Bob Womack
11-01-2008, 08:23 AM
I happened to intercept a couple of carts on their way to the dumpster yesterday, and rescued a group of studio vets (some Auratone speakers) from "Mr. Crusher" once again. I've got them at home and am trying to decide on their next assignments. Here they are:
http://www.in2guitar.com/images2/auratones.jpg
There are three 5C Supercubes and two black 5W Super Sound Wedges. Each has a history. The center speaker is probably the oldest of the lot. It has screw terminals and a serial number, of all things. Auratone Corp. only kept track of serial numbers for a short while in the '70s before they became a victim of their own popularity and began shipping hundreds of these $89 wonders without records.. Oddly, this speaker is also in the best shape of the Supercubes I rescued, probably because it went into storage first after being orphaned fairly early in its life.
The other two Supercubes are newer, as witnessed by their binding post connectors. They formed a pair that sat on top of a Neve 5024 console, my main work station for a good part of the '80s. You can see one of them in that position at the far left of the picture below. That's me at the console:
http://www.in2guitar.com/myhistory/neve8024sm.jpg
At some point these speakers came to grief by being dropped on their faces and losing their gold plastic surrounds that held in the foam grilles in place. They were replaced by newer ones that are still in use. Off to storage.
Lastly, we get to the two 5W Super Sound Wedges. These hold a really interesting place in my history. On my very first long-term Audio Post Production mixing job, I spent three months in an editing suite, sitting at an Auditronix 501 console that had these two speakers sitting on top of it. Because the editing suite had horrible main speakers, these speakers became my link to the outside world and reality.
So, I rescued five speakers, all working, all vets, and all old friends. I've discovered that these little guys are going for as much as $400 a pair on Ebay these days. Whacko!
Bob
http://www.in2guitar.com/images2/auratones.jpg
There are three 5C Supercubes and two black 5W Super Sound Wedges. Each has a history. The center speaker is probably the oldest of the lot. It has screw terminals and a serial number, of all things. Auratone Corp. only kept track of serial numbers for a short while in the '70s before they became a victim of their own popularity and began shipping hundreds of these $89 wonders without records.. Oddly, this speaker is also in the best shape of the Supercubes I rescued, probably because it went into storage first after being orphaned fairly early in its life.
The other two Supercubes are newer, as witnessed by their binding post connectors. They formed a pair that sat on top of a Neve 5024 console, my main work station for a good part of the '80s. You can see one of them in that position at the far left of the picture below. That's me at the console:
http://www.in2guitar.com/myhistory/neve8024sm.jpg
At some point these speakers came to grief by being dropped on their faces and losing their gold plastic surrounds that held in the foam grilles in place. They were replaced by newer ones that are still in use. Off to storage.
Lastly, we get to the two 5W Super Sound Wedges. These hold a really interesting place in my history. On my very first long-term Audio Post Production mixing job, I spent three months in an editing suite, sitting at an Auditronix 501 console that had these two speakers sitting on top of it. Because the editing suite had horrible main speakers, these speakers became my link to the outside world and reality.
So, I rescued five speakers, all working, all vets, and all old friends. I've discovered that these little guys are going for as much as $400 a pair on Ebay these days. Whacko!
Bob