Recently, more and more lovers of good sound are interested in old Soviet speakers. Today, this acoustics is in great demand and is sold, oddly enough, not so cheap. Should I buy Soviet speakers? Let's try to figure this out.
general information
Professionals argue that the speakers that say "Made in the USSR" always sound powerful and good, have a high-quality amplifier and signal source.
And it is not surprising that, until recently, not only our grandfathers and grandmothers, but also their parents, with pleasure, turned on precisely Soviet speakers (speakers - acoustic systems). With their help, you can listen only to music, without even trying to connect to home theaters. However, they are not so bad - columns that say: "Made in the USSR."
Acoustic Production Development
Before the first Soviet speakers appeared, users could use only ordinary radio broadcasters. These devices allowed you to listen to music. However, in 1951, the country's leadership approved a single standard that determined those basic parameters that broadcasting equipment should have. This year was the starting point for the beginning of the development of various models of acoustics. At that time, the technology of the still new production was simply impressive.
Soviet speakers had such basic elements as a loudspeaker, an electrodynamic head and a magnetizing element.
Even with a very meager body design, such speakers sounded very high quality. Anyone who uses modern acoustics will not always understand that he hears the sound reproduced by Soviet speakers. What is the reason for such magic? In a technical breakthrough in engineering!
After that, the country began producing new models of receivers, which for a long time have been the only source of sound in homes and discos. An interesting fact is that such equipment was made manually.
Radiola "Symphony"
1965 was another important milestone in the production of receivers. It was this year in the USSR that the first domestic radiol was released. It was designed using the tube method. Stereophonics, dubbed the "Symphony", served as a kind of musical center of that period.
What did the composition of the radio include? In her design was an electronic phone. He allowed to play vinyl records. The Symphony also included a receiver that emitted sound.
Today, this radio is only some fans of retro, and even then it is used only for interior decoration. From the point of view of acoustics, such a technique, which was the standard of engineering in past years, is significantly outdated.
Next stage
As for lamp players, they were very rare in the homes of ordinary workers. The main reason is the high price of equipment and small batches of its production.
At the next stage, transistor tape recorders began to be produced in the country. This technique gave a great sound output power. In order to buy such a tape recorder, a simple engineer had to postpone the purchase of his five monthly salaries. However, despite this, the new technology has gained great popularity. The work of such equipment could not do without the latest acoustics. And in 1974, new columns began to be produced in the USSR. The first was the model AC 10MAC-1M. This Soviet acoustics has become widespread for many years. A long-stroke loudspeaker was introduced into the system, additionally equipped with a suspended latex diffuser. However, it is worth recognizing the fact that such a technique was not of high quality. Particularly many complaints were caused by the assembly of columns.
Borrowing foreign technology
In 1978, the USSR began a simple copying of the acoustic systems of Western samples. For the first time, engineers working in the Baltic countries took up this matter. Thus, the 35AC-1 model was designed, on the basis of which a whole series of S-90 systems was released. These Soviet columns have been greatly improved. High quality was distinguished by their body. It was assembled from durable plywood, which at that time was used in aircraft manufacturing. The back and side panels of the body were made of wood of the most valuable species. Impressive was the weight of the device. This Soviet acoustics weighed 23 kilograms!
The final stage
The acoustics of the USSR finally developed with the release of the 75AC-001 model. It was the crown of engineering of the Soviet period. When developing this model, mathematical design methods were first applied. In addition, in order to ensure optimal operation of various elements, for example, a crossover and a head, computers (the predecessors of modern computer systems) were used.
The most perfect acoustics of the USSR, which was the model 75AC-001, had a loudspeaker of remarkable quality. In addition, lovers of good sound were struck by its sensitivity, which was 91 dB. For those times, this figure was simply unbelievable.
The loudspeaker (electrodynamic head) of the model, among other things, provided a good frequency range, which ranged from twenty-five to twenty-five thousand Hz. In addition, the sound produced did not have as much distortion as the previous models.
Subsequently, the model was renamed. Its new name is 150AC-001. It was produced as the acoustics of the Corvette, as well as the Cleaver.
In total, about 50 models of such systems were developed in the Soviet period. Among them were those that were not even remembered by users. However, there were also good options for such systems on mass sale, the most popular of which we will consider below
"Electronics"
Under this name, a wide range of household appliances was produced in the USSR. Factories belonging to the Ministry of Electronic Industry under the brand name "Electronics" produced televisions and calculators, computer systems and tape recorders. The list of these goods included electronic watches and other products.
The production of Soviet acoustic systems, which were the Electronics columns, was also established. There were several varieties of them:
1. "Electronics 25-033". This is a three-way speaker, which was enclosed in a natural wooden case. The nominal power of such speakers was 25 watts, and the peak reached 100 watts. The speakers reproduced sound in the range from 31.5 to 25000 Hz and had a nominal impedance of 4 ohms.
2. Columns "Electronics 25 AS-118." This speaker is also located in a natural wooden case.
3. "Electronics 25 - 126". This system is a three-way speaker enclosed in a body of chipboard. The rated power of such speakers was 25 watts, and the ultimate was 50 watts. The sound frequency was in the range from 4 to 20,000 Hz, and the resistance was 4 ohms.
