If you buy after clicking affiliate links on this site we might receive a commission from companies such as eBay, Amazon etc This does not affect the price you pay.
If you buy after clicking affiliate links on this site we might receive a commission from companies such as eBay, Amazon etc This does not affect the price you pay.
If you buy after clicking affiliate links on this site we might receive a commission from companies such as eBay, Amazon etc This does not affect the price you pay.
Click here to see similar items, and to buy from eBay.
Shure Vocal Master PA SystemTwo Vintage 1970s PA Columns and a 100W Mixer Amp
UK buyers, collection only – no post!
On offer in this auction is the two speakers on the left of the picture and the amplifier on top of them. The ones on the right, are listed in another auction. You don’t get the four on the right if you bid in this auction! If you want the whole system you must bid in both auctions – just sayin!
Shure sold the Vocal Master products during the 1970s as a starter PA system for Bands, Vocal Groups, and for speech purposes, either as a package or as separate items, along with a range of other accessories. It was quite well thought of at the time and is beautifully well made.
The amplifier, which Shure referred to as The Console in their literature, is rated at 100W mono. It has six balanced microphone inputs with gain, treble and bass controls, with a 15dB attenuator switch on the rear. Each Mic can be sent through a reverb spring, the return reverb channel has level and tone controls. The switch contacts for the reverb system may need a little cleaning. There is a feedback reduction system, consisting of four notch filters controlled by switches on the front panel. Also on the front panel is a VU type level meter – this measures the main output level and needs speakers connected to make any sense. There are additional connectors on the rear for effects go / return and slave out. The speaker outputs are on 1/4 jacks, two wired in parallel. The mains input is an IEC connector, a lead is included. The amplifier has a thermal protection system, an indicator on the rear shows if it has shut down due to over heating.
The amplifier has recently been overhauled, some capacitors in the output section and a couple of diodes were replaced and the dust vacuumed out. It is an all transistor design but is wired on tag strips like a valve amp. The output uses four 2N3773 transistors and the power supply is a massive transformer. There are a couple of non-matching knobs fitted as the originals got broken.
Be aware that this is not a power efficient design – it uses around 70W doing nothing and has two 15W bulbs to light up the front panel! It gets quite hot but this is the way it was designed.
Although the amplifier works correctly now there is no guarantee as it is nearly 40 years old and hasnt been used much in the last 15 years
There were two types of speaker available, tall columns with 6 drive units and these shorter ones, intended for smaller venues with 3 drive units. Shure referred to these smaller cabinets as ‘Monitors’ as they could be used for foldback.
I am selling the complete system, which I have had for nearly 30 years, in two lots.
We had the equipment on our hire fleet but have recently retired from this kind of thing so are having a clear out. They were used for local events in surrounding villages, mostly fetes, sports days, school concerts and the like. It was usually grouped as four speakers and the 100W Shure amp, or two speakers, a small mixer, and a QUAD 50 amp. The small system got far more use as it would all fit in a regular car!
The two speakers listed here are in good working order and reasonable cosmetic condition. They have not been ‘anonymised like the four in the other auction.
They have, to the best of my knowledge, the original drive units fitted, which all work.The cabinets have had the 1/4″ mono jack sockets replaced with male and female XLR connectors, so that you can loop from one cabinet to the next. A couple leads are included in the auction to try out the system. The XLRs are wired with hot (+) on pins 2 & 3 and cold (-) on pin 1. This allows mic cables to be used as speaker leads without risk of damage if a mic was to be plugged onto the wrong lead.
On the back panel there is also a volume control. These have been disconnected to stop ‘fiddling – they were unreliable anyway!. There is a space at the bottom of the cabinet to store the lead, some still have the little leather strap and press stud fastening. A plastic tie-off is fitted to the connector panel, to tie the cables too.
They are listed as having a nominal impedance of 32 ohms so several can be connected in parallel to the amp without overloading it. They measure at around 8 ohms DC resistance and are rated at about 50W per cabinet.
The cabinets have not been modified to have top-hats in the bottom, we didn’t use them on stands.
These are PA speakers, nor Hi-Fi ones. Do not expect them to sound like Hi-Fi speakers nor modern wide range PA speakers, the name Vocal Master tells you that they are optimised for speech and vocals rather than musical instruments, although they are fine for background music.
These speakers were last used about 10 years ago, having been replaced with smaller, more portable, units as needs changed. They have been stored in our house all this time so haven’t been allowed to get damp. They used to have covers but the plastic material went sticky so I had to throw them away.
Included in the sale is a copy of the instruction manual for the complete system.
To summarise then. You are bidding for a Shure Vocal Master PA system with Console and two ‘Monitor’ PA Speakers in working condition and reasonable appearance. Get yourself a retro 70s PA system – go on, you know you need it!
This item is for collection only, from WR10 area in Worcestershire. I could deliver locally, maybe up to 50 miles, if that helps you, for the price of fuel. I cannot post it to anywhere as the cost of packing and shipping would probably exceed the value of the items.
I accept PayPal but cash on collection is probably more cost effective for both buyer and seller. 30 starting price with no reserve. _gsrx_vers_336 (GS 5.5.1 (336))
If you buy after clicking affiliate links on this site we might receive a commission from companies such as eBay, Amazon etc This does not affect the price you pay.
Click here to see similar items, and to buy from eBay.