Ha! They don't make 'em like you anymore!
Ha! They don't make 'em like you anymore!
Hey Mike,
Tom's humor and irreverence are just the best, no doubt about it; one of the few guys on Audio Asylum where I make sure to read every post.
Damn, it's been SIX YEARS since the last Midwest Audio Fest, ain't it about time for you to do another one? I'll even come and give my dry-as-toast talk on theatre loudspeaker history again if you want.
Tom, my "grabber" melted when I read about that pair of MI-1443s being lost to the landfill.
Ah yes, those Shearer Horns, or Boats, as we used to call them, (due to the ends being slightly angled), bring back bittersweet memories for me when we toured with a PAIR all around Australia back in the late 70's.
They were a bugger to haul into and out of gigs, but once the system was setup, the bottom end was just to die for.
You can only imagine, just how good a Drum Kit would sound using them. Especially the Kick Drum, or even the Floor Tom or Snare for that matter.
Of course the drivers in them were the more practical JBL 2225's, but the sound was more than impressive.
Back in the early 90's I found an empty one once, dumped under an abandoned gig, which I snapped up in a flash, and two of us just managed to wrestle it into the back of the truck.
Back at the warehouse, 10 minutes work with a circular saw soon saw it sliced in half lengthways, new sides fitted and repainted, and a single 2225 mounted in each half, and then eventually used as stage extensions (with a secret!).
So from 'Boats' to 'Canoes', surprisingly, they STILL managed to do the business.
I suppose some would say it was 'Blasphemy' to have 'sliced and diced' them, but to be usable for live Rock'n'Roll, it was a necessity.
They were a 6 man lift otherwise.
Truly, a very gutsy box.....
BTW: Anyone (in Oz) looking for a pair of those RCA Multi Cells mentioned in the first post, there's a pair listed here on the 'bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....m=250402401192
Cheers all.
ps: Hi Steve.
I might be deaf, but I can still hear da bells! (Quasimodo)
.... Oh, and the Kick Drum.
Uhh.....no sh#t Sherlock You live...You learn, then you die just about the time you finally learned what you need to know.
Believe me, I am tempted to keep the bass bin, but my current house and garage would be hard pressed to fit these in. I have only heard about the legendary bass( well, actually I listened to these many times as a kid), but I imagine you could obtain equal bass quality and quantity with a smaller current design....and you guys have said there's not much below 40hz out of these anyway....
Talk me into keeping this thing. Will this give me the midbass and realistic set of drums in my 22x18 garage? I'm talking about a set of drums on steroids, drums like a live rock concert, slamming my chest into a cardiac arrest type of bass? If so, then I'll keep it, as I kinda have a spot in my garage for it, over in the far RH corner, shouldn't be in the way....yeah, that's it.
UPDATE.....UPDATE.....just talked to my buddy and he was telling me that the woofers are actually inset into the back of the cabinet, so I could possibly put it really close to the wall, I thought that the woofers were mounted on the very back and stuck out beyond the cabinet.
OK, start your convincing,promotional talk now.
Last edited by 16hz lover; 04-08-2009 at 05:37 PM. Reason: addition
Yeah, I just like the iconoclastic stuff..........
Midwest Audiofest; I should have kept it running, but the blowback from a few difficult characters put me off, the facility was un-helpful, and I didn't look down the road to see what could have been. My (somewhat age-induced) energy has declined just a bit, and re-focused on other areas. Tom is just the hard-nosed realist that I can relate to; not afraid at all to speak it like he sees it. A common sense guy in many respects. Are we still making guys like him?
NOw that the thread has been diverted and killed.
I got some pics of the monster after it was removed from the theatre.
Also got this tube amp, haven't gotten any numbers or info off of it yet from my buddy
It was killed here; http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...4&postcount=10
everything else after was just lightness and joy.
If you have the space to play them in......!
Ron
JBL Pro for home use!
Well, in that case, you have 3 alternatives.
1) Take it to the tip too!
