Vintage Japanese Speakers

Hi All,

Are there any Japanese speakers from the 60's or 70's that would be worth looking for on Craigslist, etc.?

 

Diatone, Yamaha, Sansui, Pioneer, JBL, Sony on the upper end --- many choices, and of course there are top tier, middle and lower tier in all cases. But in all cases there are some very desirable choices.

 

Be prepare to change old stuff from the old speakers that are over 30 or 40 years

 

Or buy them already restored... also depends on the level of quality -- lower tiered drivers, yeah 15 years and replace in many cases.

But higher end Diatone, Yamaha drivers - they can literally last a lifetime. It's the crossovers / caps that need attention -- but even still my 36 year old have original MF Metallized Paper in oil caps, and they still sound good. Those were chosen for their long life. But in most cases caps that old need attention, and I plan on replacing mine soon. (or at least bypassing).

OP - budget? That will help respondents, as vintage speakers on low budget is kind of an oxymoron IMHO.

 

Good;

Ps. Some parts of the world are hard to find, stores that can repais such stuff.

 

The OP asked about Japanese vintage speakers I don't think jbl's of that era were
from Japan

 

Mitsubishi NHK Monitors:



Yamaha NS-1000:

 

Some of those Mitsubishi Diatone speakers in the 80s and into the 90s are really nice, like the DS-1000 below with titanium midrange and tweeter, honeycomb woofer, nice stuff ... not sure how often they show on craigslist, though..

 

The NS1000 would be my choice but I doubt you’ll find them on the cheap. They are highly coveted.

 

What's "cheap" though.? First, we still don't know the budget of the OP, he could be a billionaire. Also, cheap is relative, $1500 to one person is a drop in the bucket, to another it's end-game speakers.

Next, the NS-1000 aren't overly hard to find - there are 5-10 pairs on HiFiDo, and come up often. If you live in Cali, it's not overly difficult to find a set from $1K - $1500. The NS-1000x is a litte tougher to find. It's the NS-2000 that gets very tough to find.

There are many speakers from Japan from that era that would trump a set of NS-1000 - but it depends what you want to spend, how much room you have, etc.

 

Brother has four in mint condition and ther are beautiful.

 

This could be a very interesting thread

 

Since we're in guess mode, and have no idea what the parameters are, why not these?

Technics SB-10000. Last pair sold at HiFiDo for $12K. 1977 made. 300lbs.

 

Or maybe these S-315 DianGo - HiFi-Do McIntosh/JBL/audio-technica/Jeff Rowland/Accuphase

Sold for $32. Made in 1978.

 

Without a budget or any parameters, it already became "interesting"

We need to do a better job at asking the OP to help us help them, not sure how anyone could offer a brand / model with any parameters / budget. Not to mention, how many 60's or 70's vintage Japanese speakers pop up on CL in your area? I've been monitoring CL in Phoenix (top 5 in population) for 18 months, and I am not sure I recall but a couple vintage Japanese speakers from 60'or or 70's. LA area, there's more... but the OP lives in KC, Missouri, I can guarantee it's not awash with 60's and 70's vintage Japanese speakers.

 

Look at his profile page and system setup and gleam from it. Exotic stuff is gonna be hard to narrow down on Craigslist (I think).

 

Everything is relative. I actually have no other interest in them, but I do like them better than about 95% of the Japanese speakers I’ve heard. My roommate in the AF had a pair and I thought my Infinity’s blew them away.

 

Instead of just asking the OP to clarify, offer a budget, speaker type (bookshelf, floorstander, space contraints, etc?)....

That's pretty standard stuff... takes all the guesswork, assumptions and gleaning out of the equation.

As far as KC being a hotbed on CL for 60's and 70's vintage Japanese speakers.... ummm.... yeah.

 

When I bought my NS-2000's a few weeks back when I was in Cali visiting, the seller had 2 pairs of Infinity floorstanders (can't recall the model) - but they were 5 feet tall, probably 150lbs a piece, and from the early 80's I believe.... unbelievable speakers.

Infinity at one time was absolute top of the heap with some of their models... what set did you own if you don't mind me asking and sharing?

 

Or do that. Or list a bunch of good vintage speakers and have fun

 

Mine were not the big beasts, I was, after all a lowly airman! I had the entry into the Reference Standard line. The RS1.5. I still think there is something special in the traditional 12” woofer, 5” mid and EMIT tweeter configuration. They were notorioriously hard on amps though!

 

Coral

 

The most wonderful-sounding Japanese speakers I have ever heard are these Technics SB-L100 Linear Phase beauties:



I have seen these go for as little as $5o a pair. They do everything a speaker should do & nothing a speaker shouldn't. Paired with any quality amp, these vintage wonders should blow your mind. If they don't, you should stop looking for vintage speakers. I want to eventually get 4 of them, stacked & inverted, tweeter-to-tweeter...

 

Why Japanese in particular? Generally Asian brands have not been known for top sound (which doesn't mean some of them can't sound good. I fixed up an pair for my BFFs husband and he still loves them umpteen years later.) Anyway, loudspeaker design evolved tremendously since those days, so I'd look for newer stuff. Unless you're on a nostalgia/retro kick; I've seen some of that lately in arts districts.