Snell E/III vs. Snell Type D loudspeakers

I own EIII & CV Snells, M's and cc1 center. I did own the type D before I traded them for the CV. The EIII I think are an outstanding value. I originally traded my EIII for the D's and found myself wishing I had my E's back. The D's have a fuller midrange and go deeper, but the EIII is more musical to my ears. So I bought a used pair, made new cabs and modded the xo. I have replaced the caps in the tweeter circuit w/Theta caps(big improvement). Also replaced the sandcast resistors with mills, upgraded a few caps in the woofer circuit. Don't change the inductors. Internal wiring for tweet as well upgraded. The EIII match well with tubes, they really come to life with my diyhi Ella tube amp. The CV just plain rock. Mark

What about the B minors? How do they compare to the other models of this era?

B minor is a very good speaker. The mids are about the same as the CV, but they have a nice 12" side firing woofer in them. Oh so slightly better bass response. Both very dynamic, neutral mids, slightly warm low end. The CV rocks with their duel 8"s. They are both very close. During the mid 90's, Snell had some keepers. Mark

A Snell shoot out...

I have C/Vs and EIIs. I've listened to the others - the various generations and variations of Js, Ks, Es, Ds, B Minors, etc. I think they were all very good speakers. It's interesting, I think, to see the way the design approach changed from Peter Snell to Kevin Voecks. I have a pair of Snell Cis still hanging around, and I have the final C-family C/V. Entirely different approach, entirely different character. Those old Cis are still a pretty nice speaker (I'm selling them if anyone's interested...). Looking at the C models in between the original C and the C/V you can watch the approach shift.

I'm having a difficult time right now with the C/Vs. I just moved and they are not liking the new room I've got them set up in. This has happened before. Without resorting to lots of room treatments, I've been VERY pleased with the results by setting up the C/Vs in a space that is far away from corners, has high ceilings, and essentially no or very little wall behind the listener.

This is space that would probably work for many other speakers, too, which I've also found, but the C/Vs seem to be a little harder for me to set up. The C/V is an exciting speaker dynamically, but it's also very finesseful, all good things in my book, so I'm going to keep trying to make them work. Could just be me...

The D, C, and B are all very nice speakers. The C/Vs and Bs have that great low end. Lots of very good quality oomph. The Js and Es have nice LF impact and texture, but aren't as extended. But of all these speakers, I may actually say I like the Ds best. I say this simply because in my experience they come close the the overall impact of the C/Vs but they do the best disappearing act for me of any of these speakers. Plus, they're a little less imposing and less costly.

- SJ

I have recently aquired a mint pair of CV. They obviously were rarely if ever played. At first the bass was incredibly boomy and ill defined. Now the bass is somewhat shy in my room after 'breakin'. I have done the following. The tweeter level control and fuse have been bi-passed. To bring up the bass level. The rear port has been reduced in diameter and the empty space at the bottom filled with poly/fiberglass wool. I also removed that stick on foam from the front. Have treated the mid/tweet with my own method of tuning with weather strip foam. The CV is exremely low in coloration, plays loud/dynamic and clear, has a very open soudstage. The midbass and lower mids i do find to be a bit recessed. I am using ss amp-tube pre combo. All my tweaks are completely reversible to preserve resale value. I think you could spend 8k retail today and have no better a speaker than the CV.