UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Powered By Google Custom Search Vintage Radio and TV Service Data

Go Back   UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum > General Vintage Technology > General Vintage Technology Discussions

Notices

General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc.

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 26th Sep 2018, 6:39 pm   #1
CambridgeWorks
Nonode
 
CambridgeWorks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Spalding, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 2,851
Default Help please, are these valuable?

I have 2 sets of horns, brackets and drivers and would like to know any opinion as to whether they may be valuable or not, please? Genalex is the name on the drivers.
The horns are steel, approx 18" diameter. The drivers are about 5" diameter and each check out as approx 8-9 ohms dc resistance on my dmm.
I am led to believe that the original use was for PA at fetes etc., many years ago.
Feeding in a 0dbm 1KHz tone, there is a faint, pure tone sound from each driver, with no horn attached.
A friend who had cinema projectionist connections many years ago suggests these might be sought after?
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks, Rob
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	trumpet 1.jpg
Views:	706
Size:	124.3 KB
ID:	169931   Click image for larger version

Name:	trumpet 2.jpg
Views:	367
Size:	135.4 KB
ID:	169932  
__________________
Apprehension creeping like a tube train up your spine - Cymbaline. Film More soundtrack - Pink Floyd
CambridgeWorks is online now  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 6:42 pm   #2
HamishBoxer
Dekatron
 
HamishBoxer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: W.Butterwick, near Doncaster UK.
Posts: 8,923
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Best advice is look on Ebay for similar and see what they are at price wise.
__________________
G8JET BVWS Archivist and Member V.M.A.R.S
HamishBoxer is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 6:50 pm   #3
CambridgeWorks
Nonode
 
CambridgeWorks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Spalding, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 2,851
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Thanks, I tried that, several times in last few months. Zero results regarding "Genalex", regarding drivers. Plenty about valves though!
Rob
__________________
Apprehension creeping like a tube train up your spine - Cymbaline. Film More soundtrack - Pink Floyd
CambridgeWorks is online now  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 6:53 pm   #4
electronicskip
Nonode
 
electronicskip's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gloucester, Glos. UK.
Posts: 2,149
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Not sure if this is quite relevant but hope the mods are gentle with me.
Found Genalex gold lion valves for sale from Russia/canada and also mentions speaker parts of the same name .Here is the link .

https://solen.ca/product-category/th...lex-gold-lion/
electronicskip is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 7:08 pm   #5
Refugee
Dekatron
 
Refugee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 5,549
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

I would say that they are designed for speech only.
They will be fine if you can find the owner of a vintage PA who wants them.
Refugee is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 7:26 pm   #6
GrimJosef
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Oxfordshire, UK.
Posts: 4,310
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

There is a community of hi-fi horn loudspeaker aficionados out there, and the 'right' drivers can be worth a very great deal indeed. I'll see if I can't point one or two of the experts across here for a look and if they come up with an answer they can either join the forum and post it or let me know and I'll do so on their behalf. In the meantime I'd keep them safe and sound, just in case.

Cheers,

GJ
__________________
http://www.ampregen.com

Last edited by GrimJosef; 26th Sep 2018 at 7:35 pm.
GrimJosef is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 7:33 pm   #7
CambridgeWorks
Nonode
 
CambridgeWorks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Spalding, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 2,851
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Thanks all, especially GJ. To me, they are big, heavy, ugly and taking up a lot of space!
But maybe a silk purse for someone?
I am not daft enough to just dismiss them as "rubbish" but I am out of my comfort zone deciding on the best way to dispose of them.
Personally, I have absolutely no use for them at all. But if worth, maybe, serious money, well, there is another option to consider!
Thanks, Rob
__________________
Apprehension creeping like a tube train up your spine - Cymbaline. Film More soundtrack - Pink Floyd
CambridgeWorks is online now  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 7:39 pm   #8
dazzlevision
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Near Swindon, North Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 3,595
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Genalex was the export brand of General Electric Company (the British company) in markets such as the USA, where General Electric (USA) owned the GE brand name.
dazzlevision is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 7:45 pm   #9
Nickthedentist
Dekatron
 
Nickthedentist's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Oxford, UK.
Posts: 17,820
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Genalex was also used on a lot of synchronous (mains-powered) clocks in the 1930s and possibly beyond, most of which used SEC/Smiths movements or were just re-badged SEC/Smiths models.

Loads turn up over here, so I'd be surprised if they were destined for export:
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	1.jpg
Views:	80
Size:	85.4 KB
ID:	169933  
Nickthedentist is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 7:46 pm   #10
Boater Sam
Banned
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Middlewich, Cheshire, UK. & Winter in the Philippines.
Posts: 3,897
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Mickey Mouse van horns! Thought they were all gone. Public address firms may be interested in the nostalgia.
Boater Sam is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 8:54 pm   #11
dazzlevision
Dekatron
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Near Swindon, North Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 3,595
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Looking at the second photo in post #1, you can see the horn was made by The General Electric Company of England, in England. I have seen Genalex (GEC UK) branded valves advertised in old USA electronics magazines, often the KT66 (made by the GEC subsidiary The M-O Valve Co).
dazzlevision is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 9:00 pm   #12
robin0577
Pentode
 
robin0577's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 139
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Actually, that kind of horn speaker is still fairly widely used for PA purposes at certain types of event requiring a lot of area to be covered for speech only. Large car boot fairs, equestrian events, etc. A good many PA hire firms still stock them, especially in more rural areas.

