AudioCircle

Industry Circles => GR Research => Topic started by: Milehighguy on 30 Sep 2012, 11:08 pm

Title: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Milehighguy on 30 Sep 2012, 11:08 pm
Here's some pictures of the speaker that Danny's SUPER 7 speakers are named after. If you had a pair  of these in the late 1970's, you ruled the world. I got these from a guy on craigslist about 10 years ago. I thought he was going to cry when I wheeled them out the door. This guy had built double thick cabinets that were an inch and a half thick in back and I think an inch and 3/4 on the sides. These are Heavy with big magnets and overbuilt cabinets. Speakerlab at the time recommended sealing all the drivers in with silicone, and you can see that in the pictures. Also, there are volume controls on the back for the mid and high frequency horns.
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68687)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68688)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68689)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68690)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68691)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68692)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68693)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68694)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68695)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68696)

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68698)

I"m sure these speakers have seen some loud parties. If they could talk, they would have to be in the witness protection program. I think the woofers were configured in a "Nestorovic" alignment in which the 10" woofer decreases output as frequency decreases, while the 12" woofer increases output as frequency decreases, and they both cover the same frequency range. I might be wrong about that. Maybe somebody else knows what I'm talking about?
Btw, I'm looking to sell this pair for $100, and I can bring them to RMAF, but No shipping. I'm in Denver.
These speakers are "white dog approved" and digital ready!

Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: persisting1 on 30 Sep 2012, 11:21 pm
A little off topic, but what kind of dogs is that? Cute kid  :D
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Milehighguy on 30 Sep 2012, 11:50 pm
Those  are Samoyed Dogs. Also known as Sammys. The top picture is Ruby, who is 3 years old, and the bottom 2 pictures are Ruby's mother Maggie, who is 8 years old. Samoyeds are used by indigenous tribes (also named Samoyeds) of northern Russia, and were used in the arctic expeditions. Very smart and people oriented dogs.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Davey on 1 Oct 2012, 02:53 am
There were a number of "revisions" to the 7 model.  It's difficult to tell if those are earlier (original) 7's or a slightly later version they called the Super-7's.  (There were even later versions of the Super-7's with a different driver compliment.)
You'd need to look inside at the midrange compression driver to tell for sure their vintage.

Anyways,  I purchased the very first pair of Speakerlab 7 kits from their store on 45th and Roosevelt in Seattle a loooooong time ago.  :)  I had them for years.

You could buy the kit with an already cut front baffle and then you supplied all the other particle board to build the rest of the box.  The cutout for the Electro-Voice tweeter was rectangular, but on the sides there were a couple of half-moons required to fit the round portion of the compression driver through.  This left a couple of "vents" that had to plugged.  The Speakerlab guys recommended tongue-depressors for this job.  :)  The fella that built your speakers has done something similiar with the small strips above and below the tweeter.
The woofers were CTS models that had decent performance and the tweeter was the classic Electro-Voice T35.  I can't remember the model number of the mid driver.  It was the weakest link in the design.....IMHO.

They used to have speaker building gtg's on Saturdays that were a lot of fun.  Good times.

