Mid-size speaker recommendation

[Hyfi]

depending on your location, craigslist could be the place to find BA A120's and other vintage speakers of that ilk. i see them come up fairly often in my area.

as for deteriorated surrounds, they are an easy fix that can be done cheaply in an afternoon.

Good suggestion for local CL if OP really wants vintage.

As for redoing surrounds, yeah anyone can do it but after speaking to the owner of Miller Sound, who does this all day every day, you will more than likely never get the speaker to sound exactly as you remembered it.

If the exact replacement surround is not used, and or a slightly different tension or non perfect placement and glueing happens, then you will change the sound of the speaker from it's originally intended sound.

There are so many great sounding new speakers in every price range that come with a warranty and intact unless getting some outrageously good speaker for real cheap, why bother? There are also plenty of Used (but much newer) good speakers out there too. The other option is the DIY but I am unskilled in woodworking and lack the tools and space.

[valnar]

I remember liking my original BA 120's (before I sold them for a home-theater setup) because they were a decent size without being intrusive in the room. Since they were sealed, I could also put them right against the wall. For my secondary music system that I'm building for a finished basement, both those factors are important. It's also not going to be used for 'critical' listening, so something generally pleasant is preferred. This will be a pool-table + Bar kind of room.

Part of me also wants to rebuild my vintage music setup that I had long ago. In that vein, I also just purchased a Nakamichi AV-10 receiver off eBay. A fine receiver and amplifier section in it's own right, and it still holds up today. The downside is I have to stick with 8-ohm speaker options which removes a lot of good choices. I used to own an AV-8 many years ago because I couldn't afford the AV-10. All I need to do now is dust off my old Denon tape deck and Dual turntable which I still own.

[harley .guy07]

It's better than reading Stereophile any day! I get a little drool on me every day but I know I will NEVER be in that league. But that is by choice because I need a retirement fund.

Harley - As for the Dyns, were the original 60s easier to drive than the 2nd gen 62s? I know that both my 42s and 82s have multiple personalities between midfi gear and my main setup. The Excite series is a slight step up in refinement over the Audience series and easier to drive while having a slightly smaller footprint.

At looking at the specs alone I would not think that the 62 would be harder to easier to drive than the 60 but I do know that for as small as my 60's are they really like the current to get the most out of them. Don't get me wrong my Pass amp has no problems and powers them without even getting much of a workout but I would not even think about putting them with a mid fi receiver, They might sound ok but I would know how much more that they are capable of. It seems that Dyn's are that way, no matter which series that they come from it seems that they get better the better electronics you put in front of them and they don't seem to be outclassed when you put real high end gear in front of them. I have not heard the excite series to see how they are different though so I can't say much about them but the Contour series sound much the same as the audience series with more refinement and detail.

[Mr Peabody]

Jack your statement "to hear the Krell with the F52's. That says alot about the Krell. I've been hearing so much about class A and AB on this site and others that I've decided it's time to move on from class D. I'm looking at a Bryston 14BSST for a home demo and then maybe a Plinius SA103. " is where the class D/digital inference came from, was it a typo or did we misunderstand what you were talking about?

[Jack in Wilmington]

Jack your statement "to hear the Krell with the F52's. That says alot about the Krell. I've been hearing so much about class A and AB on this site and others that I've decided it's time to move on from class D. I'm looking at a Bryston 14BSST for a home demo and then maybe a Plinius SA103. " is where the class D/digital inference came from, was it a typo or did we misunderstand what you were talking about?

Does class D mean digital? I thought it was just another letter A, AB etc. If so, it's back to the rookie league for me.

[harley .guy07]

Class d is another type of amplifier type that is analog actually. the basic difference is that the outputs are switching as well unlike class a and a/b and they have to use very high frequency switching to make the audio with less distortion and filter out the frequencies with which it switches. that would be the best way to explain it that I can come up with. If someone has a better one then thats cool I just know that class d does not automatically mean digital.

[Mr Peabody]

Jack, this is for you, look under power amp class;
Amplifier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Valnar, nothing says vintage like Bose 901's. You can even suspend them from the ceiling and for a rec area sound disperses well. Also, Klipsch Heresy are sealed and would play loud with very little power, they tend to roll off pretty steep around 50Hz but they rock. The latest model is the Heresy III. The look is vintage with a statement. You can also place speakers ported in the front close to the wall.

[ken88]

Try to listen to Totem Sttaf floor standing speakers. They are slim and they sound really good. I am very happy with them.

[Mr Peabody]

Although I agree the Totem do sound really good, it will take more than a receiver to take them to their potential.