[Ishcabible]

ONKYO TOWER SPEAKERS

They're at a local rummage sale for $10. Are they worth getting?

BTW, that isn't a local craigslist ad, so don't look there for me.

They are about 3.5/4 feet tall.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

at ten bucks, if it works, I will pick it up. I usually just go by weight of the speaker, build quality of the cabinet, knuckle test, close inspection of drivers, tap the drivers mildly to check if they have a consistent bassy dhup dhup sound and not a tap tap sound and thats it. I have picked up a few of these older speakers at goodwill and they've always been fun to play with, not much to lose other than space and the "another speaker????" situation with wife.

 

[Ishcabible]

Haha I'm 14. I don't have a wife yet, but yeah, I'd get that from my mom.

Ok, I'll try that tomorrow when I do volunteer work there. Thanks!

 

[Alpha 1 Omega]

they look like the speakers we use to sell with complete rack systems best buy sold in 1993

 

[Ishcabible]

I figured as much considering both listings also had the other stuff.

Did you get to try them out?

 

[NightOwl]

Most of the vintage speakers Onkyo and most Japanese manufacturers sold in North America were crap. Non-audiophiles in the 70's and 80's thought that the more drivers and the bigger the speakers, the better they were. The cost of shipping from Japan was a killer, so the drivers were cheap and lightweight. The boxes were usually wood grain vinyl covered thin mdf. There were some exceptions from Pioneer, Sansui and Yamaha, but these were quite expensive. In the mid 80's and on just the drivers were shipped from Japan and the speakers were assembled in the US using boxes made in the US. These speakers were much better but still not great.

Japanese manufacturers (including Onkyo) actually made some very good speakers, but these never made it to the North American market due to shipping cost. The Japanese were some of the early pioneers in mass producing horn loaded speakers and efficient single drivers. Fostex is a Japanese company.

As jilgiljongiljing said, for $10. they're worth a try. Just don't expect too much and hope that you get pleasantly surprised.

 

[Ishcabible]

Ok, I guess I will.
If anything, I get a cheap case to put nicer drivers in.

 

[revolink24]

And yet, companies such as Polk and Infinity used to make good speakers and now mostly make crap.

 

[Ishcabible]

Someone else got 'em.

 

[NightOwl]

Not to worry. You'll come across some others. There's no shortage of vintage speakers in the market.

 

[logwed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ishcabible /img/forum/go_quote.gif Haha I'm 14. I don't have a wife yet, but yeah, I'd get that from my mom. Ok, I'll try that tomorrow when I do volunteer work there. Thanks!

Hey, do your parents get pissed when you buy stuff? I just bought a Gilmore Lite amp from Madmax7, and he is crazy-mad at me.

 

[Ishcabible]

Not really. They would if I did without permission of course. Which is pretty much everything in my up next list.

Oh, that reminds me. I have to talk to him.

 

[soundboy]

I have a pair of Sony speakers that look like the pictured Onkyo's. They were a part of the rack system I purchased back in April 1987. Not audiophile quality but they sound decent and they last. My sister had been singing karaoke on them at over 100 dBs (as measured with a Radio Shack analog sound level meter) and they still work today. I currently have them in a system for my mom. I will never part with them.

You should also check out those from Technics. My friend has a pair he purchased from Gemco (any of you old enough to remember this membership-only retailer?) back in the 80s and still uses them for his outdoor projection theater in the backyard.

 

[Ishcabible]

Ok, I will when the current surround speakers for the living room break or wear out. I don't expect (want) them to last more than a couple months or so. They sound pretty bad. I thought they had ribbons, but it's just a drawing. It isn't likely to break though since the foams seem to be in decent condition.

 

[CHRIS7509]

Onkyo's are of a good damn quality on sound system, i've heard my friends 10 year old all Onkyo sys and it sounds awesome, all the sys is onkyo and the speakers too, very good.

I have an onkyo receiver and sound great too, i'd say That's a brand you can trust.