4 speakers versus reverb

[mm]

4 speakers versus reverberators.

Four-speaker stereo sound arrived in cars about the same time it
became impossible to buy a reverberator for car radios (I think, but
am not sure, that even very expensive radios had no reverb, and I know
it was harder to get a separate reverb to go with the radio in the
car.)

They seeemed to be saying that with 4 speakers there's no need for
reverb. I think there is just as much need. What say you all?

And, less important, do you know where I could get a small reverb,
especially with a remote reverb switch, since there is so little room
on the dash of the small car I'm forced to own.

 

[Big Chief FO]

"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:ddpms5polg4vk5se89a9in73nbe3077ctv@4ax.com...

4 speakers versus reverberators.

Four-speaker stereo sound arrived in cars about the same time it
became impossible to buy a reverberator for car radios (I think, but
am not sure, that even very expensive radios had no reverb, and I know
it was harder to get a separate reverb to go with the radio in the
car.)

They seeemed to be saying that with 4 speakers there's no need for
reverb. I think there is just as much need. What say you all?

And, less important, do you know where I could get a small reverb,
especially with a remote reverb switch, since there is so little room
on the dash of the small car I'm forced to own.

Why don't you just use the vehicles spring suspension as a spring reverb?
You could also try connecting to the exhaust to get more voombe-voomba.

 

[Bruce Esquibel]

mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote:

4 speakers versus reverberators.

Four-speaker stereo sound arrived in cars about the same time it
became impossible to buy a reverberator for car radios (I think, but
am not sure, that even very expensive radios had no reverb, and I know
it was harder to get a separate reverb to go with the radio in the
car.)

They seeemed to be saying that with 4 speakers there's no need for
reverb. I think there is just as much need. What say you all?

Although there probably were some stereo reverb units made, I think the main
gimmick with the car reverb system was to give a mono signal some depth.

Remember back then most cars, if they had a radio, was a mono AM with a
speaker in the center of the dashboard. Many cars had cutouts in the rear
shelf panel, so adding in a reverb unit with an extra speaker was a common
practice.

One problem, if you find one from the 60's (the mechanical ones) it probably
won't work with most modern day car head units. Back then everything was
common ground, even most radios grounded through the dashboard being they
were made of steel back then. So you had one wire for power, one for the
audio out and maybe a ground strap (maybe). The speaker only had one wire
going to it, the minus side went to a short wire grounded near somewhere it
was at.

Point is, most current radios have like a differential output to get a few
more watts out of it, neither of the speaker terminals are at the cars
ground.

Those old mechanical ones depended on that, usually they were tapped in at
the hot of the original factory speaker, through the transformer/spring
assembly to the other added speaker, with the ground or minus using the cars
chassis/frame as the ground again.

Pretty sure in the 70's when the digital delay stuff came out (bucket
brigade I think it was called) someone probably had car radios with the
reverb-like feature built in. Might have better luck finding one of those
somewhere and fitting it the car.

-bruce
bje@ripco.com