[r2muchstuff]

No photo tonight.  Worked in yard and planted garden today, then Kentucky Derby to watch and dinner so no time bring out something.
 
I do have a question.  If all/most vintage speakers were crap, what in the $300 - $500 each (mid to late 70's U.S. dollars) price range were worthy?
 
Thanks,
R

 

[SirMarc]

No photo tonight.  Worked in yard and planted garden today, then Kentucky Derby to watch and dinner so no time bring out something.

I do have a question.  If all/most vintage speakers were crap, what in the $300 - $500 each (mid to late 70's U.S. dollars) price range were worthy?

Thanks,
R

Ohm L's

 

[Bob A (SD)]

 

No photo tonight.  Worked in yard and planted garden today, then Kentucky Derby to watch and dinner so no time bring out something.

I do have a question.  If all/most vintage speakers were crap, what in the $300 - $500 each (mid to late 70's U.S. dollars) price range were worthy?

Thanks,
R

Ohm L's

I'm partial to the KLH-6, AR-3a, and Large Advent.
 
The Yamaha NS-500M and JBL L-100 also fit your criteria.

A tad more as they originally retailed for $600 each but the AR LST certainly wasn't crap either.

 

[jnorris]

  I'm partial to the KLH-6, AR-3a, and Large Advent.
 
The Yamaha NS-500M and JBL L-100 also fit your criteria.

A tad more as they originally retailed for $600 each but the AR LST certainly wasn't crap either.

Oooooh, Double Large Advents - one pair on top of the other.  That combination reached LEGENDARY status back in the day!

 

[SpeakerBox]

I have large Advents too.  Utility cabinet version.  Fantastic sound.

 

[jnorris]

You need two pair to make them sing.  I used to sell them, and after hearing about the doubles we opened up another pair and set them up in the showroom.  The transformation was amazing.  The sound became more natural and open, without the wooly bass that the single Advents exhibited.  Those were the days of the magic...

 

[AppleheadMay]

  No photo tonight.  Worked in yard and planted garden today, then Kentucky Derby to watch and dinner so no time bring out something.
 
I do have a question.  If all/most vintage speakers were crap, what in the $300 - $500 each (mid to late 70's U.S. dollars) price range were worthy?
 
Thanks,
R

Ohm L's

  I'm partial to the KLH-6, AR-3a, and Large Advent.
 
The Yamaha NS-500M and JBL L-100 also fit your criteria.

A tad more as they originally retailed for $600 each but the AR LST certainly wasn't crap either.

 
 
Also looking for non crappy speakers but I have a few dilemmas.
 
1) I'm looking for floorstanders. Definitely 3 way or more.
2) I need to be able to drive them with my SX-1250, not an SX-1980
3) I'd like to keep the budget under 2k for a really nice pair.
4) I'm definitely in love with the JBL 250TI but I hate all the controls on the back. I want speakers that just play and don't take me a few years to tone right and still not be sure if I did a good job. So I prefer no controls at all.
5) I love good looks as well, hence the 250TI.
6) Size matters. Preferably not taller than those JBLs.
 
I have a pair of Kappa 7a now but they're in for total revision. Kappas are pretty hungry though.
Some speakers I was thinking of and have been recommended are Yamaha NS-200 or Diatone DS--3000 / DS-5000 / DS-V3000 / DS-V5000.
Any suggestions on the JBL/Infiniy/Yamaha/Diatone speakers I mentioned? 
Open to any and all other suggestions!

 

[PhoenixG]

   
 
Also looking for non crappy speakers but I have a few dilemmas.
 
1) I'm looking for floorstanders. Definitely 3 way or more.
2) I need to be able to drive them with my SX-1250, not an SX-1980
3) I'd like to keep the budget under 2k for a really nice pair.
4) I'm definitely in love with the JBL 250TI but I hate all the controls on the back. I want speakers that just play and don't take me a few years to tone right and still not be sure if I did a good job. So I prefer no controls at all.
5) I love good looks as well, hence the 250TI.
6) Size matters. Preferably not taller than those JBLs.
 
I have a pair of Kappa 7a now but they're in for total revision. Kappas are pretty hungry though.
Some speakers I was thinking of and have been recommended are Yamaha NS-200 or Diatone DS--3000 / DS-5000 / DS-V3000 / DS-V5000.
Any suggestions on the JBL/Infiniy/Yamaha/Diatone speakers I mentioned? 
Open to any and all other suggestions!

If you're open to modern speakers, I like the Infinity primus 363 line. If you want vintage, I'd go klipsch.

