Calling All "Vintage" Speaker Owners

[Skylab]

Those were the speakers I grew up with in a way, in that they were my Dads stereo in the 70's and early 80's, driven by Dyna tube gear and a Dual TT with Shure cartridge. That was actually a very sweet sounding rig.

 

[9pintube]

 
 
Finally found my pictures!!
 
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Sorry no photo, but in my 2nd system I still use my REVOX "Symbol B" Floor Standers.   1982 model..........  1 Soft Dome tweeter, 1 Soft Dome Mid range (think Dyna- Audio) 1- 13" Paper cone with rubber/pvc surrounds + 1- 13" Passive Radiator....... Yep 13'' Bass Drivers remember where Revox are made......   They stand about 46" tall x 16" at the bottom and taper after the Bass units and slim down to 12'' x 10"  (Think early Wilson watt puppies) but the cabinet is one piece...weight 125lbs ea.     Killer speakers!    They were 1800 bucks each in 1982......beautiful walnut cabinets... Don't make speakers like these anymore........I got to get a photo of them for you guys!

 

 

[mythless]

Being an official owner of a pair of 901 series IV, they're pretty good for what they were designed to be.  From what I've read about them Dr. Amar was quite spot on when he wanted to design a speaker to give a "live" presentation.  It's very pleasant to listen too, excellent when playing some celtic women.  Accurate sounding?  No, but innovative and highly creative in their design.  It may not be for everyone, but that goes with lots of speakers.
 
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I am old enough to have owned a Dual TT and Shure cartridges. The speakers we had in the early 1970s were AR bookshelf speakers. Others that I recall were Cerwin-Vega, and of course, the large Advents.
 
I remember seeing the first pair of Bost 901s even way back then. The guy who owned them in my fraternity house thought he was hot stuff. I guess we thought he was hot stuff too. LOL. No one had ever heard of Bose, and they were so different looking. Hard to believe they have been around so long - and THEY STILL MAKE THEM (Cost, $1,398.85), I just checked. Ahhhh!
 


 

 

 

[Skylab]

Well, I picked up my Pioneer HPM-100's yesterday.  Overall very nice condition for a CL buy at $240.  Drivers are perfect.  One cabinet has a major corner ding on the bottom but where they are in my room you can't see it at all.  I did the cabinets up with Old English wood scratch remover, and I think they look nice.
 

 
These are serious speakers.  It's amazing how heavy they are! I didn't expect them to sound nearly as good as they do. I was very pleasantly surprised. Imaging was very good, tonality was good, and they were even reasonably clean sounding.  And they just seem RIGHT for the vintage rig

 

[Steve Eddy]

 
Cool beans, Rob!
 
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[Adda]

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Well, I picked up my Pioneer HPM-100's yesterday.  Overall very nice condition for a CL buy at $240.  Drivers are perfect.  One cabinet has a major corner ding on the bottom but where they are in my room you can't see it at all.  I did the cabinets up with Old English wood scratch remover, and I think they look nice.

Oh yes, another pair of great looking vintage speakers, congrats!
I'm feeling the urge to seek out a pair of vintage Pioneers as well, but rebuilding my Gamma's is probably a better idea.

 

[Skylab]

Thanks guys. There is just something more harmonious about having these in my vintage rig man cave than the stand mounted B&W monitors I was using

 

[Steve Eddy]

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Thanks guys. There is just something more harmonious about having these in my vintage rig man cave than the stand mounted B&W monitors I was using

Oh hell yeah. Those B&W's were throwing your vintage chi all out of whack.
 
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[Adda]

But it is true isn't it, vintage speakers just sound more dynamic, new speakers just lack personality and complexity, maybe I'm just used to my tweeters.
I can recommend that anyone who is in to vintage audio, should try a pair of good vintage ribbon tweeters, along with a mosfet amp, that is just a mind blowing combination.

 

[Steve Eddy]

 
Personally, I think the most dramatic shift was when they made the big shift from light, efficient paper cone drivers to heavy, inefficient plastic cone drivers.
 
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[Steve Eddy]

 
So Rob, now all you have to do to achieve full vintage Nirvana, is get yourself a pair of these!

 

 
Actually in spite of the smiley, I'm quite serious.
 
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[Skylab]

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So Rob, now all you have to do to achieve full vintage Nirvana, is get yourself a pair of these!

 

 
Actually in spite of the smiley, I'm quite serious.
 
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Funny you should say that - I was seriously considering a pair!  Those are SE-50's, yes?  I for sure need a pair of vintage headphones.

 
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But it is true isn't it, vintage speakers just sound more dynamic, new speakers just lack personality and complexity, maybe I'm just used to my tweeters.
I can recommend that anyone who is in to vintage audio, should try a pair of good vintage ribbon tweeters, along with a mosfet amp, that is just a mind blowing combination.

There is no doubt that these have a sound that is very appealing, and it does have a kind of sound that I think was unique to that era of high-end speaker...maybe it is the paper + ribbon drivers...not sure...but me likey!

 

[Steve Eddy]

 
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Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Funny you should say that - I was seriously considering a pair!  Those are SE-50's, yes?  I for sure need a pair of vintage headphones.

 
Yup!
 
Paper cones for the bottom end and a horn loaded driver for the highs.
 
Grew up with a pair of those. My father brought them back with him from a tour in Korea back in '71.
 
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[Adda]

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There is no doubt that these have a sound that is very appealing, and it does have a kind of sound that I think was unique to that era of high-end speaker...maybe it is the paper + ribbon drivers...not sure...but me likey!

You might want to get those speakers elevated off the floor, concrete blocks are ideal for this, it should improve the bass a lot, at least it did with my speakers, I don't see why it would be different with yours.

 

[Skylab]

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You might want to get those speakers elevated off the floor, concrete blocks are ideal for this, it should improve the bass a lot, at least it did with my speakers, I don't see why it would be different with yours.

No doubt, that needs doing, I just hadn't decided how to do it yet.  Concrete blocks are a no-go - has to look better than that. So I have to figure out what to use.