Think INSIDE the box! | 1974 Sonab OD-11 Cube Speaker | FOAM ROT REPAIR

Think INSIDE the box! | 1974 Sonab OD-11 Cube Speaker | FOAM ROT REPAIR - Does it sound any good?

Рет қаралды 1,484

Күн бұрын

Thanks to www.pcbway.com for sponsoring this video.
I found this weird Swedish cube at my local Op-Shop (thrift store) and decided to bring it home to see if it could be repaired, and if it sounds any good.
It's a vintage speaker from the company Sonab, and it's designed by Stig Carlsson. Manufactured from 1974-1978.
The speaker driver inside has suffered badly with foam rot, so we remove and repair the foam surrounds on the cone. We also give the timber veneer on the exterior a little attention before reassembly and seeing how they sound. It’s not quite a complete restoration, but they look and sound a lot better than when we started.
I put the finished product up against my current favourite speakers, Bang & Olufsen Beovox S45-II, and we see how the little Sonabs fare. The results may shock you!
Please note, this video is for entertainment purposes only. Don't try any of this yourself.
Thanks for watching. If you would like to support this channel please 'like' and leave a comment. If you are feeling especially generous you can also share the video. But you don't have to, I'm not your mum.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro and first look
4:14 Disassemble
7:01 Repairing the foam rot
18:06 Testing setup
19:39 Audio test vs B&O Beovox S45
21:09 Conclusion
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Picture credit:
All images used under fair use for educational or documentary purposes. Original images and scans obtained from carlssonplanet.com

Пікірлер: 37

@rogervd666gamer 2 ай бұрын

Thanks for this video, very interesting type of speakers. The only manufacturer, what I know, uses this up fire speaker system is Temporal Coherence. I once listen to them and they sound phenomenal.

@TheBasementChannel 2 ай бұрын

You’re welcome. Yes they sound a lot better than I expected. And heaps of different positioning options too.

@taffeylewis 8 ай бұрын

Great restoration/repair job. I love quirky off the wall designs like this. Especially when they actually bring decent sound to the table. Used to have some Grundog Globe speakers and they sounded amazing. Keep up the good work, as this sort of stuff is getting more and more rare every day.

@TheBasementChannel 8 ай бұрын

Thanks! I agree, it’s fun to see products that push the boundaries of what was ‘normal’!

@lennardw.9841 4 ай бұрын

Amazing video, thank you very much!

@TheBasementChannel 4 ай бұрын

You’re very welcome!

@hni7458 Ай бұрын

Many thanks Sir, this your hommage to our own SWE Stig's speakers, and you all the way from the Antipodes! And a contest to you, dear followers, you just try your best to find a sexier speaker - new or vintage - than a pair of these, carefully restored all the way with new surface treatment of the veneer and everything! And then comes its sound - where does this wiiide sound really come from? - Jezzzs. What have the loudspeaker engineers been doing during these 50 yrs?

@TheBasementChannel Ай бұрын

Yes I agree! And I still listen to them daily ☺️

@hni7458 Ай бұрын

@@TheBasementChannel I'm very honest now, mate, me getting a tear in me eye, with you coming from down under talking so sweetly about our Stig and his most modest speaker model, he that left us in the late 90s ☺

@TheBasementChannel Ай бұрын

@@hni7458he seemed like a very creative thinker. Not scared to try new and different ideas.

@hni7458 Ай бұрын

@@TheBasementChannel He was; "My speakers are designed to do their thing in ppls homes - not in anechoic chambers" was his motto. He labelled his speakers OA for ortho acoustical of that reason (ortho being Greek for 'right/correct'). Still, he considered the more modest OD-11s being somewhat on the low side, so OD here for ortho directional, a kid brother, like. Svara

@adampoll4977 7 ай бұрын

That horseshoe arrangement indicates an Alnico magnet rather than a cheaper ceramic magnet. Love Scandinavian design speakers, just picked up a pair of 80s Bang & Olufsen Redline 45s from a recycling shop that sound ridiculously good for their age and look VERY cool.

@TheBasementChannel 7 ай бұрын

Great info, thanks for sharing!

@wes6713 7 ай бұрын

I have a set, as well as two other bigger Sonabs. The proper set up in the literature says close to the back wall and the tweeters aiming front and out. There is a left and right with Sonabs, but these are versatile in that one way gives a wider soundstage, and the other a more centred soundstage. Thanks for the great video and for saving those amazing little speakers.

@TheBasementChannel 7 ай бұрын

Thank you for the helpful and informative comment. Given what I’ve heard of the small Sonabs, I’ll bet the larger models sound amazing!

