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Post by brubacca on Dec 24, 2018 10:18:16 GMT -5
I've had Paradigm Studio 20v5 and a pair of Dynaudio two way, currently I'm using Tekton Design. My choice would be new Lores. Good luck on your decision. Cheers Would you mind letting me know more about this decision? I really want speakers that are fun to listen to when its time to lay into it a bit. Most of my listening is done a lower levels. I don't mind giving up a bit of refinement as I have old 80s music that is mastered like cheap but fun to listen to (van halen for example) |
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Post by ellisr63 on Dec 24, 2018 10:23:05 GMT -5
I agree...no need to buy new when you can find speakers you like used. Just check to see if they need refoaming or caps replaced as this will cost you a little bit, but still should be a bargain . Now if you are looking at speakers from the 70s...they are now collectors items, and might cost you as much or more than buying a new pair.
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Post by valgolfs on Dec 24, 2018 10:39:58 GMT -5
Brubacca
PM coming
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Post by leonski on Dec 25, 2018 0:15:41 GMT -5
PART of the equation is 'can they be fixed'?
Will Paradigm fix 'em or do you end up with 'aftermaret'?
What about drivers? OEM available or again, 'aftermarket'?
Spekaers never abused will go quite a number of years before needing any kind of 'fix'. Many fixes are DIY in nature, too, like swapping drivers
or even upgrading the crossover with NEW parts. (Can you get the Schematic for the crossover?)
Magnepan will still fix nearly anything they ever made. I had my MG-1 panels (mid/late '70s vintage) redone at the factory and they came back 'good as new'.
And while the MG-1 has not risen to 'classic' status, the original Tympani series IS so regarded and retain value fairly well......all things considered.
They are my 'gold standard' for support of speakers.
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Post by highfihoney2 on Dec 26, 2018 3:08:55 GMT -5
Locally there are some nice floorstanding speakers for sale. Multiple that I have listened to and liked over the years. A couple are soft dome and a couple are Aluminum. Basically there are (2) Paradigm Studio Reference v3 speakers and (2) Dynaudio up for sale. I have listened to and like all 4 (when they were new products). Would you be concerned about spending 500-1,000 on speakers this old? One pair is a Dynaudio Contour series which was an upscale line for them. Or would get something new like the Tekton Lore Be? (Obviously not listened to) As long as the drivers aren't worn out ,or bought at low enough price where I can afford to have every driver rebuilt from the basket up I'm fine with 15 year old speakers ,I have 2 pair of McIntosh XRT-22 line arrays I bought in 1992/93 and they still sound excellent ,however ,I just had the 4 woofers & 2 mids rebuilt using all modern McIntosh components which turned my 25 year old driver's into the new McIntosh long throw drivers for under $400 a pair & I couldn't be happier ,just tonight I closed a deal on a pair of McIntosh line arrays built in 2009 and they still slam below 20hz ,I never buy new speakers as the mark up is 60% to 70% in dealer profit ,if I wait a decade I can afford to try out just about any speaker system j like ,and if I don't like them I can make a 10% profit reselling them ,if they sound good & don't show signs of abuse then your speaker budget will go 5x further vs buying new ,if you don't hear any rubs while moving drivers in & out your most likely in good shape . |
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Post by highfihoney2 on Dec 26, 2018 3:16:02 GMT -5
I agree...no need to buy new when you can find speakers you like used. Just check to see if they need refoaming or caps replaced as this will cost you a little bit, but still should be a bargain . Now if you are looking at speakers from the 70s...they are now collectors items, and might cost you as much or more than buying a new pair. FYI for all members ,we have a world class speaker rebuilder in Michigan called Michigan Sound Reinforcement ,they tear everything down to bare baskets and rebuild for nearly as cheap as refoaming ,they do Kid Rock ,Bob Segar and any act who comes to Michigan ,at $100 for a 15" woofer ,$65 for 12s and $45 for 8s I've always chosen a fresh rebuild vs refoaming they just rebuilt four 12s and two 8s and the wait time was only a month and that's with them ordering all new parts from McIntosh & waiting 2 weeks for the parts to come in,if anyone needs a rebuild let me know : I'll post their contact info . |
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Post by cwmcobra on Dec 26, 2018 7:58:16 GMT -5
Bob Seger and Kid Rock? Must be in the Clarkston area!  Please do post contact information for Michigan Sound Reinforcement. I'm in Michigan and would love to have that info for future reference. Thanks! Chuck |
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Post by leonski on Dec 26, 2018 16:57:06 GMT -5
