Vox Public Address Speaker Units 1965 - 1969
LINE SOURCE 60 SPEAKERS
Vox catalogue item no. 077
The new LS60 column speakers. A detail from the second printing of a brochure / flyer for the Vox stand at the Russell Hotel Trade Fair, August 1965.
Introduced in August 1965, the Line Source 60 columns were designed to fill a fairly obvious gap in the Vox line - a set (pair) of directional public address speakers capable of handling the power of the 100 watt Vox PA amplifiers: the MC100/4 and MC100/6, which had been in production since late 1964. The trailing numbers - /4 and /6 - indicate the number of inputs. Prior to the arrival of the LS60s, work-arounds were of course possible, but they were far from ideal and often involved the use of pairs of speaker units designed for bass - normally Foundation Bass and 2x15" cabinets.
Below, a picture of the LS60s presented at the Russell Hotel Fair, August '65. The columns could be hinged together for transport. Total power handling per column was reckoned to be 80 watts, a pair therefore being sufficient to cope with the new MC150/6 150 watt Public Address amplifier.
Music trade magazine, September 1965.
Note the provision initially of a "tweeter" for each column in addition to the 4x12" drivers. A further note states that the speakers in the new LS60 units had double cones (these were sometimes termed "whizzers"). Such units were produced, notably by Fane and Celestion, for PA and organ applications. The earliest units seem to have had Fanes (122/10a, listed in the catalogue of 1965).
Music trade magazine, September 1965.
It is unlikely that many LS40 column speakers with integrated 40 watt transistor amplifiers were made or sold.
A detail of a shot of The Who on stage, Copenhagen, 25th August, 1965. The band had a colossal amount of Vox equipment for this concert, including two huge Vox PA amps. See this page. The column speakers - two pairs - are likely to be the new LS60s.
As in the case of the LS40, Vox had to commission taller rolls of grille cloth such that the full height of the front could be dressed in a single piece, with diamonds in the correct orientation. Rolls (bolts) will probably have been 52 inches tall to allow sufficient overlap around the baffle edges.
Speakers initially were Fane 122/10s: 15ohms apiece, 20 watts power handling. Wiring was the series-parallel arrangement used in the early LS40s with 15ohm drivers.
The label of a Fane in an LS60 column.
During the course of 1966 Fanes often gave way either to Celestion G12S (light magnet), or species of Goodmans - Goodmans part numbers are at present fairly inscrutable. In a way, it was the 12" speakers that sealed the fate of many LS60s in the 1970s and 1980s. Once plundered for drivers, the cabinets themselves served no real purpose.
Details of one of a pair of LS60s with Celestion G12S (lightweight magnet), sprayed Jennings silver/polygrey, from 1966.
The cabinets themselves were generally produced for JMI by two makers: "Gla-Rev", which was based in Hainault, Essex; and Heslop and Co. in Rayleigh, Essex. Heslop was a fellow member (along with JMI) of the Royston Group of Companies. A third maker - "Heathpoint Timber" - may, however, also have constructed batches. Cabinets made by "Gla-Rev" can often be identified by their chipboard (particle board) baffles and back panels.
Below, a late JMI re-design of the column speaker - probably the LS60 (4x12") - autumn 1967, not however put into production. A similarly angled front can be seen on the Gyrotone IV unit displayed at the Russell Hotel Trade Fair of August 1967. It may be that the revamped column speakers were exhibited there too. The unit pictured below was evidently simply an empty cabinet - photos show that no input socket had been fitted in or on its back panel. These cabinets of complex design (among which also at least three small horn units) are likely to have been run up for JMI by Heslop and Co., a fellow member of the Royston Group, as mentioned above.
Photographed autumn 1967.
Detail from a shot of the JMI display, August 1967 - at left the Gyrotone IV, centre right a partial view of one of the horn units..
Line Source 60 columns sold reasonably well, remaining part of the Vox catalogue through to the 1970s. Shop adverts in the back of "Melody Maker" magazine, show that good deals were available throughout the later sixties. List price was not everything.
