How do I connect Allen Organ Speakers

[Guest]

Hi there I'm a newbie so hope I'm posting correctly. I just save a bunch of Allen Organ speakers from the dump. A contractor remodeling a home had to dispose of 8 Allen HR-100 and 2 Allen B-20-1. I'm a vintage audio nut so Of course I hooked the HR-100s to an old home theater receiver I use for testing and they sound fantastic.

The B-20-1s seem to be passive subwoofers with standard red and white banana plugs for left and right channel. My receiver has a single subwoofer output. I tried a y connection to some spliced speaker wires but nothing. I'm guessing I would need some sort of subwoofer amp. I love organ music, especially Hammond B3 blues but have no idea how these speakers would be integrated. Any advice out there is greatly appreciated.

[Admin]

As you correctly noted, B20 are passive speakers and,

unlike powered subwoofers,

require an amplifier to drive them.

How is the subwoofer output of your receiver intended to be connected? Are you sure your receiver is outputting a signal on the subwoofer channel? Some receivers only utilize the subwoofer in the presence of a surround input.

These speakers are designed to reproduce frequencies below 40Hz.

[toodles]

Some receiver subwoofer outputs are low-level audio line signal in the range of 1 to 2 volts, and require an external amplifier. Check the specifications on your receiver to see what kind of output it provides.

[you795a]

If I am reading your posting correctly you are trying to use the B-20 as a stereo speaker (left and right). There should be 2 banana type connectors on the back of the cabinet, one red and one black. The red connector is for the + from the amplifier and the black connector is for the ground from the amplifier. If I recall correctly the B-20 has an 8 ohm speaker in it. They were used on a subwoofer channel of an organ and not the main channels.

[myorgan]

Also, the B-20 utilized a sub-woofer crossover to split the signal before the bass was directed to the B-20. I'm not sure how it will respond if receiving the entire frequency range of the signal.

Michael

[Guest]

Hey Guys, Thanks so much for the feedback. It's a 20 year old Sony and single rca sub output intended for a powered subwoofer. I also have a 70s Sansui qrx 7001 and the HR-100s sound absolutely amazing. I think they use JBL drivers. I AB tested them against Large Advents and some other vintage speakers and the Organ speakers blew them away. It really doesn't need subs for music but Idlove to hear it. A friend of mine told me who knows a lot about it said I should just hook them up like normal speakers on the bs. I think I will try that. If you come across these HR-100s know that they sound great with a home stereo system. Very efficient!

[AllenAnalog]

Of course all of this begs the question of why 8 Allen HR-100 and 2 Allen B-20-1 speakers were being trashed. What happened to the organ? With that many relatively new speakers (i.e. newer than the HC models) it must have been a decent instrument.

[jbird604]

Indeed. Would like to know "the rest of the story...."