A pair of rarely seen, compact speakers from EV's early 1960's line. The Princess uses special drivers that at the time were low production made only a short time by EV -- the large Eliptical and 5" cone driver. 

A gorgeous pair -- longtime well cared from a smoke free home -- and have be lovingly kept in nice condition, undergoing restoration by a cabinet maker some 30 years ago… and  unused for the past 20 of those years. Great shape, they sound wonderful and are ready for loving new home.  The Electrovoice Princess 2 way was back then a special, incomparable design in EV's very early tube era speaker system line…. only available from EV during that very short period back in the early 1960s. Rated to play a very full range, highly efficient and rated at around 20 wpc (max peak). This unique system utilized EV's huge and quite rarely seen 8 x 12" long throw elliptical woofer, paired with their equally rare 5" alnico cone tweeter (see exhibit F) (similar in design to the Jensen Q and the Ampex and Stephens style bullet/cone designs). These nicely built drivers were enclosed in incredibly well built factory cabinets, measuring approx 11 x 19 x 8" -- the impressive result is stellar upper midrange clarity and room filling,  smooth and crispy sound at only 1-2 watts per channel! 

Back during the early 60's,  they were the smallest EV had offered in bookshelf systems, similar in size, and completely  different in design from the stuffy, far less efficient AR2, AR4 and KLH's of similar years. The finish and cabinet quality of these early speakers is far nicer  and allot more straight forward compared to most of models of the day. In fact, other than the cutting edge drivers, the immaculate cabinetry is like that of 1950's EV.  Much different than systems that came along just a few years later! Constructed with rigid  finish grade 1/2" miter joined and pinned , old world (very hard) plywood -- much better sounding than some of the later, slapped together MDF boxes of the 1970s.  

Study exhibits (A) thru (G) and you'll see this unique pair was well looked after. The cabinets have a few slight flaws on bottoms -- few if any can be seen (see last two exhibits, P & Q) , even under bright inspection lights (see Exhibit A,C,D and J, L, O).  One cabinet has a slight edge scape (exhibit P) on front top.   They were carefully refinished and refreshed by a cabinet maker about many years ago.  The cabinets show a deep luscious woodgrain, and the grilles were  professionally remade (3o years ago) with REAL natural silk available at the time (silk is well regarded acoustically, and was chosen for that reason) , this  along with carefully installed perimeter hardwood trim (see exhibit K and M). The result is a stunning pair of refurbished vintage speakers -- looking far nicer  than any else you're likely to find. Just out of careful climate controlled storage, I tested each speaker at good volume. Each tests perfectly, smooth, matched, no buzzes distortions or rattles. A nice turn-key antique set of HiFi, low power tube friendly speakers. Perfect for any home, small, medium or large room, and efficiency for even the tiniest of amps. The reach low enough, natural, (not deep), exactly the type best suited for those who listen to 50's Jazz and vocals -- they have an edginess / clarity that's hard to find in speakers this size. They are clean, quite natural and not much harshness at loud volume -- much different from modern speakers that utilize rolled edges and dome tweeters. The ElectroVoice Princess is a very uncommon transition product of a bygone era -- providing  a sweet middle ground as audio transitioned out of the golden age.

American companies, it might have appeared --- seemed late to market systems for the new sealed and ported 20-20k craze of the early 1960s. Massive new tube and transistor amps meant seemingly unlimited wattage, and the introduction of AR's breakthrough acoustic suspension was selling unpredictably well. The USA's finest manufactures like JBL, Jensen, and Altec, were caught flatfooted, when the Massachusetts based audio start-ups Acoustic Research, and later KLH , Advent etc -- launched their first products. Early air suspension systems stunned the world with artificially impressive deep bass, but also suffered the side effects of lower efficiency. Or, in marketing terms "improved power handling". The AR-1 introduced in 1956/57 luckily coincided with terrific new power output tubes, now able to cleanly produce delicate and detailed wattage needed to push these power hungry designs -- these new small speakers were here to stay and sold really well.

