Weird woofers:

[Zilch]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5807130973&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT

[Don McRitchie]

I remember those from their day. The product literature stated that the woofer shape was designed to emulate the shape of the human ear and that this somehow translated to better sound. My impression was that they sounded like unadulterated crap. I believe the woofer technology was licenced from BES which later morphed into Sound Advance.

http://www.soundadvance.com/index.htm

[Titanium Dome]

The product literature stated that the woofer shape was designed to emulate the shape of the human ear and that this somehow translated to better sound.
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For REAL? :rotfl:

The only way this could ever have any meaning would be if your ears produced and projected sound. Try as I might, I've never gotten those two orifices to produce any audible sound (to another listener), though I've got some orifices that can produce some mighty powerful noises.

If they want natural forms to emulate, they should design a speaker shaped like my ass. :moon:

[Titanium Dome]

I'm looking at a pair right now, my 4430s. :p

[Fred Sanford]

We sell tons of the Sound Advance "invisible" speakers. Clients ask, "How about those invisible speakers I've heard about?"

"They sound about as good as the best AM radio you've ever heard. Just about any cheap in-wall speaker will sound better." I say.

"How much for the invisible speakers?" they ask.

"$1,500 a pair, plus an unreasonable amount of labor to paper them and skim coat them to be invisible. In-walls are about $300 a pair."

"I'll take 8 pair of the invisibles."

Feh...at least I get lots and lots of their money.

je

[pelly3s]

the only good speaker i have ever listened to from yahama was the NS-1000X. I wander how much distortion you get from that woofer being oddly shaped like that.

about the invisible speakers i have heard a pair and it was god awful.

[johnaec]

...the woofer shape was designed to emulate the shape of the human ear...So - that guy's got 2 left channels?? :p

John

[Steve Schell]

I recall ads in Audio magazine from about 1970 advertising these things, and drawing the parallel to the shape of the human pinnae. Jeez, talk about product development being driven by marketing! There was also a pair of large store demonstration exhibit units listed on ebay a few months ago; they looked just as strange.

I have a hard time reconciling the excellent taste in speakers of many Japanese audiophiles with the shiploads of stillborn, terribly designed Japanese speakers that have arrived on our shores. The best U.S. made classic theatre gear is revered in Japan and much of it has gravitated there to appreciative owners. The big Japanese companies have built esoteric, limited production horn systems and such for sale mostly in Japan. The Japanese audiophiles' enthusiasm for JBL products is legendary. Some of the finest speakers produced anywhere in the last 40 years have come from a few tiny Japanese specialist manufacturers.

On the other hand, the high volume speaker products of the big companies have been almost universally horrible; Don's favorite "Kabuki" speakers come to mind here, with their high driver counts and awful sound. This seems tragic to me, because with the Japanese companies' economies of scale, they could have produced superior speakers for the world market at every price point if only they had had the inspiration and the engineering to do so. Pioneer (Fukuin) was trying hard in the late 1950s and early 1960s, producing truly JBL-like, beautifully crafted drivers. Sadly, they were installed in hopelessly overcomplicated systems using crumbly particle board enclosures. Sigh.

To be fair, I once owned some Fostex planar magnetic four way speakers that were very good in several ways. Fostex must emply some smart engineers these days, as they virtually own the market for moderately priced full range cone drivers. Then of course there is the TAD division of Pioneer, with their excellent line of Bart Locanti designed woofers and compression drivers.

[Steve Schell]

Sorry about the typos in the last post. I meant "employ" and "Bart Locanthi" in the last paragraph. No edit button is visible to me; I wonder if this function has been disabled for some reason? I do remember making edits in the past.

[speakerdave]

I too remember the ads in Audio Magazine for those speakers, and have had my eye out for a pair ever since--at garage sale prices, of course. I would give them space just for the giggle.

I don't know why they would need to license that "technology" (?) from anyone. They used a similar shape, even more like an ear, in their electric organs. I saw one of those speakers when I responded to a Craigslist post sometime last year. The over-all dimensions of the driver were on the order of two feet by three feet and it consisted of a styrofoam plate attached to a voice coil at the "center" and clamped rigidly to the frame at the edges so that sound was produced by flexing the diaphragm and perhaps also by waves traveling along it (is that the same thing?). Anyway, as I studied the structure of the thing it seemed to me that the idea of the shape was that it would produce different frequencies more effectively than a round driver of the same structure. From what I understand of Japanese culture and the place it accords affinity to nature, it's not difficult for me to imagine somebody in the company suggesting using the shape for a woofer and advertising it as an incorporation of a natural shape into a technological device.

David

[Phil H]

Is this one for caucasian ears? http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-yamaha-organ-tube-amp-speakers-woofers-N-R_W0QQitemZ5817071744QQcategoryZ61377QQssPageNameZ WDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Zilch]

For posterity, here's what we're talking about:

"You are bidding on fantastic pair of unique and RARE Yamaha tower speakers NS-570! The white lacquer finished cabinets hold a whooping 18" x 14" cast frame woofer with a horn tweeter. The surrounds are original. They are a thick foam rubber -- not the standard type of foam surrounds. There is no signs of deterioration. The tops are done in Rosewood. They have a brown tweed styled grill cloth in great condition with both emblems present. There is also a rear tone control on each cabinet. We believe this was a Japanese model not imported into the US as so little info is available on them. We have found that they were made from 1974-76 and sold new for $1,000 a pair!! We have not found a power rating for these babies yet but we will keep looking! These speakers have been tested with our Pioneer SX-1980 and sound fantastic! So you could just about put any power amp/receiver with these! Cabinet dimensions are 16 3/4" W x 43 1/2" H x 13 3/8" D. And these are heavy babies -- shipping weight is 105 pounds each! Cabinets are not mint but they are in pretty good condition -- look for yourself! A great pair of unique and rare Yamaha speakers!"

[2pair]

One word comes to mind...
FUGLY!

[toddalin]

Yamaha also used to make a white speaker that was the shape of Nevada that they put in guitar amps. They also had rectangular speakers that they put in their Leslies.

http://i16.ebayimg.com/02/i/05/1d/a9/15_1.JPG?set_id=7

[Titanium Dome]

I snagged this thumbnail off this eBay auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5798862599&category=14993 so that we have the view for posterity after the auction is done. You can go there now for a lot of shots.

This reminds me of War of the Worlds for some reason.

[speakerdave]

Yeah, that's like the beast I saw locally (in the sale Phil cites). Nice looking magnet structure. Those frame struts are cast aluminum. Can't be cheap to make it. If it hadn't been so expensive I would have purchased it to experiment with. They might actually be useful for narrow band VLF. Big enough.

As for listening to a map of Nevada--I would be worried about it picking up Wayne Newton from Las Vegas.

David

[Zilch]

Thanks, Ti Dome. "Organic" drivers. ;)

Those're little tweeters in the corner, apparently:

[2pair]

I bet one (or two) of those would make a helluva nice center channel... :hmm:

[louped garouv]

They also had rectangular speakers...

seems as if there are some car audio subs built square now... as in currently available...

[speakerdave]

Tim de Paravicini said in an interview, discussing his microphone with a rectangular diaphragm: "A circular diaphragm has one dominant resonant mode. But a rectangular diaphragm does not have the same resonant mode in both axes, so it tends to have a flatter response. Also, a rectangular diaphragm has less off-axis coloration in the horizontal plane than does a circular diaphragm of the same area."

David