Question about Smith & Wesson sirens

[cromwell]

Hi!


I wonder what siren sound output in watts these old Smith & Wesson sirens had?


Smith & Wesson Magnum IV A


Smith & Wesson Magnum IV B


Smith & Wesson Magnum III was 75watt, right?


Smith & Wesson model 800 was 100watt, right?


regards

 

[Skip Goulet]

Hi!

I wonder what siren sound output in watts these old Smith & Wesson sirens had?


Smith & Wesson Magnum IV A


Smith & Wesson Magnum IV B


Smith & Wesson Magnum III was 75watt, right?


Smith & Wesson model 800 was 100watt, right?


regards

I may be wrong, which I often am, but I was thinking that the Mag III I had was a 58-watt siren. But you could effectly get 100-watts with twin 58-watt speakers or a single 100 watt speaker. Not sure about the Mag IVs, but they may have been upgraded to 100-watt. I know the 800 was 100 watts, I had one of them. I was looking at a Mag. III that was posted on the board last week, and it appears to have been built in S&W's New Jersey plant known as Sonic Signal Corp. I recently acquired a nice Sonic Siren which is 58-watts and very loud. I had one of their 100-watt models on an ambulance years ago and it moved traffic like you wouldn't believe. But having looked at the Mag on here, I just noticed how much it and the Sonic looked alike.

 

[Wheels]

Here is the direct link to the catalog scans of the S&W Magnum sirens that John posted in his photobucket.


Magnum sirens: http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/elightbars/Catalogs/Other/EmergencyLighting051.jpg


Magnum sirens: http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g205/elightbars/Catalogs/Other/EmergencyLighting049.jpg


You can find more under the Catalog thread posted here:


http://elightbars.org/forums/f18/catalog-thread-1801/#post12458


Hope this helps.

 

[cromwell]

Yes, that seems to help quite a lot!


If I understand right from the catalog then it must be something like this:


Magnum III = 58w (just like user Skip Goulet was thinking)


Smith & Wesson Magnum IV B = 75w


Smith & Wesson Magnum IV A = maybe also 75w?

 

[Wailer]

I don't know about the power output, but I have two different versions of the Magnum IV and they don't sound anything like each other.


One is a Magnum IV (early version with the large pushbuttons) and the wail and yelp tones sound like the late 1960s Federal Director and Interceptor sirens (low-pitched slow rising tones).


The other is a Magnum IVB (later version with the smaller pushbuttons), and the yelp tone sounds like a General Electric Power-Call/Siren warble.


My guess is that both sirens will operate at 100 watts with two speakers.

 

[Skip Goulet]

I don't know about the power output, but I have two different versions of the Magnum IV and they don't sound anything like each other.

One is a Magnum IV (early version with the large pushbuttons) and the wail and yelp tones sound like the late 1960s Federal Director and Interceptor sirens (low-pitched slow rising tones).


The other is a Magnum IVB (later version with the smaller pushbuttons), and the yelp tone sounds like a General Electric Power-Call/Siren warble.


My guess is that both sirens will operate at 100 watts with two speakers.

I would agree with you on the output with two speakers. I've used the III, but not the IV, and liked the old Mag III quite well. My last S/W siren was one of the 800s, and it had the most awful sound I've ever heard! The yelp and hi-lo were fine, but the wail sounded 'backwards'. We had it on a '70 lowtop Suburban ambulance that already had a Q and a PA200 on it; but the crew chief of that unit wanted to use the S/W because it also had the airhorn, which the PA200 didn't. Sounded neat with all 3 sirens going at once! Ouch!!! :yes:

 

[Wailer]

I've used the III, but not the IV, and liked the old Mag III quite well.

The early Magnum III with the large pushbuttons is the holy grail I'm looking for. I remember seeing a 1975 Superior/Pontiac 54" high top ambo with a Magnum III and an all red Federal Twin Sonic light bar running Code 3 back in 1978... I'll never forget the long windup on the wail tone and that slow 'wah wah wah' yelp.


A few years back I found a photo of the car sitting and rusting away in what looked to be a farmyard. One of the red covers from the Twin Sonic was missing, but the Magnum III was still in the car. If I had the money I would have bought both.

 

[Skip Goulet]

The early Magnum III with the large pushbuttons is the holy grail I'm looking for. I remember seeing a 1975 Superior/Pontiac 54" high top ambo with a Magnum III and an all red Federal Twin Sonic light bar running Code 3 back in 1978... I'll never forget the long windup on the wail tone and that slow 'wah wah wah' yelp.

A few years back I found a photo of the car sitting and rusting away in what looked to be a farmyard. One of the red covers from the Twin Sonic was missing, but the Magnum III was still in the car. If I had the money I would have bought both.

We both like that long wail. That's why I got the Sonic Siren recently! I agree.....you should've bought the ambulance and the siren. You can always go back and see if they're still there. Hightop Pontiacs are hard to find. I almost snagged a nice '67 from a steel mill in MN a few years ago. Had the deal almost signed, but a local VFD decided they wanted it, so there went the deal.....dammit!

 

[Wailer]

I agree.....you should've bought the ambulance and the siren.

If I had the money to buy the ambo, it would have been restored to the way it looked when new, with the Magnum III fully operational. I would have loved to put that car in the city's annual exhibition parade and show everyone how great ambulances used to look and how good the sirens used to sound.