who made this?

[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 ?

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 .

[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

[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 .