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Your help identifying these drivers please

thedanfan

thedanfan

pfm Member
I quite fancy some big transmission line speakers - the bass unit in these http://goo.gl/4jRoI look different from any I've seen.

Does anyone know what they might be and have you any other comments on the speakers.


Thanks.
 
i had a pair of those but had to sell as they were too big. the bass units are normally kef b200, or a variant on that? the ridges on the speaker in the link looks to be the correct variant. i remember reading that either b200s were used or a dalesford version, which looked exactly the same, i may be wrong on that one though. great sounding speakers, i used to blow the halogens in my ceiling with those things
 
thedanfan said:
I quite fancy some big transmission line speakers - the bass unit in these http://goo.gl/4jRoI look different from any I've seen.
Does anyone know what they might be and have you any other comments on the speakers.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I think they were 200mm units made by Elac, (or maybe a KEF or Peerless with a custom cone).

The TLS50 was quite a speaker in its day. If you like the traditional transmission line bass, and have a nice big room, and can get them in the right position, things should be pretty good down low... Needs an amp that can control the bass well, so no cheap Chinese valve amps, and the rather over complex crossover means they were never particularly transparent. The main tweeter is, I think, a Peerless DT10 which was nice and smooth, if not very detailed, and I suspect the supertweeter (STC perhaps?) isn't really adding much.

I'd be tempted to put in a more modern tweeter, maybe a Focal, and redesign the crossover, or maybe go active, using a Behringer digital crossover and three decent power amps. But then you wouldn't have TLS50s any more!
 
I had a pair of these between 1974 and 1985. They're the only 'speakers I regret having sold, but they need to be backed against a wall, and I didn't have a convenient wall.

There's an article in this months HFN on IMF.

Lovely 'speakers.

S.
 
I've had BIG IMFs, bit slow and dull, nice all the same.

Another speaker for serious bass is the Celestion Ditton 66 which I have also had and would again, much better than the IMFs of same vintage.

Modern; PMC are good if pricey.
 
Thanks guys.Might just concentrate on getting a bit more out of the Impulse H2's by investing in what's in front of them (Exposure XX / Fubar Dac).
 
i would not buy tis 50's instead consider the 80's or maybe the tdl studio range, don't go for the rtl"s nowhere near as good. all fairly cheap now. or big pmc's big bucks but awesome
 
I think that tweeter is the original Audax - in which case there is probably nothing wrong with it. The midrange is definitely the Peerless which comes in its own pod and was used in the Nightingale NM1s. I have had one of those supertweeters in my hand once and I think it's a Coles, but its not the same as on the BC1. As for the bass unit, I have a feeling that these also came with a KEF B200 at one time. But the ribbed one obviously would give more pleasure.

It's possible the supertweeter is a Celestion.
 
Yes, Audax 12 x 9, very nice tweeter.

Peerless K 040 MRF, also used in the Gale 401/2.

And woofer looks like a B200 with some stiffening ribs glued to the cone, but I can't recall a B200 with an inverted surround, so it might not be.
 
RustyB said:
Yes, Audax 12 x 9, very nice tweeter.

Peerless K 040 MRF, also used in the Gale 401/2.

And woofer looks like a B200 with some stiffening ribs glued to the cone, but I can't recall a B200 with an inverted surround, so it might not be.
Click to expand...

No, there has never been a B200 with an inverted surround. There was a Peerless 8 inch unit wit the same basket that was used in the Tangent RS4s so I'd go with Peerless heritage.

I had no idea that was what was in the 401s. No wonder they were good.

Especially with the B200 lookalike on strictly bass duty, this looks like rather a fab combination of drivers. Whether it warrants £299 as a starting price though, I'm not so sure. But it would be nice for someone getting reminded of what real bass is - most of the rest of us have forgotten.
 
I may have the solution to that bass unit. Could it be an early Volt unit? I'm pretty sure they did an 8 inch in that basket. If it is, then it will be a lot meatier than the standard B200 and have a lower Q and lower resonance, which is probably just what is needed in a TL.

There used to be a company that made active speakers similar to the Meridians in the early 80s. The name escapes me at the moment, though I used to be good friends with the owner. I'm sure they had a model using Volt units. Having said that, I also seem to remember early Volts looking pretty tattily made and never quite having the finish of the KEF products. These do appear to look better than that.
 
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