 

[SirMarc]

My modern, not too crazy pick would be GoldenEar Triton 7's. I auditioned them and was very impressed. I ultimately decided to stick with my Dahlquist DQ-20's, but nothing I heard even came close to the Tritons for under 1500 bucks...

 

[Mechans1]

I like the Yamaha 'house sound', but don't remember if they needed power or not.  I have a pair in storage somewhere but they need re-foaming of the woofers.  I think they are the 'almost Beryllium' tweeter model.    ?NS -10s? can't remember.
You are right about the Kappas they need a lot of quick power, to sound good.
I have no suggestions, speakers are a very personal preference, and subjective type of thing.  It is really best to hear what you are considering. Other peoples descriptions can be very misleading, not intentional mind you, it is just the way it is.

 

[abby normal]

high-enders might sniff at this, but at my local goodwill store I found a dusty grimy long-neglected pair of MCS 8330 "time aligned" 3-way bass-reflex speakers [12" woofer], and out of curiosity I hooked them up to an amp and played some music through them and found them to be surprisingly neutral, polite even [non-boomy] in the bass and midrange [but bright in the lower treble]. the midrange and tweeter pots were crackly so i cranked the knobs back and forth for about a minute until the crackle disappeared. so for $25 I figured how wrong could it be, so I took them home, cleaned them up, hooked 'em up to my old pioneer sx-636 receiver, and found them to be somewhat bass shy, like they rolled off below about 100 cycles, so I EQ'ed 'em in that range by 7 db to bring the bass back up, and I found that the mids [for some reason they were about 3 db too strong] needed to be cranked back by 3 db on the pad, and the tweeter level had to be at 0 db before it sounded close enough to "right." after that, they sound very dynamic and clear/clean speakers for their purpose, very sensitive [guessing about 93 db @ 1w/m], a 25 watt/channel [rated] receiver will make them sufficiently loud to hear the quiet parts of classical music yet cleanly pump out the dynamic peaks. the bass range, in particular, with EQ, is palpable, with usable lows down into the upper 20s, audible when listening to some pipe organ recordings. on 78 rpm records they bring out the inner voices that are obscured by many other speakers of their vintage [1980]. when playing led zep, john Bonham's drum set became visceral. they don't image beyond the speaker boundaries but within the equilateral triangle instrumental positions have depth and solidity. their tone reminds me of a slightly mellower klipsch.
I am wondering if anybody else here has had favorable experience with this model of speaker?

 

[AppleheadMay]

  If you're open to modern speakers, I like the Infinity primus 363 line. If you want vintage, I'd go klipsch.

My modern, not too crazy pick would be GoldenEar Triton 7's. I auditioned them and was very impressed. I ultimately decided to stick with my Dahlquist DQ-20's, but nothing I heard even came close to the Tritons for under 1500 bucks...

  I like the Yamaha 'house sound', but don't remember if they needed power or not.  I have a pair in storage somewhere but they need re-foaming of the woofers.  I think they are the 'almost Beryllium' tweeter model.    ?NS -10s? can't remember.
You are right about the Kappas they need a lot of quick power, to sound good.
I have no suggestions, speakers are a very personal preference, and subjective type of thing.  It is really best to hear what you are considering. Other peoples descriptions can be very misleading, not intentional mind you, it is just the way it is.

 
If I'd go vintage I'd still consider Yamaha NS-2000 or one of the larger Diatones. That is if they would be better than my Kappa 7s.
But I wonder if going vintage for speakers is such a good idea. 
 
What about  Klipsch Cornwall III? Anyone heard their modern Heritage series?
Their 2k per speaker but that's better than 4k for B&W 804 D3 at 4K per speaker (and without the big woofer) or Yamaha NS-5000 at 6k per speaker (or per pair, the verdict is still not out about that and they will only available from fall 2016). 

 

[AppleheadMay]

By the way, my three receivers are back. Here's what has been done. Remember that when I bought them they were in really nice shape already.
Now my turntable and Infinitys are still in. The Infinitys take longer because I had the Polydomes sent to a specialist in Germany for reskinning.
 
