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Hartley speakers--anyone heard/heard of?

i recently found an old pair of hartley bookshelf speakers in a thrift store, and upon doing a bit of research found that they are one of the oldest manufacturers of speakers still in existence. yes, they are currently based out of wilmington, n.c. after their beginnings near london and subsequent moves to n.y. and n.j. they still manufacture their own drivers by hand, although they do not currently build finished speakers. i have to say that the midrange on these unassuming little speakers really surprised me with it's immediacy and detail (but then again i'm easily impressed :-) but i REALLY was impressed that they are still around, quietly crafting their product for all these years.
musicdoc
wideload's avatar
wideload
146 posts
 
Sorry about double post
hanksjim1
1 posts
 
Sorry to bring up this old thread, but, I have a Hartley 24" in a transmission line cabinet the size of a refrigerator (6' x 30" x 30" or so)...any idea of the value?   Just curious.

Beat up veneer, but sonically excellent.
I bought it with a set of Beveridge Model 2s and haven't used it in years.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,227 posts
 
I worked with Sound Components in Miami back in the late 70s with Peter McGrath who I think now works for Wilson. 
This was the hey day of the Levinson HQD system that has been previously mentioned along with John Curl designed electronics. #6 25 watt class A amps. 2 Quads per channel stacked in a custom frame. A Decca ribbon tweeter between the two quads. The Hartleys were in huge infinite baffle enclosures. We use to listen to organ pieces and boy did those Hartleys go down low. Unfortunately, maintaining realistic levels fried a bunch of Quads and Decca ribbons.  At the time the only other "subwoofer"that would go down that low was the RH (Randy Hooker) Labs Sub of which I owned two. The only electrostat that would take the abuse was the Acoustat Monitor. You put two of those on top of the RH Labs subs with Kenwood LO7 M amps driving the subs and the Dalquist DQ1 crossover and you were absolutely state of the art in the day. 
There were no modern Sub drivers back then. The RH Labs used a regular 12" down firing woofer in a Helmholtz resonator which forced its response down low. Today we have modern long throw vented sub drivers that will handily out perform the Hartleys and the RH Labs in much smaller cabinets. Interestingly enough, those Kenwood amps remain amazing subwoofer amps if you can find them.
jimrapp
1 posts
 
I purchased. Hartley 300 speakers.  40 years,  when Robert was manufacturing the product in Ramsey, NJ.  They sound as good today as the day that I bought them.  I have been using them continuously for both music and surround sound movies.   Outstanding!
koestner
626 posts
 
I visited the company in Ramsey, NJ around 1980 or so, They gave me a tour and a listening session of their new 2.1 setup. I had a great time!
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