Vintage Speaker Top Ten-Wish List???

As has been noted in my recent threads here I have gotten hooked on searching the local thrifts for vintage equipment.

As I find different speakers out there I run across speaker brands I am unfamiliar with such as the RTR's I now own but I am often hesitant to buy them because I don't recognize the brand or model. So the question is what vintage speakers would you want or recommend on the oft chance I stumble across a pair?

BTW- They would I guess have to be 8 Ohm speakers since that is what my recievers are.

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Originally Posted by thekid

As has been noted in my recent threads here I have gotten hooked on searching the local thrifts for vintage equipment.

As I find different speakers out there I run across speaker brands I am unfamiliar with such as the RTR's I now own but I am often hesitant to buy them because I don't recognize the brand or model. So the question is what vintage speakers would you want or recommend on the oft chance I stumble across a pair?

BTW- They would I guess have to be 8 Ohm speakers since that is what my recievers are.

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Vintage speakers, hmmm, here are few '70's models from the mid-range price range ...

Dynaco A25
AR 3a
AR 5
Rectalinear III
Braun/ADS 710 and 810
various KLH models -- can't remember the model nos.
various JBL models, e.g. L100 -- great rockers, terrible sound

The world is a smaller place now so you can incorporate some British speakers among your wish list.

Kef CS1's
JR149's (Jim Rogers)

These are the best of the late 1970's and have become collector's pieces. The rubber surrounds don't fester and the speaker boxes were made by hand.

Slippers On

In my early days in audio I remember listening to the internally bi-amplified Advent loudspeakers. In those days they were quite impressive. They were not manufactured for too long a time and I think they were close to $1,000 a pair. At the time that seemed like a lot of money. As I remeber the sound was incredible. Please do not confuse these with wireless powered Advents.

Early KEF models were another brand of speakers I wanted.

Thanks all who have responded so far.

My search today turned up a single Klipsch Tangent that looked interesting but beside only being one it was missing the grill. While not vintage I did pick up a nice pair of Infinity Reference 2000.4 which I have added to my MB for listening to music.

I remember

AR 9s Inefficient so it required a lot of power but nice.
Dahlquist DQ10s Also inefficient but easy to find replacement parts.
I've seen some Magneplanars in estate sales. They don't last too long and most require some level of refurbishment---Especially true if previous owners had cats!


I find a lot of Bose 901s in estate sales and Thrift stores.
These are not my cup of tea, HOWEVER, they are easy to rebuild and then resell for a tidy profit. They usually end up in estate sales because they are in need of care. And they usually sell for around $50-100 for the pair. After spending $60 on a rebuild kit, I resold my last pair for $550 at the online auction. That pair was on its way to the garbage bin when the previous owner was unsuccessful selling them at a garage sale so I acquired them for FREE.

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Originally Posted by thekid

As has been noted in my recent threads here I have gotten hooked on searching the local thrifts for vintage equipment.

As I find different speakers out there I run across speaker brands I am unfamiliar with such as the RTR's I now own but I am often hesitant to buy them because I don't recognize the brand or model. So the question is what vintage speakers would you want or recommend on the oft chance I stumble across a pair?

BTW- They would I guess have to be 8 Ohm speakers since that is what my recievers are.

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pioneer hpm's 40,60, 100. 150,

ar3, ar4,

an some of the other ones that have responed to your thread

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thekid

As has been noted in my recent threads here I have gotten hooked on searching the local thrifts for vintage equipment.

As I find different speakers out there I run across speaker brands I am unfamiliar with such as the RTR's I now own but I am often hesitant to buy them because I don't recognize the brand or model. So the question is what vintage speakers would you want or recommend on the oft chance I stumble across a pair?

BTW- They would I guess have to be 8 Ohm speakers since that is what my recievers are.

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Wharfdale, model 80 or 90. They are rather heavy since they're filled with sand. Manufactured in the 60's.

There is a set of "The Radio People LTD" speakers on craigslist Ann Arbor right now. What the heck are these.

http://annarbor.craigslist.org/ele/554239930.html

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Originally Posted by bubslewis

Wharfdale, model 80 or 90. They are rather heavy since they're filled with sand. Manufactured in the 60's.

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Odd you mention those because I found a pair of very heavy speakers at a local thrift
that as I moved them to see what the brand might be it almost sounded like sand sliding but I just figured it was just the sound of the speaker moving against the carpet. These speakers had no markings on them other than the horn at the top said Speakerlab.

Could these be Wharfdales? There was absolutely no markings on the speakers but they were nice solid wood cabinets and I thought they were possible someone's DIY from a way back. The only other distinguishing feature was on the top of the speaker there was a gold colored inlay on each side.

i personally had a pair of monitor jrs which were quite a good all around speakers. great bass down to at least 30hz, a nice airy top, and great imaging.

another was the 2000A three way with electrostatic tweeters and GORGEOUS rosewood finishes.

acoustat is another brand that was loaded with great sounding models. model 2s, 2+2s, and 1+1s were standouts. and they would play loudly unlike quads which ave to be babied a bit.

