Purchasing Vintage Speakers What Should I Be On The Lookout For

I am going to meet this guy that had/has 30-50 of vintage speakers. Has/Had JBL, Celestion, Rogers, AR, Klipsch, Bose, Polk, Snell Rare British and European Speakers etc... He is selling these for more than a fair price compared to Ebay. looking to spend 100-300, $400 if they are wow speakers.

Any Models Brands (JBL I know he sold out) I should be on the look out for. EX. JBL L-100, AR-12/AR-15....

Also he has a lot of speakers that need repair. if you can name a speaker that is relatively cheap (25-100) to repair and maintain then I don't mind. (Im Not trying to spend 150-350 to repair a speaker that is worth $100)

Also can you name great speakers that cheap to maintain if they need a new cabinet, tweeter, re-foaming etc

I dont know if this is the right place but if it isn't pleasing still respond.

Sorry For the poor grammar didnt get much sleep.

 

Do you do your own repairs? If not the cost of having someone repair speakers can be pricey. If it needs a new cabinet . . . well forget it.

You'll need to look them over and hear them for yourself but if they are more than 30 YO expect a Xover upgrade too.

 

No I do not do my own repairs. I will be able to listen to it and test out no problem. He said i can bring my gear and test it out as much as I want. Also what is a Xover is that something so it will work with modern technology. This is my first speaker.

 

Pioneer HPM 60's and HPM 100's are excellent vintage speakers. JBL, Cerwin Vegas...

I just did a re-foaming of my pair of HPM 60's and they responded with magnificent sound.

 

Exactly the kind of speaker I was looking for. Do you think Alternative Rock, Classic Rock and Avant rock (Bowie The Velvet Underground) Will sound good on these speakers?

 

They are quite ballsy speakers, but are quite balanced in my experience from highs/mids/lows. I think they sound great with everything you've mentioned, although I haven't spun any VU, but the Bowie sounds incredible through my HPM 60's. I am currently spinning side 2 of Yes Drama CRC pressing, and it simply ROCKS!! sound wise.

 

A crossover determines which frequencies go to what speaker in the cabinet. After 20-30 years the individual components may need to be replaced or upgraded. Remove the grilles and look at what surrounds each speaker...foam (needs to be replaced periodically), rubber (generally more durable).
IME, speaker technology has come a long ways. Vintage speakers do have a charm of their own. Good luck with your shopping!!

 

Old TWEETERS can have their ferro fluid dried-out and have it cause peaky, shrill resonances (compromising the ability to increase the volume to the maximum power handling of the speakers). If the tweeters are DOME-type (*better* grade speakers anyhow; than the paper cone-type with, usually, aluminum dust caps): they can be physically disassembled, cleaned, and rebuilt with new "coolant" (yes, basically, Prestone for speakers: injected between the voice coil's piston and the core of the magnet...so they don't fry). Paper-cone tweeters, though, tend to age worse and can't (easily) be opened apart short of junking them.

 

Allison Acoustics.

ADS.

Rectilinear III's.

Cizek.

 

Ive decided to Buy Either Elac Debut F6 or Kiplisch 260 Speakers.

 

I think you're wise to get new modern speakers.