JBL Hartsfield

[rugy]

First post on this forum and looking for some help please.
Building my retirement home that is off grid and looking for a high efficiency speaker to fill my music room.
Room size will be 16 x 24 x 10 feet and is going to be used for music/ vinyl only.
Had JBL L110 and also L100 but have always loved the The Hartsfield which seem to fit that bill but have been searching for impedance and efficiency numbers but cant find any.
Would like to drive them with small wattage tube gear if possible.
Second questions is what items should I look for or test as there is a local seller that has a pair of Hartsfield for sale.
Any advice is appreciated, Thanks.

[Mr. Widget]

Welcome to the forum... since I am no expert on these speakers I'll let others chime in.
Please look at these links if you haven't already found them:

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/...hartsfield.htm

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/...hartsfield.htm

http://www.lansingheritage.org/image.../page16-17.jpg

Good Luck!

Mr. Widget

[Horn Fanatic]

First post on this forum and looking for some help please.
Building my retirement home that is off grid and looking for a high efficiency speaker to fill my music room.
Room size will be 16 x 24 x 10 feet and is going to be used for music/ vinyl only.
Had JBL L110 and also L100 but have always loved the The Hartsfield which seem to fit that bill but have been searching for impedance and efficiency numbers but cant find any.
Would like to drive them with small wattage tube gear if possible.
Second questions is what items should I look for or test as there is a local seller that has a pair of Hartsfield for sale.
Any advice is appreciated, Thanks.

Hi rugy -

The only retail seller of Hartsfields that I know of is Kenrick Sound, in Japan. The Hartsfields they sell, as with all the other vintage equipment they sell, are fully restored to showroom condition, including upgrades to the dividing networks and drivers.

Seriously, as far as I know the Hartsfield system has been out of production since 1964 or 1965. Your best bet to find a pair will be on Ebay, but be prepared for sticker shock. The folks who put them up for auction are seriously out of tough with reality, that they think their Hartsfields are worth $30,000, and more. On a good day they may have have gone for that price pre-9/11. Rarely will you find the first year model, as they are rare as hens teeth. I am unsure if the auction was legitimate, but around five years ago an original pair of Top Loaders with paper work and receipts from an estate sale sold for $60,100. Some believe it was a phony auction. There were over 5000 watchers on that auction. Two words; Caveat Emptor.

If you're not hung up on actual vintage gear, there are folks who will reproduce a pair of Hartsfields for a fraction of the cost. There is a forum member who has created a drawing package for the first year model C30 enclosure. That box is lovingly referred to as the, 'Top Loader', whereas the subsequent model was dubbed the, 'Coffin Back'. I have built a pair of the Coffin Back, but never got a chance to hear them. I did however, have the pleasure of listening to a pair of the Top Loaders, and I can say I was very impressed. The only thing the Hartsfield system needed was a bullet to overcome the limitations of the acoustical lens and the poor frequency range of the 375 driver.

Good luck, and be careful.

H.F.

[BMWCCA]

No affiliation:

http://www.jrsoundco.com/jbl-hartsfield.html

[rugy]

Had a local speaker repair shop look at the online photos and he gave me a thumbs up.
So I closed the deal and will have them delivered tomorrow.
Now to make room in my house so that my wife won't kill me....
Thanks for the help.

[rugy]

Pictures of the speakers at home.
Will clean up the years of dust that I can see in the back.
Seeking a manual for the speakers as the back has so many possible setting
Wires are rather thin. Upgrade to a Kimber or something better ? Suggestions ?
Then into my listening room, have to move thing out to be able to place them into the corners.
Any advice re set ups ?

[audiomagnate]

Dayum! I am simply speechless, and that almost never happens. Wire's not important. A small 7199 based tube amp should work fine, but even small tube amps use a lot of juice compared to modern (shudder) class D amps. Those are simply jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Jealous does not describe how I feel right now. I have to go out and sell a ton of insurance. Just guessing, but sensitivity has to be at least in the high 90s for these. Wow. There is a holy grail, it comes in pairs, and it now resides in the great white north. Is that rosewood? How did you make your first billion? Does your wife know what you paid for those? I'll shut up now.

