Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

I just acquired a pair of well kept, original owner Altec 846A Valencia's. I hooked them up to my system and, due to their old school binding posts, was limited to using a pair of Monster Cables that were showing green flecks of oxidation from languishing in the closet since my college days back in the early 80's. I was absolutely floored by how great they sound! Large/deep soundstage; I am hearing details in LPs and CDs I've never heard before. It was both exhilarating and slightly depressing in the sense that I was blown away by a speaker that was 45+ years old. I'm running them in a primarily Audio Research tube system, but I hope to pair these efficient speakers with a flea powered SET amp one day. Other than an eventual stripping and refinishing, these speakers are good to go and are keepers!

Closdesducs, about ten years ago I reentered the world of compression drivers and horn speakers for the second time with the first having been in the early '70s. Yes, efficiency and quickness are great!

Yes, SETs are in your future and will be very satisfying. But ultimately you will realize that their is a price to pay. Unless you are willing to add compression drivers at the bottom end, you will have to do without deep bass. Even the top end doesn't extend very high.

But have fun. I remember them fondly.

Fun thread. I have to mention Snell Type A or AII. Owned them once, stupidly sold them, and after many other speakers came and went (B&W, ProAC, Spendor) I finally went back. I am a midrange freak and like a full lower mid without the suckout most speakers have. The Type A's are voiced perfectly for me. The midrange is more realistic than anything I have heard. Best of all you can find them used for $500-800/pair, and they dust anything under $7k to my ears. Peter Snell R.I.P.

Peter Snell R.I.P., indeed. The Voecks-designed Snells were good, too; I still have a pair of Type Qs that I bought in 1990 and have kept in mint condition. I use them with a Velodyne subwoofer. Prior to that, I had Mission 770 Freedoms (with the dome tweeter, not the elliptical horn-loaded model), and before that, I had ADS L730s and ADS L520s. These aren't "audiophile" loudspeakers, but they sounded pretty accurate in my listening room, particularly the Snells.

My all time favourite speakers were the old Futon Premiers. Alhough quite large they managed to put at a "you are there" sound with ultra high imaging and proper tonal balance. Tremndous headroom and and band with this speaker had the amazing ability to reproduce a big sound stage and felt at home is all varieties of music. Few people will ever realize how great these units were.