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Mega of London

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Robbo View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Robbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 November 2015 at 10:34pm
FR112 was loaded with a 12" ATC long coil bass driver with linen fold surround not the usual rubber.
HF was covered by an RCF TW101 driver which was brought in at 1.5khz by the built in passive Xover.
I have a pair of their larger but still compact brothers,again mod no FR something which hold a ported 15" on bass,a 10" horn loaded mid and a 1" HF horn along with a bullet tweeter---I may sell these if there is someone interested--They are in very good condition complete with Mega badged diamond mesh heavy duty grilles.
Ian may be able to come up with the model numbers of these cabinets as I cannot remember them myself and some pics and original specs would be good.

Edited by Robbo - 19 November 2015 at 11:31pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dub Specialist Sound Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 November 2015 at 10:55pm
Wow amazing info there Robbo , top man

thanks 
Musical Roots Reggae Vibration is Life! for music is sound...sound is vibration...vibration is energy... and energy begets life. Therein lies my passion!...MUSIC IS LIFE...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote madboffin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 November 2015 at 1:40am
There was an FR1210H, as described by Robbo but the ported LF was a 12" rather than a 15".

I have a file of old Mega catalogues and spec sheets.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Robbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 November 2015 at 10:58am
Now you have said that about the FR1210H, I have a sneaky feeling that they are the cabinets that I have here but the bottom cut out for the 12" has been enlarged to take a 15" ATC driver--If you could post a pic up then I can confirm--Cheers--John.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dub Specialist Sound Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 November 2015 at 11:42pm
Robbo,

i would be really interested in them the FR112, even if the ports have been cut off/modded, thats then ones madboffin i talking about too

can tha be modded back to 12s?

than ks
Musical Roots Reggae Vibration is Life! for music is sound...sound is vibration...vibration is energy... and energy begets life. Therein lies my passion!...MUSIC IS LIFE...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dub Specialist Sound Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 November 2015 at 4:25pm
Please get in touch Robbo

thanks
Musical Roots Reggae Vibration is Life! for music is sound...sound is vibration...vibration is energy... and energy begets life. Therein lies my passion!...MUSIC IS LIFE...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Robbo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 November 2015 at 7:26pm
I will have a look for you over the next few days and will also check upon what drivers that I have that will fit them--Cheers--John.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dub Specialist Sound Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 November 2015 at 11:30am
Thanks Robbo,

tbh interested in only the cabs if poss

thanks
Musical Roots Reggae Vibration is Life! for music is sound...sound is vibration...vibration is energy... and energy begets life. Therein lies my passion!...MUSIC IS LIFE...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jbl_man Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 November 2015 at 2:46pm


FR112.  Smile
Be seeing you.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dub Specialist Sound Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 November 2015 at 5:18pm
Ah lovely JBL man , thanks
Musical Roots Reggae Vibration is Life! for music is sound...sound is vibration...vibration is energy... and energy begets life. Therein lies my passion!...MUSIC IS LIFE...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dub Specialist Sound Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 November 2015 at 5:19pm
Still on the look out for a pair

Musical Roots Reggae Vibration is Life! for music is sound...sound is vibration...vibration is energy... and energy begets life. Therein lies my passion!...MUSIC IS LIFE...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Kraznet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 March 2017 at 2:53am
Hi there. My name is Martin Burrow and I chanced upon this thread when out of the blue I decided to do a search for Mega Speakers UK. I used to work for Mega and my specialty was as the main builder of their speaker cabinets between 1976 - 1980ish. Unfortunately I don't have any speaker plans from that era although I did have a whole bunch of router templates which were stored at my fathers for many years but were disposed of after he died 2 years ago. So I'm sorry to disappoint you on that front. I realise this thread is quite old, but I thought some of you might be interested in the history of Mega from my perspective.

I started there around 1976 before it was called Mega. I got the job because I knew the guys at ATC who were just starting up and were based over the river on Strand on the Green, Chiswick. ATC was Bill Woodman plus an Irish guy whose name I forget plus a German guy called Hans who was marketing the products. Bill and the Irish guy used to work at Goodmans originally and went out on their own. Their first product was the ATC 12 inch with a 3 inch edge wound voice coil. I did an apprenticeship for carpentry/ joinery after leaving school in 1968 so they recommended me to Mega as they were looking for someone. 
Mega were based under the arches on the Kew side of Kew Bridge, Surrey.The company was run by 2 guys, Steve Borrill from Canterbury who was previously the bass player in the UK band Syprogyro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirogyra_(band) and Ian Williamson who originated from South Shields. When I started there I think there was probably just the 2 of them and maybe one or 2 others working part-time. Including Rick Biddulph who was a bass player from Canterbury and Steves friend. Rick's Canterbury friend Doug Chandler also worked there for a while later on and he went on to start Chandler Guitars in Sandycombe Road, Kew. I remember him bringing lumps of brass with him in the evening and shaping brass bridges and nuts on the huge orbital sander. 

