Bandors

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unclemalc

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Bandors
« on: 23 Nov 2017, 07:12 pm »
Hello I'm new.
I was in conversation recently with a friend, discussing the notion of tempus fugit in life and later I applied it to my experiences in 'hi-fi'. The latter can be said to have started with my mother's opinion of a friend's stereogram ("lovely sound") when I was a kid. Thus, early opinions on how music sounded coming out of a box were measured against this 'lovely' sound....
...until i became a 6th-former (I'm from the UK...) and we had a small record deck with its own speakers in the Common Room. During this period I discovered a wide variety of rock, jazz, west coast etc etc music, played at distortion-inducing levels (during lunch periods) and thus found a new yardstick to measure what sounded 'good'. Serious badgering of a parent eventually resulted in possessing my own version of this 'system' - a simple Garrard record deck that could stack up singles if I so wished. I didn't, so I removed it  :lol: - LPs only, bought with odd-job cash.

Then I went to college and my adventures in hi-fi VERY QUICKLY led me down a black hole (imagine a movie scene where you're lost in a vortex lined with LP covers, containing a myriad of hi-fi components, 'tweaks', a tangle of earthing cables and Russ Andrews catalogues) and I have emerged from it, 45 years later, it into a land which is seemingly populated by one tribe of people that can swear that things like 'audio-quality' fuses and bits of M'pingo wood to lift their cables off the floor (cables that are so expensive I actually cried when I saw some prices) can improve the listening experience, and another tribe that can scientifically prove that it's all poo and kit can be simply joined together by thin mains cable...

I must slightly digress here and state from the outset that ALL my adventures in hi-fi are what this forum would call 'lo-fi'. Sorry. I NEVER had the folding money to buy stuff from the other end. I even got into short-term financial trouble on a couple of occasions by purchasing relatively expensive (for me) speakers (my fave component) using plastic.  I have had far too many LP decks, cartridges, tape players (even an El-cassette), tuners, amps/receivers and speakers (:o) to list or even remember. I have tried some tweaks (star earthing, bullet plugs, de-oxit etc) but shied away from green CD pens, stones, crystals and metal bricks, and bits of M'pingo wood.

This means that I shall (probably) forever wander this strange (but exciting) land as a JUNIOR MEMBER, but Hey- that's ok, I appreciate the level of knowledge present here and I learn something every time I open a topic.

 I currently listen to CDs mainly, through a 25 year-old Marantz CD50SE, via either a Leak Stereo 20 tube amp / Point One pre-amp combo from ~1960, or an upgraded and re-capp'd Rotel RA-610, into a pair of 2" Bandor full-range speakers housed in the boxes from an unwanted pair of JVCs, with the lower frequencies provided by a pair of old B&W subwoofers, one per channel.
I was inspired to join this forum after being bounced around odd websites during my search for other peoples' experiences using Full Range Speakers, and this after accidentally bumping into a youtube video demonstrating a guy's little Bandors. Suitably intrigued I sourced a pair from the Interweb very cheaply and installed them into some suitable boxes:





I must say that I find the music from these components is smile inducing. Those of you who have systems I am in awe of (I've seen the pictures...) are probably thinking "Poor thing - he knows nothing". But it's probably better that way.
   

JerryM

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Re: Bandors
« Reply #1 on: 23 Nov 2017, 07:14 pm »
Welcome to AudioCircle, unclemalc.  :beer:

FullRangeMan

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  • To whom more was given more will be required.
    • Never go to a psychiatrist, adopt a straycat or dog. On the street they live only two years average.
Re: Bandors
« Reply #2 on: 23 Nov 2017, 07:22 pm »
Welcome aboard unclemalc  :thumb:

syzygy

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Re: Bandors
« Reply #3 on: 23 Nov 2017, 07:37 pm »
Jello. Check out the Omega circle for more full range thrills.

JakeJ

Re: Bandors
« Reply #4 on: 23 Nov 2017, 08:39 pm »
Hello and welcome to AC, unclemalc. 

Phil A

Re: Bandors
« Reply #5 on: 24 Nov 2017, 12:15 am »
Welcome!

JLM

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Re: Bandors
« Reply #6 on: 24 Nov 2017, 12:49 am »
Welcome.  And thanks for sharing your history with us.

As I'm sure you know single driver speakers do some things great with certain genres.  Enjoy the blissful ignorance. 

dB Cooper

Re: Bandors
« Reply #7 on: 24 Nov 2017, 01:28 am »
Welcome to the sweet spot

ohenry

Re: Bandors
« Reply #8 on: 24 Nov 2017, 04:06 am »
Welcome to AC!  :D

The 50mm Bandors are great little drivers and can amaze with a proper front end.  I wish Doreen Bance were still in business, I'd buy another pair or two.  The last time I talked to her via telephone in 11/2013, she was trying to get back into producing drivers and had parts on hand.  She never got around to releasing the neodymium versions of her drivers.  And, from what I can tell, she never restarted the company; the website is gone.  I hope she is doing well.

So, enjoy the Bandors, I'm sure they sound great with some bass reinforcement.  Be sure to keep them healthy by using in a small, sealed enclosure and providing plenty of power to avoid amp clipping.

unclemalc

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Re: Bandors
« Reply #9 on: 24 Nov 2017, 02:44 pm »
Thank you for the warm welcome!
Re: blissful ignorance.... I use bicycles as a means of maintaining a certain level of fitness and I was once offered the use of an expensive carbon bike to see if I liked it. I'm pretty sure I would have loved it but the 4-figure sum it would have cost me meant that i politely declined. I'm blissfully ignorant riding steel and aluminium! Likewise the pair of Italian stand-mounted speakers I was once tempted to take home for a weekend: I amazed myself by declining because I (probably) WOULD have bought them... and then been busy upgrading everything else to match them.  :nono:

I love the Bandors. I am aware they sometimes 'shout' at me but i can take that because of of all the other things they do so well. The boxes they are in were ported but I read that they need sealed enclosures so the ports are well stuffed. I missed the opportunity to buy a second pair but that's the fun  of e-Bay - you never know 'till you look!