Iconic 820 Like Cabinet and Components

[ac207]

Hi everyone. First off let me say I'm a fish out of water here. I've recently started collected Magnavox and Motorola tube console stereos. Because of this a friend asked if I'd be interested in a large speaker cabinet- if I didn't take it they were going to send it to the dump. It seems the people that have lived in the house for the past 50 or so years were downsizing and the house was being prepped for sale. This speaker cabinet has been in the house at least that long.

The question now is what do I have? From appearances, the cabinet appears to be based on an Altec Lansing 820a or 820c. It was loaded with a pair of 15" JBL 130B woofers rated at 32 Ohms each. The serial numbers don't match but they are within 10 digits from each other. There is an H-811-B horn connected to a Model 802 B driver. Non Lansing related components included a Jensen RP-302 Tweeter and a funky looking Wharfedale crossover unit. From what I've been told on other forums (which also directed me to you all), it's possible this was made from plans available at the time... Candidly speaking, I just have no idea which is why I'm here.

[ac207]

Some additional photos

[speakerdave]

First of all, thank you for saving that from the dump!

[ac207]

First of all, thank you for saving that from the dump!

I was glad to do it... my wife, not so much. But I have until November when the snow flies to get it out of the garage!

[speakerdave]

Of course you recognize that what you have there is a hodge-pudge. I see no reason for not breaking it up and selling the parts. There will be significant interest in the 32 ohm 130A's.

If the cabinet is well made I would take it off your hands for mono experiments. If you get out Northern California way, bring it with you.

[speakerdave]

On a second look, the woofers may have been reconed, maybe even with generic stuff. That would make them nearly valueless. Look for six digit numbers.

[ac207]

On a second look, the woofers may have been reconed, maybe even with generic stuff. That would make them nearly valueless. Look for six digit numbers.
I've seen these same numbers on many other JBL's.

[speakerdave]

Yeah. I think those are good.

[4345]

Are there any markings on the cabinet. It looks like an 820. Maybe it was a factory cabinet and just had the woofers replaced? Worth a closer look. Maybe with some better photos some other forum members could verify. Old 802 drivers are pretty valuable.

[ac207]

Are there any markings on the cabinet. It looks like an 820. Maybe it was a factory cabinet and just had the woofers replaced? Worth a closer look. Maybe with some better photos some other forum members could verify. Old 802 drivers are pretty valuable.

I'll need to see if I have any other photos of the cabinet when I get home- If so I will post. Right now it's at a friend's house for short term storage so I probably won't have it home until the weekend.

[ac207]

Here are some additional pics of the cabinet- nothing with any specific markings. For some reason, the owner had doubled the already thick plywood on the back panels, making them ridiculously heavy. I'll need to remove that to see if there are other markings underneath.

I don't know if this means anything to you, but the entire wood framed speaker grill was able to be removed by removing four wingnuts from the inside, front of the cabinet.

[ac207]

Apologies for the choppy video and shaky camera work... and the garage not being clean. I wanted to test everything so connected both woofers, the horn and tweeter to the crossover and then to an old Pioneer receiver (in mono mode) I had kicking around. I'll retrieve the cabinet this weekend and will re-install everything and re-test.

https://youtu.be/nCunmw5IYGg

[Kay Pirinha]

On a second look, the woofers may have been reconed, maybe even with generic stuff. That would make them nearly valueless. Look for six digit numbers.

Why? Does this mean that a speaker with it's original, but worn-out or even defective cone is of bigger value than the same one that has meticulously been reconed, using original parts, hence been brought back to an as-new condition?

Best regards!

[grumpy]

'using original parts' being the operative phrase.

[ac207]

Additional photos of cabinet- which appears to be a genuine Altec Lansing that was built in March of 1951. At least that's my interpretation... I'm sure you will let me know if I'm mistaken :D

[ac207]

A few more.