Now that I own a pair of DCM TF 500's (and soon a pair of 600's) I am adding early DCM's to my watch. Not a brand often discussed but a unique design and from what I have heard very good imaging for classical and accoustic music. Would love to find a pair of Time Windows in good shape just to see what they are about.

vintage thread revived!

Bill mentioned the Dynaco A-25. I've been considering the new Tekton speaker based on the A-25 for my old ss Sansui integrated or to try with my Jolida tube amp.

http://www.tektondesign.com/aurala-25.htm

worth a try? or, stay away?

nope, not for me and i owned two pair. one in each corner for dynaquad or preferably stacked in front with other speakers for rears.

for a little mor than twice that amount, one could have the stirling LS3/5As. tekton should consider making them $300 a pair, then they would sell.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thekid

Odd you mention those because I found a pair of very heavy speakers at a local thrift
that as I moved them to see what the brand might be it almost sounded like sand sliding but I just figured it was just the sound of the speaker moving against the carpet. These speakers had no markings on them other than the horn at the top said Speakerlab.

Could these be Wharfdales? There was absolutely no markings on the speakers but they were nice solid wood cabinets and I thought they were possible someone's DIY from a way back. The only other distinguishing feature was on the top of the speaker there was a gold colored inlay on each side.

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Speakerlab in the late 70's sold a wide array of speaker kits and drivers. They could be a Speakerlab kit or a Wharfdale with a Speakerlab repalcemant driver. I do think if they were Wharfdale they would be labeled.

Pre-Teledyne AR 3 ways and larger KEFmodels seemed outstanding even with middle of the road carts and receivers. This was my opinion with or without a touch of the green leaf.

My oldman has four Tannoy Monitor Golds - and wow do they sound great.

My mate just bought a pair of Rogers Studio 1 speakers and they sound beautiful...

What about the Kef 104aB speakers? They used to get quite a good wrap. I'm eyeing some on ebay at the moment, but nobody is bidding. Is there something i should know about these?

Well I will update my own thread by adding my current fav brand

DCM-Time Windows
Older TF models such as the TF-350,400 and 500 series

Interesting coincidence: I was browsing this post to find what old school speakers people were metioning and the first one I see mentioned are RTR speakers. Having owned a pair of these since the mid 70's, they continue to serve well, even having survived the many stereo wars valiantly fought in college. I have the xpr 12's and yes, they are 8 ohms. They were certainly not mainstream speaker as this is the first time I have heard or read of them since I bought mine. A few things they were noted for besides delivering an incredible bang for the buck were solid wood enclosures and nice hi, crisp tweeters. They even have an adjustable crossover and a "reset" button should they be wired out of phase or exposed to to an amp that was turned distorting. Great speakers..

Holy thread revival..... This thread was started many speakers ago..... :D

Welcome to AR Sailorbob.

I still own the RTR's though I am going to put them on CL soon. I am glad you like RtR's, I have just been lucky to pick up some of the other sought after makes/models mentioned here so something has to go.

At the top of my wish list, a JBL metragon.

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Originally Posted by theebadone

At the top of my wish list, a JBL metragon.

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The Metregon and the larger Paragon were designed on an interesting, but completely incorrect premise. It is quite amusing today to suggest that one cannot create dimensionality unless you use a single enclosure for a stereo pair. :)

You can't do what with stereo speakers?

rw

Number one on my list is a pair of Beveridge Model 1's, followed by an HQD (2 Hartley subs, Quad ESL57 2 pair, Decca (ribbon tweeters) system. If Infinity IRS V's are vintage I'll take a pair of those also.

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Originally Posted by JoeE SP9

Number one on my list is a pair of Beveridge Model 1's, followed by an HQD (2 Hartley subs, Quad ESL57 2 pair, Decca (ribbon tweeters) system. If Infinity IRS V's are vintage I'll take a pair of those also.

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Yikes! These speakers sound crazy Joe, just the names suggest a product dedicated to its purpose. How could something named Quad ESL57 not be good? I would like to buy them so I could say it all the time, my wife would go nuts. Got any links?

Some great speakers have been mentioned in these posts! The early DCM Time Windows were one of the speaker pairs I wish I had never sold. I currently own a pair of DCM TimeFrame 250s and would have to find some money if a pair of the originals Time Windows appeared locally (the guy who has my original pair will never let them go!)

The Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers can be wonderful if they have been recapped and are driven with an amp that can throw a lot of current. I was driving one of my two pair with a Pioneer SX-1010 (110 watts per Ch) and they sounded pretty good, but they really showed what they could do when they were powered by my big Krell amp.

I am somewhat surprised that no-one has mentioned some of the classic Altec horn boxes. They are not my cup of tea but do have many fans out there.