Concrete speakers

[dave walsh]

When HMV was bought by a Canadian Businessman recently it included 4 bargain basement shops nationally [remnants of the original Fopp chain of 143 there's a thread on here]. Only Bristol survived due to local protests!

Preliminary research reveals PW June 1963 P 144 A Concrete LS Enclosure by E Rowen. It's a corner shape but free standing! Perhaps someone can put the plan it up here from the American Archive site

Wharfedale Bradford Ad in PW August 1964 P 338 for clay pipe enclosures.
Kits 8" £3-15/- 10" £4-18/- Spkrs to suit around £8 and £10
pipes 12/6d or 17/6d Builders Yard

Oh there it is above now put up by Tanuki with the sub woofer option I've not come across before!

Dave

[RojDW48]

My dear old dad planned to make a pair of omnis back in the early 60s. My mum regarded the project with some suspicion and when a bloke turned up with two concrete storm drain sections approx 4' X 3' on the back of a lorry she declared that if they came in - she was going out for good......so I never got to hear them!

[Electronpusher0]

There was a previous thread about wharfdale sewer pipe loudspeakers here
https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=150998

Peter

[dave walsh]

4x3 on a lorry seems a bit over the top Roj. He could have said "It's just an experiment dear, not set in concrete-oh it is!"

Re John and his "speaker in the wall" comment 6* and Trevor mentioning "sand filled baffles" 13*... PW December 1964 [p756] has an article about "Sand Loaded Loudspeaker Baffles" by E Lawrence. He says-

"Mounting the speaker in a hole in a brick dividing wall between two rooms is an excellent practical solution to the problem [ie density] but this and other bizarre ideas often proposed in Hi-Fi circles, such as the use of a length of drainpipe or a brick corner cabinet are ideas which are seldom received with enthusiasm by other members of the family so that the average listener must be content with conventional materials such as thick plywood or blockboard."

Well he wasn't keen

Dave

[RojDW48]

Dad did get away with building very large speakers into the corners of our living room in 1958. They had sand filled baffles (he spent ages chatting to Gilbert Briggs on the phone about them). Mum was happy enough with them as they doubled as display features for plants and the like. Quad tuner/Tripletone pre and power amps and a Lenco deck IIRC.

[dave walsh]

I bet they sounded pretty good as well! You've confirmed what I said earlier about corner units being accepted as somewhat superior, despite Mr Lawrence's rather negative perception in his sand loaded baffle article. I wonder if your dad had read that as well, given that he compromised with the baffles [instead of "street furniture" items]

Dave

[D.Finney]

I seem to recall something on this subject possibly in a book called "Sound Reproduction" by G.A Briggs, was published about 1950.

[John10b]

I can fully understand not being allowed to put very large speaker cabinets in the living room. Incidentally I’ve just taken out of service two Tripletone Amps.
Cheers
John

[RojDW48]

"Incidentally I’ve just taken out of service two Tripletone Amps."

Are they the 15W monoblocs? I would be very interested if you were thinking of disposing of them. Almost forgotten and very underrated IMHO.

[RojDW48]

Originally Posted by D.Finney

I seem to recall something on this subject possibly in a book called "Sound Reproduction" by G.A Briggs, was published about 1950.

Yes - a good read and, at risk of making a terrible pun, very 'sound' reproduction. My old dad's baffles were relatively massive in comparison with GB's SFB3s, but the damping resonance principle worked really well.

Yes Dave - they were something else (!) in 1958. An astonishing number of people we hardly knew just 'happened to be passing' and wondered if they could have a listen.

[Diabolical Artificer]

Micheal Eavis of Glastonbury fame had a big pipe speaker in his milking parlour to listen to music, also wasn't the Philip's motion watnot speaker enclosure made of a sort of cement? I was going to build a sub woofer cab out of 3 x 2 ft slabs but whereas I could lift a 3 be 2 when younger, I struggle now, shifing six bolted together is out of the question.

Clay pipes AFAIK are no longer made and available at builders merchants, it's all plaggy pipe. Whilst the structural integrity of slabs, bricks or concrete might be good, you can build a very good cab out of birch ply or HDF (or MDF) with internal struts to brace the enclosure, so there's no need really.

Lastly main monitors in recording studio's were built into walls as were church electric organ speakers/horns.

Andy.

[duncanlowe]

Originally Posted by Diabolical Artificer

Clay pipes AFAIK are no longer made and available at builders merchants, it's all plaggy pipe.

Andy.

https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/Hepw...m-SP1/p/711543

[snowman_al]

All those are s o o wimpy...

Try this from Audio magazine in 1954. Now that IS a concrete speaker.

[sennsai]

At the 1994 Chesterfield hi-fi-show I recall there was a Chinese chap demonstrating his company's speakers which had some kind of (conventional shaped) faux marble cabinets. They weren't large, but must have been heavy.

[Kentode]

"Build a loudspeaker system in a concrete pipe and obtain good results". just found this in the October 1965 edition of Practical Wireless.

Six pounds fifty for the most expensive kit! Where's my Tardis?