4. "Electronics 25-132." This is a block three-way speaker with a rated power of 25 watts. She, as a rule, came in the same kit with the Electronics 104C amplifier.
5. "Electronics 25-227". The rated power of this three-way speaker was 50 watts. At the same time, the system had some differences from previous models. So, isodynamic RF heads were installed in it. They were characterized by low distortion, which ensured high quality when reproducing high frequencies.
S-90
The best columns of the Soviet period were, undoubtedly, the S-90. The letter S stood on them, since this product was produced in Riga. They were called AC Radiotehnika. However, in those years, the Soviet people did not trust everything foreign. In this regard, the column is still called S-90.
Being one of the best systems of the Soviet period, Radio Engineering was widely used in houses of culture and at concerts even in the most remote corners of the country. Speakers were certainly present at school evenings. They were the most powerful, since an amplifier was installed to them. Today, such a retrotechnics is not cheap. Only one column of the Radio Engineering model will cost the buyer 4,000 rubles.
Description
For their time, the columns "Radio Engineering" had the best characteristics. They belonged to the highest (zero) class and qualitatively differed from all Soviet equipment. In addition, this speaker was in no way inferior to the imported one.
The speakers worked in the frequency range in the range from 31.5 to 20,000 Hz. Their rated power was 35 watts.
But this
speaker system was far from perfect. She had a rather high cost, reaching up to 300 rubles per pair. And the weight of these columns was impressive. Sometimes it exceeded 30 kg. In addition, when buying C-90 speakers, no one was sure that he would make a harmonious pair of them. After all, one of them gathered all the power together and sounded louder than the other. However, this was not the only drawback of this speaker. Soviet speakers often broke. The reason for this was weak and thin wires, which themselves were impractical. In addition, the speakers did not sound well at medium frequencies, spoiling the whole impression of acoustics.
Installation
Despite the shortcomings, the S-90 speakers were quite comfortable with Soviet music lovers. For several decades, this speaker system was included in the category of the most massive. Music lovers do not forget about her today. After all, the S-90 speakers are a striking symbol of an era that has already passed. This is a device of impressive size, which is 36x71x28.5 cm. That is why they needed to be installed correctly, keeping a distance of at least 2 m from the listener. However, in cramped Soviet apartments this was impossible. That is why the real sound that such acoustics could give out was heard only by neighbors.
Appearance
A fairly solid and simple casing of the S-90 speakers is a rectangular non-separable box of chipboard. Its decoration is high-quality veneer made of valuable wood. At the joints of the walls and inside the housing, the designers provided special elements. This increases the strength and rigidity of the box itself.
The speaker heads adorn decorative frames. They are stamped from a sheet of aluminum and painted black. In addition, the speakers are protected in the form of a metal mesh.
In the lower part of the body you can see the patch panel made of plastic. It displays the amplitude-frequency characteristic of the speaker, the name of the system and its brand name. The connector of the Soviet columns S-90 is located at the bottom of the rear wall of the case.
Internal content
If you open the casing of columns C-90, you can see a large amount of cotton wool, which is covered with gauze. This is an AC sound absorber.
It reduces the effect of acoustic pressure on the AHF, making the speakers sound better. Anyone who disassembled the case of the "Soviet legend" can see inside the electric filters. They are located on the board and share the speaker bands.
Modernization of old equipment
S-90 speakers are very popular among music lovers. It is not surprising that many of those who are interested in sound quality tend to modernize them. This activity is not only fascinating. It allows you to save impressive money and get a system with great sound.
Of course, the outside of these columns, whose age is at least 30 years old, has already lost its former chic. However, for those who decided to upgrade, the main thing is that the system should be intact.
For such work, you will need a soldering iron and pliers. With modernization, you can’t do without a set of screwdrivers. The first step is to remove the front panel. This can only be done after two dozen different screws have been unscrewed. After disassembly, pay attention to the speakers. They are likely to require resuscitation. It is possible that you need to rewind the coil. After that, the speakers on the Soviet speakers will sound just perfect, without any extraneous overtones. Silk domes, which can be replaced by plastic ones, will make all the tones more transparent.
Modernization of wiring and internal materials
Refinement of the case allows you to improve the sound of speakers at low frequencies. To do this, you will need to remove the cotton-gauze pads, replacing them with inexpensive batting. All this is done quickly and does not require much effort. Before installation, it is recommended to replace the wiring.
The case is sheathed with batting. They will also need to tighten the phase investor, but only after installing its pipe on the sealant. Switches in the new speaker will not be needed. That is why they can be deleted as an unnecessary item. Thin Soviet wiring speakers in all connections should be replaced by copper.
As you can see, this is not so much time-consuming. However, despite its simplicity, refinement changes the sound of technology. It becomes more high-quality and transparent, pleasing the ear of the music lover.
Old Soviet speakers can also be installed in the car interior. The price of such a system will be minimal, and the sound will amaze with its power and quality.