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Hello, I recently got of, as it says on the speaker, 8812 C Linear Phase Studio Monitor at a garage sale (see pic). I ran speaker wire (plain old kind that would work with say a bookshelf stereo) to it but am only getting sound out of the top tweeter. I am using an older Harman/Kardon 730 twin powered receiver for juice (see pic). Are the other speakers just shot? Does it require better speaker wire? Not enough power? I checked that the speakers were hooked up on the inside and the cones and speaker look intact. Please help!Todd
Follow Ups:
Need a password to see your photobucket account. Perhaps you need to adjust the settings to make your album public.As for the speakers, if the tweeters are working then the speaker is getting what it needs. If the woofers are connected internally then either the internal wires have a hidden break in them or the woofers are shot. Or possibly the crossover is damaged (if it has one) The woofers can be damaged without any visible sign of trouble.
I can't say definitively but I suspect that what you have is a pair of those infamous "White Van" speakers. They are very cheaply made of poor quality components. Perhaps I am wrong. You can Google "white van speakers" and find lots of sad information.
What you can do, is disconnect one of the woofers and hook a known good woofer to the wires, if it works then you have a partial answer. Usually it is not the best idea to take a woofer out of a speaker and just replace it with anything that will fit the hole, but in this case it may be your solution.good luck
--Matt
some more info:Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: DPie...@world.std.com (Richard d Pierce)
Subject: Re: Acustic Audio: did I get ripped off? Yes, you did
Message-ID:
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
References: <2720@uswnvg.uswnvg.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1992 14:13:14 GMTIn article <2...@uswnvg.uswnvg.com> gbar...@uswnvg.com (Gary Barnette) writes:
> The following story may have been told before in this group.
> I'm sure (as I was to find out) it is not unique.> Deleted details of well-worn story about being approached by non-descript
> youths in a van selling "overstocked" speakers, normally listing for over
> $1000 for $350> Did I get ripped off? Has this happened to any one else? Are Acustic
> Audio speakers any good? Why does this company sell its product like
> so many hot watches?Yeah, even at $350, you got ripped off. This is a very common occurance.
There is no "list price" for these products. I was involved as an expert
witness in a case involving one of these companies. The components are
very cheap. For example, many tweeters have substantially larger magnets
than the 12" woofers in these cabinets have. As an expert witness, I
thoroughly investigated these systems, and they're not worth much at all.Even if you like them (and there's nothing basically wrong with that),
these same speakers have sold under the same circumstances for under $200
the pair, probably approaching what they are really worth.The specs on the speakers are bogus. The $1350 list price is bogus. The
story about being overstocked is bogus. The claim that they are used for
studio monitors is essentially bogus. The manufacturer make these systems
specifically to be sold under these pretenses. I know that in at least 1
state (Illinois), there is a standing cease-and-desist order against one of
these manufacturers and "dealer networks." They can sell them, but they
are required to be far more honest and upfront about what these things
really are.--
| Dick Pierce |
| Loudspeaker and Software Consulting |
| 17 Sartelle Street Pepperell, MA 01463 |
| (508) 433-9183 (Voice and FAX) |Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: DPie...@world.std.com (Richard D Pierce)
Subject: Re: Need help in selecting acoustic speakers!
Message-ID:
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
References:<1993Nov10.142656.26...@en.ecn.purdue.edu> <1...@lee.SEAS.UCLA.EDU>
Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1993 15:15:51 GMT
Lines: 63In article <1...@lee.SEAS.UCLA.EDU> d...@Avian.CAD.UCLA.EDU (Dave Rooth) writes:
> Does anyone know about Acoustic Monitor Speakers, good or bad?"Acoustic Monitor" is one a a whole array of names hung on what has
become known as "white van" loudspeakers: very low-quality, low cost
loudspeakers with hyper-inflated "suggested list" prices that are often
sold by college students out of vans in mall and fast food parking lots.One common example is the "Acoustic Monitor DB-IV". Other names that are
found are "Pro-Poly", "Acoustic Studio Reference", "Acoustic Linear Pro
520", "Audio Reference 4350", "Acoustic Dynamic", "Linear Phase 8812",
"Acoustic Studio Monitor". Some are even unabashedly described as "ADS
520" and other such names, intended to mimic the names of well-known,
recognized brands.Often the sales pitch is something about "overstocked", "sales,
performance or installation cancelled", "store was double shipped" or
"surplus production run" or even "they're hot." They are none of these.
