Does anyone know of an authoritative web site for Stephens TruSonic???

[Tweak48]

My Dad has a gigantic set of TruSonic speakers circa late '40s; built into soffuts. Twin 15 woofs (resemble Altec 803’s; paper hinge) playing into a front loaded horn; large 500 Hz (I think) sectoral horn and driver (looks a lot like an Altec 1505).



Problem is they sound like doggie poo and really need recones, probably diaphragms, and modern crossovers to sound good. I'm trying to advise him whether to fix 'em up, or possibly keep the cabs and horns and install new JBL or Radian woofs and drivers; or dump the entire system and install something from the JBL Cinema line (they are in a very large room, so they wouldn't be overdriving their location).



Any suggestions???? They were my grandfathers (an early member of the Hollywood Sapphire audio club), but we have no documentation on them. Some tech information would be very helpful.



Thanks!

[pelly3s]

you can find the coils and cones for the woofers but diaphrams are gonna be impossible I've tried for my concentric one that I have. I will have to look around for the site that had the coils

[mikebake]

What klind of room are they in?

[Tweak48]

Approximately 30X50 foot room with ceramic tile floors; 12 foot open beamed ceiling peaking at 25 feet high. Hard surfaced walls (wood and stone), with much furniture including an 11ft concert grand piano.

[Steve Schell]

Tweak48, seems to me that your father's speakers should be capable of very fine sound. They were among the best available in their day and many speakers from this era or older still sound just fine. Unless the drivers buzz, have torn surrounds or other obvious problems I would suspect that they may still sound as good as they ever did.

Could you post some pictures? I'm not familiar with the enclosure design as you have described it, unless the bass horns are of the W bin theatre type. Also, as an aid to dating the systems, Stephens moved to Culver City in 1947. Systems older than this would have black metal badges on the drivers that say "Los Angeles, California." The Los Angeles era drivers usually have a black crinkle paint finish. Are they permanent magnet or field coil?

It is quite likely that the poor sound may be due to the room's acoustics. A large, live room can make any system sound horrendous. Rooms with peaked ceilings can sound very good, but sometimes with such a steep peak they will create reflections that create large cancellations in the bass response.

Before giving up on the Stephens speakers I recommend that you pull them down if possible and try them in a smaller, well damped room; you may then be amazed at their performance. I would also recommend that you proceed with caution in regard to reconing or otherwise modifying the systems. If your father elects to replace them, they will be worth much more in original unmodified condition. These early large Stephens systems are very rare now, and collectors will pay top prices for them.

[Tweak48]

Thanks for the insight.

They are definately permanent magnet speakers. Although each cabinet are of the same design, each has a different finish as is typical of the times when mono systems were first purchased, then another unit added later for stereo.

Although the LF and HF horns are identical on both, one model actually is a three way with a UHF driver and horn mounted with an additional crossover.

It will be some time before I can pull off the backs and take a look at the components, but I believe they are of Culver City vintage. I am certain they are larger than 4435's.

I will be able to post photos in a couple of weeks, as they are located in a vacation property, and not accessed daily.

[Tweak48]

We finally got them out of their built-in location and down to the basement for refurbishment or sale. Stephens Model 402WX7 I think. Very heavy. I estimate the bass horn (lower section), and treble horn each weigh 200 pounds. We're talking 61' wide, 57" high, and 41" deep here. They make a set of 4435s look like portable speakers.

Note in the second post the clever ducting of the lowest frequencies from the bass cabinet up to the treble cabinet and out the ports on the side of the horn. In essence, both a front and rear loaded bass horn.

The HF horn is what I'm most impressed with. An awesome 37" wide; each of the 10 cells is 8"X8"! VERY dead acoustically. You bang an Altec 811/511 horn and it rings like a bell. These make a dull thud. Do you figure it's a 500 Hz horn?


It turns out the darker of the two is actually a 3-way design, using two Model 214 super tweeters (similar in appearance to an EV T-350)

I figure to get some upgraded sound with extended highs and lows it might take a pair of new 1.25 compression drivers with modern phase plug technology, new crossovers, and 4 new woofs. Any idea of how I would get the T&S parameters on these babies (103LX), or should I just go with something that would work with a contemporary Altec or JBL front loaded horn? If I don't want to mess with it, does anyone have an idea of what they're worth? Lots of JBL collectors (like me) around here. I don't know any TruSonic guys. I can't imagine Stephens made anything bigger than this for home use.