I agree...no need to buy new when you can find speakers you like used. Just check to see if they need refoaming or caps replaced as this will cost you a little bit, but still should be a bargain . Now if you are looking at speakers from the 70s...they are now collectors items, and might cost you as much or more than buying a new pair. FYI for all members ,we have a world class speaker rebuilder in Michigan called Michigan Sound Reinforcement ,they tear everything down to bare baskets and rebuild for nearly as cheap as refoaming ,they do Kid Rock ,Bob Segar and any act who comes to Michigan ,at $100 for a 15" woofer ,$65 for 12s and $45 for 8s I've always chosen a fresh rebuild vs refoaming they just rebuilt four 12s and two 8s and the wait time was only a month and that's with them ordering all new parts from McIntosh & waiting 2 weeks for the parts to come in,if anyone needs a rebuild let me know : I'll post their contact info . Woofers are one thing. And may be possible to rebuild, even a fried VC, IF you have some information. I'd always rebuild BOTH at the same time..... But can the same be said for mids and tweets? IMO, if the factory can do the work, I"d pay for THAT, Even the compliance of the woofer surround is important and should match OEM......when rebuilding....... |
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Post by jmasterj on Dec 27, 2018 13:22:43 GMT -5
The last pair of speakers I purchased were a pair of thirty-three year old Polk Audio SDA 2's I got them last year they are spotless, and sound absolutely wonderful. They are second only to the thirty year old pair of Polk Audio SDA 1's my emotiva buddy for life "snacker" gifted me this year, they sound even better. I have Tekton Design M-Lores I purchased new, Magnapan MMG's I purchased new, and JBL bookshelf speakers and dual subs I purchased new I like them all but truth be told the old speakers have dominated the listening position since there arrival. Good luck
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Post by leonski on Dec 28, 2018 15:12:59 GMT -5
Speaker design and exection has changed dramatically a couple times in the last few decades.
First was the evolution of the TS parameters and the meaning to speaker design.
Than computer modeling cam along and things really began to change. But of course, the final gate is the guy who puts it all together and 'voices' it.
That being said?
I can think of a few vintage speakers which I'd buy today, price willing and that they wernt' all beat up.
Original Large Advent
KLH9
Magnepan Tympani
Radio Shack Minimus7, the original (to me) 4" 2-way 'in a box'' They take up about the space of 5 or 6 paperbacks on a shelf or tabletop.
AR3a, but that's just ME.
Maybe some QUAD or ACCUSTAT?
Infinity IRS, the BIG ONE. (need new house for speakers)
There are Other choices, in the 'classic' status, none of which are from 70s or 80s Japan.
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Post by knucklehead on Dec 28, 2018 15:44:14 GMT -5
Speaker design and exection has changed dramatically a couple times in the last few decades. First was the evolution of the TS parameters and the meaning to speaker design. Than computer modeling cam along and things really began to change. But of course, the final gate is the guy who puts it all together and 'voices' it. That being said? I can think of a few vintage speakers which I'd buy today, price willing and that they wernt' all beat up. Original Large AdventKLH9 Magnepan Tympani Radio Shack Minimus7, the original (to me) 4" 2-way 'in a box'' They take up about the space of 5 or 6 paperbacks on a shelf or tabletop. AR3a, but that's just ME. Maybe some QUAD or ACCUSTAT? Infinity IRS, the BIG ONE. (need new house for speakers) There are Other choices, in the 'classic' status, none of which are from 70s or 80s Japan. The large Advents are what showed me what the Bose 901's were lacking. Decent well controlled bass and the higher notes. I can't recall the music that was used to demo these speakers, but they were both driven with the same electronics. A buddy of mine was looking for new speakers. He didn't buy the Advents, got some Radio Shack Mach 1's, the ones with the 15" woofer and horn loaded tweeter. Those were some decent speakers, but IMO the Advents were better. For anyone impressed with a high volume demo of the 901's were quite impressed with them. WOW, these to to 11! I have a pair of Infinity Interlude IL40 towers, a three way design. I've had them for many years but nobody around here appreciates good speakers. I'm asking $150, they are in decent shape considering the age - about 15yo. The surrounds are silicone, so no problem with falling apart. I've had them up for sale ever since getting the new Polks last July. I sold a pair for one of my sisters 4-5 years ago, got $200 for them, once somebody bothered to come take a listen. The guy didn't even bother to dicker with the price. They are a decent speaker, and he recognized that. |
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Post by leonski on Dec 28, 2018 16:42:12 GMT -5
Large Advent Speaker came in either a wood finish OR a 'utility' cab.
