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Recapturing my youth

I grew up in the 70s and 80s and my first pair of speakers were Boston Acoustics A-40s. I always lusted for a pair of the big floor standing models. When I was in HS, my band director had a pair of Snell As with the electronic crossover driven by a Hafler 500. It blew me away and can be credited with starting my journey into audio. 

I have a primary 2-channel system in my main listening room. We’re renovating the family room and it will have a 2-channel system for the TV. I was thinking of getting some classic speakers for the new room and either buy them already restored or fix up some that I get a deal on. I live outside of Boston, so there are lots of resources for both BA and Snell parts and used speakers in the area. Any suggestions about the best way to go about this? Am I likely to be sonically disappointed by well restored speakers from this era? I’m assuming at minimum there will be new foam surrounds and capacitors in my future. I’m thinking about one of the floor standing models from Boston Acoustics or Snell that were shaped like the UN building. LOL. 
Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
128x128spacecadet65
deadhead1000's avatar
deadhead1000
714 posts
 
@tweak1 
" ........are both big and heavy........if they are not properly boxed and palleted, you can be in for a rude awakening"

I assume this description matched your later hook up also? I did the same thing once, yes, big mistake. 
speakermaster
738 posts
 
I would go for a larger snell rather than a large boston acoustics they will sound better and you will need to make sure about the surrounds and possibly caps but remember the snell speakers will have complex crossovers and you may need to use them as is to avoid problems. The drivers and the cabinets in the snells are better as well as the ease of drive for your amplifier they are a higher quality speaker.
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tsugury
251 posts
 
I would suggest listening to whats out there now. Depending on the type of sound you like, you might find a new speaker to fall in love with. IMHO its a pain to find parts, and drivers for speakers not being made or supported any longer. Been there, done that.
spacecadet65's avatar
spacecadet65 OP
58 posts
 
Yeah. I agree. I’ve been looking online for all of the possibilities and it looks like more work than I want to do for an unknown result.
danager's avatar
danager
954 posts
 
Enjoy the Journey. (pun intended... old band, music from the past get it ???)

There are so many great sounding speakers from the past that are so cheap that you can easily afford to try a lot and find the ones that meet both your room and your ears.
I've been able to learn in my own environment about how things sound for the last 5 years for less than the price of a power cord.

Taken a while but I'm finally on the path of what I really want out of a stereo.  Now it's just tweaks to get the most out of what I have.



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