By the early 1960s' British firms were taking the bookshelf movement to even more diminutive extremes -- products like the Goodmans Maximus 1 and 2, as well as the Pioneer CS-51, and products from Wharfedale, and the quirky USA based Weathers come to mind.  Like the Electrovoice Princess offered here, the manufacturers had to come up with impressive, special purpose (or borrow experimental transducers from higher end products) super capable drivers to deliver the compliance, control. Will maintainingrelative efficiency needed for the era. Some of these systems were just too small, others worked quite well, so long as you don't need ridiculous LF and you don't mind sitting close and hugging sweet spots -- many of these early super mini speakers were precursors  in concept to the Rogers LS 3/5A -- one of the most sought after miniature 2 ways in history.

What's most worthy of note -- the first  larger systems of the 1950's  (most popular were Altec, JBL, Jensen and EV) -- these huge systems for the most part had incredibly superior sweet midrange detail -- perfectly suited for even the lowest powered SE tube amp. During  transition in home HiFi … from large to small … there was a very advantageous  twilight era, as the USA's speaker industry wasn't yet ready to dispatch with the sumputous crisp clarity and realism that certain bass reflex, corner cabinets and large volume baffles so easily provided.  This I think is the era of bookshelf system to search for! 

The mid-size, early compact systems of the mid 1950s to at the latest mid 1960s, were in some ways,  the best of both worlds -- well worth check out! Most were sealed boxes, but not yet strict air suspension. These systems had deeper bass response, but not so much at the cost of efficiency  or overall tonal clarity that suffered during the 1960's and 1970s that destroyed the "good sounding" bookshelf, forever ruining the idea that small speakers could sound clear, detailed and open. They can, you jest have to forgo the deep muddy bass that so many systems of the 1970s had. 

Confronted with of the new concept, of going small…. the big players at JBL, Altec, Jensen and EV -- threw their best HF, MF drivers imaginable into the earliest 1950s compact systems. The early speakers designed during this time were still in conceptual development (internally within the business) at most of these firms, and that's why inside were placed were surprisingly high quality mid range and tweeter drivers. One example would be the Altec 700A Melodist which sported one of the worlds best ever tweeters, the 3000A -- famously subtle detail, only challenged by it's own frailty.  Along side with the Altec 756 or the not bad-at-all 401A 8". 

Another early example was the Jensen DU-201 Duette, introduced in 1954, it was arguably "the first" bookshelf system -- it really had nothing to do with the AR-1. It was designed as an stand alone product, to reproduce and expand early HiFi and Television with extreme midrange balance and crisp tone -- this was Jensen's best bookshelf of all time -- the lifelike vocals are killer and must be hear to be believed. Much better than Jensen's later ported Flex-Air designs. Like these Electrovoice Princess, and the Melodist, the Jensen DU-201 sported a a very rare heavily built RP-203 midrange, on a delicately crafted horn and celluloid multicell horn. Coupled with the exceptional sounding P8 midrange laden woofer -- it's one of the best of all time -- better than the dressier, and delicate Melodist.

That brings us too this very interesting EV Princess 2 way system. Electrovoice, not ready to give into stiff, power hungry 8 and 19" rounds of the early 1960's resorted to one of the most unique solutions… a large, low resonance Super - Elliptical ! To my knowledge, only  in sealed boxes, only Olson at RCA and EMI of England tried this.  German manufacturers had long mastered the superior resopnse that elliptical cones can provide, but companies like Isophon only built for open-baffle low wattage hifi. For louder, room filling applications both the RCA's and the EMI large elliptical are highly sought after nowadays. They are hard to find and sound really terrific. All of these are ALNICO designs from the 1950s and early 1960s. As it stand the large elliptical drivers were produced only a short time during the late 1950s and very Early 1960s….here in the MADE  IN USA -- only by  RCA for the Orthophonic series which was often open baffle and a whizzer dual cone deign. 

When it came to slightly MORE excursion, thicker paper, and for use as a "real" woofer .. only the  Electrovoice design stands up --- and it was only foundvery impressive Princess system -- made a precious few years during the early 1960s! They are very rare to see these days. 

    If you're in the market for vintage, amazingly compact , and pretty stellar quality consider these -- this pair of Electrovoice Princess speakers offer you beautiful looks, small size (see dims above or original ad specs Exhibit O and H) 

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