The utility was a BARGAIN. I wrote down and deleted what I remember to be the price, it seemed TOO LOW to be true.
RS Mach 1? Not on MY list! Maybe some old RSL SpeedScreen or 3300 / 3600 studio monitors. The 33/36 'hundreds' were very good copies of JBL 4311 or L100 which were VERY popular.
I heard 901s with a Phase Linear amp a LONG time ago at Pacific Stereo. Sure, it was real loud. Now what?
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Post by DavidR on Dec 28, 2018 20:42:55 GMT -5
Flame Linear is where you went wrong. Am amp is about more than just watts.
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Post by leonski on Dec 29, 2018 13:35:31 GMT -5
Flame Linear is where you went wrong. Am amp is about more than just watts. Me? I'm the only one who has mentioned Phase Linear. And since it wasnt' MY demo, I can hardly be held responsible for what somebody thought was a 'system'. In all fairness, I HAvE owned a Carver amp....the m400t from years after the PL400 entered the 'hall of flame'. But that one worked fairly well. These days? If I had some very high sensitivity speakers? I'd send off for the Amp Camp Amp which is 8x2 and comes as a KIT. Does the guy that started 'First Watt' (the company, not the saying) qualify? |
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Post by brubacca on Dec 29, 2018 13:52:10 GMT -5
That amp camp amp looks interesting as does Schiit's upcoming Aegir amp.
Although I doubt either will work with anything on my list except the Tekton.
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Post by leonski on Dec 30, 2018 2:35:13 GMT -5
ACA is only 330$ in KIT form. And it includes EVERYTHING from case / hardware to a 24v-5A switcher.
All circuit boards, parts Heat Sinks and proper output device insulators.
you can build it as a monobloc with balanced input, a stereo amp (single ended)
You will need a small selection of hand tools, a decent soldering station and a meter to set bias.
Fini
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Post by highfihoney2 on Dec 31, 2018 20:14:08 GMT -5
FYI for all members ,we have a world class speaker rebuilder in Michigan called Michigan Sound Reinforcement ,they tear everything down to bare baskets and rebuild for nearly as cheap as refoaming ,they do Kid Rock ,Bob Segar and any act who comes to Michigan ,at $100 for a 15" woofer ,$65 for 12s and $45 for 8s I've always chosen a fresh rebuild vs refoaming they just rebuilt four 12s and two 8s and the wait time was only a month and that's with them ordering all new parts from McIntosh & waiting 2 weeks for the parts to come in,if anyone needs a rebuild let me know : I'll post their contact info . Woofers are one thing. And may be possible to rebuild, even a fried VC, IF you have some information. I'd always rebuild BOTH at the same time..... But can the same be said for mids and tweets? IMO, if the factory can do the work, I"d pay for THAT, Even the compliance of the woofer surround is important and should match OEM......when rebuilding....... I didn't realize I didn't make it clear I'm speaking of rebuilding vintage drivers manufacturers can no longer service ,if I can buy OEM that's the 1st choice but when that's not an option it's good to have access to speaker techs who've been cataloging driver data sheets since the 1970s,They don't rebuild anything smaller than an 8" mid-range/woofer,they don't rebuild any tweeters except horns with the usual diaphragm,whats super cool is they buy out OEM materials from defunct or discontinued driver's when possible & have quite a stash of unobtanium,when rebuilding driver's they order parts direct from the drivers manufacturer, McIntosh In my case ,they rebuild to exact factory tolerances when installing the new motor parts ,voice coils etc ,cones,surrounds etc, I've found that when a driver's foam surrounds are needing replaced the driver needs much more work due to worn parts,the suspension is usually dried out ,the tolerances of the cone neck ,suspension neck and voice coil are out of whack & the only real