They are manufactured specifically to be sold in this fashion.The sellers may claim they are used by "major recording studios" or
"famous DJ's". They are notTypically they are 3-way bass-reflex systems with a 12" translucent
polypropylene coned woofer, a 5" paper cone midrange that's "liquid
cooled" and a 3 1/2" paper cone tweeter that's also "liquid cooled." The
drivers are very inexpensive (the tweeters cost tha manufacturer in the
range of $2.00, the midranges about $3.00 and the woofers about $8.00),
and the crossovers are essentially non-existant (consisting of a couple
of 25 cent capacitors one 75 cent circuit breaker, and two 75 cent
potentiometers for level control. The cabinets are made of low-quality
1/2" and 5/8" thick vinyl-wrapped material.They claim a sensitivity of as much as 98 dB 1m/1w, which, even in the
loosest possible interpretation, they fall far short of (I have measured
them around 89 dB broadband sensitivity, though they do have narrow band
peaks as much as 10 dB above this). They often have a printed frequency
response graph on the front panel, but that graph bears no relation
whatsoever to the actual performance of the system. Claims or frequency
response ranges of "35-25,000 Hz" or "43-20,000" are patently false.There is almost no chance of any warranty, there is seldom, if ever, the
opportunity to return the speakers if they are unsatisfactory in any way.In short what they ARE NOT is what they are described as. What they ARE
are very inexpensive, low-quality, mass produced marketing gimics designed
to maximize the profits of the manufacturer and seller, the latter of
whom works on nearly no overhead. The manufacturer and seller takes
little or no risk in the venture. It is the buyer who is at risk in such
a deal.And, unfortunately, the scam is, for the most part, barely legal,
although the laws in some states prohibit one or more aspects of this
type of marketing, such as mandatory implied warranty of fitness for
purpose, right of recision, prohibition of false or exaggerated claims,
and so on.--
| Dick Pierce |
| Loudspeaker and Software Consulting |
| 17 Sartelle Street Pepperell, MA 01463 |
| (508) 433-9183 (Voice and FAX) |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Seth J. Bradley, Senior System Administrator, Intel CT
Internet: sbrad...@scic.intel.com UUCP: uunet!scic.intel.com!sbradley
----------------------------------------
"How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all"
- Firesign Theater
Here are some pics of the inside of the input. Like I said I bought these at a garage sale from some college guys leaving school for the semester. They lived on campus and had only one of these. No van. I also bought a Technics receiver and a subwoofer that are true and dandy and work perfectly. The receiver was no more than 2 years old and get this, these guys were about to close down the sale (8:00pm) so I got all three for $10!! So no scam to me, maybe them when they bought the speaker but the other stuff is awesome.I want to use this as a moniter for vocals for my band and I had the receiver already (got it for free). If the speaker doesn't work I'm out $3.34.
Todd
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/input2.jpg
for that speaker. It looks pretty junky to me. Good deal on the Technics receiver and sub. The Harman/Kardon 730 is a good piece too.
It looks like the tweeter might be a piezo horn, which are pretty robust and can take college student abuse. It looks like from the picture of the input that the woofer was running with no crossover and the mid and tweeter had just a capacitor for each. That is okay...for your intended purpose I'd just replace the woofer and mid with whatever will fit and possibly replace the capacitors with new fresh ones. You may also want to put a fuse in the wire to the speaker so it will blow instead of damaging the drivers again.
So your guess is that the speakers are blown? I'm a novice so I wouldn't know. I'm really not looking to oput alot of money in this b/c fnding it made us go, "alright! a vocal moniter!" Any dea of the best place (I'll try ebay of course) to buy cheap speakers to fit? I think thet're a 12" and a 5".
You can try the "battery test". All you need is a 1.5 volt flashlight battery and a wire. AA, C or D. Don't use anything more powerful than that. Take the woofer and mid out, hold one end of the battery to one terminal of the speaker, and run the wire from the other end of the battery to the other terminal. If the cone moves and you hear a clicking sound then the speaker is good. If the battery test shows the woofer and mid are good, then there was something wrong in the wiring in the speaker cabinet.
For replacement 12 and 5 inch drivers on the cheap, I'd look at pawn shops, junk stores, yard sales and the like. Probably some car stereo speakers would do. You could try like a 12" car woofer, and a 5" car stereo speaker. Those are usually cheap and easy to find. Just be careful if the speakers have foam surrounds they may be rotten if they are too old.
You used to be able to buy drivers at Radio Shack but I don't think they sell them any more.
Buying from eBay probably isn't worth it, especially with shipping, unless you can do local pickup. You could keep your eye on Craigslist if there is one in your area.
good luck
--Matt
"You know why is that?"
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/Hoopty/speaker1.jpghttp://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/Hoopty/receiver.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p160/Jescoe/Hoopty/HooptyStudio4-29-07.jpg
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