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At Yard Sales Are Us today, I picked up some old speakers made by Bigg of Los Angeles. These are 2 8-inchers and a cone tweeter in each box. They look like a smaller version of the Altec 886, etc, but they also look to be much older. The cabinets are in very poor shape. Anyone have an opinion or consensus thereof on these guys? They'll need some work, and I can use some clues about how much mayhem to mix into the maintenance.Haven't listened to them yet, but I'm heading that way now if they'll play.
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Surprisingly good given their age.Sounds like one has a little more treble than the other. I assume that's a crossover thing, that some capacitors have long failed to outlive their uselessness.
Good bass for little 8-inchers in not-too-big boxes. I haven't tried taking them apart to see if one of those woofers is a passive.
The sound is plenty bright for me, and I like them a little bright because of my superannuated hearing.
There does sound like a little distortion in the sound, though. Is this something that is likely caused by deterioration of the crossovers, something that should clear up when I get the right frequencies going to the right drivers?
So, these guys were glued together to stay that way forever, and I'm going to have to pry them open. When I do that, I'll probably want to make backs for them. What's the best way to attach a back to a speaker so that it closes up with proper snugness but is reasonably removable?
This is an inside view of my Bigg Reproducer. Speaker back comes off mine. It is a large box.
I've opened one up. It has two active 8-inchers in each. It is filled with foam like a sealed box design, although it is not really sealed, with leaks around the terminals, etc, on the back. The top 8-incher is nuch like the one in your picture. The other one is also marked as Jensen and has a metal cover over the back of the cone.
Actually, mine has a 12" driver. Large port at the bottom. I thought it was for a horn until I saw a brochure of the Jensens.
...what's important ! Undoubtedly, if the drivers are original, the crossover caps need replacing; maybe the resistors, too. Are the drivers rear mounted ? Or, can you remove the drivers from the front and reach inside to get at the xover ? We all want to know if that is Jensen stuff inside. Before prying the rear, check that the drivers might have to be removed from the front, requiring grille surgery...ENJOY !!!
I don't think that I'll be able to get anything out the front. The fronts have what looks like a second baffle about an inch in front of the drivers, so that the sound is firing out from about 2 inches back. That can't be good, except it's original. These guys originall were covered from head to foot on the front and both sides with coarse speaker cloth about the color of tomato juice mixed 60-40 with orange juice, but the cloth was removed before I got them. It tucked under the top and bottom on three sides, and tucked under each side of the back panel. There is still a little residual of that in all those places.I've started dissmembering these guys surgically. When I get down to the deepest depths, am I looking for drivers that say 'Jensen' on them, or is there more likely a numerical code on the drivers that will identify the maker?
These guys are a puzzle about whether I should try to be a preservator or a renovator. It would be pretty easy to put a nice new piece of wood on the top and bottom of each (the original veneer is no longer viable as such) and wrap them up in cloth again. But I probably couldn't match the color, and wouldn't want to if I could. My alternative is to make grill frames for the fronts and add some color to them with an ambitious paint job. Maybe some kind of 1950's color scheme and or pattern on the cloth and paint. That would be good fun and better looking, but anyone who would buy a pair of 50 year old speakers would want something more original. But if I try to go original, what color cloth do I use, and what do I do with the backs? They've got those real cheap speaker terminals on the back, and one has the terminals in the middle, and the other has the terminals toward the side. And the wood is real beat up there, too.
The bottom line is that whoever built these things to start with had more technical merit than artistic impression, and I can certainly carry on in the same tradition.
Don't worry about original colors, which were always gray, brown or black or a mixture, in the late 50s. Do it up how you want. You are the listener/owner.
If the drivers do not say Jensen, then look for a six digit EIA # starting with 220, the Jensen #. The number will probably be on the rear of the speaker frames.
About that extra depth baffle, could that be the way the woofers are ported ? There was a 1950s enclosure called the RJ, as well as the Lafayette Elliptoflex, that used this "port around the woofer" technique. If the tweeter was a hot/bright one, the extra wood might not be detrimental. You decide that one. You might want to upgrade the tweet, and/or chamfer the edge of the extra wood surrounding the tweet. The stock solidity of the box is a good sign. Good Luck with your renovations...
Any idea what sensitivity of tweeter and what crossover I'd have to hit to make a good match? If these cross over below 2000 or put out much more than 92 db, I'm going to have a hard time upgrading.
Not sure of the tweeter sensitivity on mine as earlier Jensen Reproducers used a horn that went to 15,000. Crossover on the 2-ways was at 2,000. This was in 1956. I think my Bigg is a little later and obviously don't have a horn but I think would follow specs. I would need to crack it open and get id numbers.
BOC, or Bigg of California, is obscure stuff. From the mid to late 50s, this West coast manufacturer made some great gear. Their speakers used Jensen drivers, as previously mentioned.
Their amps are all super sounders, when working, as were their fine preamps. In the late '50s,and into 1960, they made some stereo items that deserve mention. Their P3D stereo preamp is a sweetie. I have never heard of their stereo amps, but I do own a simplex stereo power amp by them. Using EL34s for 50 Watts out on one channel, the other channel is a phantom/transformer derived wizardry item.
Their mid '50s George Gott EL34 mono amps are superb. Bigg boasted that they used Chicago brand output trannies in all their amps.
Speakerwise, they did use Jensen designs and their own versions of Jensen magic; Great stuff; if we can find 'em...ENJOY !!!
My P3D with a few smudges—cleans up beautifully. Never saw a tube amp as it was replaced by a Hong Kong made 80wpc SS built on a wood chassis.
Great pic of a super rare stereo preamp. I have one with a brown faceplate with light lettering. Yours is prettier. Does yours have the ceramic coupling caps underneath, as well ? Even with the stock ceramic coupling caps, mine sounds very good. Have you ever heard of or seen any of their stereo amps ? Their mid '50s George Gott 50 Watter monoblocs are excellent.
Unfortunately, the amp was missing and I have yet to see one locally. I don't think it has ever been opened so I would imagine it has the ceramic caps. Here is a pic of the matching FM tuner.
Yes ! I have that tuner. It is very good. That style face is what my P3D looks like. ENJOY !!!
It's Bigg of California, BOC, and probably around 1959. I have some of their components from a console that I found. Should've kept the console intact but just didn't have the room. I have a pre-amp, tuner and some speakers. One speaker is based on the 1959 "Jensen Reproducer" and is in fact labeled "Reproducer by Bigg of California." It's a bleached birch cabinet and does contain Jensen drivers. The other is a triangular shaped cabinet, like the top of a cornerhorn but whatever was in there was replaced with a 10" Realistic driver. Sorry, I can't offer any opinion on sound as I have yet to find the room to hook things up. I will say that everything was well made.
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