KEEP THEM! I bought a pair cheap in '92 and they still sound as good or better than many of today's sub-$3K speakers. They have been my 'reference' speaker through last year's entire system upgrade, resolving differences in cables and electronics (and eventually being replaced by Thiel 2.3). I compared them to Boston Acoustic's current top-of-the-line VR-M90 @ $2700 and they sounded identical and gave a more engaging presentation to boot. (and also to various B&W, Thiel, Paradigm etc and as a minimum they were never embarrassed)
They have a near-ideal frequency balance to me, excellent HF dispersion, a very detailed midrange, very good efficiency (91dB) that can play loud too, and the huge baffle provides something of a 'canvas' for broad and reasonably precise lateral imaging. Negatives are bogus cable connections, thumpy acoustic suspension bass, they don't 'disappear' either sonically or aesthetically the way modern narrow speakers do.
These were Andy Petite's first design after he left Advent to start Boston Acoustics in 1980, and addressed his concerns of room/spkr interface (hence their shape) and weren't limited by Advent's adherence to 2-way. They cost $750/pr in '81 and were later joined by the A400 (dual 8" woofers vs 1 10") and the more popular A150, A100, etc.
They want to be near or against a back wall for best bass response (at some expense of imaging). If you like what you hear, 4 things will improve them markedly. 1) check the woofer cones - if they're the originals the surround will have rotted out by now. Boston still manufactures new woofers for the model at $120/pr and are will restore proper bass; 2) as they're tall and shallow, installing spikes make a big difference in keeping the bass from rocking the speaker back and forth blurring the imaging; 3) upgrade the electrolytic caps in the crossover to wonder caps or the equivalent for overall smoother sound; 4) replace the mid and tweeter 1A fuses with 20A so their wiring isn't bottlenecked by a hair-width wire.
I won't say these give competition to the likes of a Maggie 3.6 (duh), but for free they'll likely surprise you by perhaps sounding better than what you're currently listening to (esp after proper setup). Despite my having become addicted to my Thiels, I can't yet part with these speakers having sold all my other old equipment.
They have a near-ideal frequency balance to me, excellent HF dispersion, a very detailed midrange, very good efficiency (91dB) that can play loud too, and the huge baffle provides something of a 'canvas' for broad and reasonably precise lateral imaging. Negatives are bogus cable connections, thumpy acoustic suspension bass, they don't 'disappear' either sonically or aesthetically the way modern narrow speakers do.
These were Andy Petite's first design after he left Advent to start Boston Acoustics in 1980, and addressed his concerns of room/spkr interface (hence their shape) and weren't limited by Advent's adherence to 2-way. They cost $750/pr in '81 and were later joined by the A400 (dual 8" woofers vs 1 10") and the more popular A150, A100, etc.
They want to be near or against a back wall for best bass response (at some expense of imaging). If you like what you hear, 4 things will improve them markedly. 1) check the woofer cones - if they're the originals the surround will have rotted out by now. Boston still manufactures new woofers for the model at $120/pr and are will restore proper bass; 2) as they're tall and shallow, installing spikes make a big difference in keeping the bass from rocking the speaker back and forth blurring the imaging; 3) upgrade the electrolytic caps in the crossover to wonder caps or the equivalent for overall smoother sound; 4) replace the mid and tweeter 1A fuses with 20A so their wiring isn't bottlenecked by a hair-width wire.
I won't say these give competition to the likes of a Maggie 3.6 (duh), but for free they'll likely surprise you by perhaps sounding better than what you're currently listening to (esp after proper setup). Despite my having become addicted to my Thiels, I can't yet part with these speakers having sold all my other old equipment.