who made this?

[tomt]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50597&item=5763092314&rd=1

[Robh3606]

Just a quess but the frame looks "Altec" to me.

Rob:)

[Earl K]

Hi Tom

- That woofer is part of the 20/80 system .

- Here are a few more pics showing some of the other parts to this "export only" Westrex stuff .

- Obviously , by the pics, this stuff was made in England . The scuttlebutt is that this was Altec technology , licensed by Western Electric and manufactured for them by either ; Vitavox, Tannoy, BTH, Rank or Gamont Kalee ( take your pick ) . If you look closely at the cut-sheet in one of the pics you'll see a reference to the 20/80 compression driver having a 3" voicecoil. There is an included "patent" number for the horn in one pic. This was a unique piece and could be a clue as to the British manufacturer - if they happen to be the patent holder .

:)

[tomt]

amazing...

some sort of lens in the horn?


thanks

[Earl K]

amazing...

some sort of lens in the horn?

- Yep, that's exactly what that is .

- This series of Westrex gear usually shows up on eBay originating from either New Zealand or Australia ( Chile once , I believe) but Canada ? - that's a first to my knowledge .


:cheers:

[andywin]

This is what the cabinets looked like

I was under the impression that they were manufactured by Westrex Co Ltd, although it is probable they were outsourced.

BTH Drivers were made by Associated Electrical Industries Ltd, Goodmans made the speakers for Rank/Kalee so it coulde be either of those as well.

A friend of mine has had a pair of these that he let go to buy a pair of hartsfields and he always regretted it as he rated the Westrex better. He currently has Tannoy Autograph's, which in his opinion still don't match the Westrex Acoustilens system. Apparantly it's in the midrange that the Westrex shines

[Earl K]

Nice !

- Thanks for showing that pic. They are very handsome .

- I've only seen that cabinet previously in a black & white brochure ( again, another eBay auction ). The brochure doesn't do justice to the cabinets your showing .

- The brochure gives a crossover point of 675hz.

- I'm not surprised some considered the midrange to be quite superior. After all , not many people get to ever hear a 288 mated with a 515 type speaker in their home ( in a bass reflex enclosure ) . Lots of resolution in that setup .

- Here's the mentioned pic . Does that address mean anything to you ?

:cheers:

[Steve Gonzales]

Nice Set. The speakers aren't bad either :D

[andywin]

Nice !

Does that address mean anything to you ?



Earl
I've checked out that address and they are long gone, as are many of the other old UK manufacturers.


The pic below is of a Westrex Garrard 301 I rescued with a serial No that puts it in the 1st year of manufacture. It proves that Westrex did outsource some components but I'm sure the steel plinth and additional electronics are of Westrex manufacture. The arm incidently is by Decca.

Whilst we are on the subject of UK stuff, I've recently aquired a pre war BTH horn and drivers. I'll attach a pic in a following post

Andy

[andywin]

I'm not sure what to do with it yet, but I,ve hooked it up using a K10-A crossover and the K10 for the LF only and it sounds amazing.

[Titanium Dome]

Can you give us a shot from another angle? Or maybe a couple, one from a 90 degree rotation showing a better view of the "join" and one from the front? Thanks in advance.

[andywin]

I'll post a closer shot of the drivers and adaptor later

[andywin]

Adaptor

[Titanium Dome]

Brilliant! Just what I wanted. Thank you.

I'd love to hear it. I'm only 8 or 9 hours away by nonstop Jumbo Jet (to Heathrow anyway). :D

[Bernard Wolf]

it sounds amazing.

What is that grey 'thing' in the left corner? I noticed the same in the home photo of the Westrex speakers.

Bernard

[Chas]

Nice !

- Thanks for showing that pic. They are very handsome .

- I've only seen that cabinet previously in a black & white brochure ( again, another eBay auction ). The brochure doesn't do justice to the cabinets your showing .

- The brochure gives a crossover point of 675hz.

- I'm not surprised some considered the midrange to be quite superior. After all , not many people get to ever hear a 288 mated with a 515 type speaker in their home ( in a bass reflex enclosure ) . Lots of resolution in that setup .

- Here's the mentioned pic . Does that address mean anything to you ?

:cheers:

Interesting to note that my Hi-Fi News buyers guide from 1958 lists the price of the Westrex system at 165 pounds each.....this was at a time when a Quad II power amp was 22 pounds!

[andywin]

What is that grey 'thing' in the left corner? I noticed the same in the home photo of the Westrex speakers.

Bernard

The "grey thing" is a rack of Klangfilm cinema amps.

[lpd]

Funny thing is I new these drivers would end up here as a discussion. These speakers are owned by a friend of mine. He was going to sell them locally to a lowballer for a couple hundred bucks, and phoned me and asked me to help him research them (he's a retired fellow/tube tech, but not much of a computer user). It didn't take me long to discover that they were collectable.

Wonder where they will end up $$$$$???

