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NEAR Speakers Indentification

Hello all,

I recently came across a pair of NEAR (New England Audio Resource) speakers for about 15 bucks…they’re about four feet tall, have three drivers (two 5.25inch woofers and a NEAR inverted tweeter on each speaker) and weigh close to about 50 lbs each.  One of the woofers has a tear, but as of right now doesn’t affect sound quality thankfully.  But wanting to restore these speakers to their former glory, I am on the hunt for a new driver, but realized that I have no clue what model speaker I own.  There is a listing on Reverb from a few months back listing them as “SoundMast” speakers, but I cannot find any evidence of them existing other than that listing.   does anyone here have any clue what model these are?  At this time I have no plans to sell, as they’re a unique specimen, and I’m more interested in restoring them to the best of my ability. 
 

thanks in advance!

 

 

mikekeiper11
mikekeiper11 OP
2 posts
 

Apologies for not including a picture initially, Audiogon is not very streamlined for uploading images.  
 

here is a picture from the original listing- the back is just a set of single banana jacks with no other information. 
 

https://imgpile.com/i/h3esTa

Post removed 
10229's avatar
10229
41 posts
 

They are NEAR Soundmast speakers. They originally had a sock for a grill like the Definitive Tech speakers or Vandersteens. They are worth about a hundred bucks and honestly were never that great. Every pair we ever sold a zillion years ago had issues with the surrounds coming detached from the metal cones. They have a really laid back sound…almost have you questioning if the tweeter is even functioning on some music. They used to make really funky looking green outdoor speakers with aluminum drivers that mysteriously functioned without spiders on the woofer cones. They sounded pretty nice if I recall, despite the odd looks and unconventional design. Looks like they might be owned by Bogen now from a quick Google search.

10229's avatar
10229
41 posts
 

Looks like they still make those funky drivers. If you Google “NEAR spiderless driver with magnetic liquid suspension” there’s an interesting video about the design from the company.

https://youtu.be/a1OkbPwAeBU

10229's avatar
10229
41 posts
 

Fingers crossed the drivers in those towers aren’t of the same Magnetic Liquid Suspension design.  There’s no way any of those still exist that don’t have all the ferrofluid evaporated out of them after 20 years.  I’m totally fine with being wrong but you may be embarking on an impossible mission.

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