Are vintage speakers really that good?

I might as well chime in to piss and moan over selling my JBL L200 studiomasters years ago. I at one point had the 4311's and really enjoyed them. I then went totally whole hog into the "quad" revolution and bought 4 JBL L200's. Wish to God I had kept a pair of them. Used to love to listen to classic rock on the speakers that a majority of the albums were mastered and mixed on.

Use Martin Logan's now and really enjoy them. But would love to have a pair of those old efficient JBL's to let Mick and the boys help me get my ya-ya's out.

No one has mentioned how fine older Klipschhorns and Lascalas sound when combined with good quality tube amps. I am running Lascalas with a Sophia SET, and am blown away by low brass and mid range clarity with 25 year old speakers. Not that I wouldn't like to have Avantgard Trios and their horn subwoofers, but I cannot justify the additional 60 thousand.

I bought a pair of Dynaco A-25's at the Salvation Army for $5/pair.
1.5" Seas,soft dome tweeter,10" Seas woofer with rubber surround that still looks new.
I removed the drivers to take a look and the sealant around the woofer is still sticky after 35 years!!I could not believe how well braced and stuffed they are!
There were >1,000,000 of these speakers sold.
They are 8ohm and only dip to 7ohm.
I found out through a Dynaco authority they are 'probably' 85-87 dB sensitivity.He said they never did properly measure the sensitivity but a compromised test showed 85-87dB.With no hesitation I can say they give my Thiel 3.5's($2850) a real fight.The A-25's are only rated at a low of 40 htz but sound MUCH deeper with very tight bass.
I've read somewhere they dont image well but in my system they image just fine and vanish once the music starts.
Speaking of Dynaco,their Dynaco and Dynakits ST-70 amp sold > 1,000,000 units also.

Anyone on a tight budget who wants to buy a real classic pair of speakers,check out eBay where they go from $50-$150 or so..check out thrift shops also..

A dear friend of mine who is one of the best speaker guys in the country, looked up to by the likes of Jeff Joseph and Carl Marchisotto, both of whom always praise him, can't tell me enough how special some of the early 1970's Japanese speakers(Sansui, Technics, Pioneer) are that you can find in the trash or at a garage sale.

The very lightweight paper cones, and surround/spider materials and design add up to a speed and clarity that simply astounds him, and he is quite smitten.

That being said, they don't do everything right, of course, and come with some of THE ugliest cabinets, finishes, grills ever. According to my friend, simply replacing their internal wiring and passive components makes one wonder how far we have really come in the past 30 years.

Just a few days ago I unknowingly purchased some JBL L200's for just £70, being only after some more speakers to mix through instead of my Wharfedales. Having now totally stripped one (and established it's model) I can only commend the superd build quality of all the components, esp. the LE85s which are running as if new. Though the cabinets are looking shabby, having been painted and abused by owners unaware of their background, and the LE15B's a bit tired, I am getting on with stripping + rebuilding them. Can anyone offer some advice as to where I may source parts (globally...!), or what power they should be running at or can handle. Advice dearly welcome, if anyone could drop me an e-mail it would be much obliged. Rich rebellingrudeboy@hotmail.com