Shure SR-112
A compact two-way that trades hi-fi polish for the kind of efficiency that lets a hundred watts fill a hall.
Overview
The SR-112 is one half of a pair. Shure introduced it alongside the SR-116, and the two share identical performance characteristics. The difference is intent. The SR-116 was the portable version, fitted with a carrying handle and built to survive road duty. The SR-112 was designed for permanent indoor installation and carries extra weather protection that allows it to be left outdoors for limited periods.
Shure rated the SR-112 to work with power amplifiers capable of delivering up to 100 watts continuous into an 8-ohm load. That was a sensible match for the reinforcement amps of the day. Efficiency is the headline, though. The system produces a sound pressure level of 95.5 dBA at 1.3 meters from a one-watt input. Recording-Engineer (October 1978, p.132) repeated Shure's own promotional language, calling the speakers "phenomenally efficient", and the measured sensitivity figure backs that up. A speaker that loud on a single watt does not need a monster amplifier, which suited budget-conscious sound reinforcement.
Frequency response is claimed to be virtually flat from 45 Hz to 16 kHz. The drive complement is a pair of 203 mm bass drivers working with a high-frequency compression driver coupled to a 120° radial horn. The wide radial horn spreads the high end across a broad listening area instead of beaming it at one sweet spot. That is what you want when the audience is a room full of people. DB-Magazine (August 1977, p.28) noted the SR-112 and SR-116 as twin loudspeakers sharing identical characteristics, so the pair were sold as a matched family.
Shure positioned the SR-112 for use with its own SR105-EC6 power amplifier, though it was of course compatible with any good-quality amplifier of appropriate rating. The pitch, per the period coverage, was versatility — a speaker that could serve anywhere from a church hall to a couple of days left outside at a festival. That outdoor tolerance is unusual for a cabinet aimed at permanent install, and it reflects the extra weather protection Shure built in. Audio (October 1977, p.152) listed the Shure SR 112 among the loudspeakers it surveyed that month, placing it in the company of contemporary models from Pioneer, Polk, and Rogersound — a reminder that in the late 1970s the line between hi-fi and reinforcement speakers was still being negotiated, and Shure was selling into both conversations.
The SR-112 is not a furniture-grade audiophile speaker. The sealed bass enclosure and the reinforcement-oriented horn point at a tool, not a showpiece. It is built to be driven hard and heard clearly at distance. The trade-off for that efficiency and output is voicing and cabinet priorities that favor coverage and durability over low-level refinement.
Documentation on the SR-112 is thin, and specifics like original list price, cabinet dimensions, weight, and crossover details are not established in the available material. What the period sources do confirm is the core identity: a two-way, two-woofer compact reinforcement speaker, 8-ohm, 100-watt-capable, 95.5 dBA efficient at 1.3 meters, flat to a claimed 45 Hz - 16 kHz, with a 120° radial horn up top. Anyone who finds a pair should check the compression drivers first, since horn-loaded HF units of this vintage are the usual failure point. Also confirm the weather-protected cabinet hasn't taken on moisture over the decades. Because the SR-116 was the road-ready sibling, SR-112 units tend to have lived gentler indoor lives.
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