Cheers,

Dave.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Danny Richie on 1 Oct 2012, 04:35 am
Wow, I think those are some really early versions. I remember a very different looking model.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Rclark on 1 Oct 2012, 04:41 am
 you still make the connection, unorthodox tweeter and mid.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Milehighguy on 1 Oct 2012, 05:49 am
Thanks for the info, Davey. I never noticed the strips on the top and bottom of the tweeter. Also, it's cool to have the first example of such an important speaker. Did I mention that I have the first pair of LS-9's ever made? :thumb:
Danny, you said the 7's that you saw looked a lot different. Were they taller, and did they have a 6" midrange on top, a 1" tweeter below that, a 10" woofer below that, and a 12" woofer in the rear? If so, those were the DAS-7's. They came after the super 7's. I loved those speakers, and still have a pair my brother-in-law helped me make in the early 80's. I rocked on with those for over 10 years .
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Danny Richie on 1 Oct 2012, 01:10 pm
The pair that sticks out to me was a four driver design. I want to say it had a dome tweeter, a large dome mid, and two woofers. There was an ad for it that pictured a body builder from the back side holding one of these big speakers up over his head. And the header said Super-7.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Milehighguy on 1 Oct 2012, 01:19 pm
Hmmm... That design doesn't ring any bells with me. Sounds a little like the ADS speakers that were popular in the 70's and 80's though.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Davey on 1 Oct 2012, 02:55 pm
Yeah, the later versions had a symmetrical layout with a couple of different driver compliments.  Unfortunately, if you Google or Bing images of these speakers many of the photos/captions are incorrect.  :)

I wouldn't call the original midrange/tweeter drivers unorthodox.  At the time, those drivers were used in a wide variety of speakers, both in the professional world and for many domestic designs.  I think a person might be surprised how many of the T35 tweeters are still in everyday use.  :)

We were still (essentially) in the low-powered amplifier era, and high-efficiency designs were commonplace.  The Speakerlab K-horn was a kit version of the famous Klipschorn, and the fellas at Speakerlab produced many of those kits.  Imagine a speaker that could play at very decent SPL levels with what we would call a headphone amplifier nowadays.  :)

Everything turned upside in the decade after that.  Amplifiers became much more powerful and speakers became much smaller.  It was the downfall of the speaker design industry.....some would say.  :)

Cheers,

Dave.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: jparkhur on 1 Oct 2012, 06:22 pm
This is what Danny was thinking????


(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68721)
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: jparkhur on 1 Oct 2012, 06:23 pm
or this
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68722)
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Danny Richie on 1 Oct 2012, 06:34 pm
This is what Danny was thinking????


(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68721)

Yep, I think that was the one that the body builder was holding over his head.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: jparkhur on 1 Oct 2012, 06:36 pm

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=68723)
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Milehighguy on 2 Oct 2012, 05:24 am
So, doing some more research, there were 2 generations (at least) of the super 7's. The ones Danny saw were the later versions. The ones I have are the earlier ones. The other model that jparkhur found with the 5 drivers is called the "Delta I type 5". Speakerlab made a lot more drivers and speakers than I was aware of. They made their own woofers and some mids and tweeters as well.
The later versions must have been pretty heavy judging by how tired the weightlifter looks.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: jonbee on 2 Oct 2012, 10:53 pm
I live in Seattle and was a frequent customer and lurker at the speakerlab store, from the very first days in the early 70s. In those days I owned models .1, 1, 2, 3, 6, super duper7, and 30.
The super 7s in the top pics were the original versions, with the wooden slats to cover the round holes where the magnet slipped in, and walnut veneer cabs. They did not have a Nestorovic alignment, which came years later.
There was another top line version for awhile, the "Super-duper 7", that used the 350 cycle midrange horn from the K-horn, mounted on top of the woofer box, with the big EV horn tweeter. I owned a pair of those. Can you say "Rock and Roll"?
Later the walnut veneer was replaced by vinyl. Still later they used "wave aperture" horns for mids and tweeters, similar to the Klipsch tractrix geometry, vertically stacked with the 12 and 10, in a larger box. Still later they went with polypro midranges and woofers, leaf tweeters, etc., which really weren't the same speaker at all. The drivers were far cheaper than the EV and Atlas horn drivers they had been using in the classic 7 models.
They got connected with  Nestorovic for  the woofer section of the model 30, which was pretty good but used cheap mids and tweeters, and for the 50, which was the best speaker they ever made, and a truly great speaker, similar to the delta shown above (with glass tops, a la JBL).

The speakers you own are very cool, and a giveaway for $100. If I was local I'd be at you door, for sure.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: oldman45 on 3 Oct 2012, 12:24 am
Wow, I think those are some really early versions. I remember a very different looking model.

