Vintage Speakers Worth Owning Today?

[EJ3]

Dahlquist M-905's (a quote from Peter Williams of QuirkAudio.com about mine): They do sound good, there is a wealth of detail and no, to my ear, "coloring"- my reference is the BBC LS3/5A which I use at my desk and usually when I test speakers against them, you hear the coloration immediately- that was not the case with the Dahlquists.

 

[jameswilson]

Anybody have experience with the Martin Logan "Sequel II" speakers? I've mainly been into headphones for the past 8 years, but I have the opportunity to purchase these for $100/each... Really, anything you could possibly have to share about them, or even just older electrostats in general, would be great as I know nothing here! <3

 

[EJ3]

I am sorry to say that, while over the years I have hears some of Martin Logan's speakers, that is a model I have never heard of. I also don't know about electrostatics way & time of deterioration. But I have a number of "vintage" speakers and would like to offer some advice: If there is any possible way to arrange to listen to these speakers, do so. If that could be done & they sound OK (no obvious big flaws), then I would likely buy them. I have always been impressed with Martin Logan electrostatics that I have heard. I do know that location of how you have the speaker setup in the room will likely be further away from the wall than with "box" speakers. This is something you can research and will likely require moving them around the room some until you are happy with the sound. You really never know how speakers sound until they are in YOUR room. I did find this review from 2014:
Tinu Patel

• 1 2 3 4 5
• Friday, October 3, 2014

Best bang for the buck
First of all. The specs are true and it really does reach 28 hz. I don,t need to increase the bass or treble and they sound just as good. A sunfire amplifier 325 watt is perfect. Driven by nakamich av10 harmonic time alignment receiver. Although the off axis response is not that great i feel if placed properly the back reflections can be used to increase it with a highly reflective wall. The bass is tight and for a 10 inch acoustic suspension woofer to go down to 28 hz sealed enclosure, thats a quite an achivement. Bought them used 2004 thus they are now 10 years older and still good. God bless Martin Logan for 200 years.

They sold for $1995 when they came out in 1989 & for $2995 toward the end of the production run. On HifiShark there are several for sale, some of them for more than the original cost.

Amplification can be a problem: you will need something that is not necessarily high wattage (100 should do) but high current, able to deal with 4 ohm (better yet 2 ohm loads) without issues. I am fortunate in that regard, as my triplet NAD 2200's (1 of witch Amir reviewed)can pull off 2 ohm loads. May Your Ears be Blessed with wonderful sound.

 

[Harmonie]

Anybody have experience with the Martin Logan "Sequel II" speakers? I've mainly been into headphones for the past 8 years, but I have the opportunity to purchase these for $100/each... Really, anything you could possibly have to share about them, or even just older electrostats in general, would be great as I know nothing here! <3

Well; I still keep my Aerius since what 25 or so years and I'm still enchanted. The Sequels were way above my budget (then). 200$ is a steal, I would never sell mine that low (if at all). Depends on their condition. Smoke is (very) BAD for the mylar film. Maybe the woofers suffered ... make sure that you clean the grills with a vacuum cleaner and that you have an amp that can control & drive these well as their impedance curve is "curvy" .
Krell works very well.
RayDunzl can probably advise you well he has the ReQuest, SL3 and other animals ...

 

[JeffS7444]

Never got to hear them but would be intrigued by designs aimed at less-directional sound like those of Sonab and Shahinian.

 

[mhardy6647]

Never got to hear them but would be intrigued by designs aimed at less-directional sound like those of Sonab and Shahinian.

Don't forget Ohm -- who are actually still at it.
https://ohmspeaker.com/

(... and also DCM (Timewindows) and the original Allison loudspeaker line.)

 

[ol_mcdonald]

No love here for the venerable old Klipschorn? Over 70 years in continuous production. Mine are 1977 vintage I purchased in 1984 from singer songwriter John Prine. I paid $1000.00 for them, still have them and can't see us parting ways. John Prine and Roger Cook helped load the in my pickup. Ahhh the good ol days.

 

[EJ3]

No love here for the venerable old Klipschorn? Over 70 years in constant production. Mine are 1977 vintage I purchased in 1984 from singer songwriter John Prine. I paid $1000.00 for them, still have them and can't see us parting ways. John Prine and Roger Cook helped load the in my pickup. Ahhh the good ol days.

