Searching for the ideal vintage bookshelf speakers.

unclechoppy, a few thoughts based upon some decades of experience.

First, the term "bookshelf speaker" has an unfortunate evolution.  It is true it connotes speakers of a size and weight that could fit and be supported by a bookshelf.  But very few of them sounded as good there as compared to placement on stands and out away from the walls.  Your 4th point includes imaging and only a few speakers have been designed to image well close to a wall and surrounded by other objects on bookshelves.

Second, with your appreciation of "vintage audio", understand that some repair/updating will be likely.  Many woofers and some mid-range drivers were built with foam surrounds which may not survive even 20 years.  Fortunately surrounds can be replaced.  Crossovers will likely include parts which benefit from upgrading, particularly capacitors.  A number of "vintage" speakers included tone switches with two to five positions.  Those too may require replacement.  Cosmetics are a personal choice but finding 30 year old speakers with good finish on the cabinets and speaker cloth which is not soiled or ripped may not be easy.  Of course they can be restored too.

Third, I've never owned any of the speakers you listed, though I have heard some specifically and others in similar models.  From my experiences I can recommend two choices if you want to pursue this.  The Dynaco A-25 (or rare A-25XL) if deep bass is not too important, and the Large Advent if bass is important.  The A-25 can be driven by smaller amps (20 - 60 wpc) and sound good with either tube or SS of reasonable quality.  The Advent will need more power (50 - 200 wpc).  I've never heard those driven by tubes but something with KT-88, 6550, or the new KT-150 may be fine.  Also, both are 2-way systems, thus easier to restore.

Lastly, the danger in recommending any old/used component is it will depend on what you can find in your price range.  I could suggest you get the Blast-off X 1000 but while looking for that you might miss the QRD which would be just as good or better.  Therefore, having a list of candidates rather than one specific model will be best.  And allow some $ out of your budget for restorations mentioned above, just like that vintage auto.

Good luck, and let us know what you find.

Your requested specifics on Spendor SP1:

1.  Thin walls but solid.  Fine workmanship.  Mine still look great.
2.  Extremely natural realistic presentation.  Vocals are marvelous.
3.  No brightness.  Leans towards warm, musical with sufficient detail.
4.  Wide open soundstage - however you can pinpoint specific instruments in small combos, etc.
5.  No listener fatigue.  I listen for hours to all types is music.
6.  I always used a SS amp.  Have heard they work well with tubes.

Hope this helps

A detailed audiophile technical specifications of Spendor SP1:

yashu129 posts03-08-2016 12:49pmYour requested specifics on Spendor SP1:

1.  Thin walls but solid.  Fine workmanship.  Mine still look great.
2.  Extremely natural realistic presentation.  Vocals are marvelous.
3.  No brightness.  Leans towards warm, musical with sufficient detail.
4.  Wide open soundstage - however you can pinpoint specific instruments in small combos, etc.
5.  No listener fatigue.  I listen for hours to all types is music.
6.  I always used a SS amp.  Have heard they work well with tubes.

Unclechoppy,

There is a certain satisfaction and appreciation owning vintage equipment.  Of the speaker choices you've listed, I have owned the AR-10tt; it used the same components as the AR-11 but also included adjustments for bass along with adjustments for midrange and treble the 11 had.  They were excellent sounding and am sure they still would be today if in restored condition. They had the classic New England or East coast presentation of smooth natural sound.  Very easy and enjoyable listening, with a wide dispersion, and nice clean simple looks.  I can't comment on their imaging since when I owned them, imaging wasn't talked about as much(late seventies), but I'm sure the 11's would perform well.  You might also want to consider the AR-LST or AR-LST-2.  When I first listened to the LST it was the finest sounding speaker I had ever heard, but that was some 40 years ago.  They don't come up for sale very often, and when they do, they're normally expensive, and most likely need a lot of work.  Plus they're heavy-ninety and sixty pounds.  The AR-11's are probably over fifty pounds so your bookshelves will need to be very sturdy for these speakers.   We are not talking about vintage acoustic windup victrolas here.  These were very well designed and made loudspeakers.  I wish I still had my AR-10tt's.  Best of luck in your vintage search.

I'm surprised you have the Altec 874A Segovia on your list. It's fairly obscure, but it's also the only one I have direct experience with, though I heard the AR3a plenty back in the day as well.

I bought my first stereo in 1972. It was an Altec package deal--the 911A compact, which had a nice Altec receiver with the Garrard SL95B turntable set into the top, outfitted with a Shure M93E cartridge. The speakers were *supposed* to be the 8" 2-way Altec 887A Capri, but the sales person wrote down 874A instead on my sales ticket. 

I got the whole package for $419. The Segovias were supposed to be $560/pair. I flipped.

So I got to enjoy them for a couple of weeks before she found out her mistake (I thought it might have been a closeout bundle) and asked for them back. I followed my conscience and brought 'em back in exchange for the Capris.

While I had'em, however, at the time, to those 19-yr-old ears, and without benefit of bookshelves *or* speaker stands, they sounded really good to me--effortless, with quality bass and a pretty linear and dynamic presentation.

I consider them Altec's answer to the JBL L100, but I consider them better in general, and for your situation in particular. The midrange is actually an Altec full-range speaker, which enables it to cover a large part of the frequency range without strain. The 12" woofer has a 17-lb. magnetic structure and is in a sealed cabinet, so there's no placement problem. The tweeter is a textile dome. 

In spite of the sealed enclosure, the speakers were easy to drive and the bass was strong but not overpowering, and tight. They were also pretty efficient with a 4-ohm impedance besides, which opens up more wattage from the amp if it has the durrent delivery to allow the amp to do so.

I could see the Segovias for a match for your requirements as well. Bear in mind that the woofer has a foam surround, so either you find a pair that's been recently refoamed, or you'll have to do that (about every 10-20 years). It's not that hard, and most speaker reconing services could do it as well (I think).