I bought a D-1000 cabinet recently that I don’t believe has been shown on this site. I’m sharing documentation of it because A) it’s pretty cool and B) it may provide evidentiary clues for dating other cabinets. I bought it from a used musical equipment store in Brooklyn, NY. They told me they got it from the estate sale/auction of a nonagenarian audio perfectionist in the area. I saw pictures of the electronics and it was paired with a Meissner 1091 tuner/preamp, a Langevin 128 amp, an ROK CV turntable with record cutting head and a Magnecord reel to reel. I also bought the Langevin amp; an internal choke was dated Dec 14, 1948 suggesting the amp was offered for sale in 1949. The cabinet has a label indicating D-1000 and a serial number of 1093. Above the ID tag is a racetrack logo that reads Van Nuys. The inside is painted gray as a D-1000 should be. The outside is stained wood veneer. At some inner edges along the bevels one can see remnants of gray paint. Was this a D-1000 converted by the owner to D-1002 dress livery? Or did the “factory” convert a gray one to dress livery to meet a customer order? And why would a utility cabinet have a nice veneer under the gray paint? Was it an easier, although more expensive, method of having one basic manufacturing process? In other words, were all the cabinets veneered, with the D-1000 receiving gray lacquer rather than the dark stain and clear lacquer of the D-1002? The grill cloth is a brown “checkered” style that looks similar to newer D-1002 but I have not been close enough to another original 1000/1002 to make a direct comparison. Only the cabinet has a serial number; the drivers and crossover have a blank space where a serial number would fit on a cut corner James B. Lansing Sound Inc label. The cabinet and each of the individual components have a race track logo that reads Van Nuys. The bass driver is a D-130-A with a flat back and no hole for the magnet. The code on the cone is 978. An original and slightly later 1050 system had the same code so I’m guessing the cone is original. The H-1000 horn has the sawdust/glue mixture between the cells along the baffle mounting flange but not along the length of the cells to the driver mounting flange. There are no decals on the horn. The D-175 still has the original diaphragm although no wax seals. Since that style of diaphragm was offered into the 1950’s, it’s conceivable it was replaced decades ago. The Langevin 128 is a 20 watt 6L6 amplifier and over-driving the D-175 doesn’t seem likely. The crossover is an N-1000. The speaker plays beautifully. The same 1050 system I noted in the D-130-A description also had Van Nuys racetrack labels but appears to be from a bit later. Each of its components was congruent to this D-1000 except everything had serial numbers of 11-49 or 12-49 (suggesting, obviously, a late 1949 manufacturing date). Since the company moved to Van Nuys in late 1948, and this D-1000 appears to be built before the 1050 system mentioned, I have to assume it is from early to mid 1949. Probably the most interesting thing about that date range is that James Lansing may have been alive when this cabinet was built. Attempts to upload pictures to this post have not been successful. If I figure out how to, a few pics will be shared.
