Okay, I got the Phase Technology speakers for 15 bucks. The cabinets are beat up and look unfinished. They originally had socks that covered the whole tower so I understand the unfinished look. I did get the top plates that go with them too. Overall they're definitely some ugly ducklings, lol.
One is in perfect working order and one has a non functioning tweeter, as advertised. That same one also has some physical damage on the woofer cone. I guess someone grabbed it and used the edge of the cabinet and driver as a handle to carry it...
The rest of the pics are of the damaged speaker. The other one looks pretty much the same with no damage to the driver and a working tweeter.
Should the port be smoother and flared at the end? I don't think I've seen ports as unfinished looking as that. It looks like something might be missing?
Okay, I did hook them up and placed them right in front of my Ultras. I played a few songs I know very well and I gotta say they made me smile. Even with 1 blown tweeter they sound pretty good. Good enough for me to feel better about how ugly they are right now, lol.
The undamaged one isn't displaying any bad behavior and sounds really nice. It does sound like a very neutral speaker. They are able to produce some good bass too. I'm gonna contact PhaseTech, see how much a replacement tweeter and woofer will be and and make a project out of them. I might even invest in some Acoustically transparent cloth or something and try to fashion a wrap for them... or maybe go another direction.
Hey, for 15 bucks I can't complain right? Once I get them both up and running I might even turn a profit, if I don't just straight up keep them. Once they're good to go I'm gonna swap them out with the Ultras, make them my mains for a little while and do some critical listening. If I like them enough I'll be hanging onto them and make a system out of them somewhere! So far I'm feeling okay about my $15.
Oh, I did dig up a mostly positive review on them and tho there aren't any charts they did do some measurements and they're not too bad.
"
±3 dB from 20 Hz to 17 kHz except for a 4-dB dip in the 10-kHz region. Measurements with a swept one-third-octave random-noise signal made on the speaker's axis and 45 degrees off-axis showed a divergence between the two above 4 kHz, with the off-axis response down by 6 dB at 10 kHz and 15 dB at 20 kHz relative to the on-axis response. Quasi-anechoic MLS frequency-response measurements confirmed the essential features of the room measurements."
He goes more in depth in the
full review here.
