Electro voice fr-12 2b thx loud speakers

[photographer86]

Hey everyone. Have a chance at a set of elctro voice fr-12 2b speakers. I see they’re vintage. They’re excellent shape. What do people think about them? Any one have them in the forms. Will be powering them in a home theater with a marantz sr5012.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hey everyone. Have a chance at a set of elctro voice fr-12 2b speakers. I see they’re vintage. They’re excellent shape. What do people think about them? Any one have them in the forms. Will be powering them in a home theater with a marantz sr5012.

These speakers date from 1994. They are primarily for use in public cinemas. When you say you have a set, how many speakers do you have? A set of these speakers is 5. They were produced primarily for 5.1 sound in cinemas. They are designed to be mounted flat on a wall. They are THX certified, with second order roll off at 80 Hz to be used with cinema subs crossed over at 80 Hz.. These speakers must be matched with powerful subs. They are 2 way with a 12" bass unit crossed over second order to a horn loaded compression driver loaded speaker.

The response is purposely skewed for an "old fashioned" cinema sound similar to the old Altec Voice of the Theater sound that defined cinema sound for generations.

There is a jumper that can be applied to some terminals on the back to convert them to be more suitable for PA use in churches primarily for speech.

These are commercial speakers, designed to have a certain commercial sound. In my opinion they are totally unsuitable for domestic application. These are high sensitivity (96 db) speakers for large spaces and not living rooms.

 

[photographer86]

I would be getting 11 of them total. So was thinking about future upgrade to a 11.2 channel avr. These would be in a large basement 26ft long 16 ft wide. Thought if i crossed them at 80hz with my paradigm ps-1200’s they mike be cool. Yup they’re some oldies. Thanks for the input. If they wouldn’t be good for that ill pass on the deal. I plan on going with klipsch but been looking at m&k speakers also. Thanks for the info on them. With that jumper does that change the freq response so to say?

 

[TLS Guy]

Well the basic problem is driving a 12" woofer to 1.5 KHz. It will be well in its break up mode by then.

I would say you could go ahead with this if it is purely a cinema you want with the vintage cinema sound. If that is what you want OK. If not don't go in that direction. I don't think this would make a good music system if you want to use the room for that also.

I think the jumpers produce a flatter sound for PA work. However because you have that woofer driven up that high these are never going to be really neutral speakers. In a large space this is not such a pressing issue. High sensitivity and good speech clarity was the order of the day, even of that speech sound defined the cinema from the twenties to around the era those speakers were made.

As I said before Altec Lansing defined cinema sound with their Voice of the Theater systems back then. Unfortunately there are very few of these rigs left now.
Some people do look for them despite their size as they are nostalgic for that vintage cinema sound. JBL had their systems too, but Altec and Westinghouse before them defined cinema sound. The latter were massive horn systems with gigantic electromagnets.

Really before proceeding any further you need to decide if you want a modern or retro system. I can understand why someone would want a retro system.

You can see one of those Westinghouse speakers at the back in the picture, it is just right of center. It is in the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting, St.Louis Park in the Twin Cities MN.

 

[photographer86]

Okay. I follow what you mean by a certain sound. I’m looking for accurate with in respect for music and cinema. Doesn’t have to be spot on but if you follow. So i thought being a commercial speaker they were gonna be good for that. But i was wrong. Ya i don’t want the cinema sound per say. I want a speaker that is gonna hit when a gun shot goes off and explosion to feel. With in reason. Like ya i herd that and felt it. Not crazy loud but a good dump. Lol. So looking for speakers to do that. My jbl s26’s i have now are pretty good. I like them but want the next step up. A upgrade. So looking for deals. Doing listening and such.

 

[TLS Guy]

Okay. I follow what you mean by a certain sound. I’m looking for accurate with in respect for music and cinema. Doesn’t have to be spot on but if you follow. So i thought being a commercial speaker they were gonna be good for that. But i was wrong. Ya i don’t want the cinema sound per say. I want a speaker that is gonna hit when a gun shot goes off and explosion to feel. With in reason. Like ya i herd that and felt it. Not crazy loud but a good dump. Lol. So looking for speakers to do that. My jbl s26’s i have now are pretty good. I like them but want the next step up. A upgrade. So looking for deals. Doing listening and such.

I'm glad I was able to prevent you making a mistake. Those speakers are not for you then clearly.

 

[photographer86]

Yup thanks very much for the info. I was trying to describe myself best I could lol. I think the klipsch are gonna be the route. Looking at RP-160m's right now. Going to a local dealer tomorrow to listen to some other and see what I like.