For Sale: High end tower speakers look to be new old stock/unused, complete with original manuals, warranty cards, packing bags, packing material, and boxes.
Label on the box says these from OH to consignee on 1/16/95. About 29 years ago.
These used "Sonofoam" for the dispersion foam around the tweeter and probably the internal acoustic insulation foam too. This foam gets sticky after a decade or two and starts fragile to the touch, see photos for details. You can remove the foam around the tweeter and it will make very little difference in acoustics, you could replace with other foam, or make felt replacements. I'd leave it as is- it's out of sight behind the grills and is working fine.
Other than the Sonofoam these show no wear at all that I can find. No scratches or marks on the finish. No sign they were ever used. Grills are mint with no rips, tears, or holes in the fabric. There are tiny signs of 29 years of storage but that's about it. The cabinets have mounting points on the bottoms where you can attach optional spikes.
Taken out of the boxes only for photos and testing. Checked audibly with a 150 watt amplifier and CD player - sound quality is excellent. No distortion, no voice coil rubbing, no issues. Very very good bass response, very very good high frequency response. Probably in the top 10 of all speakers I have come across in my lifetime. All four drivers are original and in mint shape. I checked one of the woofers and they are as expected Seas model H296 8 ohm- see photo. These have rubber surrounds which are in great shape. Am 99% sure the tweeters are SEAS model H464 1" metal dome. 6 ohms- didn't remove a tweeter to check because it would permanently remove all the Sonofoam. The drivers were made in Norway, the speakers were made in Ohio.
Info found on the web about these classics:
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Up for consideration is a pair of audiophile-class high end Signet top of the line SL280EX speakers (made in the USA). Though Signet was a reputable brand in phono cartridges, they actually have a high-end speaker line made in Ohio, USA, which was a sister-company of Design Acoustic, and both divisions were part of Audio Technica. These Signet speakers were designed and developed by Andy Lewis who was formerly with Acoustic Research (AR). They are fantastically musical speakers: transparent, sweet high, superb mid, tight bass, phenomenal soundstage, extremely well balanced, uncolored, and great imaging, and depth. People say these speakers are very detailed, very live, real and well balanced compared to other speakers. Also, they are very well built, solid, heavy. For those not familiar with Signet, you MUST listen!
.... the original foams surrounding both tweeters are disintegrated due to age. The foams are mainly for spreading out, in time, the inevitable, remaining diffraction, which can be simply replaced by felt. Some say it is difficult to note the difference between with and without the foams. Other than this small issue, everything works perfectly. They are also bi-ampable. The original gold-plated jumpers are included, as well as the original manuals and warranty cards.
Additional and higher resolution photos are available on request.
Send your zip code and city for a ship quote- should be between $59.99 and $129.99 if you are located in the US. (Feb. 2024).
