Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

RADIO · 27th Mar 2011, 12:48 am

I recently purchased some superb speakers with the only identification being the letter B on the front grill. They stand about 3 feet tall and are the type to have furniture type legs on them. I have a pair of Castle Howards in the same mahogany type cabinets although the Castle are no where near the quality of these cabinets which look like top quality mahogany furniture. The grill can be removed to reveal drivers but no names anywhere.
Any ideas please?

RADIO · 27th Mar 2011, 10:19 am

Just to add I would guess they are from either 70's or 80's which may narrow it down a bit? I was told by the person I purchased them from that they may be Bose but I thought all their speakers had the whole name shown. Each cab has a 12" bass a 5" mid and 2x 2" tweets. The tweeters have 16ohm stamped on fronts and the mids have 8ohm with nothing on bass....

paulsherwin · 27th Mar 2011, 11:18 am

Are you sure the speakers are professionally made? There was a lot of interest in home woodworking in the 60s and 70s and many people built speaker cabinets from designs in books and magazines. The quality of workmanship could be very high and the finished speakers would sound just as good as commercially made models.

frsimen · 27th Mar 2011, 12:01 pm

Back in the mid 1970s there was a company called Brahms Manufacturing and Development Co. from Rochester, Kent that produced a range of loudspeakers that sound similar to yours. They had a small logo in the centre of the grille, near the top. I've only got a very poor picture, but I could be persuaded that the logo was a B. They had a number of models listed, the larger ones were:

Buckingham series 2 at 31.25 by 12 by 12 inches

Balmoral series 2 at 28 by 16 by 12 inches

Queen Anne series 2 and Regency series 2 both at 28 by 16.5 by 12 inches plus 6 inch legs. (These are similar in size to yours and were £61 in 1974.

The fact that they are all series 2 suggests that there may have been an earlier set of models, or was it just a marketing ploy?

Paula

RADIO · 27th Mar 2011, 12:24 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

Are you sure the speakers are professionally made? There was a lot of interest in home woodworking in the 60s and 70s and many people built speaker cabinets from designs in books and magazines. The quality of workmanship could be very high and the finished speakers would sound just as good as commercially made models.

According to the original owner they were purchased 'as is' so I can only assume they are made by a known manufacturer. I also purchased a pair of Castle Howards also made in Mahogany cabinets with typical curved furniture type legs and also fancy fronts to them plus a pair of NAD 'famous designer series' speakers which are inserted into what I call speaker cabinet shells which I remember was typical at a time when some people wanted their speakers to blend in with the rest of the furniture in the room.
Please see photos which may help?

I rushed taking them but hope they will make it easier for you...

RADIO · 27th Mar 2011, 12:30 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by frsimen

Back in the mid 1970s there was a company called Brahms Manufacturing and Development Co. from Rochester, Kent that produced a range of loudspeakers that sound similar to yours. They had a small logo in the centre of the grille, near the top. I've only got a very poor picture, but I could be persuaded that the logo was a B. They had a number of models listed, the larger ones were:

Buckingham series 2 at 31.25 by 12 by 12 inches

Balmoral series 2 at 28 by 16 by 12 inches

Queen Anne series 2 and Regency series 2 both at 28 by 16.5 by 12 inches plus 6 inch legs. (These are similar in size to yours and were £61 in 1974.

The fact that they are all series 2 suggests that there may have been an earlier set of models, or was it just a marketing ploy?

Paula

They measure 28" high plus 5" leg and 18" wide x 15" deep so nearly but not quite

RADIO · 27th Mar 2011, 1:33 pm

As for the price you quote I would say these were above £100 possibly £200 at that time. In 1974 a pair of Wharfdale Dentons would set you back £30 so working on that as a guide and considering the quality (really superb polishing on top and sides especially-sorry photos do not do these justice) of the cabinets alone and using cheap drivers they would still have been over £100 at that time I would have thought. I'm just hoping they are from a decent company of course. If no one is 100% sure maybe I should remove a drive unit as this may have an id on the back?

roffe · 27th Mar 2011, 1:35 pm

The drivers are all Peerless.

RADIO · 27th Mar 2011, 1:58 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by roffe

The drivers are all Peerless.

I have no idea if that is a make or?
Here are some photos from inside...Unfortunately not Tannoy Reds

or anything I've seen before and no id marks so probably cheap and nothing special?

frsimen · 27th Mar 2011, 2:28 pm

They cabinet looks almost identical to the Brahms Regency, and the badge certainly looks the same as the one they used as far as I can judge. The Regency 2 only had three speakers, yours has four, so it's not exactly the same model.

