New Old Speakers
Posted: January 15th, 2008 | Author: Brad | Filed under: Design, Electronics, Music | 2 Comments »
These were a best seller for Diatone / Mitsubishi back in 1973, so there are quite a few in the secondhand markets now. They couldn’t be called transparent, but they are very nice to listen to — they have a distinct sound that I can only describe as smooth and liquid, with a chunky low end. Reference recordings don’t sound as good as on a reference system, but average recordings sound good, and even bad recordings are listenable.
Diatone DS-251 MkII Specifications:
Alignment: 3-way sealed cabinet
Woofer: 25cm paper cone
Tweeter: 5cm paper cone
Super Tweeter: 3cm aluminum cone
Crossover Frequency: 2000Hz, 10000Hz
Frequency Response: 40Hz – 25000Hz
Nominal impedance: 8Ω
Power Handling: 40W
Sensitivity: 91 dB/W
Size: 315 × 525 × 240mm WxHxD
Weight: 12kg
Just came across your post in a Google search. I use these speakers in my bedroom, after going through different pairs of much more contemporary models.
Like many Japanese speakers of the period, the Diatones have a strident mid-high range. I think it’s a cultural thing with Japanese speakers in general, although the Technics SB range seems to be exempt.
This can be cured with an EQ. If you pull down the 2khz sliders and 4khz sliders, the sound flattens out beautifully, giving an AR-like experience.
I also painted the midrange cones on mine with something called Damar varnish. It’s a tweak I picked up off a Japanese website, that seems to work pretty well in damping the midrange and adding focus. I didn’t do a before-and-after comparison using a spectrum analyzer, but I will soon. At US$50 a pair for these Diatones, why not?
Apa Ongpin
Manila
But which is better, the original or the MKII’s?