Mr 57 Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) Can relate, these were shown to me by Graham Esler in Geelong in about 1973. Was 2nd yr carpenters apprentice earning about 90 bucks a week...via the bank of Mum, managed to buy a pair of OA 14’s in rosewood for $519 still have them. Combined with the P4000 and the cassette player. At the time I remember you could buy an lp for about $12, friends thought I was nuts to buy a Lincoln Mayorga disc for $42, you couldn’t tell ‘em Where it all started ! Edited May 1, 2018 by Mr 57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_mike Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/wanniassa/speakers/sonab-oa-14l-speakers/1183269573 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Kev Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 On 29/04/2018 at 1:50 PM, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: Yep. That would be Derek and Jacquie Pugh, who had the Sonab agency back then. Great people to deal with. Derek has left the business (I think), but I am pretty sure Jacquie is still in the audio biz. The 'U' shaped magets were the highly desirable, AlNiCo types. AlNiCo magnets are much harder to find today, but still highly prized. The round magnets are ceramic types and not desirable at all. Yes they were amazing. They contact everyone registered or certainly would not have known Also they repaired a blown channel for FREE, way out of warranty too! A blown ZTX108 (from memory) which was a common BC108 transistor but kept blowing when replaced, was a shorted temp sense transistor on the heatsink and missed it in the schematic the way it was drawn. Makes sense, they moved (or Sonab stopped?) a little while after the upgrade and imagine many may have missed out. Was DIY pick up the speakers so no need to take the cabs over and they said to keep original speakers as backup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Kev Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 On 19/08/2010 at 4:39 PM, Vintage_Hi_Fi said: Hi all, just read this thread and thought i'd add my opinion. I am in the process of restoring my OA-14's, I have in fact used the matushita tweeter replacements on my OA -14's and can confirm they are just as good if not better than the original peerless tweeters. I also upgraded the thin speaker wire and upgraded the speaker terminals to a more modern and easy to use design. As for the sound, they OA-14 has a stronger bottom end than the OA-12, Id' say stereo imaging are not their forte but they do provide an open/spatial sound that is pleasant to listen to if they are positioned in the corners of the room. For anyone wanting to improve/enhance the sound of their OA-14, I suggest that they have someone check the crossovers, they often have components that are no longer in spec such as capacitors etc. For 70's the Bass clarity was amazing if set up properly. Very important placing OA-14's in room corners and if I recall properly had a jumper for crossover setup? Perfect for a smaller room like a home unit these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Kev Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 On 06/05/2018 at 8:13 PM, t_mike said: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/wanniassa/speakers/sonab-oa-14l-speakers/1183269573 Damn ... missed this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivianbl Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Hi AllAre there any other "lovers" of vintage Sonab speakers out there ? For those who are not familar with them, they were very popular in some parts of the world back in the 1970's early 80's, including Australia. They were built in Sweden and designed by one Stig Carlsson who is a bit of a legend of speaker design in that country.I should point out at this stage though, that the column "Sonab" speakers sometimes seen have nothing to do with the vintage Carlsson designed models. The originals were all based on omni-directional, ortho-acoustic (as they were known) or even direct-reflecting designs. There is a dedicated website to the speakers and the designer which has a wealth of information on them.http://www.carlssonplanet.com/I never owned a pair back in the 70's as they were a bit expensive, but have always liked them. However I now have a pair of OD11's often called the Carlsson cubes, and I recently bought a pair of OA14's which in my few, were the ones to own. The bigger models (OA116 and OA2212) had too many tweeters spreading the sound in all directions making for a complicted and un-natural sound stage IMHO :nana There were other models which were re-named from Sonab to Carlsson after the designer. They all have the so called "Carlsson sound" and are generally very easy to place for good effect.They sometimes pop SH up on ebay and other sites, and often require some renovation work (as do my OA14's). The biggest difficulty now is getting the Peerless tweeters replaced. Even the ones suggested on Carlsson Planet are no longer produced. I believe there was a replacement Mitsushita speaker which was apparently pretty good, but they also are no longer made. Fortunately for me, all the tweeters on my models are OK and currently don't need to be replaced. The mid / bass drivers also usually need the surrounds replaced. Some I've seen have had the entire driver replaced which can work OK if you get a suitable 6.5" driver. The crossovers are usually trouble free, although I believe Carlsson Planet recommend upgrading the capsacitors.It's difficult to describe the sound of Sonabs, however they are sweet and very open sounding and have been described as "making the walls behind them vanish" (or words to that effect). Even the little cubes with just 1 tweeter and 1 mid/bass driver (both upward faciing) produce a very full sound. The larger models produce more bass due to their bigger cabinets. Stereo sweetspots are less defined too.Anyway, check out the website above and see what you think.DesPS I shall eventually post some photos of my OA14's before and after renovation (cosmetic that is)Wow didn’t realise that Sonabs were still in circulation. They were my first entry into the “Hi Fi world”. I still have the Sonab OA 12 speakers, P 4000 amplifier, C500 cassette deck. Cannot remember if I had the turntable at one stage, but know that I used the AR turntable with the Sonab system. Sounded really good at the time. I have them in storage. Have not used them for decades now, so not sure if they are still operational!I was keen on the biggest of the Sonab speakers 22 or something like that, but they were out of my financial scope at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage_Hi_Fi Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 The OA-14 are becoming pretty hard to find especially with original bass drivers the peerless sc-165 which is critical to maintain that sonab sound. I still have my OD-11 and OA-12 perfect study or bedroom speakers I never tire of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Kev Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 (edited) 12 hours ago, vivianbl said: Wow didn’t realise that Sonabs were still in circulation. They were my first entry into the “Hi Fi world”. I still have the Sonab OA 12 speakers, P 4000 amplifier, C500 cassette deck. Cannot remember if I had the turntable at one stage, but know that I used the AR turntable with the Sonab system. Sounded really good at the time. I have them in storage. Have not used them for decades now, so not sure if they are still operational! I was keen on the biggest of the Sonab speakers 22 or something like that, but they were out of my financial scope at the time. Had the original turntable (sliding black block shaped counterweight weight with straight arm and angled head) that came with P4000 but replaced with a later version Sonab 85 S turntable but the grounding is different. On original the L and R "Return" -ve signals are shorted together and the new with isolated Return -ve doesn't work? Tried with other turntables, same result? The GND used on the circuit boards are connected to the power transformer's mounting bolt and used as logic ground and signal Return path from the turntable. Most unusual though the P4000 circuit boards/wiring all match the original schematics. Edited October 6, 2018 by Aussie Kev Add info 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HypnoToad Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 On 06/10/2018 at 10:38 AM, Vintage_Hi_Fi said: The OA-14 are becoming pretty hard to find especially with original bass drivers the peerless sc-165 which is critical to maintain that sonab sound. I still have my OD-11 and OA-12 perfect study or bedroom speakers I never tire of them I remember having someone come to my house in the late 70's with some OA-14's, I really loved the sound of them, but in those days I was young and in love with gut thumping bass as well, so didn't buy them, still kick myself today that I didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saul Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Sorry, I'm late coming into this discussion. I have a pair of Sonab 2000 tower speakers (or I think that's the correct model #). They are sweet sounding but I acquired them some years ago when I was starting to get into the groove. I'm moving in a different direction now so I'm thinking of selling them. Of course the key question is how rare are they and much are they worth. any advice would be appreciated. Saul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve M Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 They are not the true Sonab speakers made by Stig Carlson discussed in this thread ...so your S2000 spkrs are probably not worth much, maybe $100? but, I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saul Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Ah, I feared as much. Thank you for the guidance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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