Burwell And Sons Loudspeakers searches out vintage speaker components from the 50’s, 60’, and 70’s to use their Homage Series loudspeakers.
“The build of these cabinets was pretty far along when we found this particular batch of veneer. We knew we’d found something special, and we knew we had just the set of horns to go with it. People had been making assumptions about our exclusive use of Altec parts, so we used this special set to introduce an all JBL set up. We’d also gotten our hands on a set of JBL tweeters so we decided to change things up and go with a 3 way set up.”
As it turned out, we didn’t have the time to tune the cabinet to the JBL driver, so we ended up with an Altec driver we had. Also we’re not convinced it will stay a 3 way. At some point, we’ll take the time and test how the LE 85 sounds without the tweeter. Our ears tell us the tweeter doesn’t make a significant difference, but we could be wrong.
“We made the decision to use vintage components for a number of reasons. The nostalgia factor is certainly a consideration, but it’s more than that. The fact there is a finite supply making them rare and more costly was not our first consideration. We choose to use them because we believe nothing has been produced that outperforms them. The technology perfected during that era is regarded by many as the pinnacle in sound reproduction.
Burwell And Sons is dedicated to our mission of preserving these legendary symbols of American exceptionalism and greatness. To own a set a vintage speakers from that era is to own a piece of American history, not unlike owning a classic American muscle car. An expression of innovation and performance still viable today.”
THE HOMAGE
Every now and then the world is presented with great minds like Edison, or Einstein, or the Wright brothers. These people changed the world. In our opinion, the world was blessed when James B. Lansing, Paul Klipsch, and the Altec Lansing Corporation came along. We think the contributions they made are right up there with electricity and flight.
We set out to build the best sounding most beautiful loudspeakers we could. We didn’t invent any new breakthrough technology. Greater minds than us figured it all out a long time ago. We just followed the trail these men blazed right back to today. We pay tribute by naming this line of speakers The Homage Series. We hope it shows the proper honor and respect for the pioneers and visionaries who came before us.
THE CABINETS
The cabinet design Burwell And Sons utilizes is known as a combination front horn loaded, bass reflex cabinet, with tuned porting. The inspiration for this design comes from the iconic Altec Lansing A-7 Voice Of The Theater, long considered one of the benchmarks in loudspeaker technology. Standing in at 22”x’22”x 28” tall it fits comfortably in smaller listening environments yet can easily fill up a theater.
Without question, our lovely, hand sculpted horns are beautiful works of musical art. Our artisan, selects each piece of wood with the most elegant swaths of grain, and pieces them together in a dazzling display of creativity. From a technical standpoint, the dispersion characteristics are outstanding as they perform as beautifully as they look. The unique nature of wood means no one set can ever be the exact same as the next. You will own a true one of a kind masterpiece.
THE SOUND
We love horn speakers. It is surprising to know that not everyone loves horn speakers. Some people even strongly dislike horn speakers. We didn’t understand, but I think we get it now, and we’re okay with it. We like to think we’ve managed to change some anti hornists prejudices.
One of our favorite compliments is how real, how authentic the Homage’s sound. They don’t have the bass extension or the extreme top end that some speakers have, yet many say there is nothing like the experience of listening to our speakers. It’s been said that… “when it comes to loudspeakers, there are precious few modern examples that approximate the characteristic strengths of their vintage counterparts, and none that meet or exceed them.” We agree.
