Budget Vintage Speakers: warmth with detail

I refurbished a pair of JBL 4313B's to sell til i heard them. Outstanding! They replaced my Paradigm Studio 40's in my main system.

 

What about Dynaudio? You need a lot of power, especially for "vintage" models from the '90s, but they are warm and detailed, with an open midrange. Some floorstanders (looking at you, Contour 3.3) can be a bit boomy in the bass/sensitive to placement, but the bookshelf models usually are very nice sounding indeed.

 

I thoroughly agree with you on the the SQ of the KLH's and AR's, which were acoustic suspension speakers, they didn't play loud, but they were well balanced, from bass to HF.

Going back to my experience with the Large Advent's, back in the seventies, they were nice overall speakers, and usually an upgrade over the crap that their buyer's had owned before.

But... They had a really annoying mid bass bump that I could not deal with. In those days, most home speakers did not have enough bass that people were looking for and true bass reflex cabinets were much larger and more expensive.

Through their quest, in a reasonably sized and priced cabinet, they had the bass that most were looking for but the bass to me was not natural and not pleasant in the mid bass area. I knew many that owned them and every time I sat and listened to them, they bothered me.

If you are looking for true vintage sound, by this, I mean a speaker that sounds like it came from the 60's, then you should not be looking for a 70's or 80's speaker (your version of vintage may differ from mine).

Vintage anything is just that, it is attributes that belong to an era. A vintage wristwatch won't keep time as well as a digital wristwatch that came in a "Happy Meal", no matter the cost.

That vintage amplifier's are OK but vintage speakers are not, is pure hockey puck. If you don't believe be, check the prices of vintage Western Digital gear from the 1930's, and see what the prices are.

Vintage anything does require a higher level of care due to age and will require restoration, with continual upkeep. Look at the vintage collection's in the Smithsonian Institution, most are not the pristine original, but have been through the process of loving restoration. Including a model with the inscription of NCC-1701.



There is no reason that vintage speakers (without foam surrounds), and not be in condition, and still be a half of a century or more old.

Consider, that the "starship" in the above photo, required restoration, at fifty years old and it was just a static model, it never actually flew in space. It just sat on a stand or was hanging be wires and was photographed. It never really encountered what we might refer to as everyday use.

Most things vintage will require some sort of restoration, even if it is minor.

And, no vintage speakers may not be "accurate" like ones that people buy today, but they may sound more correct, with other vintage speakers, playing vintage records.

A good percentage of vintage speakers are from estate sales. They are not worth enough money to be worth shipping, so check your local sales.

Vintage speakers can be excellent sounding. Back then, they relied on large cabinets, to produce efficient, vintage sound. They often sound effortless and natural.

It is typical of speakers from this era to have nice cabinetry.

Wharfedale makes some nice sounding vintage speakers, they have both warmth and detail. The tweeter is a paper cone tweeter that is not harsh at all.



These are a pair of W70's that I bought from eBay, that were part of an estate sale. I paid $222 for the pair. They look and sound great.

 

I can second this opinion. A friend settled on Dynaudio bookshelf units and many years later they're still outstanding. Can really disappear in the room, without the stridency that often reveals itself after purchasing imaging champs.

 

I have a set of vintage Bang & Olufsen Beovox Penta speakers from 1988-1990. I refoamed the midranges and upgraded the crossovers with audiophile grade caps and resistors. I've owned them for about five years and paid $650 for them, plus about 300 into the crossovers. Recently got a bug to upgrade my speakers since I have upgraded all of my other components. I've listened to many in the $3000+ range and cannot find anything that touches the sound or performance of my Pentas . Still searching…

 

Amen!!!

 

I Guess some one needs to get a hold of Great Plains Audio and let them know along with the thousands of world wide customers who own tons of vintage Altec gear, that they really don't count and have been mistaken in their purchases.
I will willing admit my experience is with vintage gear and little with modern gear.
The reason for that is simple, I test my speakers and amps with my ears not equipment that senses things I as a human can not.
I have quite a lot of GPA's modern Altec gear, yes I will call it Altec and I do know the history of the company and what has happened to the once great name in the audio world.
As far as vintage gear, I have speakers that will crush all of the modern speakers I have ever heard, most are my own creations from strong vintage audio stock.
If I was an audio manufacturer I would not be telling anyone our vintage gear is as good if not better in some cases than our new stuff, they need to sell the new stuff!
Yes their are repairs to be made on some vintage gear, not all is in plug and play condition, but that's half of the fun , breathing life back into great audio gear and refusing to throw it in the dump for the latest model, this year.

 

I don't think I really follow this. Vintage Altec gear to me is one of the speaker types that does not really exist in modern iterations any more. I'm not aware of any significant market presence of that type of product, at least not as consumer items. If one was willing to dip into the PA/studio world, you could get something of the sort.

 

Of the listed speakers on original post...What is the least uncolored of the lot? How does Boston A series stack up in this regard?

 

Anybody chime in about Snell J or or early Mirage conventional box designs?