Onkyo HS-301 (mid-1960s)
The HS-301 is a large, floor-standing 3-way speaker system from Onkyo's mid-1960s lineup, priced at ¥24,000 per unit. It has five drivers: a single 30 cm woofer for the low end, two 12 cm cone midranges and two 5 cm horn tweeters, all in a sealed enclosure. It is rated at 16 Ω with a 20W nominal input and a claimed frequency response of 40 Hz to 20 kHz at 98 dB/W. It is also a lot of cabinet - 430 × 750 × 296 mm and 14.2 kg.
The woofer uses Onkyo's patented "Non-Press Cone." The cone has high rigidity and low Q, and it is shaped to suppress split vibrations within the playback range. It also rolls off its own high-frequency output so it doesn't interfere with the tweeters. A high-compliance damper with distinctive corrugation improves transient response. The two 12 cm midrange units are shaped to push their resonance frequency (fo) up to 500 Hz, which Onkyo said gave them optimal mid-band characteristics. The twin 5 cm horn tweeters finish out the array.
The record is thin past that. No production years beyond the approximate mid-1960s pricing note have surfaced, and the HS-301's position within Onkyo's speaker lineup of the period isn't documented. All substantive specifications come from a single Japanese source, and no period reviews or owner accounts have been found. It appears to have been a technically ambitious speaker from Onkyo's early high-fidelity era. How it sold, or how it compared to contemporaries, isn't recorded.
- Type: 3-way, 5-speaker, sealed (closed) floor-standing system
- Woofer: 30 cm cone (Non-Press Cone)
- Midrange: 12 cm cone ×2
- Tweeter: 5 cm horn ×2
- Frequency response: 40 Hz – 20 kHz
- Output sound pressure: 98 dB/W
- Impedance: 16 Ω; nominal input: 20W
- Dimensions: 430 × 750 × 296 mm; weight: 14.2 kg
- Original price: ¥24,000 per unit (mid-1960s)
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