Looking for good quality vintage speakers

Here's also a list of what this local guy is selling...any of these worth calling on?

Vandersteen 2CE Signature speakers. Near Mint. $900.00 pr
Snell Type A original great condition awesome $999.00 PR
McIntosh XR-5 good condition new surrounds $300.00 pr
McIntosh ML-1C very good shape, new surrounds $400.00 pr
McIntosh Ml-1C very good shape, new surrounds* $350.00 pr
McIntosh XR-14 speakers Very good shape $400.00 pr
Genesis Research Model 2 rare new surrounds $200.00 pr
ADS L1230 excellent cond rare $450.00 pr
ADS L710 speakers excellent condition rare $350.00 pr
ADS L690 speakers excellent shape rare $200.00 pr
ADS L570 speakers excellent shape $125.00 pr
ADS L620 excellent shape walnut $200.00 pr
KEF Q15 speakers Mahogany finish near Mint $150.00 pr
Polk Audio SDA-1B excellent condition $400.00 pr
Polk Audio RTA-12 excellent condition $300.00 pr
Polk Audio S-10 mint condition rare $250.00 pr
Polk Audio Monitor 7 mint condition $150.00 pr
B&O RL-140 with stands mint condition a steal $450.00 pr
B&O RL-60 brand new with boxes $200.00 pr
B&O Beovox 5700 mint and THE BEST sounding B&O $500.00 pr
AudioSource b2-50 MKII BEST SUB ever made, period $700.00
Jamo 5 piece high end 5.1 system with powered sub near mint $350.00
Paradigm Monitor 9 v.3 good shape with boxes $350.00 pr
Paradigm PW-2200 near mint black $700.00 pr
Mirage M790 speakers great condition $300.00 pr
Mirage M990 speakers very good condition $350.00 pr
Mirage Frx9 brand new, never used $2400. MSRP $700.00 pr
Canton Karat 300 speakers great shape $300.00 pr
Canton Karat 100 speakers great shape $200.00 pr
Conrad johnson Synthesis LM-310 exceedingly rare, excellent condition $2000.00
Klipsch Chorus II mint condition oiled oak $850.00 pr
Klipsch RF-5 excellent condition black $600.00 pr
Klipsch RF-35 near mint condition black $400.00 pr
Klipsch RS-3 II rear surround speakers black $200.00 pr
Klipsch RC-3 II center speaker black mint $200.00 ea
Klipsch RC-35 center speaker black mint $200.00 ea
Klipsch KSW-12 Powered Subwoofer near mint $250.00 ea
EV s-180 subs 18" nice cabinets $600.00 pr
EV s-500+ speakers great shape $1200.00 pr
Cerwin Vega commercial subs 18" wheeled cabinet$500.00 pr
Bose 901 IV excellent shape walnut $300.00 pr
Bozak Rhapsody last pair ever sold by Bozak $500.00 pr
DCM Time Windows mint, except foam, with boxes $300.00 pr
Fried Model R very rare excellent shape walnut $700.00 pr
PSB Century 800+ excellent shape black $400.00 pr
JBL N38 very good shape $150.00 pr
Rectinear Highboy III near mint lt grilles $400.00 pr
Rectilinear Highboy III for parts $100.00 pr
Mordaunt-Short Pageant II mint Teak sweet $350.00 pr
Braun LS-100 very rare excellent black $500.00 pr
Dynaudio Audience rare version lt oak mint $400.00 pr

**CASEY**

Johnny- You mentioned the "headaches" associated with some older speakers, related to their foam surrounds and I concur completely. Then you suggest speakers with Heil Air motion Tweeters and all the headaches that they provided when the accordian diaphragms in them failed at the folds(very common). Surrounds are much cheaper/easier to find and replace(for most). Happy listening!

Casey, there's some good stuff on that list. But I would start with the Cambridge Ensemble system -- it's good and you can't beat getting it for free. I never heard the Ensemble II, which I believe is a scaled down system with one bass unit instead of two, but the original Ensemble had a very sweet midrange, decent bass and a somewhat soft and rolled-off treble that was perfect for smoothing out the rough edges of cheaper CD players and amps -- which should work well in your situation. Another plus is your placement options will be greater than with a regular box speaker. Yet another plus is you'll be able to get away with cheap speaker wire by the spool and any decent $10 interconnect between your CD player and amp.

Now you can save your money for a few years and enjoy quality music while slowly upgrading. I think the best upgrade path for you would be to look into a new integrated amp when your budget allows -- something in the $500 or less range from Cambridge Audio, NAD or Rotel would be a good start. Then look into a good CD or universal DVD player, which are going very cheap these days, around $200-$400 and much less than that on the used market. And finally, a nice set of speakers, also in the $500 range.

With a more powerful and higher-res integrated amp, you'll hear an improvement in bass grip and midrange focus with the Cambridge speakers, especially if they have a passive (non-powered) bass unit, which I suspect they do.

The new CD or DVD player will enhance the resolution even more.

Finally, when you add the new speakers, the whole system will take a huge leap forward.

If you upgrade the speakers now, you won't hear what they're fully capable of. If you upgrade the disc player now, the amp you have probably won't let you hear an improvement. But if you follow the amp-CD-speakers path, you'll be in nice shape and you'll enjoy every improvement along the way.

How about a new "vintage" speaker? Might try the Cambridge Soundworks Model 6. Acoustic suspension, retro looks, the last of Henry's 6's. I bought a pair just to have them.