AIWA AX-7600
All tantalum caps replaced
A few necessary electrolyte caps replaced
Lights replaced
Full cleaning and de-oxidizing
Solder inspection
DC offset and bias current calibrated
Full calibration and endurance test on dummy load and reactive strain (6Ohm + 4uF parallel shunted)
Some minor tweaks
 
Pioneer SX-1250
Big power caps replaced (was already done when I got it)
All tantalum caps replaced (15)
A few necessary electrolyte caps replaced
A few necessary transistors replaced
Speaker protection relay replaced
Lights replaced
Full cleaning and de-oxidizing
Solder inspection
DC offset and bias current calibrated
Full calibration and endurance test on dummy load and reactive strain (6Ohm + 4uF parallel shunted)
Some minor tweaks
Wood oiled
 
Sansui 9900
The only tantalum cap in the tuner section replaced
72 electrolyte caps replaced
A few necessary transistors replaced
Lights replaced
Full cleaning and de-oxidizing
Solder inspection
DC offset and bias current calibrated
Full calibration and endurance test on dummy load and reactive strain (6Ohm + 4uF parallel shunted)
Some minor tweaks
Wood oiled
 
I got the bags with all the replaced parts as well. They look as good as new now. sound great with phones too, haven't tried them with speakers yet, waiting for the Infinitys to come back.

 

[SirMarc]

By the way, my three receivers are back. Here's what has been done. Remember that when I bought them they were in really nice shape already.
Now my turntable and Infinitys are still in. The Infinitys take longer because I had the Polydomes sent to a specialist in Germany for reskinning.

AIWA AX-7600
All tantalum caps replaced
A few necessary electrolyte caps replaced
Lights replaced
Full cleaning and de-oxidizing
Solder inspection
DC offset and bias current calibrated
Full calibration and endurance test on dummy load and reactive strain (6Ohm + 4uF parallel shunted)
Some minor tweaks

Pioneer SX-1250
Big power caps replaced (was already done when I got it)
All tantalum caps replaced (15)
A few necessary electrolyte caps replaced
A few necessary transistors replaced
Speaker protection relay replaced
Lights replaced
Full cleaning and de-oxidizing
Solder inspection
DC offset and bias current calibrated
Full calibration and endurance test on dummy load and reactive strain (6Ohm + 4uF parallel shunted)
Some minor tweaks
Wood oiled

Sansui 9900
The only tantalum cap in the tuner section replaced
72 electrolyte caps replaced
A few necessary transistors replaced
Lights replaced
Full cleaning and de-oxidizing
Solder inspection
DC offset and bias current calibrated
Full calibration and endurance test on dummy load and reactive strain (6Ohm + 4uF parallel shunted)
Some minor tweaks
Wood oiled

I got the bags with all the replaced parts as well. They look as good as new now. sound great with phones too, haven't tried them with speakers yet, waiting for the Infinitys to come back.

How do you like the 9090 with your HD650'S?

 

[AppleheadMay]

How do you like the 9090 with your HD650'S?

 
Will have to get back to you on that. I only tried the three amps briefly with an LA-900 when I got home with them.
I have a nasty cold right now so it's a bad time to compare amps and phones, my eardrums feel like I'm lifting off on an airplane.
So remind me in a few weeks when I can hear again.
 
My general opinion of the three amps with phones before I had them serviced was that they were only outperformed by the Zana of all the amps I heard.
That includes the HP4 and GS-X. Not saying the GS-X isn't a top amp in anyway, just too clean and "sharp" (for lack of a better word, a bit to drugged from antibiotics and anti-fever stuff to think a lot right now) for me and not pairing well mith my heaphone preferences.
 
In any case, I dig these vintage receivers, might get me a few more. Just doubting on what speakers i will use with them, something vintage or something new. I want them to match well with my Marantz system as well as with the SX-1250. Looks does something for me as well (the 9090 is the best looking of all my vintage receivers and if I were to mention a few other "sexy" ones it would be the SX-1980 and SX-3900).
Speakers I know that both sound and look good are the B&W 804 D3 for example and they sound wonderful as well, very detailed with the nicest imaging I have heard so far. A shime they only use two small woofers. Other good lookers are NS-2000 and larger Diatones. And the Infinitys of course, I strongly prefer the look of my Kappa 7s to the taller ones in their range or the newer Kappas like the Renaissance or i series. But all that will have to wait until I have my restored Kappas back and can give them a good listen. Before restoration the only thing I noticed was that they sure did rock but might have been a bit underpowerd by the 9090. I guess the 1250 should take care of that.
 
But first things first. I'm looking to sell off some gear as well. Have a bunch of earpads for Fostex and audeze, one of my LA-900s has to go and the little Aiwa as well. It is a great amp and probably understimated but now I have the 9090 and 1250 I don't really have the need for it anymore. And a fantastic Razer Kraken 7.1 ... beats an SR-009 with BHSE any day of the week.