As for the price, it's what was quoted in the Hi-Fi Yearbook 1975. I agree the price wasn't much more than was being asked for Wharfedale Lintons, although Wharfedale speakers used to be quite heavily discounted at the time. The Denton 1s were around £25, Linton 3 £34.20 (prices taken from October 1975).

Paula

Michael Maurice · 27th Mar 2011, 2:41 pm

The signature on Post #6 looks like Roger Driscoll who was a lecturer at the North London Polytechnic around 1977 - 1980, a very respected engineer.

RADIO · 27th Mar 2011, 2:49 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by frsimen

They cabinet looks almost identical to the Brahms Regency, and the badge certainly looks the same as the one they used as far as I can judge. The Regency 2 only had three speakers, yours has four, so it's not exactly the same model.

As for the price, it's what was quoted in the Hi-Fi Yearbook 1975. I agree the price wasn't much more than was being asked for Wharfedale Lintons, although Wharfedale speakers used to be quite heavily discounted at the time. The Denton 1s were around £25, Linton 3 £34.20 (prices taken from October 1975).

Paula

Well I have looked up Peerless and they look like they certainly are these drivers which are Danish I think. I purchased a Pair of Wharfdale Dentons in 1974 for £29 odd from Laskys in Tottenham Court Rd. (those were the days!).
They may have been used by Brahms although, as you say, these do not match the ones you have details for. I remember, although a bit foggy with this one, that I also purchased some Goodmans RB35's around '76 I think and they were about £55 and used a 8" or 10" bass driver. Now comparing the Goodmans to these the Goodmans had cheap wood effect covering the cases but sounded good. I remember at that time any decent loudspeaker manufacturer using 12" drivers in cases as good a quality as these were priced as stated in my previous post. In the 74-80 era Teak was a cheapish veneer then became very expensive around 90's sometime. Mahogany was the pricier option although not many want it today.
Maybe they had larger models or we are not on the right track with Brahms.

roffe · 27th Mar 2011, 3:59 pm

Peerless has for many years been a major manufacturer of loudspeaker drivers.Your's are probably from the early 70's.
The woofer is still somewhat of a little mystery to me since I haven't been able to find a type number on it anywhere.I have two myself.
The mid is a closed back Peerless G50MRC.
The tweeter is-as far as I can see-a Peerless MT225HFC.
The crossover filter is a standard Peerless 3-way.

Peerless made some kits,but not with these drivers combined as far as I know.

RADIO · 27th Mar 2011, 5:12 pm

A big thank you to all of you for your input especially Roffe for an exact match which is more than I'd hoped for. I have searched around since you mentioned Peerless and it seems no one else is the wiser regarding the 12" units although they must be the same make as they look almost identical larger versions of all the other units. Believe it or not I have not tried any of these speakers yet. It seemed a good idea to hold fire until I was more clued up about them all...

Maestro Maker · 27th Mar 2011, 11:15 pm

I would agree that these are by Peerless as identified by Roffe.

I have happy memories of visiting the Peerles works on several occasions in the 1970s. They had a first class design and manufacturing plant and super quality control.

One would expect the units to be good working order even now - assuming they have not been damaged by careless handling.

They were used by Dynatron in a wide range of their loudspeaker enclosures and performed well.

MM

RADIO · 29th Mar 2011, 7:58 pm

I listened to them briefly last night. They sound excellent with Jazz and vocals so far. Very clear and revealing. I remember Dynatron well although they normally identified their speakers quite well. I tried the Castles and one worked to a degree and the other was dead. I'm hoping they have relay issues. I'm still awaiting the free time to try the NAD's.
I wish I had more room!!! I certainly need to sell some things once again. I'm sure I can't be the only one with this problem.

27th Mar 2011, 12:48 am	#1
RADIO Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bedford, Beds. UK. Posts: 127	Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... I recently purchased some superb speakers with the only identification being the letter B on the front grill. They stand about 3 feet tall and are the type to have furniture type legs on them. I have a pair of Castle Howards in the same mahogany type cabinets although the Castle are no where near the quality of these cabinets which look like top quality mahogany furniture. The grill can be removed to reveal drivers but no names anywhere. Any ideas please?

27th Mar 2011, 10:19 am	#2
RADIO Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bedford, Beds. UK. Posts: 127	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... Just to add I would guess they are from either 70's or 80's which may narrow it down a bit? I was told by the person I purchased them from that they may be Bose but I thought all their speakers had the whole name shown. Each cab has a 12" bass a 5" mid and 2x 2" tweets. The tweeters have 16ohm stamped on fronts and the mids have 8ohm with nothing on bass....

27th Mar 2011, 11:18 am	#3
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,957	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... Are you sure the speakers are professionally made? There was a lot of interest in home woodworking in the 60s and 70s and many people built speaker cabinets from designs in books and magazines. The quality of workmanship could be very high and the finished speakers would sound just as good as commercially made models.

