Are vintage speakers really that good?

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

I just picked up some JBL 4311 that I’m currently selling on audiogon. I have to say that I’m completely surprised at how good they sound. I’m not into vintage audio but would actually keep them if they weren’t in such decent shape – That might sound a little weird, but I have young kids that would destroy the paper-cone drivers of these classic speakers. Because the right and left speakers are mirrored design (Tweeter, Mid and Woofer in the same exact spot on each) I found it hard to place them in the room in order to get the perfect imaging – But finally got it. Also the 4311’s gobble up tons of power and reveal what’s driving them. They seem to be direct and focused – perfect for in-studio use. When you leave the sweet spot you loose the perfect balance – although they still sound very good while walking around. I wouldn’t put them up against “Watt Puppies” or Martin Logins but they easily hold their own against my recently tuned-up Snell EII’s.

I put some decent speaker cables on the them this weekend ( Not just zip cord) and they improve more and found that they had a wider soundstage -- Not as direct and MUCH better balance from side to side. By doing this they surpassed my Snell's in many ways.