8 inch speaker ident and mod question d260 or d216 or le8 or ?

[iain42]

I picked up a 1950's Ampex console. It looks so cool I'm going to restore it and I never want to move it again. I know it doesn't look it but it is heavy. I guess in the good old day furniture was made of real wood.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ZJfAtyLAId0/TojtEUmmn8I/AAAAAAAAWB8/Pnm7euwmZa4/s400/IMG_4352.JPG
The speakers are only 8inch but the build quality is superb. They are nice and heavy with thick frames and sound rather nice. I've read where they could be JBL D260 or D216 or some form of LE8 or something JBL designed but made by Ampex. Does anyone know for sure what these speakers are??
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ObQFglJTQSU/Tojs5YO1mfI/AAAAAAAAWBw/3nG4lE4Q92c/s400/IMG_4346.JPG
I was surprised by the weight when I unbolted it them.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XEQkjtifYHQ/TojsyrqoIGI/AAAAAAAAWBk/KBsk345-fH8/s400/IMG_4347.JPG
Was there a speaker system that utilized this driver with a tweeter? If there is I would like to get the tweeters and have the crossover made for it as well. That level of mod should be fairly easy. I'm not going for the end all be all hi-fi system but rather a good period restoration.

Any advice appreciated.

[speakerdave]

I had a pair just like that in the mid '70s. They were in a pair of speakers which were part of a portable reel-to-reel tape recorder/player system by Ampex. The word about them then was that they were a JBL sleeper, but I never found anything like proof. The cone does indeed look similar to the D206. Other than that, all that I can say for sure, is that it is true Ampex did make some drivers under license from JBL when they were trying to launch a theater sound business and JBL did not want to or could not increase its own production to supply the need. Whether this relationship continued into other kinds of products I don't know.

A few years after that I also had an Ampex console very much like that. The details of the style were different (mine was Danish modern), but the basic layout was the same, including the tanbour closures; it had tube electronics. I don't remember what the speakers were. It is possible they were already taken out of the cabinet when I got it. There was a tube preamp and a pair of monoblocks with tubes that looked like 6BQ5's but weren't. One of the people who lived in my house at the time did work at home for the inventor/owner of the Flat Response Acoustic Pickup (FRAP). He was into tube electronics (and Altec speakers with EV T350 tweeters), and I believe he educated her about those amps. In any case she eventually talked me out of them. The preamp went away several years later after living in a series of my garages, never having been heard by me. There must have been a tuner also, but I don't remember it, and I probably made it go away rather soon. Even in those days I never bothered to mess with low dollar tube tuners; they just weren't worth the trouble, for the most part, not to mention the cost even then of some tuner tubes.

I don't like to tell you what eventually became of the cabinet, but to complete the story I confess that there was a moment when the options seemed to be the landfill or conversion to a computer desk. It worked very well for that, actually, for a number of years under my original Mac.

[mjcmt]

I picked up a 1950's Ampex console. It looks so cool I'm going to restore it and I never want to move it again. I know it doesn't look it but it is heavy. I guess in the good old day furniture was made of real wood.


Not your average console and very stylish looking piece. Should be a fun restoration project. Can we see a photo of the electronics too?

[iain42]

Speakerdave thanks for the info. I guess I need to take some measurements. I only have TruaRTA and a multimeter.

Wow a girl talking you out of tube amps? Haven't had that happen yet.



Not your average console and very stylish looking piece. Should be a fun restoration project. Can we see a photo of the electronics too?

I really dig the mid century modern look. In fact all of my house is mid century modern. The dam thing must weigh up to 250lbs. It was a bugger to move.

The reel to reel isn't anything fancy. If it won't work I can find another on ebay eventually. The tuner is ok. It currently works on AM probably needs an antennae. Why couldn't the reel left on there be a Thelonious Monk Reel instead of Lawerence Welk Plays The Worlds Greatest Music :confused:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GIEobN-CFe0/Tojs3hxuh6I/AAAAAAAAWBo/I0ooLRsW-xM/s400/IMG_4348.JPG
It is powered by a pair of 6v6 monoblocks. I was hoping for better but I'm sure they are fine for the speakers. Probably just needs some new caps.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-O8e2yfcQmQY/Tojs4nQL0WI/AAAAAAAAWBs/ncgq-SW-bkc/s400/IMG_4349.JPG
Everything is still jammed in there very tightly. The hardest part will be getting this stuff out to work on it. I think the tuner has the preamp built into it and that this is the RTR preamp. Interesting.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HyKChAJlfy4/Tojs-kqwU2I/AAAAAAAAWC8/Rsj5Es7_uT8/s400/IMG_4351.JPG
I'm not expecting too much. I just like the console enough to get it working and reliable enough for use in my spare bedroom. The mids sound really nice on whatever speakers are in this thing and I think rolling it off around 1k to 3k and adding a tweeter would make it sound dam nice for what it is..

[John W]

D208 based speaker (http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?12545-C3something-Copy&p=128182&viewfull=1#post128182)

Here is a link to pair of speakers i put together a while back using a pair of D208 drivers, which are similar to yours. They are matched with a pair of 035 tweeters.
The speakers sound great. I still use them in my home theater for L R and center channel. They're musical, sensitive and do a nice job reproducing dialog.

[iain42]

D208 based speaker (http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?12545-C3something-Copy&p=128182&viewfull=1#post128182)

Here is a link to pair of speakers i put together a while back using a pair of D208 drivers, which are similar to yours. They are matched with a pair of 035 tweeters.
The speakers sound great. I still use them in my home theater for L R and center channel. They're musical, sensitive and do a nice job reproducing dialog.


Thank you so much for the link. That is too cool. That is what I will do. You mention a "modified LX-8 crossover". *edit nevermind I reread the thread* Can I use a LX-8 crossover or does something have to be modified to work properly?

Thanks again. That is a cool project.

[John W]

The modification can be added outside the lx8.

Here is the schematic http://www.jblproservice.com/pdf/Network%20Schematics/LX8.pdf

The woofer runs full range. You can try it as-is, but it works a little better with a 1.5mh wired between the output of the crossover and the woofer. You could probably just attach it somewhere in the back of the console.

Btw the console looks great. I bet with a little tune up, those mono blocks will sound fantastic.

[iain42]

The modification can be added outside the lx8.

Here is the schematic http://www.jblproservice.com/pdf/Network%20Schematics/LX8.pdf

The woofer runs full range. You can try it as-is, but it works a little better with a 1.5mh wired between the output of the crossover and the woofer. You could probably just attach it somewhere in the back of the console.

Btw the console looks great. I bet with a little tune up, those mono blocks will sound fantastic.

Definately. I have all the parts set up on ebay saved search by the time I get everything else functional I will hopefully have the parts by then.

I took the reel to reel out today. That wasn't too bad. The good news is that all tubes are 1950's amperex bugle boys.... Yee Haw! Well worth the $40.

The tuner seems to be Fisher and a little harder to move.

Thanks for all the advice :applaud:

[tomt]

The reel to reel isn't anything fancy.



it might be, as it's tube ...


http://www.hifido.co.jp/KWampex/G1/E/100-50/C02-11574-02198-00/


i picked an elderly Philips R-to-R out of the trash.

doesn't look like much, but it's a Revox G-36 ...