kev313 Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Two years ago I moved into a split level ranch built in 1957. The original owner, from whom I purchased the house, had a whole house audio system installed at the time of construction. For the life of me I cannot figure out how the thing is wired. Due to advanced age, the original owner could provide no assistance. In any event, I have five of these speakers spread throughout the house: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 There is one of those in each of my four bedrooms. Here is the sophisticated volume control in each room: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 Not wanting to disturb 50 years of paint, I decided against opening them up. Until today: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 Inside was a very nice 8" Wharfedale Super 8. Needs a re-foam but otherwise in mint condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 I don't know a darn thing about this unit, but it is very heavy and appears to be very well built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 And it looks like I might have five of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Totally fascinating. I am assuming these are full ranger. Is there a whizzer cone or concentrically mounted tweeter? Vintage Woofdale, indeed. He was just on the cusp of stereo. Another couple of years and you'd have had two in each room. Any chance of the amp being in the attic or something? The guy was obviously a music lover and ahead of his time. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Totally fascinating. I am assuming these are full ranger. Is there a whizzer cone or concentrically mounted tweeter? Vintage Woofdale, indeed. He was just on the cusp of stereo. Another couple of years and you'd have had two in each room. Any chance of the amp being in the attic or something? The guy was obviously a music lover and ahead of his time. Dave Decent discovery indeed, making me want to echo what else also may be stowed, and where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Cool. Walls of Wharfedales. Those are interesting 8 inchers with aluminum voice coils, too bad they are 15 ohms. That unit appears to have the phenolic spider that is adjustable. Are those foam surrounds? I have a 12 inch Wharfdale unit that's all ready to be re-foamed.....I've got the surround, I just need to do it. I even have the baffle cutout pattern for Wharfedale drivers, with patterns for the smallest Super Midget, to 8,10, and 12" drivers. Dated 12/65. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 Cool. Walls of Wharfedales. Those are interesting 8 inchers with aluminum voice coils, too bad they are 15 ohms. That unit appears to have the phenolic spider that is adjustable. Are those foam surrounds? I have a 12 inch Wharfdale unit that's all ready to be re-foamed.....I've got the surround, I just need to do it. I even have the baffle cutout pattern for Wharfedale drivers, with patterns for the smallest Super Midget, to 8,10, and 12" drivers. Dated 12/65. Yep...foam surrounds (which are dead). Don't know if the phenolic spider is adjustable, though. These are the "Super 8/fs/al" model which designates a foam surround / aluminum voice coil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Kev, Very cool vintage whole house system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 >Those are interesting 8 inchers with aluminum voice coils, too bad they are 15 ohms. Makes sense if they were all to be driven from a single tap. While my recollection of impedance is pretty minimal, even at 15 ohms it seems the load would be pretty small with all of them going. Expert opinion? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 Dude check the attic or for some kind of hatch for vintage gear. I'd have the walls out by now. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 For wandering around the house, rather than critical listening, mono might actually be preferable to stereo. No thinking about sweet spots or soundstaging, just enjoy the music. I'd be inclined to restore all the speakers and put the "whole-house" system back into operation, powering it with a recent-model AV receiver if necessary. That would drive all 5 speakers with no impedance issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 >Those are interesting 8 inchers with aluminum voice coils, too bad they are 15 ohms. Makes sense if they were all to be driven from a single tap. While my recollection of impedance is pretty minimal, even at 15 ohms it seems the load would be pretty small with all of them going. Expert opinion? I'm not an expert, but would five 15 ohm speakers in parallel give you 3 ohms? That would be driven off one channel. A multi-channel amp would have no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 >Those are interesting 8 inchers with aluminum voice coils, too bad they are 15 ohms. Makes sense if they were all to be driven from a single tap. While my recollection of impedance is pretty minimal, even at 15 ohms it seems the load would be pretty small with all of them going. Expert opinion? I'm not an expert, but would five 15 ohm speakers in parallel give you 3 ohms? That would be driven off one channel. A multi-channel amp would have no problem. Well, we could use some expert opinion, but I think you are correct. I'll venture a further opinion (which could be wrong), which is that the only time it would be 3 ohms would be with all pots fully open. Even then, a single 4 ohm tap probably would be fine. 4 ohm outputs were pretty common back then. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtnfoley Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 7.5 homs, actually, if I remember my resistances in parallel... IIRC its' supposed to be the inverse of the sum of the inverses: 1/( (1/15) + (1/15) ) = 7.5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtnfoley Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 7.5 homs, actually, if I remember my resistances in parallel... IIRC its' supposed to be the inverse of the sum of the inverses: 1/( (1/15) + (1/15) ) = 7.5 Dam-n I'm good. Did that from memory before even googling (not bad for one electronics course fifteen years ago.) http://www.1728.com/resistrs.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 If that is the case, then even an 8 ohm tap would handle it fine. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted May 11, 2008 Author Share Posted May 11, 2008 Thanks guys! The only problem is that I'd have to dig 'em out (not that much of a problem), refoam them (not a big biggie) and (real problem) chase down the wiring. I have no idea where the speaker wiring leads to! I checked along the walls for an obvious location but no luck. The layout of my house is kind of strange. It's four levels - two below ground - in sort an alternating stack configuration. For example, the third level is to the partially to the side of and mid-way between levels 2 and 4. Kind of hard to explain, but cannot imagine running down wires in these walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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