild the crossovers, and replace the attenuators) refinishing the cabinets and enjoying them.

The speakers are without blemish. Can't say the same for the cabinets, though
 
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Yep ya done scored the biggie! Or a pair of them! Used to know someone who had 4 of them for quad back in the mid-70s! Have fun!
 
That was nice of Charlie for screwing you the second time. :thumbsdn:
 
I sold mine for 12k to a guy in Texas and he turned around and sold them for 28k to a guy in Japan. Ya done good.
 
jlovda said:
That was nice of Charlie for screwing you the second time. :thumbsdn:
Click to expand...



Nah, Charlie is a nice guy. He just didn't realize the value. Of course, I told him they were valuable, but I didn't iterate HOW valuable. He also had to follow university policy. A couple of things worked in my favor.
1. They are renovating the building
2. Everything had to be moved
3. Auction (online or otherwise) is mandated for state property, which these were.
4. Surplus building (where the stuff that's auctioned online goes) is crowded at the moment, meaning they wanted to move everything they could and not have to haul it there (that included a 1954 Baldwin Model L 6'3" grand piano that I also bought for $500 - cost me more to move it to my house than that!)
5. The people in charge have no skin in the game, and they prefer new and shiny over old and dusty (yay for me)

I didn't need any speakers. I have Tannoy SGM 10's, 1976 Klipschorns with the ALK crossover. 1976 Heresys, 1976 Cornwalls, 1980 Cornwalls, and various old scott amps. I am happy with the system I've built over the years.

What I DIDN'T want is for these magnificent units to be parted out or trashed or end up in the hands of someone who wouldn't baby them. That's why I point out the audiogon and klipsch sites. Didn't matter, they didn't listen.

So no, there's no screwing going on. :tresbon:

I'll keep this thread up-to-date on the process of bringing them back to life as I get around to it. First up is sending the crossovers (thankfully NOT potted) to Bob Crites. The attenuators will have to be replaced as well. They are wrecked with oxidation.

Forrest

p.s. the piano was a last minute addition. Beautiful tone but weary from years of use. I do plan to listen to the speakers and enjoy them before selling them and hopefully financing a rebuild of the piano.

p.s.s. These kinds of deals NEVER happen to me. I'm pretty sure I've emptied the good karma bank for many years to come. :D
 
My dream speakers. Ive always had a soft spot for vintage EVs. My luck Ill run across a pair of those Patricians and not be able to buy them due to my smaller living quarters. Im not gonna call this a score, this is a downright rescue. Those things wouldve been firewood if you didnt save the day. Nice job!
 
Awesome score!:thmbsp: Just don't put too much power to them right away without checking them over first. Those woofers are like gold but can be blown if you're not careful. I have have seen the remnants of one that actually caught fire.:thumbsdn:
 
Awesome looking speakers, awesome score, congrats. Hopefully everything goes smoothly, whether it's shipping them around the world or moving them across the house.

It'd be awesome to hear some listening impressions compared to the Klipsch's if you get a chance
 
Jenkster said:
Awesome score!:thmbsp: Just don't put too much power to them right away without checking them over first. Those woofers are like gold but can be blown if you're not careful. I have have seen the remnants of one that actually caught fire.:thumbsdn:
Click to expand...

OUCH!! that must have been a worrisome event!!!


Hooked 'em up to my Scott 299B and made sure all the drivers work. One of the T350s does not speak. I have a feeling this is from the badly oxidized attenuator. I'll check it by attaching the leads from the other T350.

Here's the preliminary plan:
1. Remove and save screws on the cabinet.

2. lightly mark each driver so the relative mounting position is known (to get it back to where it was) and then remove the drivers from the cabinet. Put the cloth drivers (the 30" and 12") in garbage bags so the critters don't decide to use parts of them for their nests.

3. Remove crossovers and send to Bob Crites

4. Have the cabinets refinished

5. Acquire new grill cloth similar to what's there. (help!)

6 when crossovers return, install along with drivers.

7. enjoy :yes:

any problems with this plan? Seriously, if I shouldn't be doing any of these things let me know. I'm keeping the original crossover parts, to keep things original and all, but my gut feeling is that the capacitors are way out of spec at this point.

Forrest
 
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