Detail from the JMI pricelist of November 1965.
Detail from the JMI pricelist of April 1967.
Detail from the "Vox Sound Equipment Limited" pricelist of February 1969.
The blurb from the VSEL public address equipment brochure, Feb. '69.
Types of 12" speaker used - an overview
The list below should not be regarded as being set in stone. There was evidently some chopping and changing within the periods in view. A pair of "Vox Sound Equipment Limited" cabinets has Fanes for instance; and a later "Vox Sound Limited" set each has two Goodmans 241s and two Celestion T1252 Greenbacks. It may be possible to chart the occasional changes in more detail in future updates.
1) A 12" unit with a twin cone, one cone described as being a "tweeter" in reviews of the Fair (see the clippings above). The speakers are likely to have been Fane 122/10a - characteristics are given in the information sheet at the foot of this section.
2) Early and mid 1966. Fane 122/10 - the single cone version of the above. 20 watts, 15 ohms.
3) Later 1966 and 1967. Celestion T1252 sprayed poly grey. Lightweight magnet, 20 watts, 15 ohms.
4) Later 1966 and 1967. Perhaps only a very few. Celestion T1225. Heavyweight magnet, 25-30 watts, 15 ohms.
5) Late 1967 through to the end of 1969. Goodmans, probably 214/1214/15, heavy frame and magnet, 25-30 watts, 15 ohms. Or, very similar in general appearance, the 112/1214/15, lighter frame and magnet.
6) 1970 to 1973. Celestion T1252 Greenback. Same specifications as (3) above.
Detail from the Fane catalogue of late 1965.
A cross-section of surviving Line Source 60 column speakers
EARLY EXAMPLES
A single column with the shop plaque of "Musikhaus Hummel" in Frankfurt, but currently in the USA, brown grille cloth, type of speakers unknown. If the cloth is original, which it may be, then a very late instance of brown. Thanks to Kevin for signalling the existence of this column.
With original tilt-back stands. The Fanes, which are likely to be later additions, are model "POP 50". Thanks to Joop for the pictures.
A relatively early set. Plastic logo, VOX in gold letters on stippled background. Fanes sprayed Jennings silver and now with "VOX" labels.
MID 1966 on
A superb pair from c. 1966.
A pair from 1966. Plastic logo, VOX in white letters.
A couple of pictures of a fairly battle-weary pair of LS60s from c. 1966 to show a portion of the wiring, plastic bumper feet, and finger-jointed construction of the birch ply sides.
Thanks to Cedric, pictures of a really superb pair of Vox Line Source 60s (LS60) public address speaker cabinets with original covers, probably produced in 1967 at a point not too far removed from the experimental design pictured in the introduction (above), and exported to Germany early on and sold by Musikhaus Porsche in Lübeck. The 12" drivers are heavy duty Goodmans, much as in Vox Supreme speaker cabinets. These LS60s will have been capable of handling considerably more than 60 watts each.
Vox Sound Equipment Limited (1968-1969)
A detail of the "Vox Sound Equipment Limited" display at the Russell Hotel Trade Fair, August 1969 - a LS60 column just left of centre.
A pair from c. 1969, "Vox Sound Equipment Limited". Baffles and back panels are still birch ply. The speakers are a mixture of Goodmans heavy frame 241s (similar drivers were used in Vox Defiant and Supreme speaker cabinets) and Celestion G12S, probably T1252s - see below. The serial number sequence for VSEL cabinets began at 001, so the company made somewhere between 204 (at least) and 255 units. Serial number 256, below, is "Vox Sound Limited".
Vox Sound Limited (1970-1973)
A pair from c. 1970, "Vox Sound Limited". Baffles and back panels are constructed of chipboard. The speakers are a mixture of Goodmans and Celestions.
This set preserves its original G12S Greenback Celestion T1252s, the date code of the one in view, "FC26" = 26th June 1970.