It looks like you are going to have to go back to the drawing board to redesign your new ones.   :duh:
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Milehighguy on 3 Oct 2012, 04:24 am
Hey Jonbe, thanks for all the info. I didn't know the history of Speakerlab was so complex. The superduper 7's sound awesome. Are you sure you can't make it to RMAF? I'd be glad to bring them there. I'm selling them cheap because I got them cheap and I want someone to have some cool retro mancave speakers or garage speakers. Or they could go in a museum. Other than my museum that is. Really, someone should open up an audio museum, and maybe build it next door to the rock and roll hall of fame.
Hmmm.. if you hung out at Speakerlab, and Davey hung out at Speakerlab, what're the odds that you  guys know each other?
Sounds like it was almost as much a social club as a speaker company.
Here's a posting about the model 50's I found
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=973567&postcount=9
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Hardrock75 on 30 May 2014, 04:45 am
I'm the present owner of a pair of Speakerlab Super 7s and I wanted to add some info. They came in a left hand and right hand pair.
I also attended Speakerlab Saturday classes. They used to A-B their speakers against AR 15s and other top brands to show that speakers didn't have to be uber expensive to sound great.

[I bought the 7s in 1988 for $200! and still enjoy "Rocking Out". The original owner added 1" all around to stiffen them even more than Speakerlab. (I even put my turntable on top of one without worrying about any ill effects-not a recommended practice!)]. You can email me to discuss Audio stuff.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: UW85 on 5 Mar 2015, 02:41 am
Yep, I think that was the one that the body builder was holding over his head.

I KNOW this is an old thread, but I was looking on-line for some info on my Super 7's & stumbled across this thread -- bottom line, if Danny Richie is still around, I trained with John Burkholder, the person you're talking about, for years.  He has that ad of himself holding the Super 7 speaker up in his personal gym!  Just thought it was crazy to find that connection here. 
Cheers.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: HAL on 5 Mar 2015, 03:34 am
The tweeter and midrange in the original Super 7 look like the EV drivers from early K-Horns. 

I have a pair of each horn driver a friend gave me after he took apart his K-Horn clones. 

Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Danny Richie on 5 Mar 2015, 03:44 am
I KNOW this is an old thread, but I was looking on-line for some info on my Super 7's & stumbled across this thread -- bottom line, if Danny Richie is still around, I trained with John Burkholder, the person you're talking about, for years.  He has that ad of himself holding the Super 7 speaker up in his personal gym!  Just thought it was crazy to find that connection here. 
Cheers.

That's really cool.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: UW85 on 6 Mar 2015, 07:53 am
That's really cool.

It's been a while since I've seen him -- this would be a great excuse to drop by -- I'll take a pic of that poster & put it up here.  Maybe a couple others he has as well.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Danny Richie on 6 Mar 2015, 01:42 pm
It's been a while since I've seen him -- this would be a great excuse to drop by -- I'll take a pic of that poster & put it up here.  Maybe a couple others he has as well.

Hey, I'd really like that.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: gregfisk on 6 Mar 2015, 09:10 pm
It's been a while since I've seen him -- this would be a great excuse to drop by -- I'll take a pic of that poster & put it up here.  Maybe a couple others he has as well.

I would like to see this as well, I grew up here in Seattle and spent a ton of time at Speakerlab. I build a pair of Super 7's in the day and had them for several years. I also built a bunch of their 504s and .01s for my car once I started driving, that was a lot of fun.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: lillys_pillow on 24 Mar 2015, 03:44 pm
Just to throw in my $0.02 on this older thread, I built a pair of these (config similar to the OP's pictures) as a teen in 1978 or so and they indeed rocked a party or two.

A couple years later I needed cash as a poor college student. My uncle, a vintage audiophile, coveted the speakers and we bartered for some cash and his bicycle.
Last year he moved into assisted living and I made sure I got those speakers back. They went directly to my storage unit and I haven't heard them, guess it's
been more than 30 years since I last did.

