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Classic gear from yesteryear; vintage audio standing the test of time.

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1958 Single speaker JBL Hartsfield.

97.95.43.235

Posted on February 9, 2017 at 23:37:37
Michael Samra
Dealer

Posts: 36118
Location: saginaw michigan
Joined: January 30, 2005
Listen to this thru some decent speakers and then you will quickly see why people across the world pay any price to get these.This is one speaker coming thru a camera recording.Now imagine it live in front of the speaker listening to this 1958 mono recording.









"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

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RE: 1958 Single speaker JBL Hartsfield., posted on February 10, 2017 at 04:29:45
vinnie2
Audiophile

Posts: 4481
Location: North Carolina
Joined: September 28, 2013
Isn't there a company that produces a modern version of those?

 

Classic Audio Loudspeakers, MI, posted on February 10, 2017 at 05:11:28
Charlie8521
Audiophile

Posts: 914
Location: South East Michigan
Joined: October 2, 2004
See link below. They have a series of what they call the Classic Line. No idea how their performance compares to the original. They are in Brighton MI, which is around 100 or so miles NW of Detroit. I have no association with them, but I think I met the owner around 20 years ago.

 

Pair for sale on Audiogon, posted on February 10, 2017 at 05:38:53
Charlie8521
Audiophile

Posts: 914
Location: South East Michigan
Joined: October 2, 2004
So I live in West Michigan and look at what is for sale on Audiogon in my area everyday. Turns out there are a pair of Hartsfields for sale from Classic Audio at $9,999.99. I assume they are demo's or something. Retail is stated at $18,000. They also listed some T-1's if interested. Looks like they will be displaying at Axpona in Chicago for those interested. I'm thinking of going there for the first time. No association with seller.

 

For my next vacation I'm booking a week at Mike's house, posted on February 10, 2017 at 07:12:16
airtime
Audiophile

Posts: 11287
Location: Arizona
Joined: February 4, 2003
I think you should start tours and build a vacation cottage for tourists. PAYING tourist!!!!

Heck if I was in the area I would like to see your toys.

BTW I went out shooting a few days ago and there was some sort of electronic thing shot to shit out there. Hum????? I wonder what it was and how it ended up there???? Here in AZ you go out to the desert and shoot at one of the many designated shooting areas. For living next to a city of about 4 million people they really let you live and let live out here!

 

RE: 1958 Single speaker JBL Hartsfield., posted on February 10, 2017 at 09:14:09
Hornlover
Manufacturer

Posts: 2529
Joined: March 8, 2002
This was the first version of the Hartsfield. They sold it as a 'building block' sort of like the EV loudspeakers. You started with a full range 8", and then upgraded as your budget allowed. This early version had the woofer mounted at and angle towards the top of the loudspeaker. The later version had the woofer mounted vertically, lower in the box. By this time, they had done away with the 'building block' option, since so few people went that way. I have accurate plans I created in AutoCAD 3D of the later Hartsfield. I did these when I used to sell them on line.

 

Cool!, posted on February 10, 2017 at 09:48:06
E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37372
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
  Since:
April 5, 2002
Maynardcat has quite a few neat videos on YouTube. Here's another of his that shows the playback system as well:








In other videos, he shows a Sony turntable with early SME 3009 arm.

 

RE: Pair for sale on Audiogon, posted on February 10, 2017 at 11:41:02
dbphd
Audiophile

Posts: 1661
Location: Montecito, CA
Joined: September 6, 2006
I assume stereo killed off the big corner-loaded horns. Not many rooms with a pair of suitable corners to accommodate them. ARs may have contributed as well.

db

 

RE: Cool!, posted on February 10, 2017 at 14:43:55
Michael Samra
Dealer

Posts: 36118
Location: saginaw michigan
Joined: January 30, 2005
I know.
I'm trying to get him to join the Audio Asylum.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

RE: For my next vacation I'm booking a week at Mike's house, posted on February 10, 2017 at 14:50:09
Michael Samra
Dealer

Posts: 36118
Location: saginaw michigan
Joined: January 30, 2005
Charlie
That isn't my Hartsfield. I would have no room for it.I hear you on AZ.I can take one of my AK47s and fire off a few rounds.I have two I got in the early 90s right after the wall came down and I never fired either of them to this day.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

RE: Classic Audio Loudspeakers, MI, posted on February 10, 2017 at 14:53:38
Michael Samra
Dealer

Posts: 36118
Location: saginaw michigan
Joined: January 30, 2005
Jerry
John builds some incredible speakers.You ought to hear the reference Field coil speakers he builds for 70k a pair. They sound like ESL57s on steroids.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

RE: For my next vacation I'm booking a week at Mike's house, posted on February 11, 2017 at 08:04:26
Interstage Tranny
Audiophile

Posts: 3063
Location: Eastern
Joined: October 4, 2006
Can we all fit there ? Just for a few hours ? Distance has become such a separator of like minds in our generation. Travel used to be easy and reasonably priced. Plus, we had expendable income too....

