All Pre 1970 Vintage speakers suck! Prove me wrong

As I believe this post was started tongue in cheek, the only thing I will add is that equipment cannot be compared in the parameters of generation. My Pioneer HPM speakers in 1978 brought me more musical joy then than I can even hope for out of my way better speakers now. Context and perspective should always be considered. I still have the HPM's and a pair of Pioneer CS888A's that sound awesome. 

The oldest speakers that I have owned are 1972 vintage Large Advents. I agree with the previous post except that the “custom” real wood veneer cabinets were not too bad looking. I have owned many pair since the mid 70’s and still find them to be quite good. one pair were restored/modified by Bill Legall from Millersound. He called the mods his “secret sauce.” They were remarkable! I also have enjoyed several pair of vintage Sansui speakers from the same era. They were made by Coral.inJapan and were quite good, especially the Alnico models.

I have also been fortunate enough to have heard the Deja Vu Western Electric builds in their VA showroom. I am so thankful that Vu offered to show them to me. By far the best sound I have heard in a showroom demo. They were powered by vintage Western Electric amplifiers (from the 30’s) which Deja Vu also rebuilds.

The oldest speakers that I have owned are 1972 vintage Large Advents. I agree with the previous post except that the “custom” real wood veneer cabinets were not too bad looking. I have owned many pair since the mid 70’s and still find them to be quite good. one pair were restored/modified by Bill Legall from Millersound. He called the mods his “secret sauce.” They were remarkable! I also have enjoyed several pair of vintage Sansui speakers from the same era. They were made by Coral.in Japan and were quite good, especially the Alnico models.

I have also been fortunate enough to have heard the Deja Vu Western Electric builds in their VA showroom. I am so thankful that Vu offered to show them to me. By far the best sound I have heard in a showroom demo. They were powered by vintage Western Electric amplifiers (from the 30’s) which Deja Vu also rebuilds.

Radio Shack Optimus Ones were my first speakers as a teenager. They were hand me downs from my father and I loved them. Always wanted JBLs L100 s and have them now in a second vintage system. My main system has Tannoy Churchill’s, a long way from the Radio Shacks. I wouldn’t say vintage speakers were bad at all, they were the pioneers to where we are today! I love vintage equipment, especially now when I can afford the things I could only dream about when I was very young and very poor…..

I think we need to define the "term" vintage in a generic sense. Perhaps: "Products that represent good examples of those offered during a prior period of a rapidly expanding culurtal adoption of a product or category?"

Another aspect we need to acknowledge is that speakers were (and still are) referred to as "speaker systems." Raw drivers, dividing networks, cables, cablnets, terminations, etc. make up the system. Technology has evolved in all the above. We can "pop the hood" (or, raise the bonnet for UK members) and observe that we’ve made major strides in the decades following the developmnet of those "vintage" speakers. We may find that the technology/performace of the raw driver(s) in the system may be an "8" out of 10 on current caliper of performance for their driver type. We may find that the "other stuff" inside the box is a "3" out of ten on today’s scale, with the total "speaker system" performing at a "6.2" on the 10 scale. Applying "never thinking" inside the box may get us to a solid "8" without changing the raw drivers or effecting the esthetics of the speaker. The ability to "revert back to stock" is a viable consideration. So, don’t whack away at things indiscretely, and keep those OEM parts around. Who can predict the future value of a highly collectable example of original vintage audio gear?

We’ve performed a good number of "vintage" audio upgrades. I’ve been asked to "improve the performance" of speakers that, to put it mildly, were not in my Top 10 of desirable speakers. After "doing what we do", I’ve found myself setting between a pair of speakers that I wouldn’t have taken as as gift in their stock form, and actually enjoying the music, reaching for "one more demo cut" to listen to during an extended evaluation session.

Conclusion: The overall design and raw drivers of vintage speakers can be quite good, if you’re willing to just open them up and let them play.