27th Mar 2011, 12:01 pm	#4
frsimen Heptode Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Croydon, London, UK. Posts: 773	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... Back in the mid 1970s there was a company called Brahms Manufacturing and Development Co. from Rochester, Kent that produced a range of loudspeakers that sound similar to yours. They had a small logo in the centre of the grille, near the top. I've only got a very poor picture, but I could be persuaded that the logo was a B. They had a number of models listed, the larger ones were: Buckingham series 2 at 31.25 by 12 by 12 inches Balmoral series 2 at 28 by 16 by 12 inches Queen Anne series 2 and Regency series 2 both at 28 by 16.5 by 12 inches plus 6 inch legs. (These are similar in size to yours and were £61 in 1974. The fact that they are all series 2 suggests that there may have been an earlier set of models, or was it just a marketing ploy? Paula

27th Mar 2011, 1:33 pm	#7
RADIO Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bedford, Beds. UK. Posts: 127	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... As for the price you quote I would say these were above £100 possibly £200 at that time. In 1974 a pair of Wharfdale Dentons would set you back £30 so working on that as a guide and considering the quality (really superb polishing on top and sides especially-sorry photos do not do these justice) of the cabinets alone and using cheap drivers they would still have been over £100 at that time I would have thought. I'm just hoping they are from a decent company of course. If no one is 100% sure maybe I should remove a drive unit as this may have an id on the back? Last edited by Dave Moll; 27th Mar 2011 at 2:43 pm. Reason: unnecessary repeat of quote removed

27th Mar 2011, 1:35 pm	#8
roffe Hexode Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Linkoping, Sweden Posts: 493	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... The drivers are all Peerless.

27th Mar 2011, 2:28 pm	#10
frsimen Heptode Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Croydon, London, UK. Posts: 773	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... They cabinet looks almost identical to the Brahms Regency, and the badge certainly looks the same as the one they used as far as I can judge. The Regency 2 only had three speakers, yours has four, so it's not exactly the same model. As for the price, it's what was quoted in the Hi-Fi Yearbook 1975. I agree the price wasn't much more than was being asked for Wharfedale Lintons, although Wharfedale speakers used to be quite heavily discounted at the time. The Denton 1s were around £25, Linton 3 £34.20 (prices taken from October 1975). Paula

27th Mar 2011, 2:41 pm	#11
Michael Maurice Moderator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Wembley, Middlesex Posts: 7,225	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... The signature on Post #6 looks like Roger Driscoll who was a lecturer at the North London Polytechnic around 1977 - 1980, a very respected engineer.

27th Mar 2011, 3:59 pm	#13
roffe Hexode Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Linkoping, Sweden Posts: 493	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... Peerless has for many years been a major manufacturer of loudspeaker drivers.Your's are probably from the early 70's. The woofer is still somewhat of a little mystery to me since I haven't been able to find a type number on it anywhere.I have two myself. The mid is a closed back Peerless G50MRC. The tweeter is-as far as I can see-a Peerless MT225HFC. The crossover filter is a standard Peerless 3-way. Peerless made some kits,but not with these drivers combined as far as I know.

27th Mar 2011, 5:12 pm	#14
RADIO Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bedford, Beds. UK. Posts: 127	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... A big thank you to all of you for your input especially Roffe for an exact match which is more than I'd hoped for. I have searched around since you mentioned Peerless and it seems no one else is the wiser regarding the 12" units although they must be the same make as they look almost identical larger versions of all the other units. Believe it or not I have not tried any of these speakers yet. It seemed a good idea to hold fire until I was more clued up about them all... Last edited by Brian R Pateman; 27th Mar 2011 at 6:31 pm. Reason: Quote removed.

27th Mar 2011, 11:15 pm	#15
Maestro Maker Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: South Cambridgeshire, UK. Posts: 99	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... I would agree that these are by Peerless as identified by Roffe. I have happy memories of visiting the Peerles works on several occasions in the 1970s. They had a first class design and manufacturing plant and super quality control. One would expect the units to be good working order even now - assuming they have not been damaged by careless handling. They were used by Dynatron in a wide range of their loudspeaker enclosures and performed well. MM

29th Mar 2011, 7:58 pm	#16
RADIO Retired Dormant Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bedford, Beds. UK. Posts: 127	Re: Help identifying loudspeaker manufacturer using an ornate B on cabinet..... I listened to them briefly last night. They sound excellent with Jazz and vocals so far. Very clear and revealing. I remember Dynatron well although they normally identified their speakers quite well. I tried the Castles and one worked to a degree and the other was dead. I'm hoping they have relay issues. I'm still awaiting the free time to try the NAD's. I wish I had more room!!! I certainly need to sell some things once again. I'm sure I can't be the only one with this problem.