[Tweak48]

Additional photos................

[Figge]

"I am certain they are larger than 4435's"

i believe your right. so what year we talkin?

[JBLnsince1959]

really nice speakers .....and shepherd too , what his/her name?

[pelly3s]

Drool!!!!! those are beautiful.

[Tweak48]

The lighter (pecan?) 2 way unit is very early permanent magnet vintage; I figure around 1942-43. The other (cherry) is post war, perhaps even '50s. Not much use for a three way system until the advent of the LP record or magnetic tape. Steve Schell might be able to make a better guess.

The dog is Tor; a laid back 4 year old German Shepherd male.

[Steve]

Aloha Tweak48

Awhile back a good friend wanted to give me his wifes dad's old Altec 604's that were in a custom made cabinet. He said that they just didn't sound good anymore and hadn't for along time. Wife wanted the living room space back. Went over for dinner and took a look at them. Yep, they sounded like crap. Scratchy and almost no bass or mids. Sort of sounded like the sound was coming from a cheap radio. Real sad. I was thinking maybe the receiver might be the problem as both speakers sounded that way. Changed out the receiver to one of mine. No difference. Gotta be the speakers. Bummers...
Then I turned around the cabinets to better get at the wiring connections. They didn't look very dirty at all. Just a small amount of surface yuch or corrosion. Spent some time cleaning them up using some pro Gold and other goodies. Then cleaned up the connections in the cabinet.
Connected them back to his receiver and it was like angels were dancing and singing. Amazing to say the least.
They sounded like brand new. They had never heard them that great they told me..... Great for them... they kept the speakers and I got a nice dinner.... I remind them now and then how are "my" speakers doing.... joking of course.
Take a look at the wiring and connections. Be sure they are not corroded or bugs and such has gotten to them.
Also the old crossovers might be part of the problem.
Keep us informed on the progress.
Picts too.

Good luck
Steve

[Steve Schell]

Thanks for the pictures of these awesome behemoths! I can't find these cabinets in any of the Stephens catalogs I have, which span the period through which these were manufactured. My guess is the earlier one with the black woofers (probably P52L) was made between 1945 and 1950, before 1948 if the badges say Los Angeles. The alnico V magnet likely wouldn't have been available before the end of the war. The 103LX woofers are described in catalog C5, effective February 1, 1954.

Are there two high frequency drivers mounted to each horn? I can't tell from the picture. The horns are model 425H, rated at 400Hz. cutoff. The mouth size of the cells is the same as the Lansing/Altec Lansing 300Hz, horns, so Stephens may have rated them conservatively. These are tar filled horns, where all interior spaces between cells were filled with molten tar that cooled and hardened. This makes for a heavy, expensive, and truly excellent horn. The Lansing/Altec Lansing horns were built the same way. Bob Stephens may actually be the father of the tar filled horn, but I have been unable to verify this. He built the first Shearer System horns at MGM before leaving them to start his company in 1938.

If I could beg you for some more pictures, I'd love to see more details of the bass horn construction. Stephens was quite an innovator when it came to low frequency cabinets. He built a couple sizes of bass reflex monitors where the ports were located on either side of the h.f. horn. The top and bottom volumes were separated by a shelf that left only a small gap in the rear, creating separate chambers something like a Karlson enclosure. Do your cabinets have a W shaped folded front horn, or some sort of straight horn?

Closest thing I can find in the catalogs is the small Shearer type system, model 402W-425HX. It had a 425H horn sitting atop a W bin using two woofers. Your cabinets, large as they are, are not as tall in the bass section as that system, so maybe they have a smaller front horn and augment it with the porting from the rear.

Dunno about their value, but an ebay auction for the pair might just take off and fly. Best guess? Somewhere around $3k to $5k.

Thanks again for the pics. I renew my vote that these systems be left intact, as they may be the only ones of their kind left anywhere. BTW, where are you located?

[JBL 4645]

Gigantic! Don’t you mean monstrosity! You need forklift to moves those around LOL.