Classical Church Organ Speakers

[ButterFingers]

I have just bought a set of Organ speaker cabinets where the organ slots in the middle. Speakers each side and over the top in an arch, made of solid oak and in mint condition worth thousands for just £350 with delivery from North Yorkshire. I hope to post pictures of them, no speakers in them at the moment I know nothing about fitting them or setting them up, but when they are they will surely improve the sound of any organ.

Maybe someone on here could help me as I buy speakers for them. I have been told Fane. I didn't know how massive these cabinets were and they look monstrous now they are set up. No Organ yet but at least this is a start.


8 Inches cones with 1 15 inch bass cone. Not sure on the size of the tweeters but you can clearly see they are needed through the mesh cloth

Thank you again for all your help.

[rjsilva]

Can you show photos of the inside of the cabinets?

[jbird604]

Quite interesting look. It does appear that there were 8" speakers and tweeters (maybe 3" cones or 1" domes), and a 15" woofer. There are numerous sources for good quality drivers. Fane is a good brand, of course, but may not be available everywhere. Eminence is a well-known brand, though they can be expensive. I have used a lot of MCM brand drivers in various organ setups with good results, and they are quite inexpensive. Since you're in England, the sources and prices will differ from what we have in the US, so you may have to shop around.

Before you buy anything though you will have to come up with a plan for channeling the audio, for crossover networks, and other details of the audio system. It won't do just to fill all the holes with speakers and wire them up together. You will have to match your setup to whatever organ you decide to drive the speakers with. Thus, your next step is to get an organ.

This looks like a setup that Johannus used to sell, but it could work with any organ of course. Many digital organs have two or more "manual" audio channels and a single "bass" channel. In addition, there may be reverb channels, or there may be separate channels that can be used for swell or choir divisions. So you need to get an organ and map out its audio channeling before you make any plans for the speakers.

While this little setup is quite attractive, you may have some issues getting it to sound pleasant if you put the console right in the center of it. The speakers will then be very close to your ears, and that is sometimes not the best place for speakers. It may turn out to be better to mount this cluster on a wall elsewhere in your music room. An exception would be if you are using a Hauptwerk organ. With Hauptwerk you may actually want the speakers to be right in your ears, with one on the left and one on the right, to properly produce the stereo field and ambiance of the sample set.

Nice buy. You certainly couldn't have gotten anything built like that without spending a bunch of money!

[AllenAnalog]

They are reminiscent of some contemporary style speakers I've seen on ebay that came from larger Johannus organs. Check out this listing:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Johannus-SP...T/151628307462

[ButterFingers]

Thank you to all of you. Yes, these speaker cabinets were on display for Johannus Organs. The Man who made them, is the one who sold them to me, they are Ex-Demo. The middle part is just an acoustic box, and my head is around 18" from each speaker, and both turn away, not only to throw the sound around a larger area but so as not to burst the organ players ears, a very clever thoughtful design. So hopefully that won't happen. I do not think these are much different from having the speakers underneath as they are around the same distance away. Thank you also for mentioning not to buy speakers just yet. I do not know anything about how to set these up or how they plug into an organ. Could you please elaborate, is there a book or other information please. Is there a way of switching between external and internal speakers?

I am leaning towards Content, but Johannus is not out of the question, Maybe a 250 or another 2 manual, 3 would be nice but then I would have to fit this through a standard British doorway. Anything up to a mid range in price. Compact would be best, or at least neat fitting. I love draw stops but they only come on the massive models, so smaller is better for me.

I cannot take pictures of the insides at the moment, these are too have to move around, but, when I am ready to have speakers fitted I will take pictures for this forum for all the help I can ask of you.

Thank you all for your kindness.

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you to all of you. Yes, these speaker cabinets were on display for Johannus Organs. The Man who made them, is the one who sold them to me, they are Ex-Demo. The middle part is just an acoustic box, and my head is around 18" from each speaker, and both turn away, not only to throw the sound around a larger area but so as not to burst the organ players ears, a very clever thoughtful design. So hopefully that won't happen. I do not think these are much different from having the speakers underneath as they are around the same distance away. Thank you also for mentioning not to buy speakers just yet. I do not know anything about how to set these up or how they plug into an organ. Could you please elaborate, is there a book or other information please. Is there a way of switching between external and internal speakers?

I am leaning towards Content, but Johannus is not out of the question, Maybe a 250 or another 2 manual, 3 would be nice but then I would have to fit this through a standard British doorway. Anything up to a mid range in price. Compact would be best, or at least neat fitting. I love draw stops but they only come on the massive models, so smaller is better for me.

I cannot take pictures of the insides at the moment, these are too have to move around, but, when I am ready to have speakers fitted I will take pictures for this forum for all the help I can ask of you.

- - - Updated - - -

Those Johannus Cabinets on eBay are nowhere near as nice as mine and the price is way too much, but they are made for the same company.

Thank you

[Melos Antropon]

I can, from experience, tell you a few things about those type of speaker cabinets from Johannus, Butterfingers. First off, those are very early Johannus. The company was founded in 1969, and I don't recall if they sold their first organ in 1970 or 1971. I occasionally sub as organist at a parish near me that has a three manual Johannus of about (approximately) 1985 vintage. The wall mount of speaker cabinets is about 10 feet high and 14 feet wide. The wood is beautiful, and designed exactly as a contemporary pipe organ case would be, but the space between the wooden frames is a very unobtrusive grill cloth. That case is very obviously from a later date than the ones you have, meaning simply that yours are from an earlier time - most likely some time in the early seventies.

You also refer to fitting an organ through a "standard British doorway". I don't know what that would measure, but standard American passage doorway is usually. The Johannus Opus series (250/270 and 350/370) series are a maximum of 28 1/2 inches deep, and hence will go through such a door easily (250/350 is European and 270/370 is American models).

Tony

[Melos Antropon]

Addendum to my post above: Standard American passageway interior door is 30". I don't know how I left that out of the original post - sorry abouyt that!

Tony