Have (vintage) AWA speakers ever been considered good?

[muznuts]

Hi, 

 

my dad has a pair of old AWA speakers, im 40 and they have been around at least as long as me, possibly a few years older

 

just wondering if this brand was ever considered good, anyone know if they would have any 'vintage/retro' value

 

dad remembers he got them direct from AWA through a friend who was an engineer there and were 'top of the line'

 

ive tried a google search for nothing, cant even find an image of them, there were only paper tags on the back and they are all deteriorated

 

each has 5 drivers in the top section and the bottom sounds like it is a down firing driver, i will take a closer look next time i am up there

 

murray

[ThirdDrawerDown]

Ive been searching for a pair of the mid 70s studio monitors with the 12 or 15 inch drivers for about ten years now.

awa knew what they were doing, those times when the accountants allowed the engineers to do their thing.

[henry218]

Ok, why it looked like Klipsch??

[fastfwd]

I watched an amaizing doco on AWA. They were in the race with Mac and others to make the first microcomputer (PC).

If you get a chance, troll the web for it and watch it. Good watch alot of history.

[Hitek Audio Video]

Murray,

 

You may find, that if they've never been serviced, that the crossovers will still have the original caps. If they are as old as you claim, they may need a minor service to get them singing their best. As long as the drivers themselves are ok, it shouldn't be too costly a venture.

[Number 9]

If their not highly collectable,then they should be. AWA did some amazing stuff back then. Drivers are likely to be either Rola or Magnavox both Ozzie made!

At around the same time, they brought out a top load cassette deck, the Thorn DCR1, it was a fully imported badge-engineered Nakamichi for less than half the price of the Naka branded unit.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Number 9

[VanArn]

If the  enclosures were manufactured  prior to the merger with Thorn then it is more likely that the component speakers are from the M.S.P. factory(a subsidiary company of A.W.A.). 

[muznuts]

Thanks for the replies, I'm glad I asked cause I think mum was ready to put them out for a council clean up

Next time I'm there I will take a closer look and have a good listen to them

[Soundscape]

If the enclosures were manufactured prior to the merger with Thorn then it is more likely that the component speakers are from the M.S.P. factory(a subsidiary company of A.W.A.).

That's interesting. I have a cabinet speaker that looks like a copy of a JBL Metregon that the previous owner said was custom built for her father by AWA. It has MSP bass and mid drivers and unmarked tweeters in cast steel enclosures. I should post some photos of the tweeters and massive x-overs to see what info I can glean.

[billyboyrm]

AWA also used Tannoy 12 or 15" drivers in some of their speakers.  These were used as studio monitors by the ABC and also out at some of the AM radio transmitting stations.  I remember the sound reproduction was very clean especially when an LP was played via the Garrard 401 turntables.  MY biggest regret was that I did not get to the last console to be removed in Canberra at the 2CN station.  This was an art deco masterpiece which would have needed a substantial room to piece together again.

 

Ah memories!

[Equaliser]

AWA had some one off's that weren't too bad in terms of speakers similar to Jensen's of the time but they were still on the bottom of the list compared to the bigger boys from Japan and the heavy weights from England/Britain. 

 

Some of there late 70's TT's with quite heavy thick veneered plinths were quite nice.

[princetown]

are they considered a good reference monitor in comparison to Tannoys quested etc?

[muznuts]

Since this thread has re-surfaced i may as well tell you guys that i have had a listen to them and as suggested they are in need of some TLC, they crackle a bit but definitely have potential

 

Have googled some names but who would you guys recommend i talk to about repairs? in Sydney?

 

thanks

[Brisso57]

There are some AWA speakers that

have (highly collectable) Coral drivers.