Magnavox people re these little speakers

[petek]

I picked up these two satellite or bookshelf speakers today. They're Magnavox "solid state" on the front, real wood in Walnut finish. Can't really decipher all the coding on the bottom etc. I'm guessing they were satellite speakers for a Magnavox console or other stereo? Both have RCA jacks. Anyways they were too nice to leave on the Value Village shelf where usually there's just junky Yorx or plastic Radio Shack stuff. Anyone know what they were for? Whenever something says "solid state" on it I generally assume it's mid to late 60's. The condition is better than what the pic shows

 

[petek]

Here's the bottom of one of them with the stencilling and sticker

 

[joeekaitis]

Like GE Porta-Sound speakers, these worked with a console stereo and piped the audio signal over your house's wiring.

 

[joeekaitis]

That is, if they also have an electric power cord. Do they?

 

[petek]

Huh? How did they do that?

 

[63getelevision]

Porta-Fi--early '60s to early '70s. This is 1969. Plug your transmitter into the stereo, plug the speaker into the electric outlet on the wall.

 

[selectomatic]

I thought you had mentioned these at some point, Alan.

Now I'm wondering what the RCA Jacks are for.

Inquiring minds need to know!

-kevin

 

[petek]

No, they don't plug in to an outlet, just the RCA jacks that would plug into the back of a radio/receiver

 

[whirlcool]

Probably extension speakers for one of the larger console models.

 

[tolivac]

Do the speakers have line cords?-not clear on that.If they do-these are most likely "amplified speakers"The speaker has a small SS amplifier built into it-and it looks like some sort of volume control on the front-you can try the theory by plugging the output of a CD player-or IPOD into them and see if you can hear the CD machine or IPOD playing.Makes me think of "Fostex" amplified speakers-they have many uses-you can use amplified speakers with just about any line level audio source-and listen to the source-the two speakers together would give you stereo by plugging each channel into each one.

 

[63getelevision]

The volume control looking things on the speakers is just a circle with a Magnavox crest on it. I think they are just speakers, and I have seen single units alongside a stereo radio speaker amp unit in the brochures. I own a Magnavox stereo radio set that does not have the decorative trimwork on the bottom edge of the companion speaker.

 

[tolivac]

Interesting if they are just speakers-you can plug the output from an amplifier or the consoles-speaker line out into these extension speakers.There were extension speaker outs on my Mom's Maganavox.They were never used.A rotary switch in the TT well selected ext speakers or main speakers-or both together I beleive.was a while since I really lookedat it-just remember the selector switch.

 

[panthera]

Using power lines

To transmit data is nothing new. Back at the turn of the century high-frequency signalling was used to turn street lights on and off in many cities. (Turn of the 19th/20th century, I mean).
GE has marketed telephone extenders which send the telephone line signal over the household 120V AC line for many years. They work, too.
Various firms offer both audio, modem and network connections over the AC Mains.
As long as the appropriate filters are used, the whole thing is perfectly safe and reliable. After all, here you have this enormous (by communication standards), thick cable, firmly connected and running everywhere in the house already. Why not use it? Our "M-Net" here in Munich uses this for telephone, TV, DSL and, yes, 230V AC. Here's a link to a review from 2002, about the time the network technology had become stable and cheap: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,85003-page,1/article.html
And here a link to an interesting review on applying this American technology to the European situation:

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/iel1/2218/13399/00612596.pdf?arnumber=612596

I have read that you must not skip from one 'leg' to the other without signal loss (anal retentives please spare me the PC language lesson, sigh) but have seen it work just fine with network connectors here in Germany, so go figure...

I am curious, tho'. Is there anyway to safely open one of those speakers and take a look inside? At that point in time, Magnavox was still a serious audio components producer with genuinely unique ideas and technology.

 

[63getelevision]

They have screws on the back, I'm pretty sure there are no electronics inside.

