Concert System Project

Hi people of the good ship speakerplans! I'll just add these images and check they appear and then add the text. As last time i was on this site posting pics was a bitch. Seems like it's sorted now. So let's press submit and see what happens!

Holy fuk! It's gone from not being able to post pictures to posting fookin' super high resolution images. No moaning there then! Well done to whoever sorted out the posting images problem. Probably that dodgy French geezer innit! (Hi Florian)
Okay folks I thought you may appreciate seeing these images. Strange thing is this system was designed in the late seventies. Yet people who have seen these images say it looks futuristic.
A lot of work went into getting the double 15 cabs and the double 12's to look like this, as when I got them they were really, really tatty and had grills on the front with the vertical vanes cut down to fit the grills. All that's gone. And put right by extending the vanes to where they should be.
This is just one stack of a potential four. The large radial horn is in fact a JBL horn that is the exact same size as the A.S.S fibreglass one that I originally didn't have.
The big lens is also a JBL one that I cut down to make it the same width as the missing A.S.S lens. It had to be taken apart to do that, with each plate cut down separately, new holes drilled and then reassembled.
As they're made of aluminium I thought showing the beauty of the metal was worth doing, as I quite like aluminium and it can be buffed up rather nice. So to do that I stripped the paint off the aluminium.
The lens cab you'll see also has a mini lens in it. It's a McCauly 1" lens. With that in the lens cab the box rips ya head off and belts out the yummyness at maximum power! Heh heh heh. However if you look at the original catalogue spec for this system you’ll see the top most box actually came with two flares in it. And only the large lans in the lens cabinet. It may have been a latter evolution of the systems design, but I have seen A.S.S lens box’s with a 1” mini lens in with the big 2” lens. Thus making the system much more compact and delivering the sound-waves through lens’s and horns.
While doing this project I discovered the super powerful vintage JBL 2482 compression driver. Phew, but that's another story, I just wonder is there is a driver that's equal to the JBL 2482 these days? Any knowledge on that question would be greatly appreciated.
None of the cabs have been re-loaded yet. Probably PD1550's are going in the double 15's, B&C on the double 12's. But I'm yet to work out what compression drivers to fit on the horns and lens’s as I want the best that there is available, and will seeking advise.
The top flare is an original A.S.S flare, it's my favourite flare of all time, I love it's wicked shape, it's mean and sexy. All the cabinets from the large radial horn up I built myself and built them accurately, as pairs. I also decided to taper the cabs from the large horn up so the whole system looks streamlined, as I don't think the original cabinets from the large horn up were tapered. On the top flare cab I constructed the handles out of the cabs wood.
The double 15's and 12's, unusual for a concert system, didn't have handles when I got them, as I was told they were built for an instillation. I added the handles myself, but would have cut handles out of the cabinets own wood had I of known such a thing was done. The metal handles are okay, and four are better than two, as was on the original systems spec.
I have more images of this Concert System project I'll add over the coming week, as I have some cool speaker design ideas about it I'd like to share with forum members.
I've also got some other A.S.S systems that have been completed to a standard that I think is worth showing people, so I'll post that stuff as well, as the BS600 system is living large with the MT602's and looks fookin' wicked in grey, with no grills whatsoever, and all the grill batons gone. It's friggin' sick as Alex Penn of SEE said when he saw it.

P.S I’m sorry if the images are to big to see. Right click and save them into your own image file to view them if they’re too big here.

For those that are interested here's an image of the four double 15's of the Concert System with their protective fronts attached and completely smooth sides with out handles, just after I got them from Blackpool, and then stored in my corridor.
For a period of time I left one in the corridor upright like this, but without its front cover on, making it so the vanes were visible. The housing people who own these flats thought it was a recycling bin, with the vanes as sections to divide up what’s put into the bin.
Do you reckon that was a male or a female? No prizes for guessing.

They look fantastic! A credit to your hard work.

wow lookin great, you must have put in a lot of hours on them, well worth it. I would love to hear the stack.......

Here's one of the double 12" cabs with its back off just after i got it. Apparently these old RCF drivers are pretty good. But they looked rather worn if you ask me. The other three 12" cabs had odds and sods drivers, a JBL and some ATC's. So it'll be eight new top of the range B&C's at some point. What a joyous day that'll be.

This image shows a pair of the double 12's, one with it's cover on, the other without. Notice how the vanes have been cut down to fit cover. With the covers gone all the vanes had to be extended to make the cabs into what i'll call the open faced touring version of the cab.

These show the cabs after the vanes have been extended. Then from the cabs smooth sides I cut out holes for the handles ...with a poxy jig saw. I'm not a great lover of jig saws, as they don't cut that straight. Not that it mattered as those cuts aren't seen. However to make the handles metal sit flush with the wood. The ply had to have one of its layers carefully removed. Which was done on every handle hole on eight cabs with a hand chisel. Latter I discovered the joys of a router. Discovering a new wood-work tool is a nice feeling. You're like how did I manage without this. All hail the router!

These shots are of the double 15's.
When one rips off the cloth there's then this chicken wire stuff that is attached to an inch and a half deep wooden frame, which you can just see. The wooden frame is then secured to the inside edge of the cab, and then attached to the vanes with double sided insulation (foam) tape.
One has to cut the chicken wire off before you can remove the frame.
All eight frames were difficult to remove as most had screws that were rusted so the heads burred before the screw even thought about turning.
Plan B - mallet and chisel!
Whacking something with a mallet is most satisfying. If in doubt get the mallet out!
The other two images show the holes being cut for the handles.

It's amazing what can happen to cabs after you've sold them. I know there were some copies made of the 2x15, not sure about the 2x12. But when I see cabs with covers on the front and no handles in the sides, it makes you wonder. The RCF L12P24's shown were the original speakers for low mid. At the time Dave Martin and myself agreed they were the best 12's ever to be made. He used them in the Phillishaves.