UREI 809A

[Nick Batzdorf]

Hello, I just picked up a pair of 809As on ebay for a lowball price. They needed re-surrounding, but they now sound very nice as a second reference.

I'm trying to figure out when they were made. The serial numbers are 08082 (0188 is below) and 07787 (0787 is below), and the obvious answer would be Jan 88 and July 87. Is the obvious answer right?

I'd be interested to know when they were introduced and discontinued, if anyone knows.

TIA

[Don McRitchie]

They were strictly a JBL product, developed after JBL purchased UREI. They were made until the late 1990's and were the last loudspeaker to carry the UREI name. JBL sold the last remaining stock in one of their tent sales a few years ago.

[Nick Batzdorf]

Thanks Don.

[doodlebug]

I have a set of 809s as well. The surrounds have been done and I've updated the crossover caps in them as well. They sound great and only differ from the 813A's I have in the level to which they will play before breakup - oh, and the sweet spot is a bit smaller, too.

As to getting an idea of when they were made, generally I'll use the date codes on the crossover caps and then add a few months onto that to get a rough window of production dates.

Cheers,

David

[Nick Batzdorf]

That makes sense. Thanks.