Who wants to be an Audiophile?: 09/01/2012

This post is a tribute to, and a documentation of the various models of Audioline brand speaker. There is no other mention of Audioline speakers on the internet so I thought I would do a brief write up.

Audioline speakers, were manufactured in Melbourne Australia by a company called BD Imports. They also made similar speakers under the Linear Design name. BD Imports was run by a fellow named Wayne Douglas. (From the Douglas hifi stores) This company currently make the Jensen branded speakers sold in JB Hi-Fi.

BD Imports does not appear to make any speakers under the Audioline brand name anymore.

The Audioline brand name is now entirely owned by JB Hifi and currently makes car amplifiers and some PA speakers. I am unclear if the Audioline brand was always owned by JB Hi-Fi or if BD imports previously had some ownership of the name? I will try to find out.

This blog post covers the Australian made speakers manufactured by BD imports, between the late 1970's and 1990's. It does not cover the newer Audioline car amps or PA speakers. As a side note, I did in the past own an Audioline car amplifier and found that it sounded very clear, and was extremely reliable.

I like Audioline because they are made and designed in Australia. (using imported speaker drivers)
They are usually big, and have a minimum of 10" bass drivers.
They usually have a wide frequency response. No matter which model, they all seem to genuinely play low to about 30Hz. They also give a "big" sound that I like.

I guess Audioline was Australia's version of Cerwin Vega, and according to the "About us" section of Jensen speakers website, even some Cerwin Vega speakers were designed in Australia, presumably by Wayne Douglas? -If anyone can confirm this, let me know....
I also like Cerwin Vega.

In order to honestly review Audioline speakers I have to mention the negative aspects as well as the good.
The cabinets on some models use thin wood.
The crossovers use very cheap components and also only use 6dB/octave crossovers. (some people actually like the sound of 6dB/octave crossovers better than 12dB) Some bass drivers on some models run full range!
The plastic surrounds around the drivers on some models cause dispersions and reflections and negatively affect the sound. Thankfully the plastic surrounds can be removed and this improves the sound dramatically.

The good aspect is that overall these are a very good sounding speaker, they are able to deliver deep clear tonal bass, and dynamics like only a big speaker can. Sonic detail is very good. The presentation of the mid and high frequencies is not as refined as more expensive speakers (over $2000), but I would describe this as being more like an error of omission rather than something which is glaringly wrong with the sound. There does not appear to be any major peaks or dips in the mid/high region which negatively affect the sound. Vocals sound clean and clear. The sound quality of these speakers is well above anything else at their price point.

For better sound - remove the plastic surrounds from around the drivers, and power them with a quality amplifier and source.

When searching the internet I found a post on a forum discussing the sound of Audioline - this is what one guy thinks of the sound.

I often get asked which amp to use for powering Audioline speakers so please see my post here which is an edited version of a reply that I sent to a nice gentleman who wrote me an email asking me about amplifiers.

Pictures of various models below:

AL-3210

Also sold as the Linear Design TS-1000 shown below:

AL-3212

Size W - 36cm, H - 105 cm, Depth - 38 cm

AL-1400

AL-1200

Dual 12" woofers

5" Mid-range

Dome tweeter

Dimensions: 41" (H) x 13.5" (W) x 15" (D)

Max power: 200Watts

Response: 26 - 20 Khz

Sensitivity: 95 dB

AL-1200 version 1

AL-1200 version 2. - Note the different tweeter

AL-1200 version 2

AL-1000

A couple of notes regarding this speaker. There are two versions of this model that I know of.

One of them is an earlier version. It uses two 12" (30cm) bass drivers. The later model also known as the AL-1000 has two 10" bass drivers. Sometimes you cant tell from looking at a photo with the covers on which one has the 12" drivers. The distinguishing feature is the sticker on front of the speaker. The 12" says 2x30cm on the sticker. They also look very different with the covers off.

12 inch cabinet dimensions:

Measuring 97cm H x 40cm W x 36cm D

Woofer: 2 x 30cm (12")

Mid: 11cm

Tweeter 1" dome

Maximum Power = 170Watts

10 inch cabinet dimensions:
Size: 96cm H x 30cm W x 33cm D

Woofer 2 x 10"
Mid 11cm
Tweeter 1" dome
Maximum Power = 170 Watts

This AL-1000 above has two 10" bass drivers.

The AL-1000 above has two 12" bass drivers.

AL-600

Dimensions: 60 x 30 x 25cm

Weight: 8 kg each

Power Handling: 120w (Peak)

Impedance: 8 ohms

Sensitivity: 94dB

AL-310

Unknown Model with 12" woofers
320mm x 230mm x 550mm


This looks to be similar to the "Audioline by Foster" except this model uses a sealed cabinet

AL-132
800H X 400W X 310D
8- OHMS, 80WATTS

AL-12

VX-800

This one has a more upmarket "look" to it. But I think it only has two 8" drivers which would make this the smallest bass driver that Audioline used - but even so, this is still bigger than most other "tower" speakers.

Here is a picture of the VX-800 with dark wood veneer. I prefer the lighter colour.

VX-400

Audioline 807B

This model also seems to use 8" bass drivers. You can also see that Audioline also made centre speakers for home theatre use. It seems they were sometimes sold as a "package".

AL-800