Old Speakers Worth the work?

[HighSchoolTheatre]

Hello,

I work at a High school that has two very old speakers. They are Cso-6g High Fidelity Sound Column speakers by University Sound. which is a company of ltv ling altec, inc.

Noone at the school knows if they work. In the light booth, there is a square shaped plug with male prongs that look like a regular electrical plug with a label marked "Aud. speakers" and an on/off toggle switch.

Is it worth investigating to see if I can swap out the old plug for an XLR and try to get an Amp and board?

Thanks,
Christian

[Old Guy]

They aren't worth a lot. Columns, at least University and EV, are pretty much voice paging stuff.

If you wanna do it for fun, probably worth it. otherwise....

[HighSchoolTheatre]

ok, So they would not be good for voice amplification for a school play?

[gearfreak]

ok, So they would not be good for voice amplification for a school play?

If they are voice columns, then perhaps they would be.
I don't know that we have any reference to the exact model (maybe OG does know), but the responses you (will) see here are more likely just referring generically to 'vocal columns' (loosely, of any sort) quality as compared to the heartier full-range SR (sound reinforcement) and Hi-Fi units, typically discussed herein.

If you'd like to post pics of them (here, or hosted on your own if unable to post), it may assist. Try to get the model (near / on jack plate typically - in case you have transcribed it incorrectly, we can observe it thus), an overall shot, and drivers themselves (e.g. if the grilles come off). This would help e.g. identify whether the drivers' surrounds have dry-rotted, and give as much info as a visual account can to us, without further dis-assy.


Your other statement:

...In the light booth, there is a square shaped plug with male prongs that look like a regular electrical plug with a label marked "Aud. speakers" and an on/off toggle switch.
Is it worth investigating to see if I can swap out the old plug for an XLR and try to get an Amp and board?

Pretty much only can elicit conjecture on 'our' part.
i.e. We don't know what that connection goes to, nor what the toggle switch does.
You would have to ascertain that yourself. (Perhaps begin an investigation herein with assistance).

It could for all we know, turn the auditorium into the Thunderdome and release hundreds gallons of ice-cream onto the stage.
i.e. Who knows? :-)


So, I'd suggest to either begin by tracing your connections/switch connection to see what's on the other end(s) of them...

Or if you can access the jack plates of the vocal columns themselves, you can test them for operation, starting with a low-power amplifier of some sort...

HTH

[bowtie427ss]

CSO-6 is a 5 foot weatherproof PA column....................... about all i could find quickly, from Roger Russell's site.

[Bluelick]

Hi,
I'm coming late to the game here, I just found this posting and joined the board so I could respond. I have two of these columns and they put out a lot of sound in a nicely focused way, as you would expect of columns. However, mine have some problems and I need to replace at least two of the drivers. They have two pairs of three different speakers in each column. I'd like some help determining the correct replacements, so I'll get the driver numbers and start a new thread with those.

I got these from my dad, who worked in radio and TV since the 1930's, owned a recording studio and did professional sound work all his life. He used to use them for outdoor PA gigs (I carried them a lot, and they aren't light). If your speakers still work they would probably serve your needs well. Dad often complains about well functioning older PA systems he designed and installed being ripped out to install new systems that aren't any better, but which cost thousands of dollars!

Meanwhile, I have a picture of the label but this site apparently won't let me post that link until I have made 3 or more valid posts, so that will have to wait.