Need help identifying some speakers....

A

All-Or-Nothing

Audioholic Intern
I got these from a friend who was clearing out an old storage unit for free. He doesn't even remember buying them so I can't find out where or when they were purchased. I can't find anything on google.

Also how can I hook these up to test as I have not had speakers with the the dual terminals before. Hooking them up to a Yamaha 373 reciever.










 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
I've tried but my ninja google skills bring nothing, one thing I could suggest you is to get copper bridges (strips of copper) and short together both black and both red terminals. The speaker currently set for bi-amping which most likely will not help much (at all) and will simplify your connections.

I almost want to call it White VAN stuff, but few details threw me off - which untypical for white van speakers...
 
A

All-Or-Nothing

Audioholic Intern
I just tried them and they sound amazing. I mean really really good. Very crisp and very good bass response. These also get very loud but no distortion either just remains crystal clear. I'm using a Yamaha reciever to push them and man do these things rock.


Wish I could find any info on them. Either way these are probably some of the best speakers I have owned.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
You're right, there is nothing about these speakers on google. I could find a TCN Corp. in Framingham, MA, but only an address. There was no info about them being in the audio business.

The info on the label on the back of the speakers looks reasonable. There are no absurd or unbelievable claims. But… it lists two patent numbers. One patent number (3,582,553) is owned by Bose Corp. for the 901 speakers Patent US3582553 - LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM - Google Patents. The speakers you have seem to have nothing in common with Bose 901s. The other patent number does not have anything to do with speakers.

What I find unusual is that the friend who gave them to you for free doesn't even remember buying them or what they are like. I wonder why these speakers are so forgettable. Buy you can't beat the price. Go ahead try them.

If BSA's hook up directions weren't clear, use two short wires to connect those pairs of terminals. One wire connects the two black terminals together, and the other connects the two red terminals together. Then connect your receiver to one red and one black terminal in the usual way.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
I just tried them and they sound amazing. I mean really really good. Very crisp and very good bass response. These also get very loud but no distortion either just remains crystal clear. I'm using a Yamaha reciever to push them and man do these things rock.

Wish I could find any info on them. Either way these are probably some of the best speakers I have owned.
Well today is your lucky day. Nice snag. At that price, who cares if they are unknown in today's audio market.

The label on the back says they are 3-way speakers with crossover points at 700 and 3000 Hz. Probably the bass below 700 Hz is handled by those two larger (6½"?) woofers, the midrange is the slightly smaller (5"?) driver above the twin wooofers, and the dome tweeter is on top. I can't tell from your photo, but the tweeter looks like its an aluminum dome.

The frequency response is said to be 38 - 20,000 Hz, and as you move off-axis horizontally (it does not say how far off-axis) it varies ±2.5 dB. The rated impedance is 4 ohms, and it claims 91 dB sensitivity. The lowest usable bass is about 35 Hz if you put the speaker near a corner. All those seem like reasonable performance claims.

What do they sound like if you pull them away from the wall behind them?
 
A

All-Or-Nothing

Audioholic Intern
What do they sound like if you pull them away from the wall behind them?

After midnight here and the wife just complained about my new toys....LOL

I will pop a few speakers out of the cabinet and try different locations to test how placement affects the sound. So far I'm loving these speakers.
 
ellisr63

ellisr63

Full Audioholic
I did a search for RCMP Audio speakers and found a company that makes microphone.Ed and I also found a YouTube lot.I to a RCMP speaker woofer.

Sent from my SGH-T879 using Tapatalk 2
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
Weird.

Something about them screams "white van scam" speakers.

But then, some details really make me think that they aren't white van at all, like bi-amp posts for example (why would you put those on white van speakers where the goal is to make as much $ from suckers).

How about the old "knuckle knock" test? If you gently tap the side of the cabinet with your kuckles, do they sound hollow or relatively solid? You could MAYBE get more info if you popped out a driver and looked for a manufacturer or model number on the driver or crossover (or even get an idea of quality by inspecting the crossovers).

Bottom line, if they sound good to you, then don't worry about it and enjoy them. An you can't argue about the price.
 