Scotty
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: UW85 on 2 Jul 2015, 02:44 am
I would like to see this as well, I grew up here in Seattle and spent a ton of time at Speakerlab. I build a pair of Super 7's in the day and had them for several years. I also built a bunch of their 504s and .01s for my car once I started driving, that was a lot of fun.

I finally went out and worked out with John.  At 65 he's still a beast.  He told me at on his 64th b-day he put up 315 on the bench!  That's 3 plates on each side!  Crazy.  Anyway, here is a pic of that poster he has up in his office wall -- I asked but he didn't want to stand in the pic.  Not sure why. 
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=123903)
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: Danny Richie on 2 Jul 2015, 03:21 am
I finally went out and worked out with John.  At 65 he's still a beast.  He told me at on his 64th b-day he put up 315 on the bench!  That's 3 plates on each side!  Crazy.  Anyway, here is a pic of that poster he has up in his office wall -- I asked but he didn't want to stand in the pic.  Not sure why. 
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=123903)

That's great and I remember it well. It is good to see that old picture again.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: gregfisk on 2 Jul 2015, 04:01 am
I finally went out and worked out with John.  At 65 he's still a beast.  He told me at on his 64th b-day he put up 315 on the bench!  That's 3 plates on each side!  Crazy.  Anyway, here is a pic of that poster he has up in his office wall -- I asked but he didn't want to stand in the pic.  Not sure why. 
(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=123903)

This is really cool! I remember they had this poster in the store, I used to hang out there when I was a teenager. I Built a pair of Super 7's but they looked a lot different than these pictured, sounded pretty darn good thou and were pretty efficient. I never met John and didn't know anything about him but heard that he was a body builder.

On a side note: I'm getting really close to finishing my audio room in North Seattle, "Bothell area" and would like to find some people from AC who would like to do some listening get togethers and play with different gear. I'll start a thread but should be ready by mid August, it's a dedicated building 20'x30'x10' and I insulated it really well along with RC channel so no problem turning up the music.

Good memories from the old Speaker Lab folks, too bad it was sold to the people who own it now.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: DFaulds on 2 Jul 2015, 10:18 am
That model probably used to Nestorovic woofer alignment.  I think their first model that used the dual woofer Nestorovic alignment was called the S30, although I could be mistaken.  I've got a number of old Speakerlab catalogs so I'll have to lookup some of the models.

The Speakerlab model I always wanted was the SK, which was their version of the Klipschorn.  They used their own cast metal 350Hz mid horn, and initially an EV T350 as tweeter, but switched to their own wave aperture WA4000 tweeter later.  I think the lats version of their SK actually used a direct radiating Audax 6", which essentially ruined the whole concept.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: wshuff on 2 Jul 2015, 02:13 pm
Love the picture!

Now I want to see one of Danny, holding up an LS9.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: gregfisk on 2 Jul 2015, 07:43 pm
Love the picture!

Now I want to see one of Danny, holding up an LS9.

wshuff, even Danny holding up his version of the Super 7 would be something to see, My Super V's are really heavy and are much smaller.
Title: Re: Pictures of the original Speakerlab SUPER 7
Post by: ishwashgus on 3 Mar 2018, 11:50 pm
Nice Super 7's! I have an old 1978 letter from Speakerlab, that 7's and Superlab 7 owners should find interesting, to wit, the 10' woofer is wired backwards and if you connect your red wire to the terminal with the red mark (conventionally), it will be out of phase with the 12" woofer, so one has to connect the red wire to the black speaker terminal of the 10" speaker and the black wire to the terminal with the red mark. This is true for at least a number of the 10" Speakerlab speakers stamped 7819. I checked mine and found, sure enough, it is true for my 7's. You should check yours with a 9-volt battery though, to confirm.