Also frequently seen but not heard at large concerts, where the license requires a battery operated PA independent from the main PA to deliver fire/emergency evacuation instructions.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	pa horn.jpg
Views:	182
Size:	7.3 KB
ID:	169935  
__________________
"Broken we can fix, cr*p is a design issue"

Last edited by robin0577; 26th Sep 2018 at 9:05 pm.
robin0577 is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 9:05 pm   #13
Hartley118
Nonode
 
Hartley118's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Cambridge, Cambs. UK.
Posts: 2,196
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by dazzlevision View Post
Genalex was the export brand of General Electric Company (the British company) in markets such as the USA, where General Electric (USA) owned the GE brand name.
Agreed, but I've never before seen PA speakers like this branded Genalex, though GEC did run a flourishing audio business in the 1950s (think GEC metal cone speaker units which sounded rather good). Back in 1962 I worked on the electronics side of a major Sheffield steelworks. Most of the PA systems there were GEC, many including rack-mounted 500W valve amplifiers, including that serving the social club dance hall.

Around the plant, there were very many horn speakers like these, though whether they were GEC branded I don't know - they were all out of reach! They normally include 100V line transformers (probably inside that driver can), so you wouldn't hear much from it connected to a typical 8 ohm amplifier output.

That classic straight horn is a design that I associate with Grampian and Vitavox, though I'm sure that, as a very successful product, it was rebranded on an OEM basis by others. I believe that its electro-acoustic efficiency approaches 50% within the working frequency range of some 300Hz - 6kHz. That's helpful in the vicinity of a loud steel rolling mill! Their effectiveness derives not only from the efficiency of horn loading, but also the directivity arising from their property of radiating virtually a plane wave at mid-frequencies which few, if any, direct radiators can do. That accounts for the common description 'projector' speakers.

There is, of course, some coloration in the sound, though to my ear it's much less obtrusive in a straight horn that than produced by the more familiar folded horns. For the job they do, I rather admire them.

I have small collection of a few of these horns and drivers, mainly branded Grampian. In terms of value, a horn with driver would probably cost £100-150 on eBay, though as ever some vendors have higher aspirations.

Interestingly, though the complete horns are becoming somewhat rare, there are still a lot of the short 'first half section' horns around. For a few decades now, these have been repurposed to radiate the familiar, and very clear, ice cream van chimes, normally mounted facing the road surface.

Martin
__________________
BVWS Member
Hartley118 is offline  
Old 26th Sep 2018, 9:08 pm   #14
AC/HL
Dekatron
 
AC/HL's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 9,637
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Be careful not to overload the drivers. They are easily damaged by using without the horn.
The company I started my TV servicing journey with also did PA hire.
AC/HL is offline  
Old 28th Sep 2018, 12:39 pm   #15
CambridgeWorks
Nonode
 
CambridgeWorks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Spalding, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK.
Posts: 2,851
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Thanks all for the comments and advice.
Rob
__________________
Apprehension creeping like a tube train up your spine - Cymbaline. Film More soundtrack - Pink Floyd
CambridgeWorks is online now  
Old 2nd Oct 2018, 8:09 pm   #16
crackle
Rest in Peace
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Basildon, Essex, UK.
Posts: 4,100
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

May be useful on an Ice Cream Van.
crackle is offline  
Old 3rd Oct 2018, 1:31 pm   #17
m0cemdave
Octode
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 1,205
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Hi Robin.

As they are PA types, rather than the vintage cinema drivers favoured by audio fanatics, they don't have much value.

As mentioned earlier, systems like this are still used at public events where speech announcements are needed. Normally with a high impedance distribution system (so-called 100 Volt Line) where each speaker contains a matching transformer. I've installed a few of these in the past; spending a day hanging them from lamp posts in central London can be quite entertaining...

Some radio rallies use this method for announcements - if you're in a club that does this, perhaps they could make use of them.

Otherwise, probably only of interest to a collector of GEC products.
m0cemdave is offline  
Old 3rd Oct 2018, 1:56 pm   #18
Steve G4WCS
Heptode
 
Steve G4WCS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Preston, Lancashire, UK.
Posts: 632
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

blasting the monty python theme tune through them immedately springs to mind
Steve G4WCS is offline  
Old 3rd Oct 2018, 2:39 pm   #19
stevehertz
Dekatron
 
stevehertz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 8,809
Default Re: Help please, are these valuable?

Quote:
Originally Posted by robinshack View Post
Thanks, I tried that, several times in last few months. Zero results regarding "Genalex", regarding drivers. Plenty about valves though!
Rob
When browsing Ebay to get an idea of prices always click on 'advanced search' (top right) and then choose 'sold', then click search. That way you see actual prices items have sold for and not just the hopeful, often misleading prices that people are asking.
__________________
A digital radio is the latest thing, but a vintage wireless is forever..
stevehertz is offline  
Closed Thread

Thread Tools



All times are GMT +1. The time now is 5:43 am.


All information and advice on this forum is subject to the WARNING AND DISCLAIMER located at https://www.vintage-radio.net/rules.html.
Failure to heed this warning may result in death or serious injury to yourself and/or others.


Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright ©2002 - 2023, Paul Stenning.