H

hizzaah

Full Audioholic
I imagine you've decided that these are "White Van's" by now.. Glad you're enjoying them though! As mentioned by a few people over at Audiokarma, might measure these to see if the specs provided are accurate before you start running them daily. And, if it wouldn't be a bother, perhaps you could pop off some of the woofers and give us all a look inside..? Would be interesting to see what parts they used on these. The cabinets actually look pretty nice from where I'm sitting
 
A

All-Or-Nothing

Audioholic Intern
I imagine you've decided that these are "White Van's" by now.. Glad you're enjoying them though! As mentioned by a few people over at Audiokarma, might measure these to see if the specs provided are accurate before you start running them daily. And, if it wouldn't be a bother, perhaps you could pop off some of the woofers and give us all a look inside..? Would be interesting to see what parts they used on these. The cabinets actually look pretty nice from where I'm sitting

Sure their White Van speakers. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. It just seemed weird that the construction was as good as they are. Things like Allenhead bolts to hold in the speakers instead of regular wood screws. The knock test didn't sound hollow and actually sounded like some decent thickness. Even the wood veneer and overall look of the speakers seemed like something that might have costed quite a bit to make.

Nice thing is they sound really good. I'ma post a pic of the crossover in a minute. Now the crossover does look really cheap but what do I know anyways.

Pics in about 5 mins.


 
Last edited:
Tomorrow

Tomorrow

Audioholic Ninja
You're right, there is nothing about these speakers on google. I could find a TCN Corp. in Framingham, MA, but only an address. There was no info about them being in the audio business.

The info on the label on the back of the speakers looks reasonable. There are no absurd or unbelievable claims. But… it lists two patent numbers. One patent number (3,582,553) is owned by Bose Corp. for the 901 speakers Patent US3582553 - LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM - Google Patents. The speakers you have seem to have nothing in common with Bose 901s. The other patent number does not have anything to do with speakers.

What I find unusual is that the friend who gave them to you for free doesn't even remember buying them or what they are like. I wonder why these speakers are so forgettable. Buy you can't beat the price. Go ahead try them.

If BSA's hook up directions weren't clear, use two short wires to connect those pairs of terminals. One wire connects the two black terminals together, and the other connects the two red terminals together. Then connect your receiver to one red and one black terminal in the usual way.
Bose is in Framingham. But these are not Bose. The patent # deals with angular cabinetry, which these do not have. White van is my guess, too.
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
Bose is in Framingham. But these are not Bose. The patent # deals with angular cabinetry, which these do not have. White van is my guess, too.
Something just doesn't quite add up to white van to me. The pics look like decent build quality, dual binding posts, reasonable crossover, decent cabs.

They might be white van, but why would you see these items, something just doesn't quite jive to me to say for sure white van.

Maybe a BOSE offshoot? But that doesn't make sense either.

My advice, don't worry about it and enjoy them.
 
JerryLove

JerryLove

Audioholic Samurai
I'd be curious to know what the inside looks like and who manufactured the drivers.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
How much do they weigh? My impression of white van speakers is they try to save money on cabinetry and bracing. Is there any stuffing in the cabinet? I don't think a white van speaker would bother with that sort of thing.
 
A

All-Or-Nothing

Audioholic Intern
How much do they weigh? My impression of white van speakers is they try to save money on cabinetry and bracing. Is there any stuffing in the cabinet? I don't think a white van speaker would bother with that sort of thing.

They weigh 74.6 lbs. I used a digital bathroom scale that you stand on. Few more pics.

The inside is lined with Polyfill and there are 4 horizontal braces that are glued/stapled/? going around the sides and rear of the cabinet. There are also the small triangle braces at the top and bottom of the cabinet. I can feel 7 but more than likely they were in pairs so that is 4 bottom, 4 top.





The wood is also 3/4" thick

Nothing special looking on the speakers, but the magnets seemed quite heavy for the size of speaker. No markings either.




 
A

All-Or-Nothing

Audioholic Intern
Few more pics...

Here is "maybe" a better pic of one of the braces. They are like big letter U's spaced about every 10" or so. I hope that makes sense.











So there you go.
 
D

Dennis Murphy

Audioholic General
Uh--These are not white van speakers. Not even close. I've worked with several samples of those. They use ultra-cheapo, unbraced cabinets, trash drivers, and a "crossover network" consisting of a cap on the tweeter and the midrange, and maybe a resistor somewhere. I could only see a small part of the crossover--the tweeter--and it's a second order electrical. No white van would bother with a parallel inductor. And the drivers are quite solid. I can only guess that some name-brand speaker company threw these together as a kind of house brand to tap a lower segment of the market. You're lucky to have latched onto them.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
lol, 76 lbs, yeah that does not strike me as a white van speaker. Or maybe it is a white van speaker made by some guys that missed the point of the con.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
In addition to items mentioned - I'd like to add - No white VAN will bother to make custom brand print on crossover circuit board... I'm shocked so many people never heard of this brand, but then who knows...
 

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