Which epoch are we talking about - Snell, Voecks, Smith, D’Appolito. I go WAY back with my experience with Snell speakers, all the way to a demo of the Type A by Peter Snell. And I’ve lived near, even visited, where they’ve been made (Haverhill and Peabody, MA).
I have never heard the Smith nor D’Appolito designs. Though I visited the Peabody factory as Snell operations we closing to pick up some parts for my C/V. Sad. I was show those very ambitious and expensive D’Appolito designed flagship models.
I have had lots of experience with some of the Snell and Voecks designs. I lived with for a very long time both the Snell-designed Type Ci and Type E II, and the Voecks-designed Type C/V. I arrived at these through listening to other Snell models. I like the Snell-designed speakers best. In fact, I still have access to my brother’s Cis and E IIs that have both been restored to original specifications with help from Steve Flynn of Atomic Hifi and TV.
I didn’t spend much time with the smaller Snell speakers, like the Ks, Js, etc., despite their generally very positive reviews, mostly because I was looking for and liked the full-range speaker options better. There may be some other gems in the later Snell speakers, but into the late 1990s and beyond Snell was evaporating rather quickly. Harder to find speakers and reviews.
The Type A has to be THE Snell speaker, and the later/newer model the better. But they are a commitment. Big, rather complex, possibly a bit fiddly.
Yes, some of the Snell designs live on through Audionote - the Es, Js, Ks. The E I suggest is another classic, and it may be the most popular Snell speaker. I like the E II better than the E III.
The Ci could get you as close to the A without the hassle.
I know at least a few people who really like the Type D, better than the C/V.
Danny Richie at GR Research did a review and upgrade of the C/V. He liked them, and he doesn’t find much to like about most speakers he evaluates, especially with vintage speakers (because most vintage speakers weren't good). A well-engineered speaker, as I suspect most Snell speakers are. If his upgrade does what says it will, it could turn the C/V into a stellar loudspeaker.
I had a love/hate thing with the C/V. I had two different pairs, fairly separated in serial number. The later ones sounded better than the earlier ones. Exciting, dynamic, crazy bass extension, but the bass quality wasn’t quite as good as its quantity. They could also be shouty, which was my biggest issue with them. I like the Ci better, overall.
The thing about the larger Snell speakers is that often you can’t get rid of them. You have trouble even giving them away. As much as they were widely very well regarded, their reputation doesn’t warrant the cost and effort of shipping 200-300 speakers pretty much anywhere. I picked up my second pairs of C/Vs, which were like new in their original boxes, for almost nothing; they were local. So, that means that you might be able to get a lot of speaker for money, and/or get a speaker so cheaply that a Danny Richie upgrade might be more financially viable.
A VERY important note about speakers like the Snells. Every speaker was hand fettled against the reference to match the reference very closely. If anything goes wrong with any part of the speaker, unfortunately you aren’t likely to just replace a part and get back to as-new performance. I’ve been through this now a few times. Any of the 30+ year old speakers are going to need work. Just resurrounding/re-foaming a woofer is unlikely to work. Just replacing a driver isn’t like to work. The Ci and Type A used mass loaded tuned woofers, and the original woofer is long unavailable. Fortunately, there is still support available to get the speakers back to new. The holding company that owns Snell is still providing support through Steve Flynn (who has ties with Snell from very long ago) at Atomic Hifi and TV in Ashland, MA. I took the speakers apart, Steve got me what I needed all match up, I put the speakers back together, all to excellent result. I did try other repair attempt approaches. They didn’t work. The speakers didn’t work. So, I went to Steve and all’s very well new.
Audio today is just simply better across the board. There are few "vintage" audio pieces, especially loudspeakers, that can match what even modestly priced gear can do today. I do think that at least some of the Snell speakers could still show well today if they're working up to spec. It is mostly a thing to do if you really want that vintage thing, and there certainly can be a thing there. It can be fun. And sometimes it can even sound quite good.