Anyhow I can vouch for the seller as a stand up guy who really does test his gear. I've bartered a pair of Heath W-5M's, Quicksilver KT88 monoblocks, Dyna 70 ect. from him with no complaints.

Cheers

Peter

[Earl K]

Wonder where they will end up $$$$$???

- A mono 20/80 HiFi system ( including the cabinet ) sold for $1125.00 about a year ago.

- I've seen a pair of unmolested 20/80 woofers sell for almost $3000.00 in 2002.

- Right now a pair of "reconed" 20/80 woofers is sitting untouched at $ 500.00.

- Don't know what the pair of pictured 20/80 lens sold for ( for some reason I didn't log that sale )

- A pair of Rank 288-type drivers sold for about $ 650.00 @ a year ago .

- The market is really fickle on some of this stuff .

- Buying essentially, old Altec components , made by the Bristish and marketed by Western Electric, throws a real stew of unknown variables into the "valuation pot".

- Plus, generally, there also seems to be a "discount" built into the "expected" price to be paid, when the gear is coming from Canada .


:cheers:

[lpd]

Its a bizarre market thats for sure. He indicated that he has recieved many e-mails from Asia interested in the driver. But with anything collectable it appears its value is based on condition, condition and condition.

[Steve Schell]

These old Westrex drivers (sometimes labeled Western Electric London) are very similar in design to the Altec Lansing 515 woofer and 288 compression driver of the mid 1940s. The woofer cone assembly and compression driver diaphragm may even be interchangeable with the Altec parts, they look so similar. The Westrex drivers were more lavishly built however, with lots of brass and heavy castings. Hard to say at this point if the designs were licensed or simply "borrowed", but they share the same bloodline for sure.

Andy, that's a great looking BTH horn / driver combination! They were quite a company. A friend has several of their 18" coaxial speaker drivers, which are huge and very heavy.

[andywin]

These old Westrex drivers (sometimes labeled Western Electric London) are very similar in design to the Altec Lansing 515 woofer and 288 compression driver of the mid 1940s. The woofer cone assembly and compression driver diaphragm may even be interchangeable with the Altec parts, they look so similar. The Westrex drivers were more lavishly built however, with lots of brass and heavy castings. Hard to say at this point if the designs were licensed or simply "borrowed", but they share the same bloodline for sure.

Andy, that's a great looking BTH horn / driver combination! They were quite a company. A friend has several of their 18" coaxial speaker drivers, which are huge and very heavy.

The specs that I have for the 20/80 are:

3" voice coil - edgewound copper ribbon
Gap flux - 13,200 maxwells
V.C.I. 16 Ohms
H.C. 30 Watts (UK)
F.R. up to 800Hz

Price in 1962 was £33.75

I am still working out what to do with the BTH horn and drivers. One thought is to make a copy of the wooden horn (it's constructed of ply) and have some single adaptors made up to give me a stereo pair using one Type D compression driver per channel.
I have one of the 18" coaxial driver steve mentions, and if I can source another I will build a 4-way system using the LF up to 800Hz, crossing over to the wooden horns at around 7.5KHz and using the DC horn up to 16KHz and finally a pair of early Decca Kelly ribbon horns as supertweeters. (does anyone out there have one BTH K10-A 18" DC driver they are willing to sell or know of the whereabouts of one?)

I have a suitable BTH stero amp to complete the setup - see pic

[caladois]

After the second world war, the UK governemt imposed the multinational to build in UK for the UK market rather than importing fro, USA.
This is why Western electric became Westrex.
I have a few 2080 bass driver very similar to the Altec 515 the same about the 2090 and the Altec 288-B.
I am also very proud of having a single VOT for dual 12". This could be good for mating with the big BTH horns. The Westrex 12" magnet are very similar to the 803C but with only a 12" cone very similar to the Vitavox.

regards:barf:

[caladois]

Here is the PIC of the 12 inch WESTREX model 30928 (12 ohms)

Regards Stephane

[Mr. Widget]

This is some very cool stuff... I am a complete neophyte when it comes to this rather ancient audio stuff.

How long did Westrex manufacture drivers and systems?

Widget

[Bernard Wolf]

I have a suitable BTH stero amp to complete the setup - see pic

Man, does that amp ever look like a Leak stereo 20 or what ? Ancient audio history sure is a twisted road. ;)

Bernard

[caladois]

and what about these old WESTREX parts


westrew 2080a 15 inch associate with we 30928

[caladois]

and what about these small 10cell westrex horns just removed from a theater ?

Do you have aby data sheets.....
Regards Stephane

[andywin]

and what about these small 10cell westrex horns just removed from a theater ?

