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Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew on Jul 7, 2014 19:52:36 GMT
Goodmans were a treasure of the British audio industry from the mid 50's to the late 70's after which they became a joke as they just sold crap on their name and reputation, like a lot of British companies caught between the flat earth bullshit and the Jap discounters. Very sad but almost inevitable.
Now Goodmans is not being given the recognition it deserves, some of its early full range drivers seriously challenged if not bettered early Tannoy, yet now go for far less money. There has been some recent recognition for Celestion but they were a joke in terms of design and quality compared to Goodmans at that time. For those that recognise it remember that Joe Ackroyd was one of their senior designers up to the time he started Royd.
There are some average speakers and some very good ones that are going for peanuts at ebay. I will mention The Magnum K and the Magnum K2 as examples along with the Magister. The earlier models were better built especially cabinet wise where as the latter had better HF units. The Goodwood from the later range is also worth investigating and if you want real fun then the Dimension 8 was a unique speaker that can give excellent semi omni musical results.
Don't ignore Goodmans there are some serious bargains around that are far superior musically than most of the WAF designed fodder we have now.
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Post by John on Jul 7, 2014 19:59:59 GMT
Thanks for the great tip
My knowledge of old speakers is very basic
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 7, 2014 20:09:34 GMT
The secret's out now!
Always fancied having a go on a pair of Dimension 8. I don't think I've ever had a room with side walls that they would work with though.
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Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew on Jul 7, 2014 20:14:41 GMT
There is much wheat amoungst the chaff for anyone willing to investigate. Early Japanese multi driver speakers of 6 or more drivers including high quality HF horns and 15 inch bass drivers with seriously good motor assemblies from the 60's / very early 70's can be astonishingly good as well. The problem is there was some cheap imitation crap amoungst it as well. You have to understand Japanese motivation, companies are driven by two motives 1/ make as much money as possible with perceived value crap for selling to the foreign devil 2/ seriously excellently engineered beautiful products produced for the home market and to create *face* for the company. Find the latter and you wont find better. Macca of AoS moderator fame has a pair built by Akai.
Other British companies like Richard Allen are sadly neglected, but it is the Goodmans that really deserve more respect than they get now amoungst you lot, and you are missing out on some serious bargains.
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Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew on Jul 7, 2014 20:15:27 GMT
The secret's out now! Always fancied having a go on a pair of Dimension 8. I don't think I've ever had a room with side walls that they would work with though. Then you don't understand the design. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2014 20:29:17 GMT
Goodmans were a treasure of the British audio industry from the mid 50's to the late 70's after which they became a joke as they just sold crap on their name and reputation, like a lot of British companies caught between the flat earth bullshit and the Jap discounters. Very sad but almost inevitable. Now Goodmans is not being given the recognition it deserves, some of its early full range drivers seriously challenged if not bettered early Tannoy, yet now go for far less money. There has been some recent recognition for Celestion but they were a joke in terms of design and quality compared to Goodmans at that time. For those that recognise it remember that Joe Ackroyd was one of their senior designers up to the time he started Royd. There are some average speakers and some very good ones that are going for peanuts at ebay. I will mention The Magnum K and the Magnum K2 as examples along with the Magister. The earlier models were better built especially cabinet wise where as the latter had better HF units. The Goodwood from the later range is also worth investigating and if you want real fun then the Dimension 8 was a unique speaker that can give excellent semi omni musical results. Don't ignore Goodmans there are some serious bargains around that are far superior musically than most of the WAF designed fodder we have now. I would agree. Goodmans produced well designed and well built drivers and were probably the mainstay of British home built speakers along with Wharfedale. I've always preferred the older models and the pick of the crop has to be the Axiom 80's. They are one of the best full range speakers ever made and consequently are highly sought after, always fetching big money unless you chance upon a pair in some old DIY cabinets. Also good are Triaxioms, 12" with the red or earlier black magnets and the 8" full range Axiette. Goodmans also produced 8" (Axiette) & 12" drivers for Westrex with larger alnico magnets. Some Axiettes can also be found with the larger Westrex spec magnet. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2014 20:38:35 GMT
There is much wheat amoungst the chaff for anyone willing to investigate. Early Japanese multi driver speakers of 6 or more drivers including high quality HF horns and 15 inch bass drivers with seriously good motor assemblies from the 60's / very early 70's can be astonishingly good as well. The problem is there was some cheap imitation crap amoungst it as well. You have to understand Japanese motivation, companies are driven by two motives 1/ make as much money as possible with perceived value crap for selling to the foreign devil 2/ seriously excellently engineered beautiful products produced for the home market and to create *face* for the company. Find the latter and you wont find better. Macca of AoS moderator fame has a pair built by Akai. Other British companies like Richard Allen are sadly neglected, but it is the Goodmans that really deserve more respect than they get now amoungst you lot, and you are missing out on some serious bargains. As far as British made speakers go, these are IMHO about as good as it gets  |
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 7, 2014 20:58:12 GMT
The secret's out now! Always fancied having a go on a pair of Dimension 8. I don't think I've ever had a room with side walls that they would work with though. Then you don't understand the design. You're making an assumption there, and I'm afraid it's wrong. |
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Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew on Jul 7, 2014 21:01:21 GMT
Then your statement is wrong, it can only be one or the other.
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 7, 2014 21:12:13 GMT
Sorry, I didn't realise you had the floor plans for the houses I've lived in - please tell me where I've been going wrong then.
Actually, don't bother.
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Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew on Jul 7, 2014 21:27:16 GMT
Well lets look at basic knowledge, why do you presume your room is not suitable? What knowledge of the design do you have to presume the Dimension 8 will not works in it?
To my knowledge the general bullshit surrounding semi omni designed speakers is the opposite to reality, remember I design and produce them. In this case you may find your room is imminently suitable as are most rooms as semi omni designs are to incorporate the speaker in the room acoustic, not to fight it as is the norm for front baffle speakers.
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 7, 2014 21:31:55 GMT
Well, I expect the fact that I have been using semi-omni speakers, as you call them, since 1991 might have given me a vague inkling of how at least some of them work.
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Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew on Jul 7, 2014 21:40:51 GMT
So if you are using them in that room acoustic why do presume the same sort of design will not work?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2014 7:47:22 GMT
There are a couple of pairs of Dimension 8 on Ebay at present and at low prices. Will need a bit of work but look a hell of a lot of speaker for the money. Are spares readily available ?
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Post by MartinT on Jul 8, 2014 9:36:07 GMT
<takes a look> they look very promising for a project!
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Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew on Jul 8, 2014 11:24:08 GMT
Bass drivers can be rebuilt and passive radiators can be re-stuck together. HFS has a couple of threads with people doing this. Also mods are being tried, mostly from my speaker design principles but the results seem to be very effective.
So far the most effective have been bypassing the Bass unit crossover and going full range and doping the cones. Changing the Bass driver wiring config from parallel to series. Throwing out all the wadding and lining the cabinets with steel plate. Fitting a couple of decent 4mm sockets is important as well.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2014 12:02:35 GMT
Some old Goodmans are indeed quite good. Magnum K & K2 are nice, I also enjoyed some Axiom 301's... Yet to try any of the Dimension series though.
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Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew on Jul 8, 2014 14:46:41 GMT
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Post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew on Jul 8, 2014 14:55:12 GMT
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Post by danielquinn on Jul 8, 2014 14:59:09 GMT
As far as British made speakers go, these are IMHO about as good as it gets What are these ? |
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