What exactly have I got here? Did I hit a Tannoy jackpot???

[pandas_and_IDiots]

Can anybody provide me with any info here? I picked these up for free, knowing they were custom made cabinets and having no knowledge of their innards. Tonight I opened them up and lo and behold, it would appear I just scored a set of Tannoy 15" Dual Concentric "RED's". Now, if you were in my shoes, how exactly would you proceed??? Obviously, I need to test them to ensure they run, but I'm seriously afraid of damaging them with my limited knowledge of vintage hi-fi and my presumption that speakers like these are probably super efficient.... I don't want to run 75 Watts of dirty Kenwood juice to them and blow 'em! Is this even something I should worry about? Also, I assume I'll discover once I remove them from the cabinets that the surrounds are shot. If so, would you recommend sourcing out the repair? I've repaired my own Advents before, but since these are much more high-end and since I'm planning on selling them, is there an advantage to having the surrounds repaired professionally?? Lastly, would you recommend selling them with or without the cabinets?? Does a dinged up 'home-made' speaker cabinet that screams 1968 ultimately detract from their resale value or add to it?

Any info you can provide would be tremendously appreciated, as I'm truly at a loss as to the best way to proceed. I've never had one of these "uncovered treasure" stories until now and I don't want to screw it up. I'm seeing the same speakers sell anywhere from $4,000-$9,000 on eBay, so I need a clearer idea as to exactly what's what here.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

-andrew

[Feanor]

Hi and welcome to AR Forums.

Others might have better advice, but for what it's worth ...

I'd say if you hope to sell them for a good price you'd better have them professionally repaired. Some research would be appropriate to find reputable repair shop -- unfortunately I can't make a recommendation.

$4000+ seems a little optimistic; this might apply if they were in original Tannoy or high-quality cabinets which they obviously aren't. You might as well try to sell them in those cabinets but you should assume that the cabinets will add nothing to the value. You might offer to remove the speakers and crossovers for the buyer which would mean easier and cheaper shipping.

[blackraven]

I agree with Feanor, if they are not in their original cabinets you may not get much for them at all. Hook them up and see if they will play. Keep the volume to a reasonable level, you won't damage them. You are better off with too much power than not enough.

[pandas_and_IDiots]

Thanks for the replies. I discovered today the cabinets, which I'd essentially presumed to be worthless, are Lockwoods. They may very well still be worthless, but I wanted to pass on this info and see what you folks think... from what I've gathered, Lockwood was a big deal in their day.

Thanks much for the help! Please, keep it coming! -andrew