Do you have aby data sheets.....
Regards Stephane

Stephane
Don't have data sheets but here's a photo from a book I have showing your horn on top of the matching LF enclosure. (sorry for the quality)
The text states "The H.F. loudspeaker is a dynamic driving unit, coupled to a ten-way, multi cellular horn, the cells being arranged in two rows of four and one of two. The resultant polar characteristicof the horn is specially suited to covering a typical cinema audience (up to 1000 seats) as viewed from a point behind the screen"
Pretty big at 6' 9" x 9' 4" H x 3' 4" and 600lb

What are your plans for the Westrex drivers and horns?

Andy

[Earl K]

Hi Stephane

Sorry, I (also) don't have any data sheets on those particular 10 cell horns.

In the past, I've seen them sell on eBay while still attached to drivers / though I can't seem to find any of these pictures.

Here's a cut sheet for an old Goodmans' 12" . I think you'll see why I've included it .



:cheers:

[caladois]

Incredible, that's exactly this complete speaker I possed (LF cabinet + HF horn system)

It works with one 2090B driver and two 30928 12 inch loudspeakers.
If you have any other pics and litterature of these, I would be thanksfull to mail me.
I'm looking for news from the 30150 horn driver (kind of a we555 (using the same diaph)with a permanent magnet .

Regards Stephane

[Earl K]

Does your small driver look like this ?

:)

[andywin]

Incredible, that's exactly this complete speaker I possed (LF cabinet + HF horn system)

It works with one 2090B driver and two 30928 12 inch loudspeakers.
If you have any other pics and litterature of these, I would be thanksfull to mail me.
I'm looking for news from the 30150 horn driver (kind of a we555 (using the same diaph)with a permanent magnet .

Regards Stephane

I'll pass on any info I have.
Again I've no data on the 30150 but have found some pics

I believe that BTH also used a very similar looking driver

Andy

[andywin]

Additional pic

Stephane , do you have the adaptors for the horns. I assume they would look like this

[andywin]

My recently aquired BTH drivers appear to have been constructed back to front. Does anyone have any guesses as to why?
I've seen a 1949 catalogue and it's how they are supposed to be.
See pics of first my version and then the "normal" type
Also note what seems to be a phase plug in the adaptor

Thanks
Andy

[Earl K]

My recently aquired BTH drivers appear to have been constructed back to front. Does anyone have any guesses as to why?

- That was Western Electrics' way of doing things. The diaphragm was reversed and was then attached to the exit-adapter (snout ). This metal adapter "snout" was then mated to the magnet/top-plate piece. They did this also with their 700 series woofers ( developed in the late forties ). Here's a pic of a 728b cone/frame , without the magnet . I personally think this approach is pretty goofy . It's just so easy to munch that paper coil-former when mating together two heavy pieces of metal .


I've seen a 1949 catalogue and it's how they are supposed to be. Yep , it is .

It may have been J.B. Lansing who introduced the first driver that actually exited from back to front / straight through the interior body of the magnetic assembly. Don could clarify this . I forget now who first introduced that evolution in design .

:cheers:

[caladois]

I have the adaptors for the 10 cells horns, but unfortunatly I didn't have any parts to mount the 30150 on the 10 cells. On your pics the 30150 is used with a 6 cell VITAVOX horn. I try to mount my 30150 on these horn but it seems to be a specifis adaptors (different to the GP1 VITAVOX driver screw.


Nice pics.

regards, Stephane

[caladois]

Could you scan me this page of your book please ?
I m in process to assembl a second home system including 2080A and 2090B....

Regards, Stephane

[Dominic]

my impression is that the later through-the-motor designs are inherently compromised. Having the diaphragm in front of the motor allows -it would seem- for an optimal size and shape of the phase plug with no excess throat length before the horn.

[tomt]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Westrex-Western-Electric-2080-Horn-Driver-Loudspeaker-/230615022043?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b1b9f9db#ht_500wt_898

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pair-Western-Electric-2090-Horn-Driver-Loudspeakers-/230615030562?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b1ba1b22#ht_500wt_898

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Western-Electric-10-Cell-Horn-8875-Stand-/230615039535?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b1ba3e2f#ht_500wt_898

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Western-Electric-2080-15-Cone-Loudspeaker-/230615067476?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b1baab54#ht_500wt_898

http://cgi.ebay.com/Western-Electric-Westrex-31788-Network-Crossover-/230615097473?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b1bb2081#ht_500wt_898


electronics too -


http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Western-Electric-2032-Amplifier-Case-/230615073262?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b1bac1ee#ht_500wt_898

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Western-Electric-Westrex-2066-Power-Unit-EL-/230615103170?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b1bb36c2#ht_500wt_898

http://cgi.ebay.com/Western-Electric-2042-B-2065-Tube-Amplifiers-Case-/230615059307?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b1ba8b6b#ht_566wt_881

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Western-Electric-Westrex-31789-Power-Unit-LT-/230615107527?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item35b1bb47c7#ht_500wt_898

[martin_wu99]

I don't konw,i promise it is not me!:crying::D

[tomt]

http://www.gokudo.co.jp/Vanguard/Westrex/room3.htm