bell labs and western electric

[GM]

Murray Hill, N.J. is where Bell Labs R&D was/is, so it's a given IMO that prototypes were built in their model shop, but I seriously doubt any production runs were done there.

GM

[Horn Savant]

Hawthorne plant was in Chi-town as was Jensen who made their woofers to spec, so it would be possible that Jensen made compression drivers under contract. A clue would be the use of same diaphragms in Jensen drivers.

[Horn Savant]

I was once at a high end audio show Las Vegas (where many foreign esoteric brands are displayed) and started talking to a learned German tube Amp designer. I raised the subject of classic tube Amps of the 20's & 30's from Western Electric. The German became a little annoyed at the reverence esoteric audio attaches to early W.E. He dismissed its significance by saying: "Bell Labs, they were mainly staffed with German scientists who fled Germany's disastrous post-WWI economy !" An interesting historical insight.

So the implication being: "You want German esoterica ? Don't bother with early 20th century US 'German' product,--buy my items now !"

[GM]

I find it hard to believe Bell Labs/WE would entrust the manufacturing of their compression drivers to a competitor, but all this speculation can probably be put to rest by contacting WE.

GM

[mah]

Some reading material:-

[ame="http://www.scribd.com/doc/124435/Western-Electric-and-the-History-of-the-Bell-System-A-Survey-of-Service"]Western Electric and the History of the Bell System: A Survey of Service@@AMEPARAM@@/docinfo/124435?access_key=38wk05moukpsf@@AMEPARAM@@124435@ @AMEPARAM@@38wk05moukpsf[/ame]

and

Western Electric and the Bell System - Preface and Table of Contents

Louspeaker Timeline:-

Loudspeaker History



Is there more info on this loudspeaker-see history link, above? It's hard to tell whether its coming or going.

Cheers, Marshall.

[Horn Savant]

Thanks for links Marshall
From this , it looks like loudspeaking-telephone receivers may have been made in Kearny Works, Kearny NJ or Hawthorne Works, Hawthorne, IL - but no one knows for sure which for me increases their curiosity !

Also where were 300b tubes made in the '30s? --The present Kansas facility has only made tubes since 1962.

Some reading material:-

Western Electric and the History of the Bell System: A Survey of Service

Marshall.

[Horn Savant]

Here's an intriguing search result.
Can't read the entire AES paper as they want $20 to download it:

AES E-Library: A Brief History of Early Motion Picture Sound ... At this point it is necessary to review the work of several individuals ... the Western Electric 555-W receiver which, when coupled with a horn ... all of its telephone plant manufacturing facilities at Kearney, NJ, .... aAND o. u 30 35 40 The Motion Picture Research COuncCILbecame effective in 1934 Co UN il March, ...
AES E-Library: A Brief History of Early Motion Picture Sound Recording and Reproducing Practices - Similar pages
by JK Hilliard - Cited by 2 - Related articles

[mah]

HS,

Check out the references at the end of this article:

Antique Radio Classified: The 300B Tube Lives Again!

[mah]

This link names WE tube manufacturing plants:

History - Western Electric

[GM]

Well, assuming this statement from the above link is accurate, Hawthorne is still looking like the only place for production since the 555's patent wasn't applied for until over a decade later: "Hawthorne absorbed the operations of the company's existing plants in New York and Chicago and by 1914 it was Western Electric's only manufacturing facility."