2) Leave it as it is, and try to find a new place to live. Something the size of The White House should be about right.
3) "The SAW!!!"
I'd definitely go with 3) "The SAW"
A Circular Saw will get over half the job done and pretty quick too.
You can zip lengthways along the back, and then the top and bottom.
If you remove that centre brace on the front, you can then cut the 'nose' in half.
That removed front Brace also makes for a great 'Straight Edge' for marking your cutting line along the back.
The rest will have to be done with a Rip (aka Hand) Saw.
Lucky there's not too much to cut through at this point, but it will leave you a tad out of breath by the time you're through it. (... sorry for the blisters too!)
Then take a deep breath, and separate the two halves.
You will have such a sense of achievement running through you, it would be wise to sit down for a few minutes, and admire your handy work.
Also, to see one of these boxes from a x-section point of view makes for a memorable moment too, as not too many people have been fortunate enough to see what you're witnessing now. Savour the moment.
If you haven't already done so, then get on your bike and off to the Lumber Yard clutching cash in hand and see what they have to finish the job.
It's most important that you get some quality timber plywood for the job.
Lash out and spend a few bucks, on the ply, as it's worth doing the job well.
Besides, the $$'s you get back from the other odd bits you managed to secure will soon cover your expenses.
Once finished and painted and fitted with just about any 15" JBL or ALTEC you happen to have lying around will produce outstanding results.
Of course the better the driver, the better the results, but honestly, even a pair of 2220's will be more than enough to satisfy.
Now that the box has been turned into TWO singles, stick some casters on their backs, and you'll find the whole thing much more manageable and will also fit through just about any door now.
(... well, except the Dog/Cat Door)
Give it some serious thought, and just do it. You'll be so glad you did.
ps: For Home Use, you really don't need both of them in the lounge. One will happily do the job, and if you lie it down on it's side, it makes for a GREAT 'table/stand' to put all your Electronics etc on.
Good luck!
I might be deaf, but I can still hear da bells! (Quasimodo)
.... Oh, and the Kick Drum.
I've decided to put it in my garage. I'm turning it into a sort of "man cave" as I have it wired for 7.4 sound with a 110" projection screen on the front wall above the 8ft wide countertop. I measured and I can put the RCA bin under the countertop with little modification to the countertop(none to the bass bin)...I don't want to take a saw anywhere near it.
I have a Crown MicroTech 1200 amp already assigned to it. Just need to decide which drivers to use in it....2226 or a RCF or Eminence? There are several suitable drivers that would likely work good in it. I figured if it filled a whole theatre, it should be ok for my 22X19 garage...my expectations are much higher than 99% of all the other audio buffs out there, I have a much higher frame of reference to go by. I've heard alot of subwoofers in my 52 years, my son has his own subwoofer company, etc. I'm constantly on the prowl for the most dynamic, make you run for the nearest door, type of bass system.
Here is 1/4 of the garage finished. Solus indoor/outdoor speakers shown above door and above cabinets.
The other side showing the loft area. Currently has a 18" EV MTH sub up there.
I'm building more cabinets near the ceiling now for more storage so that everything possible is off the floor so that the garage will appear to be larger than it is.
So I guess I just need to finalize which drivers to use in it now. Suggestions will be appreciated.
Wonder how it would work to put 18" woofers in there?
Last edited by 16hz lover; 04-12-2009 at 07:02 PM. Reason: correction
i believe the more modern take-offs of this bin generally use dual 18"s...
guys like Gary Stewart (of www.GSAny.com ) and
Shorty ( www.systemsbyshorty.com )
and a few others still use them in their installations....
their ground stacks end up looking something like this...
(this was GSA's Zouk Installation IIRC)
I believe the 'modern' throats are much different from what i can
see of that shearer horn's throat in the pic you posted above....
here's a rough mock up of what i believe the
more modern horns look like in cross section
( this drawing is for a single 15 and also BTW the max SPL
has the wrong input power notated, i forget what it was though...
on the order of 500 watts, B&C 15ps100 was the driver)
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