As with other forums, a "meet" or audio show might be appropriate, these days. Perhaps, the Michigan antique radio show (in July ?) could be an option ? At the May and September Kutztown radio shows, we always have an informal audio meet, after the scrounging hours. However, that meet is outdoors under pavillions, which becomes problematic for acoustics. Nobody seems to bring large efficient speakers either...

 

RE: 1958 Single speaker JBL Hartsfield., posted on February 11, 2017 at 09:52:49
noroom4squares
Audiophile

Posts: 111
Location: mid atlantic
Joined: December 19, 2010
I have a pair of empty T-1 cabinets id be happy to get rid of. Im in NJ

 

RE: 1958 Single speaker JBL Hartsfield., posted on February 11, 2017 at 10:30:01
Coner
Audiophile

Posts: 3703
Location: S.W. Washington state, USA
Joined: November 17, 2001
Awesome sound...with headphones I thought it was stereo. There's
something special with that driver/horn/lens combination, always
thought so from first listen at my friends house decades ago.

 

RE: For my next vacation I'm booking a week at Mike's house, posted on February 11, 2017 at 17:58:28
Michael Samra
Dealer

Posts: 36118
Location: saginaw michigan
Joined: January 30, 2005
Sure why not.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong" H. L. Mencken

 

RE: 1958 Single speaker JBL Hartsfield., posted on February 11, 2017 at 19:46:47
Kirk57
Audiophile

Posts: 603
Location: Chicago's North Shore
Joined: December 9, 2008
I'm sure they are wonderful, but how the heck would you be able tell what a speaker sounds like by listening to a YouTube video?

 

RE: 1958 Single speaker JBL Hartsfield., posted on February 15, 2017 at 08:31:57
Chef Henry
Audiophile

Posts: 367
Joined: July 27, 2001
At the time of its 1957 introduction, the Paragon used the same driver complement as the Hartsfield - the 150-4C woofer, and the 375 compression driver. (The Paragon didn't become a three-way until 1960 when the 075 ring radiator was added. Over the years, many Hartsfield owners added the 075 and N7000 crossover. Richard Ranger, the Paragon's designer, originally envisioned it as a center channel, flanked by a Hartsfield on either side!)

The Paragon was my first exposure to stereo. This was in 1957 at Magnetic Recoding Company in Paterson, New Jersey. Since this was a year or so before the first stereo discs began to appear, the source was half-track tape. This was a very hard act to follow, and marked me for life.

Since the rise of the Internet, I've read many negative opinions about horn speakers in general, and the Paragon in particular. Matters of taste aside, I wonder how many who hold that opinion have actually heard a Paragon or Hartsfield, compared to those who are just channeling the judgement of others in an effort to sound more knowledgeable than they are.

Can these self-fancied experts seriously believe that a tiny stand-mounted monitor could challenge the performance of a Hartsfield or Paragon? But then, I suppose that's why we have the Vintage Asylum.

 

1958 Single speaker JBL Hartsfield., posted on February 15, 2017 at 15:53:29
Steelhead
Audiophile

Posts: 863
Location: AK
Joined: December 11, 2003
Tell it my chef.

JBL's rock, period. I was ruined after hearing 4350's.

For rock music they are indescribably delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



 

RE: 1958 Single speaker JBL Hartsfield., posted on February 15, 2017 at 16:19:00
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
Lets see, a Paragon and 4 Hartsfields. That would get me interested in home theater!

Dave

 

RE: Mono Rules..., posted on February 17, 2017 at 12:13:19
BigguyinATL
Manufacturer

Posts: 3475
Joined: April 10, 2002
When I design or modify a loudspeaker / crossover I work with just one speaker. You have to get that speaker right so the sound/timber/Timing is balanced the "easy" part then is building the second to match the first...

Two loudspeakers would just mess with my mind...

I was thinking to myself, "The things that make a loudspeaker good for music reproduction really haven't changed in 60 years... "



"The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat" - Confucius

 

RE: Classic Audio Loudspeakers, MI, posted on February 17, 2017 at 16:28:21
Plinko
Audiophile

Posts: 1708
Location: N East, USA
Joined: July 21, 2005
Never heard John's speakers but I think you are absolutely right. The only speakers I have heard that replicate the ease and fluidity that I hear from electrostatic speakers are field coils.

Some might argue and though not field coils but I think I can hear this trademark ease and fluidity from the Hartsfield in the YouTube video. Thanks for posting.

A vintage mono system with big horn and a dynamic, immediate sounding vintage phono cartridge like a Decca or GE sounds spectacular. No need at all for stereo.

 

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