@holtonaudio623 7 ай бұрын

What a great set of loudspeakers from when I was about 15 years old, I would not mind making something like this myself! 🙂 I just love the concept. Did you restore the Crossover as well?

@HeikoQuant 7 ай бұрын

I have a pair of OD 11 as well. Picked them up in a thrift store too. Sadly the Peerless drivers (you have the MK1 version by the way) were replaced with Monarch / Monacor drivers. Altough they were a lot newer they needed refoaming too. But I doubt they are true to the Sonab sound. So I was on the lookout and found a pair of Sonab OA 14 speakers with the Peerless SC-165 (MK2), that should have been in the OD11s as well. I thought eh OA 14 were shot but the drivers potentially usable, but after a good clean and refoaming they look and sound great. Then I decided on getting the matching Receiver by Sonab the r4000. When buying the receiver the seller had a pair of Sonab OA 5 speakers sitting there. I got those too. They have Philips drivers and Peerless Tweeters (5 of them pointing in all different directions). Everything is in mint condition apart from the dust. Even that is not a problem. You remove the grill, dust if off a bit and repeat every couple of months. The sound of all 3 speaker pairs and the r4000 is stunning. Warm and very wide (they are omnidrectinal after all). If you come across Sonab, I suggest you pick them up. Both the speakers and the receivers are incredibly reliable and durable. They build a shitload of the speakers. At one point every swede had a pair. But after 40 years they are becoming rare and prices are on the rise. The design is very distinct 70s but in a unique way. All Sonabs are firing upward and have a detachable grill (for cleaing purposes I guess). Great video this, I very much enjoyed it and subscribed to you channel.

@TheBasementChannel 7 ай бұрын

Thank you Heiko it was interesting to read about your journey with the Sonab products. Thanks for stopping by the channel, and for the sub!

@retrotechguy 8 ай бұрын

Excellent! 👍 I happen to be a Swedish speaker myself…😁

@TheBasementChannel 8 ай бұрын

But are you strange? 🤪😄

@retrotechguy 7 ай бұрын

@@TheBasementChannel without a doubt! 😁 On the Swedish note, the ‘ab’ in ‘Sonab’ is from the Swedish for Limited company ‘Aktiebolag’. It used to feature in company names like in ‘Saab’ , acronym for Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget.

@TheBasementChannel 7 ай бұрын

@@retrotechguy wow, cool info, thanks for sharing that. I used to own a Saab, but had no idea about that 'ab' moniker.

@Ancaja123 4 ай бұрын

I'm wondering if placement would be bad if I had a TV console in between two of these. Its a hefty old 60's Curtis mattes console

@TheBasementChannel 4 ай бұрын

I just rotated mine until they sounded best. Worth trying.

@triode1212 5 күн бұрын

How did you remove the grills without damaging the edges of the speaker?

@TheBasementChannel 5 күн бұрын

You can place something on the edge before you lever off it.

@jcerecke 8 ай бұрын

Interesting! I wonder if you could get away with sitting them on the floor with the port up against a wall. Might have to flip them as well so the tweeter isn't pointing into the carpet.

@TheBasementChannel 8 ай бұрын

Yes worth a try. The manual actually recommends you experiment with placement and orientation until it sounds good to you.

@eliaskentson581 5 ай бұрын

I have exactly the same problem with foam rot , where did you buy the foam and what size?

@TheBasementChannel 5 ай бұрын

Hey there, I just bought mine from eBay, to suit 6.25” speakers. The eBay listing mentioned they were for Sonab, but any that size will probably work.

@eliaskentson581 5 ай бұрын

Thanks! I don't know much about speakers at all so hopefully you can answer some more questions haha. I just got mine and like I said, I have the same problems with the foam. Even though I tried to connect them to my stereo and they worked but sounded awful... It was a buzzing sound and it just sounded really raspy, it's hard to explain but do you think it's just because of the foam rot or do you think they might have another problem?

@TheBasementChannel 5 ай бұрын

@@eliaskentson581 hard to say, but they won’t sound right without the foam rings.

@eliaskentson581 5 ай бұрын

Okey! Thanks!

@pierresternegard6951 21 күн бұрын

Pointless video.. what is the point of reviewing an ortho acoustic speaker when you don't place them as they were intended. And why not research the speakers first.. Carlssonplanet has all there is to know on them

@TheBasementChannel 20 күн бұрын

I did. I read through the website thoroughly. And you know what it said? Place them where you like.

@torsdaglastbil 5 сағат бұрын

They are not orto acoustic, but orto directional !