Source Technologies JSE Center Channel 178XL/CC MINT

Save $1500 off the retail price.

For sale is the Source Technologies Model 178 XL/CC Center Channel Speaker designed and built by John Sollecito. John Sollecito was the co-designer of JSE Infinite Slope Speakers, which now has become Joseph Audio. These speakers rarely come up for sale used. Source Technologies has been making audiophile speakers for over 20 years and John Sollecito has been making audiophile speakers in Connecticut for almost 30 years.

This center channel uses a Dynavox silk dome tweeter, a 7” magnesium SEAS Excel midrange, and a carbon fiber woofer by Forgings/Scan Speak. These are the same three drivers that are used in the Source Technologies 178 XL floor standing speakers that I have for sale on Audiogon.

When I purchased the center channel and stand, I also purchased a matching pair of 178 XL floor-standing speakers and an equipment cabinet. All of these were built by John Sollecito and they all use the same dark cherry stain. These are available on Audiogon. I can make you a deal if you purchase these together.

The center channel speaker is 30” wide, it is internally bi-wired, it uses Mundorf Supreme Capacitors in the time-aligned crossover, and it has a sloped front baffle so that the dialogue is correctly located in the soundstage. The cabinets are circumferentially braced and are extremely rigid. The speaker comes with a magnetic grill and is finished in gorgeous dark cherry on the sides, front, and top. The speaker is finished in high-gloss black on the back and on the bottom. The stand is on 1” spikes and is also finished in dark cherry with high-gloss black on the back, bottom and top. The fit and finish is amazing! The center channel currently retails for $2300 and the stand retails for $400.

The speaker and stand are one year old. I examined the speaker and the stand thoroughly, shining a light on them at different angles, and I do not see any scratches or dents anywhere. There are natural spots in the wood veneer where there are grooves in the wood grain. There are a couple such places on the top of the speaker. If you shine a light at the exact angle where the entire surface lights up and appears white, you can see three 1-inch, and one 3-inch, grooves that do not reflect the light the same way. When you examine them up close, they are not cracks or dents, they are natural grooves in the wood grain. From every other angle, you do not see them because they are only noticeable if the there is a direct reflection of light off the entire surface. Even without a flash, I was unable to get these to show up in a picture. This is the way the speaker came from the factory, I am the original owner.

I rate it a 9/10 on Audiogon’s conservative rating scale because it is used.

I am only selling the speakers because Source Technologies is coming out with a reference pair of floor-standing speakers that will retail for $20,000.

I do not have the original packaging, but I can have the speaker and the stand professionally packaged. Or, you can pick up the speaker and stand for free in Bloomsburg, PA, Warwick, RI, or Ann Arbor, MI. I am willing to deliver the speakers to most parts of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island for 50% to 80% off the cost of shipping.

Packing and shipping via UPS Ground (with insurance and signature for delivery) is $251.42 in the continental U.S. PayPal adds 3.5%.