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Searching for the ideal vintage bookshelf speakers.

Greetings Gentlemen. I am looking for the ideal pair of vintage bookshelf speakers. My "listening room" doubles as library and design studio. It is approximately 12 x 30 x 8 feet with wood floors, one small rug, several wooden cases lining the walls, and no drapes.

The speakers will sit horizontally atop two bookcases which are against one of the 12-foot wide walls. Maximum speaker dimensions: 31h x 16w x 12d inches. I will not be buying a subwoofer, so I want speakers that can deliver the broadest and clearest dynamic range possible.

My preference is for sealed box or front vented three-way speakers. I have selected the following prospects: Altec 874A Segovia, Acoustic Research 11, Harbeth Super HL5, KLH Model 5, Rogers Export Monitor, Allison Four and Spendor SP-1.

If you have direct experience with these speakers, I would highly value your thoughts regarding 1) quality of cabinet construction 2) clarity and naturalness of sound 3) warmth vs brightness of tones 4) open vs tight sonic image 5) listener fatigue value and 6) speaker preference for tube or solid state amplification.

I listen to a wide variety of music: medieval, renaissance, swing, beebop, blues, Scandinavian folk, Celtic, organ, opera and orchestral, and a good helping of classic rock.

Many thanks for your ideas. Best wishes.
unclechoppy
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,254 posts
 
For the record, why limit yourself to  "vintage" bookshelves ?
Is this a nostalgia wish? If so, fine, but...and it is a BIG  "but"...

"Vintage" in speakers is not "vintage" in wine. Without prejuduce to avoiding the issues of replacing unavoidable deteriorating speaker surrounds, caps etc., as old speakers age,  today's bookshelves speaker technology and build quality  and their resulting audio performance will smoke the "vintage" fare.


Add  to this that many of the old stuff had unique and purposefully exaggerated sonic signatures e.g JBL L-100s with their spiked treble and bass for 60s pop and 70s Geezer Classic Rock fare. They excelled in college dorm berry and Maui Wowee parties but sucked at Jazz, classical, etc. ( I had 'em along after a transient parade of EPIs, Acoustic Research, ADVENTS, DYNACOS , CAMBERs, and others , and conversely the classic British ROGERS BBC monitor and its clones (a la HARBETH) with their flat-line frequency response with a very rapid bass dropoff simply sucked out at rock but sounded just fine for polite Classical and "polite" light FM. The latter were also much more sensitive to their matched electronics (ergo quality build British ....) to permit them to perform at their max. 

Your road to Oz for "vintage" kit is largely just pick-one-of-em IMO, especially if you are running them with matched vintage gear, subject to the notes of caution above. 
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 
If you have direct experience with these speakers, I would highly value your thoughts

Yeah, about 40 years of experience with my first pair of speakers being KLH 17’s.

I agree 100% with akg_ca’s post above. Why vintage speakers? Of all the components from the so called golden age of HiFi in the 70’s, speakers by far have come along the farthest. A vintage speaker is the last component I would want in my current system. Besides you haven’t told us what amp you have and vintage speakers, especially sealed ones, were fairly inefficient back in the day. You will find far better sound looking at todays offerings.

But if this is nostalgia or styling thing, then you may want to look at the some of the DIY kits being offered with modern drivers based on classics from yesteryear like the Dynaco A25. Good luck.

I love the above vintage wine analogy!

akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,254 posts
 
My final chirp and navel-gazing the lint in my navel as I ponder this thread

todays speakers simply smoke (emphasis added ) the "vintage " (ergo "old") speakers in both component / build quality and resulting audio performance ... Full stop.

Why?

Simple.... lived that era in college. Let's not forget that the bookshelf speaker revolution started in the 70s with the intro first by the AR / ADVENT / EPI /DYNACO  fads was a new wave about making cheaply made transportable speakers, mated to cheap receivers and cheap turntables to satisfy the tsunami of a new era of rock music fans eager provided by the baby boomers trundling off to college in the era of emerging beer-soaked and pot-infused party dorm arenas.

The operative word - CHEAPLY made for the masses...cheap speaker drivers, cheap - dare I also say crappy -- crossovers and cheap overall build quality - again full stop.

Contrast that with today's brands with their quantum leap improvements in drivers, crossovers, caps, cabinet bracing and overall build quality. The degree of current audio performance improvement in comparison is seismic - not even close.

The one common theme in any of today's top performers (and you don't  have to go to thin air levels to get that PRaT .. Pace, Ryhtem and Timing) is the MIDRANGE .... Cuz that where most of your audio spectrum lies.

For example

Why you want top-shelf midrange performance is emphasized in a REGA speaker review link below (specifically commenting on its midrange/upper bass driver) that sums it up nicely....

"....Immediate impressions are a clear and transparent portrayal with very high detail retrieval, fast and controlled transient response, and superb musical timing, both in articulating rhythms and tempi, and in placing instruments within the temporal flow and context of the performance. The RR125 is an outstanding mid/bass driver, sonically and musically right in line with the midrange performance of Rega’s amplifiers and phono cartridges. Get the midrange right and everything else will fall into place. Get it wrong, and all the king’s horses… "

your current speaker choices are VERY many depending on your wallet and synergies with the rest of your system and also highly dependent on the strengths and warts of your listening environment  ......

Sampler in the "affordable" range:

REGA
PROAC
JMR (Jean Marie Renaud)
PMS
ATC
Audio Physic
ELAC
TOTEM

For example here is a budget speaker Review on a unit that is that are designed to be either put onto shelves and close to the back-wall 

REGA R1s / RS1s (...now the new improved model RX1s...)

http://www.stereotimes.com/speak121305.shtml

"....The Rega R1 becomes my new budget reference speaker. In addition of its ability to get the fundamentals of music right, it adds clarity and resolution, and an ability to lay out a vivid and coherent 3-dimensional stereo image. In small room applications, what more could you want?..."

high recommended ... I have them in my office system and as surrounds in my HT system.

FWIW....
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