[Mr. Widget]

Congratulations!!! Those are truly stunning... especially being such a nicely matched pair. Are they actual JBL built originals?

Regarding wire choice, if it makes you happy use any fancy wire you want... if these are a true vintage pair of Hartsfields, you may want to clean the contacts, but fancy wire is hardly necessary.

Regarding location, well built and located corners are key and may or may not be available. If your room is a rectangle you should try them along both the long and short walls if possible to see which setup sounds best.

Additional pictures would be appreciated, especially from the rear.


Widget

[Oldmics]

If they are real Hartsfields they should only have an input connection coming from the amplifier and then 4 wires leading to the woofer and tweeter.
Not a variety of connections.

Also if the componets are original it will run just fine on a single ended amp.

Oldmics

Oh,and my original 1st year pair of Hartsfields will cost someone 50K since I enjoy them daily!

[spkrman57]

300B SET amp should do a great job with approx 8 wpc being avg power rating for amps using that tube.

Great find on the spkrs.

Regards, Ron

[BMWCCA]

This must be the pair: http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/detai...artsfield-375/

Though that modified crossover has me confused, the rest looks original to these non-expert eyes.

For posterity:

[rugy]

Yup those are the ones that I purchased here in Vancouver. Less that a 10 minute drive across the bridge.
Saw the add on Canuckmart, phoned him on Friday night. Went to his place after dinner and left him cheque for a deposit.
He said that he posted the speakers on Craigslist all over North America which I verified.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/msg/4868234028.html

Anyways the speakers were from an estate sale. They kids kept all of the electronic gear and LPs but had no interest in the speakers.
Trustee wanted a quick transaction and most of the interest generated was from the USA or overseas. Packing and shipping became an issue.
Happy to have the new babies at home, but they reside under my staircase as in the photo for now.........
Have to hurry up and finish my other home.

Yes my wife knows what I paid as she wrote the cheque for the deposit and she got the certified bank draft. She loved the music that was being produced and said if I didn't buy them she would. How about that !!

Yes the speakers are in a Rosewood veneer, a really nice finish but a few dings here and there which is to be expected.

[audiomagnate]

A matched pair of factory rosewood Hartsfields? Wow.

[ivica]

Yup those are the ones that I purchased here in Vancouver. Less that a 10 minute drive across the bridge.
Saw the add on Canuckmart, phoned him on Friday night. Went to his place after dinner and left him cheque for a deposit.
He said that he posted the speakers on Craigslist all over North America which I verified.
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/msg/4868234028.html

Anyways the speakers were from an estate sale. They kids kept all of the electronic gear and LPs but had no interest in the speakers.
Trustee wanted a quick transaction and most of the interest generated was from the USA or overseas. Packing and shipping became an issue.
Happy to have the new babies at home, but they reside under my staircase as in the photo for now.........
Have to hurry up and finish my other home.

Yes my wife knows what I paid as she wrote the cheque for the deposit and she got the certified bank draft. She loved the music that was being produced and said if I didn't buy them she would. How about that !!

Yes the speakers are in a Rosewood veneer, a really nice finish but a few dings here and there which is to be expected.

Hi RUGY,

Congratulations !
I believe that You and the Family will enjoy in the sound.
May be one day You will upgrade the diaphragm ( of 375/ 2440J driver) with
D16R2441-ALUMINUM (to reach 376/2441J characteristics) in order to extend
the frequency range over 10kHz, adding may be some kind of EQ over 13kHz.
From JBL Tech.Notes v1n08 can be seen.
https://www.jblpro.com/pub/technote/tn_v1n08.pdf


regards
ivica

[Maron Horonzakz]

I keep looking at the back of those cabinets,,And think of CLASSIC AUDIO REPRODUCTIONS of Brighton Mi. ,,,,They made Rosewood Hartsfield reproductions... The one piece back panels,,Do not look like ones I see here,,With ones a friend of mine has in St.Louis...