Snell AIIIi - Replace or keep?

Glad it worked out. As Pryso mentioned...near wall placement is fine with the Snells.

I lusted for a pair of those many years ago. Without internet, in those days...finding used pairs, was not an easy task...if at all.

Dave

"The guy interested in mine said his drivers fried and snell wouldn't do the repair on his earlier Type A III. "

He is wrong! The only thing that is not available for the typeAIII is the tweeter or mid-range (cannot remember which one) but it be substituted with the "i" (improved) version.

Mainer,

Glad you came around to the right decision. I'm pleased with the fast & large response you received. The AIIIi's are older, but they are tough to beat. I doubt you could find a replacement that meets the smaller size need and still have something that sounds acceptable.

I have two pair of Type A's...an AI (actually a late model AI that equals the AII, per Mark at Snell) & a pair of AIII's. Snell will rebuild the woofers on any A or replace the smaller drivers if you need to. The bite here is that Snell is charging ALOT for the woofer rebuild...a stunning amount actually. I'll be having Tri-State Loudspeaker in Pennsylvania do my AIII woofers. Redoing the foams is something like $40, reconing & foams is less than $150, if memory serves. TriState has been highly recommended to me, though no doubt there are other good shops.

I know the specific midrange model numbers if you ever need them. The early A's had a Philips/Norelco driver. The AIII & AIIIi had a SEAS driver. Neither driver is commercially available, but they can be found in the aftermarket. I haven't nailed the tweeter's model numbers yet..if anyone knows please post or email me.

Vjay is right...you can upgrade components all you want up front & the Snells will step right up...they won't be the weak link. I find this a great advantage as they are sort of a one-size fits all speaker, within the realm of 86dB sensitivity. The speakers themselves don't cost alot(my AIII's ran me $350 & need the woofers done, the AI/AII's ran me $550 with fresh woofers) & the money you would have spent on speakers can be invested in front-end components...one of the best deals going. If you can afford 12-18 inches from the wall that's plenty to let them sing. Toe them in slightly and they'll dissapear. I set them up on a equilateral triangle(by sound alone until I measured the distances & they are all equal within a half inch). A tube pre & ample SS power is a good combo to drive them. Some say they are ugly...I've never thought so...form follows function...they are a loudspeaker after all. If they need to look like they do sound right it's OK by me. Speakers that look great, but sound medoicre are pretty useless.

Hold on to them, you won't be in the apartment forever. If/when you want to upgrade speakers then upgrade the A's wiring, crossover caps..etc. If you ever do want to replace them email me first & then listen to the new speakers for a while before actually getting rid of the Snells. Better to try new speakers and dump them than to dump the Snells and wish you had them back.

Thanks again for everyone's input. I am definitely keeping them. Fishboat - I may contact you in the future should the need arise. I think you are 100% right about keeping them and waiting to find another pair - I kind of thought all speakers I could get used for around $1000 would be more or less the same, but I think I was wrong about that.

Mainer,

There's lots of options used at $1000...the question is what were they going for when new(it gives you some indication, but not all) & how well were they thought of at the time , or now. I think you've found out how they were regarded then & now.

New the AIIIi's ran around $5300 more or less. Using the CPI and 1985(?) as a reference $5300 would be $10,000 today. Entertaining to think about at least.