AR3a's with micro acoustic tweeters circa 1972
Recommendations for Vintage Speakers
I’m currently looking to put together a vintage system and am wondering what a good pair of full range, floor standing speakers would be. They would be powered by a Pioneer SX-1250. I listen to a very wide range of music, a lot of live Grateful Dead, Classic Rock, Metal, But also enjoy Jazz and even a little Big Band music once in a while. Thanks for your help!
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- 90 posts total
From your listening tastes, it appears you want a combination of "Punch" and delicacy. RnR bass, with clean extended treble. Not an easy accomplishment using vintage speakers. A budget was not mentioned. I would recommend: Larger floorstanding ADS JBL L110, L112. L150, L220, L300 Polk 10B AR 11, AR12, AR91, AR92, AR58s ("s" has a dome midrange, other versions do not). I would stay away from AR3/3/5 series as you will likely burn out the tweeter when listening at realistic levels. Altec VOT or derivative (if you have the space) |
Hi , my .02 . Hi currently have Klipsch Heresy II’s and JBL 4312a’s . Both are between Lousy and Mediocre. I bought them on a Vintage kick , like you’re doing . The Jbl ‘s Sound pretty decent with about a hundred tube watts per Chanel . One member suggest the Klipsch KLF’s , nice speakers if you brace the cabinets and improve the crossovers . A pair of Tannoys would be fabulous, but expensive. My suggestion would be Bob Crites Cornscalla’s . Large ported cabinet , 15” woofer , and a retro design with a makeover. You could have them in a dark walnut stain with dark blue grill covers . Or do them in a light maple with tan retro tweed cloth grills , or no grills . They would match up well with your amp . BTW , I tried a Sansui 7070, 9090, and a Modwright KWI 200 with both the Heresy’s and the JBL ‘s . My little Klipsch KG 1.5’a sounded sweeter than both ! I recently gave my Marantz 2223 and the KG’s along with a Schiit Bifrost to my son . And the Sansui 7070 and the Heresy’s go to my daughter next month for her new condo . They’re happy , I’m happy . Now I just need to part with the 4312’s and the 26” Sound Anchor stands I had built . Cheers , Mike . |
Haven't read the whole thread, so sorry if this has been suggested already, but how about being inspired by the recommendations of Jeff Day: I should mention that while you can go balls-out-crazy building exotic versions of high-performance Altec's, you can also get great results at affordable prices too. https://jeffsplace.positive-feedback.com/altec-dreams-and-what-sweet-dreams-they-are/ |
- 90 posts total