Defiant Speaker Cabinets

1967 - 1972

An early Vox Defiant set - 1967.

Cabinets are: 32" wide, 21" tall, 12" deep. The wooden boxes were made by three companies: Gla-Rev, based in Hainault, Essex; P.A. Glock of Crayford; and Heslop & Co. of Rayleigh, Essex. Heslop & Co. labels have so far only been found in amplifier sections, however. Vinyl covering, grille cloth, and fixtures and fittings were added at the Vox Works in Erith. For a picture of a Conqueror speaker cabinet being finished at Erith, see this page.

The chrome side stands generally had castors, but a few were supplied with rubber feet instead. A page on the mounting hardware for the amplifier section and stands can be found here.

Vox did not manufacture speakers so used those made by other companies - in 1967 and early 1968, two Celestion T1297 ceramic drivers (8 ohms, 25 watts handling apiece, 55Hz resonance), along with a Goodmans Midax horn. In 1969 (under "Vox Sound Equipment Limited"), heavy frame Goodmans ceramics were introduced instead.

Above, the paper schema that was glued inside JMI Vox Defiant speaker cabinets, its main legend reading: "DEFIANT 50W TREBLE WIRING". The Midax horn is protected from bass frequencies by a 2 micro farad capacitor (2uf), marked "2 MFD" in the schema.

Numbers of Defiant speaker cabinets produced

In the JMI period, serial numbers were not assigned to speaker cabinets even though there was space for one on the ID plate (normally fixed to the cab's upper back panel). As with the other models in the solid state range, speaker cabinets were only sold with amplifier sections as a set in 1967 and early 1968, so the amplifier's number was notionally the speaker cabinet's too.

An early JMI Defiant speaker cabinet ID plate. The Defiant was initially termed the ST50R - "Super Twin 50 Reverb", "Super Twin" indicating that amplifier section and speaker cabinet were separate.

A standard JMI speaker cabinet ID plate - no serial number stamped in the "SERIAL No." panel.

1967 to spring 1968 (JMI): 300 Defiants sold. Speaker cabinets were not available separately.

late 1968 to late 1969 (VSEL): in total around 360. From number 001 to between 318 (highest known VSEL) and 375 (lowest known VSL).

early 1970 to late 1970 (VSL): around 450. From number 375 (or before) through to 801 (and possibly beyond). VSL sold a number of Defiants and speaker cabinets made by VSEL.

JMI - 1967 to Spring 1968

Below, a typical cab with its original side stands and mounting hardware for the amplifier section. The speakers are Celestion T1297s with VOX labels.

Below, pictures of another JMI Defiant speaker cabinet showing the wiring and arrangement of the Goodmans Midax horn and its capacitor:

Vox Sound Equipment Limited - Summer 1968 to late 1969

Under "Vox Sound Equipqment Limited" the format of Defiant speaker cabinets remained unchanged, the only difference being the adoption of heavy frame Goodmans ceramics (which had been fitted to certain Supreme cabinets by JMI in 1967). Goodmans incoporated these in its "Power Range" during the course of 1969. In addition to devising handsome new speaker labels, VSEL gave numbers to its speaker cabinets, hand stamped on the ID plates. The sequence began at 001. The lowest number currently known is 087. Amplifier sections had a new sequence beginning at 2000.

Defiant speaker cabinet number 087.

When VSEL folded in late 1969 / early 1970, "Vox Sound Limited" took over VSEL's unsold stock, including a good number of VSEL Defiant cabinets, and VSEL labelled speakers. New ID plates were generally attached, however. Below, an example - "Vox Sound Equipment Limited" labels on the speakers, but a "Vox Sound Limited" ID plate.

Vox Sound Limited - 1970

For "Vox Sound Limited", as for JMI, the Defiant was one of the best selling amplifiers. VSL fitted Goodmans speakers, generally without VOX labels. The earlier Goodmans drivers had red labels, later ones green. Horns were normally Goodmans Midax, but Celestion T1360 (with plastic bodies) do occur.

Serial number 2748

Goodmans "Power Range" speakers, green label. Goodmans had a phenomenally complex system of marking its speakers - a replacement part number, and also a model number, elements of which identified the type of frame, cone, and weight of magnet.