Calling All "Vintage" Speaker Owners
Jun 8, 2013 at 10:09 AM Post #736 of 1,332
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Wow, been away for a couple of days and great finds popping up everywhere lol. Well, I do have a good excuse though. Just brought home a new baby boy. At 38 I thought I was done, so now I'm definitely done.
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TheAnalogman those are some great looking bookshelves, and Skylab those look absolutely stunning!! Definitely a big thumbs up on those. Congrats all!!
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Thanks moodyrn. And congrats concerning your boy!
 
Jun 9, 2013 at 9:05 AM Post #737 of 1,332
A note to our UK members, there is a pair of Pioneer HPM-70X for sale on eBay right now. That's a pretty unusual vintage speaker - not sure if its closer to HPM-100 or HPM-60. But I know that many UK folks lament the lack of vintage audio that comes up. According to the listing these are in Blackburn Lancanshire (of the famous Mullard tube factory and the 1,000 holes in the Beatles "Day In The Life"). I've never even heard OF the HPM-70X, much less heard a pair, but both the HPM-60 and HPM-100 are excellent speakers, IMO.
 
Jun 9, 2013 at 12:29 PM Post #740 of 1,332
Yes yes, silly me! 4,000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire. Easy to get confused, as the holes were rather small :wink:
 
Jun 9, 2013 at 5:11 PM Post #741 of 1,332
Thanks everyone for the kinds words of my recent addition.
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When you say that you "Just brought home a new baby boy."

Did you pop out for some vintage speakers and come back with a baby instead? Lol

 
I would be remiss-ed if I didn't admit that my vintage speakers may have a direct correlation to my new arrival. 
Marvin Gaye does sound pretty darn good on my klipsch's.
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Jun 9, 2013 at 9:45 PM Post #742 of 1,332
LOLOL!!!! Nice :wink:
 
Jun 10, 2013 at 2:10 PM Post #743 of 1,332
Ha, very nice Rob! I never realized your S-1010's are so large. Makes me wonder, how does your vintage set stack up to the 800's? I have one system, but I could imagine it being hard to really enjoy a vintage system when you have another, very high end system. I've listened to 800's only once for a couple of hours, but long enough to give me the impression that not very many speakers will come close. 
 
A little bit offtopic, but I'm looking to replace my 12 watt class-a poweramp with something else. What would suit my Tannoy's (Berkeley, 15")? I'm not sure, but I'm getting the feeling that something with a bit more power will suit them better. Not interested in tubes. Not looking to spend a very large sum of money, but would like to buy something that I would keep for a long time. Quad? Or rather something modern?
 
Jun 10, 2013 at 2:54 PM Post #744 of 1,332
Thanks Rik! Yes, the B&W N800's are of course in a totally different league than any of my vintage speakers, you're absolutely right. But the vintage speakers I have all have a very FUN sound, that is sometimes just the ticket. It's a real luxury for me to have three different systems on my house!

I'm not sure if I can offer you any help on amping your big Tannoys. I've never heard good things about Quad SS amps, though. Are you thinking integrated amp?
 
Jun 10, 2013 at 3:26 PM Post #745 of 1,332
Besides my main system I have a second smaller system with some DIY horns and an old Marantz amp. It sees no use at all. I also still have the Tannoy SRM-10b's. I can't get myself to sell them because I really like them, but they don't get used either. Multiple systems don't work for me, I suppose. 
 
I've also read a lot of mixed things about Quads... but also that many people pair them with older Tannoys and have good results. 
 
 
Not really looking for an integrated as I like my preamp a lot and use its MC input for my turntable. I'm starting to settle at a speaker rig that is meant for long term. Besides recently swapping the 10" Tannoys for the 15" bigger brothers, I haven't changed anything in over four years. I figure if I get the right poweramp, I'll be done for a decade or so. 
 
Jun 10, 2013 at 9:12 PM Post #746 of 1,332
My SX-1980 is back from the shop and good as new - partially recapped, a few new bits here and there, and back up to spec!
Anyways, I have some testing that I've been putting off. Not anymore.

Here's what I think. The HPM 100's have a distinct signature that is a bit more different from the HPM 150's than I was hoping - still plenty of bass, slightly higher distortion though... Identical mid range sound, slight decrease in very high freq performance that has the most effect on sound signature. They were good to listen too, but I think there are other vintage speakers out there in the same price range that might be better for me. I noticed that the HPM 100's seemed slightly directional, and sounded most different based on where I was in the room and how I faced them. That makes me think they might have a "sweet spot" from which to listen to them. Maybe in a foam room somewhere someone can figure that out...
 
The Sansui SP-5500x speakers are still very good all around. Slightly lower distortion than the HPM 100's and quite a bit more clear, with better resolution into the deep bass frequencies. Still planning on keeping those things around.
 
The McIntosh speakers stole the show today. Both the XR-16 and XR-7 have less distortion (more clarity) than the HPM-100 and SP-5500x speakers. They were so clear, I felt like I could hear the singer's teeth chattering and lips closing. Despite being close sizes, the XR-7 (the larger one) sounds much bigger. No surprise there - the XR7 has something like 2x as many active drivers, and a passive one to boot (and weighs 125 lbs/per). There is a bit of phase interference between the active woofers and passive radiator that makes great deep bass imaging, but you have to be across the room before the dephasage evens out. On the other hand, these speakers seem to attenuate less. I go across the house and I still get clear, consistent sound, at a higher level and quality then I expected. The XR-7 sounds very similar to the HPM-150's, but is just a very little bit less boomy. About even in clarity and accuracy. Very close in high frequencies. 
You might be wondering, "What does that MQ 102 equalizer do?" A lot apparently. Looking at the power meters, when the bass kicks it, it adds  3-20 db, or 2x-10x the power compared to a channel without the equalizer. Sounds good too.
 
The XR-16 is great for music and fantastically clear. It is slightly thinner in the bass range than the XR-7 (with the mq 102 equalizer), but slightly better in the medium/midrange clarity and imaging. Interestingly enough, I can equalize the xr-16 to have almost the same bass response as the XR-7's, but not quite. I think that adding a satellite woofer would make it a better "all around" speaker. 
 
Anyways, I'm going to put these speakers all away (hopefully) before my back craps out.
 
Jun 10, 2013 at 10:13 PM Post #747 of 1,332
Very cool, Phoenix!!! That's a nice looking wall of sound :D
 
Jun 11, 2013 at 12:06 AM Post #749 of 1,332
Haha, here's the story. My wife and I have an agreement that I can have 2 pairs of speakers at a time with a few transients here and there. Since the 1980 was in the shop, I have a few more than normal that I've picked up. Sometime you just gotta act when you see something and she understands that. She actually likes the 1980 since it has (prettymuch) stopped me from looking for a 'better' receiver. I still end up bringing one home every now and again, but the -1980 has never been at risk.
I fix these things/get them as good as they're going to get -new foam, minor cabinet repair, deoxit, track down correct replacements any missing/damaged parts, full driver testing, etc. The HPM 150's took months to complete. Really rare or exceptional speakers can take forever to get complete, but it's a hobby regardless and the search is half the fun. Sometimes I just pick up pairs I know will be fun and worth fixing, even if I already know the sound won't be what I'm looking for (JBL L100's I'm looking at you).
Anyways, then I put them head to head and see what I like best. The losers might be very good, but they still get sold/given away. I've been getting some of my friends in to vintage audio so I have people to give things to, but the rest filter out through other sites we all know.
 

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