Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 18

Thread: What model is this?

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    baltimore
    Posts
    4

    What model is this?

    I recently bought a 1950's contemporary house from the original owner. He was a big music fan and left me what seems to be a JBL paragon speaker. I really don't know much about them, but noticed the one he left me has some differences to the models I have found online. I can't find any serial numbers but to be honest I am afraid of taking anything apart to look closer. He claims he bought it in 1957. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.

    I have attached some pictures. Not sure if there are any other areas I should take pictures of to help identify model.

    Thanks in advance,
    Gareth
    Attached Images Attached Images      

  2. #2
    Senior Member rdgrimes's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    New Mexico, USA
    Posts
    2,216
    Looks like a kit or home-made derivative.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    baltimore
    Posts
    4
    Could he have bought the cabinet in the 1957 and put his own electronics into it himself? He made reference to paying a handsome some for it when he bought it. Not sure if the JBL paragon was sold that way or not.

  4. #4
    Administrator Robh3606's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Rocinante
    Posts
    8,170
    It's not a Paragon. Even the crossovers look to be hand made by a hobiest. So how does it sound?? Any idea what woofers are hidden in there?? Are the horns 511 or 811's?? You should be able to tell with a tape measure if you can't find any labels.

    http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/...s/sectoral.htm



    Rob
    Attached Images Attached Images   
    "I could be arguing in my spare time"

  5. #5
    Maron Horonzakz
    Guest
    Its a home built cabinet stuffed with Altec drivers,,That Altec horn in the bass bin cavity is not even pointing at the reflector panel,,Kinda useless,,Cabinet does not even have proper legs,,Not that hard to carve with proper templates.

  6. #6
    Moderator hjames's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    NoVA - DC 'burbs
    Posts
    8,547
    The Paragon was a JBL speaker system, and would have JBL parts in it,
    but the system you show looks to have Altec Lansing parts in it.
    Not sure how much you know about the companies, and I mean no offense, but
    James B Lansing and Altec Lansing are two distinct and different companies
    My guess is your system is a very cool looking custom speaker system.

    Its an attractive system, at least - a very interesting late 50's design, no doubt.
    The real question is always - how does it sound?


    Quote Originally Posted by gmitten View Post
    I recently bought a 1950's contemporary house from the original owner. He was a big music fan and left me what seems to be a JBL paragon speaker. I really don't know much about them, but noticed the one he left me has some differences to the models I have found online. I can't find any serial numbers but to be honest I am afraid of taking anything apart to look closer. He claims he bought it in 1957. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.

    I have attached some pictures. Not sure if there are any other areas I should take pictures of to help identify model.

    Thanks in advance,
    Gareth
    2ch: WiiM Pro; Topping E30 II DAC; Oppo, Acurus RL-11, Acurus A200, JBL Dynamics Project - Offline: L212-TwinStack, VonSchweikert VR-4
    7: TIVO, Oppo BDP103D, B&K, 2pr UREI 809A, TF600, JBL B460

  7. #7
    Maron Horonzakz
    Guest
    Its an attractive cabinet even though the details have been simplafied..i wonder how the curved panel was constructed,,altough for a brief time jbl would supply curved panels and legs,,i aquired some from the factory..later i made my own...a special jig is needed to hold its shape while laminating..

  8. #8
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    baltimore
    Posts
    4
    Thanks for all the comments. I appreciate all the help. The previous owner had an extensive wood working shop in the basement and I would not put it past him making this speaker system. I was scared to hook up anything and test out the sound. Now that I know its homemade I will give it a spin and let you know how it sounds.

    Thanks again,
    G.

  9. #9
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    baltimore
    Posts
    4
    cabinet dimensions
    103 inches across
    21 inches deep
    32 inches high

    The horns are 18 inches across, not sure what I have to measure to determine if they are 511 or 811.
    I took a picture of a woofer too. hopefully its enough to determine what kind it is.


    Thanks,
    G.
    Attached Images Attached Images     

  10. #10
    Senior Member shaansloan's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    ABQ NM
    Posts
    331
    Quote Originally Posted by gmitten View Post
    The horns are 18 inches across, not sure what I have to measure to determine if they are 511 or 811.
    I took a picture of a woofer too. hopefully its enough to determine what kind it is.Thanks,
    G.
    The horn is a 511(at 18" wide), much larger than an 811. The woofer is not an Altec or JBL, is there any manufacturer name in that writing? Is there 4 wires going to the woofer? maybe its a duplex? Also, looks like a 3 way and has a tweeter also below the horn on the right...?

    This is definately a homemade job, a Paragon look-alike, but not really taking advantage of the Paragon sound projection designs, as Maron pointed out. Nevertheless it is probably a fairly good sounding unit....for sure it is very unique.

    Tell us how it sounds!
    Vintage JBL and Altec fan

  11. #11
    Maron Horonzakz
    Guest
    A word of caution,,,Never pick it up in one piece,,Take it apart and seperate in three sections to move,,, The gentilman who built this did a great job,,,That woofer looks interesting..The woofer basket does not resemble Altec..But the green color looks right.. Looking closer is that a black grill frame over the bass cavity ???

  12. #12
    Moderator hjames's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    NoVA - DC 'burbs
    Posts
    8,547
    Its an odd-woofer config ... is it some kind of concentric driver like the UREI woofers in their studio monitors?
    I dumped the image in PhotoShop CS5, but can't make it much clearer ... sorry.


    Name:  aa-woofer.jpg
Views: 863
Size:  124.3 KB
    2ch: WiiM Pro; Topping E30 II DAC; Oppo, Acurus RL-11, Acurus A200, JBL Dynamics Project - Offline: L212-TwinStack, VonSchweikert VR-4
    7: TIVO, Oppo BDP103D, B&K, 2pr UREI 809A, TF600, JBL B460

  13. #13
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Orange County, CA
    Posts
    3,597
    Someone's cool project.

    Tweeter is a cheap piezo, maybe a Motorola. The right side tweeter simply appears to be wired in parallel with the horn.

    The horn does not look properly situated to take full advantage of the curved baffle for proper dispersion.

  14. #14
    Senior Member grumpy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    5,742
    I completely missed that (enhanced a bit here):

    Name:  tweeter.jpg
Views: 887
Size:  20.5 KB

  15. #15
    Senior Member Eaulive's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Back in Montreal
    Posts
    1,289
    Quote Originally Posted by grumpy View Post
    I completely missed that (enhanced a bit here):

    Name:  tweeter.jpg
Views: 887
Size:  20.5 KB
    Good eye, only on the right side however (I was frantically looking on the left side and was wondering what kind of magical enhancer you were having)
    My avatar: 4520 loaded with 2225H on E140 frames,
    1x 2202H on custom front loaded horn, 2x 2426 on 2370.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Does anyone know the box tuning specs of the 4645-K ? -K model, NOT -C model.
    By wsilva in forum Lansing Product General Information
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 08-03-2010, 12:43 PM
  2. Altec Model 19 Model 14 On E Bay
    By CONVERGENCE in forum Lansing Product General Information
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 01-13-2005, 05:50 PM
  3. What model are these?
    By Wardsweb in forum Lansing Product General Information
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 01-18-2004, 09:25 AM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •