Questioni just aquired a pair of AKAI sw-150 speakers, which appear to be vintage ( judging from the cabinet) i am seeking any info about these , including proper hookup ( 1\4 jack in rear for program source input)
AnswerDear Mike,
Those speakers probably date from the '60s, and I'll betcha it takes quite a bit of juice to drive them--on the order of 35-50 watts RMS per channel. All the "big box" so-called shelf speakers of that vintage (Advent, AR, ADC and their Japanese imitators: Akai, Yamaha, Sansui, etc.) were notoriously difficult loads to drive, overcoming the weaknesses in crossover and cabinet design with brute power. The advantages to modern loudspeakers (say, from the early '90s on) are (1) their electronics are much improved, delivering cleaner signals to the drivers, (2) the crossovers are more sophisticated, delivering a higher quality separation among the drivers, and (3) they're more efficient, taking only a fraction of power that they used to. On the latter point, it's not uncommon these days to see a big, old floor standing tower require as little as 10 watts RMS to drive it.
Okay, enough about me.
The 1/4 inch "phono plug" (the common headphone and professional equipment connection standard--has nothing to do with a "phonograph" either: go figure) was a fairly common speaker connection with Akai and some other makers in the '60s. It's mono and only requires connecting the two speakers leads--and is the direct descendant of pro equipment. It should work just fine.
To accommodate today's dual-lead speaker wire, all you need to do is get a 1/4" phono plug and connect it to your speaker wire, making sure that you have the positive (+) and negative (-) leads properly connected. The instructions or diagram that comes with the phono plug will show you which is which. You'll need to solder both leads to the phono plug's pins.
I tried to find a plain, old, unconnected phono plug at radioshack.com with no luck. Odd--they used to carry them. It could be that they're just not enough in demand to be listed in their on-line catalog. You can drop in to your local Radio Shack and see for yourself. Betcha they have them. Another source will be a music store, which carries electric guitars, keyboards, and such. They should also carry phono plugs. BTW, you don't want a "stereo" phono plug (like those used for headphones), because you're only carrying one signal/channel to the speaker. You want a "mono" plug.
As for information about Akai speakers, I only know them as antique curiosities. You can find the odd pair for sale on eBay from time to time. I suggest you query some audio chat rooms and see if there are any old timers who remember them and can tell you about them.
Good luck. And thanks for choosing allexperts.com!
Kindest regards,
Kevin