Joining Mega coincided with the business taking off. At the start I seemed to be building nothing but JBL 4560 type cabinets or the bigger 15" versions. I'm sure I must have built these the 2 x12 mids which were various popular as well. http://www.cmvintageaudio.com/detail,item_id,130-jbl-4560-bass-bins.php plus. I could build 7 or 8 4560's in a day. They were made with 3/4" finish birch ply but after a while we sourced some Russian ply which was just as good and cheaper. We developed the 2 x 12 bass bin with ATC and I can vouch that it was certainly solidly built with the wooden handles. Steve Borrill did all the drawings and cutting lists. He was amazingly organised and the linchpin of the business. I was constructing everything in Arch 2 using compressed air staple guns and screwdrivers. I would receive a big pile of cut wood and off I went. When they were built they would go down to Arch 7 to be painted with a mixture of black paint mixed with PVA. (After filling and sanding of course). Then the castors, corners and handles etc were fitted. We got all our hardware from CP Cases who were also over the river on Strand on the Green, next to ATC conveniently. So it was like the perfect storm. What with ATC and CP Cases being so close, orders escalated pretty quickly so it was a fruitful arrangement for all of us. Besides the Mega range were building for Martin Audio, Kelsey Acoustics, Entec and a company called Electrosound plus other I forgot. Plus later on we were building speakers for Neil Grant whose company name I forget at the moment.I think it was Boxer? I also remember building bass rigs for Bruce Thomas from Elvis Costello and the Attractions and aneven bigger system for Jean-Jacques Burnel of the Stranglers.There were others but it was a long time ago and I wasn't really taking notes at the time. Dave Lyth also rented some space in one of the arches later on and started designing his Volt systems which we were also building. He was a very nice guy and it looks like he still going http://www.voltloudspeakers.co.uk/the-volt-team/ They were great days and I look back on them as probably the best times of my life. Talking about it makes me feel nostalgic. It seems like another lifetime now.

Towards the late 70s Mega and CP cases decided to merge and became CP/Mega.They acquired a large factory premises on the Great West Road near Brentford. So we upped sticks and moved there. Although Ian Williamson stayed at the arches and was making bespoke joinery. The atmosphere at the Arches, Kew Bridge was amazing like a little village and quite different to a factory environment of the Great West Road.I hung in there with CP Mega for about 6 months but missed the unique atmosphere of the arches at Kew Bridge as did some of the other guys who had moved with me. So we basically resigned and moved back to the arches and kind of set up in competition. Much to the chagrin of Steve Borrill and Chris and Pete of CP Cases. Ian had a massive order for Gale loudspeakers and it was then he made friends with Neil Grant so we started building his systems. It was great fun but less disciplined than the old days and probably less profitable. We were never really competitive enough to take on Mega/CP. Plus I became more interested in playing music and renting out a PA I had built so after a while I went freelance. After going freelance I did some cabinet building mainly for Roger Quested who started Quested studio monitors. Steve Borrill later left CP/Mega to run the Turbosound factory in Dorking. In fact I built one or 2 prototypes for Tony Andrews at Mega earler after he turned up in his Aston Martin and longhair. He was quite a character and a smooth operator. He was famous for his pyramid bin at the time although I never had a chance to make one like that. I lost contact with Steve after he moved to Turbosound. In fact I'm out of contact with everyone from that era unfortunately.

After I quit CP/Mega I was approached by Dave Martin to set up and run his own factory and had a meeting with him but decided against it. I felt the vibe wasn't right plus I didn't really want to take on such a responsibility. My professional speaker cabinet building days probably ended around the mid-80s and I feel proud of what I achieved during that time. I have hardly any photos of interest from then. Obviously there was no social media and no smart phones so it was less easy to take photos unless you were a keen photographer. I wish I had documented my times there but I was living in the moment never really thought about the future and that anyone would be interested in the history. So that in a nutshell is my abridged history of working with Mega.

All the best
Martin


Edited by Kraznet - 09 March 2017 at 3:00am
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