 

[tomturbomatic]

There are two faux chrome (maybe) knobs on the side of the SP46 receiver. The word receiver must mean that they are more than speakers with an on/off control and a tone control; tone control does not sound very state of the art for stereo. This big speaker weighed 16 lbs and used a 60 cycle power supply according to the tiny print. Thank you Pete and Alan for showing us something many of us had never seen. I wonder about the sound quality compared with the consoles' exponential horns for the very high range, those magnificent side-firing bass speakers with the tunnel between them and that wonderful Loudness control. I remember how, when our parents were not home, we would put on something really primo like the Virgil Fox Christmas Album from Command Records or his recordings on Mr. Wanamaker's Organ; any of the powerful arrangements of Now thank we all our God where so much is added above and below the chorale that, by the end, further embellishment seems impossible and if it did not come to a close, the whole beautiful creation would come crashing down under its own complexity and beauty; E. Power Biggs with Brass at St. Georges after he learned to play above and below the ranges of the instruments, maybe no longer so much of a Baroque Boy
(Fox's term) and passages like the Entry of the gods into Valhalla--Folge mir Frau, in Walhal wohne mit mir (sp?) then after the Loge's quieting the kvetching Rhine Maidens, his cryptic forecast on the doom awaiting the fools and wondering what he will do, the majestic music was unleashed.

We would shut the door opposite the left speaker so that we would not lose any music down the hall and let ourselves be enveolped by the Great Voice coming from the Magnavox. We never blew any fuses nor damaged any of the speakers and I think it was self-dusting when played loud enough. Mom still has the Magnavox and I am wondering if I should have it restored.

 

[63getelevision]

Great story, Tom, have it restored, you'll never be sorry.

 

[petek]

This got a bit convoluted. These are just plain speakers, no amps, no line cords, no switches/controls on them whatsoever, just a wire with an RCA jack to plug into a console or some sort of tabletop radio. My guess is they were and included part of a certain model unit or that they were optional accessory speakers. What I'd like to know is if anyone with a Magnavox console or tabletop sets have RCA jacks on the back for additional speakers.

 

[bundtboy]

cheap speakers

Howdy, Pete.

They're cute. They look like you might have used them as extensions for your console, OR they might have just been attached to a small 8-track tape deck, or other small magnavox radio or phonograph, and I'd say from about 1966. If you test across them with an ohm meter, you'll probably find 8 ohms. Could be 16, or 4, but I'll bet you a dollar they're 8 ohm speakers - plain, and indeed very simple. They're likely to speak, but not very likely to impress. For real. Things have improved in speaker technology and these never were what you'd say 'high end'. They're likely to sound like 2 clock radios at full volume.

TOM - Those organ records are WAY more valuable than the magnavox you played them on. I hope at least you do still have the records. I'd love to hear the Biggs on the Wannamaker, even though I'm not at all into Biggs. I have seen the Wannamaker in person recently (earlier this year), just after the Vox Humani ranks were restored.

Those GE extension speakers which used the a/c as the carrier were only made a very short period and I suspect were a miserable failure, however as Panthera says, using the a/c as a means of broadcasting audio is not a new concept. That posting did stand to cause a lot of confusion in this thread though - I was never confused by it, however.

The two speaker systems are in NO way similar, not even the least bit related. Ok, they're both from USA in the 1960's. Other than that - apples and oranges.

B

 

[panthera]

Me? Cause Confusion?

Moi?
Surely, surely you can not have been refering to me?
!!!
As a matter of fact, and to answer the question, I had a small Magnavox portable (that is not a contradiction in terms, some "portables" weighed a ton in those days) which did, indeed use RCA jacks for the speakers. Had a Micromatic, but not the infinitely adustable kind, rather one which raised and swung the tonearm, but only looked for one of three sizes.
As for the sound, I am not so sure that it won't be rather decent. Not, of course, compared to a several thousand dollar, Thx certified system...but some of the late 1960's speakers were put together fairly well. Do let us know!