salvageable parts are the basket ,the magnet and the yoke ,these cats are master speaker techs & can usually source the most obscure & unobtainable driver's parts,they are skilled enough that the woman who does their most difficult work was able to rebuild my McIntosh XL-1W ,an extremely unusual woofer with dual voice coils for 2 channel stereo L & R bass from the single driver,most likely a summed total bass response but strange none the less, when McIntosh could no longer even build me a new driver for the cabinet MSR was able to do the rebuild, thankfully Mcintosh was kind enough to fax them the original build data which they squirrelled away,if they cannot source factory materials,and or factory data sheets to rebuild a driver to it's exact factory tolerances they will tell you before they have you even remove the driver from the cabinet,as speaker systems get heavily used over decades it's next to impossible for a woofers motor to operate within tolerance ,people slowly get used to the sound & don't realize their speakers driver's are worn out ,I've had great success rebuilding worn drivers manufacturers no longer support or service , especially with vintage Klipsch & JBL . |
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Post by highfihoney2 on Dec 31, 2018 20:28:28 GMT -5
Locally there are some nice floorstanding speakers for sale. Multiple that I have listened to and liked over the years. A couple are soft dome and a couple are Aluminum. Basically there are (2) Paradigm Studio Reference v3 speakers and (2) Dynaudio up for sale. I have listened to and like all 4 (when they were new products). Would you be concerned about spending 500-1,000 on speakers this old? One pair is a Dynaudio Contour series which was an upscale line for them. Or would get something new like the Tekton Lore Be? (Obviously not listened to) Depends on what you’re after. I once spent 4500.00 on 25 year old speakers knowing I would be spending a bit more yet on them to finish the job. The outcome was a dream fulfilled. You are not alone ,I spent $10,000 aquiring a 25 year old speaker system knowing full well it is the only 1 ever made,the 11 years I've had them have been a dream fulfilled for me and left me with a hell of a high bar for future speakers to equal . |
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Post by highfihoney2 on Dec 31, 2018 20:38:14 GMT -5
The last pair of speakers I purchased were a pair of thirty-three year old Polk Audio SDA 2's I got them last year they are spotless, and sound absolutely wonderful. They are second only to the thirty year old pair of Polk Audio SDA 1's my emotiva buddy for life "snacker" gifted me this year, they sound even better. I have Tekton Design M-Lores I purchased new, Magnapan MMG's I purchased new, and JBL bookshelf speakers and dual subs I purchased new I like them all but truth be told the old speakers have dominated the listening position since there arrival. Good luck The Polk SDA SRS model is an odd but killer sounding vintage speaker design ,as long as they have the cable that links the L & R cabinets they sound fan freaking tastic ,I've had several chances to buy a pair over the years but Polk didn't build the SRS in cabinets worthy of the speaker system,everytime I've had to pass due to poor asthetics like water rings or ciggerette burns . |
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Post by sgracing on Dec 31, 2018 20:57:17 GMT -5
Just picked up a set of PSB Stratus Gold i's for 300.00 us. There 14 years old and sold new for 2400.00 pair.
The original owner had put them in storage for over 10 years.
I've have the original Status Gold's and have enjoyed them emencly !
Bought 1991 for 2000. New .
They sound great still.
I bought Conrad Johnson's MF 2300a
Amps to drive as a bi-amp set up back in 1994 for around 4k .
Today it is my go to listen reference as well as home theater.
Friends say it's one of the best sound systems they have heard.
Better than my newer BW 804 d3 series speakers .
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