Panadol Posted January 28, 2019 Posted January 28, 2019 I would appreciate any help or info on these vintage floor standing speakers ... bought between 1965/70 in australia (most likely Melbourne ) .. I am struggling to get any concrete info on them ..
VanArn Posted January 29, 2019 Posted January 29, 2019 I associate the speaker with Douglas Hi Fi, a store that once operated in Melbourne. They were a house brand intended for the budget market. 2
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted January 29, 2019 Posted January 29, 2019 Agreed with @VanArn . If they weren't made from chip-board, I'd say they might make decent firewood. The unfortunate facts are these: * Most major hi fi retailers had their own house brand speakers back then. * Almost all those house brand speakers used the cheapest materials (boxes, drivers and crossovers) possible. * More effort was placed into styling and dimensions (so they fitted with matching hi fi cabinets) than into objective and subjective performance. They'll be OK garage speakers, but don't expect too much. 2
Panadol Posted January 29, 2019 Author Posted January 29, 2019 Thank you for you info ... it was really getting to me that I struggled to find proper info on them .. they do sound very good tho I have to say and I know the original seoerates that were with them were top spec .. sadly we no longer have those ... so you reckon these would not be worth much on the sales market then ?.. if I were to sell them what would be a fair price to ask ?... again amanh thanks for all your help .. xxx regards Pam x
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted January 29, 2019 Posted January 29, 2019 You might get $50.00 for them. More likely you'll end up giving them away.
Buffle Posted January 29, 2019 Posted January 29, 2019 All I can offer is to reiterate the comments by VanArn and Zaphod. If you enjoy them and/or they have sentimental value to you then that’s probably what’s important. They were a Douglas HiFi house brand and were honestly more about wow factor for the average punter for an affordable price than having pretensions to being state-of-the-art. I recall when quite young (18) a friend maxing his credit card out for more than he could afford on a system that he was excited about. He wanted big and loud and these impressed him. They were probably as good as or even better than a lot of all-in-one type systems being sold around the time, and an okay-ish party speaker in that they were loud and had bass, but we’re clearly not high-end by any means. From recollection I at least got him to replace the tweeters with some Infinity he’ll-cells and modify the crossovers. (photo from web search)
Panadol Posted January 29, 2019 Author Posted January 29, 2019 Thank you so much .. I’m just glad I have the correct info on them now ... took me days trying .. yes they were my late fathers who was very much into his music and recording .. I remember these speakers all my life but had no info on them whatsoever other than rough age of them and where bought .. my uncle had them for many years as my father had went back to Oz so now my uncle has passed I’ve ended up with them ,, the separates that was with them originally were all good but sadly we no longer have them and it’s technics ones that’s with them ... I’ve rememiced with them for a few weeks but have no room to keep them and wondered if I could sell them but had no idea if they were of any value so needed info to decide on what to do ... I’m assuming they are almost worthless then ?... wondering wether to sell or better to bin them (which would be sad but I have no room for them sadly ).. again I appreciate your advice and thank you , Pam x
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted January 29, 2019 Posted January 29, 2019 You can always whack 'em on Gumtree and see what happens. Ask $150.00 or so and be prepared to be haggled down. If you get no takers than they would almost certainly be welcome at your local Salvos. or Vinnes stores. Better than dumping them.
Volunteer sir sanders zingmore Posted January 29, 2019 Volunteer Posted January 29, 2019 do they have Vinnies or Salvos in Scotland? 1
Panadol Posted January 29, 2019 Author Posted January 29, 2019 Thank you .. would that be Australian or USA dollars you are referring to ?... I’m on the uk so it’s just so I can work out the equivalent ... again many thanks .. appreciate your info .. Pam x
Panadol Posted January 29, 2019 Author Posted January 29, 2019 22 minutes ago, Sir Sanders Zingmore said: do they have Vinnies or Salvos in Scotland? I’ve never heard of them .. are they a charity ? X
Guest DarkNark Posted January 29, 2019 Posted January 29, 2019 Yes St Vincent De Paul and the Salvation Army https://www.ssvpscotland.com https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/scotland-office
Snapper() Posted January 30, 2019 Posted January 30, 2019 I had some very similar ones ..identical on the outside but only 2 drivers. Drivers were made by hokutone ( vintage Japanese ) and i suspect these are too.Mine were immaculate and sold them for small fee ($50 or $70) ... or maybe even gave them away. Not too bad sounding though Also that full range driver in there looks like its added after ..
dnostereo Posted November 13, 2021 Posted November 13, 2021 To bring post back from the dead. Think these are the original.
MarcoTas Posted July 22, 2024 Posted July 22, 2024 Hi, better late than never I suppose. I distinctly remember these as being sold and designed by a company that no longer exists called Beland Electronics who had a HiFi store in Charman Road Cheltenham, just over the railway line close to Nepean Highway. I was at secondary school at the time and used to catch the bus from Brighton and duck into the store, when changing buses, to see what was new, I think that this was around 1968 or 1969. I think that I eventually bought a pair of these to upgrade from a pair of Marantz 4’s a few years later. As I remember, they weren’t much of an improvement, which confirms others opinions about them, nice big cabinets but far too boomy and uncontrolled in the bass. Funnily enough, my neighbour here in Tassie, has a linear Design Turntable and Tuner, I might have to get a photo of them for posterity as there doesn’t seem to be much information about them either. The owner of the store and I presume the designer, was John Beland ( not a 100% sure of this)
Phil Meloy Posted August 1, 2024 Posted August 1, 2024 (edited) On 29/01/2019 at 8:49 PM, sir sanders zingmore said: do they have Vinnies or Salvos in Scotland? They may well have a few Salvos - the international headquarters of the Salvation Army is located in London. Edited August 1, 2024 by Phil Meloy Add image 1
kevviek Posted August 1, 2024 Posted August 1, 2024 The drivers in that box are Philips. So reasonable quality, but not as good as all the locally built ones with scandinavian drivers that were also around at the time.
Phil Meloy Posted August 2, 2024 Posted August 2, 2024 I had a pair of those Linear Design speakers back in the late 70's - early 80's which I bought from a shop in the Sydney CBD - mine had a tweeter and two bass/mid range speakers rather than the tweeter/mid-range/bass version. They weren't very expensive and for the price were quite OK speakers. From memory I think I gave them away when I travelled overseas a few years later.
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