I have a great liking for most, if not all of the Klipsch Vintage Heritage (and variations) as well as the "THING"s and other speakers from Paul Klipsch's probably only good friend in the audio world, Jack Frazier (Frazier speakers) who passed away in 1983. Jack's speaker designs were never written down, they were all in his head. I have one pair of his Super Monte Carlo's. There is a sub-group of Klipsch collectors that collect Frazier's. There are design elements of some of the speakers that are similar. Paul & Jack had similar design result parameters: efficiency was a big one. A clean 5 watts & you had enough volume to hear it well.

 

[EJ3]

The entire Klipsch heritage range is very tasty, but you certainly pay for it. I'd love a set of Cornwalls or Fortes or La Scalas or Heresies, but alas. Klipsch doesn't have much presence in Europe.

Tannoy doesn't move me, and again their prices are prohibitive.

So we've got Cerwin Vega, Klipsch and Tannoy producing old school big beefy speakers. JBL also get an honorable mention for the M2 and some of their PA speakers (like the SRX series), which are very similar in spirit to the big speakers of yesteryear.

And there are variations like CornScalas!

 

[Sal1950]

No love here for the venerable old Klipschorn?

Never been much love for K-Horns in the "audiophile" community since the 60's. Right or wrongly, they set off on a path dedicated to flat response as the holy grail in speaker design and damn everything else. Villchur and Kloss started AR and brought forth the little fart boxes which had good bass for their size but high spl and efficiency went to hell.. Long stories and debates are on this road but I bought my La Scala's new in 1978 and played them for the next 32 years before I sold them to move into very small retirement digs, otherwise I'd likely still own them.
The world of DSP offers some great options to the large horn owners of today, but that's another story.
Enjoy your speakers.

 

[restorer-john]

No love here for the venerable old Klipschorn? Over 70 years in continuous production. Mine are 1977 vintage I purchased in 1984 from singer songwriter John Prine. I paid $1000.00 for them, still have them and can't see us parting ways. John Prine and Roger Cook helped load the in my pickup. Ahhh the good ol days.

I didn't know John Prine, but I see he passed away this year from Covid19 complications.

 

[EJ3]

I didn't know John Prine, but I see he passed away this year from Covid19 complications.

He was a rather successful recording artist who was not pretentious.
Lyric sample:
On the playful talking blues “When I Get to Heaven,” from the 2018 album “The Tree of Forgiveness,” he vowed to have the last laugh for all eternity.
When I get to heaven, I’m gonna shake God’s hand
Thank him for more blessings than one man can stand
Then I’m gonna get a guitar and start a rock-n-roll band
Check into a swell hotel; ain’t the afterlife grand?

 

[Sal1950]

I didn't know John Prine,

John Prine was a home-boy for me, he was raised on the near west side of Chicago within walking distance of where I lived. One of the great folk song writers of our generation, I put him right up their with Dylan though he never enjoyed that level of success. When you have the time listen to his first album John Prine, and his last, Tree Of Forgiveness, 50 years of great music are in the middle, you'll be hooked. But for now just check out this quick tune off his first album, Sam Stone, for a quick look at his greatness. It's also one of my personal favorites, bet you'll know why.

 

[restorer-john]

But for now just check out this quick tune off his first album, Sam Stone, for a quick look at his greatness. It's also one of my personal favorites, bet you'll know why.

Wow. Pretty powerful stuff there Sal. Thanks for posting.

 

[mhardy6647]

I didn't know John Prine, but I see he passed away this year from Covid19 complications.

John Prine -- is worth knowing.

Start here This is perhaps -- arguably -- his best-known song.

re: @ol_mcdonald: the coolness of owing his erstwhile K-horns?
Off the charts.

 

[mhardy6647]

Prine was pretty much guile-less (and I do mean that as a compliment!).
Just astonishingly down to earth (the K-horn anecdote above pretty much crystallizes that!), a trenchant observer of "the human condition" but, by all accounts, a pretty upbeat guy, at peace with the world around him when it was all said and done. And he had a tough life (mostly from the ravages of cancer, which didn't help his chances when he contracted COVID-19 fairly early on in the pandemic), but he seemed bemused right up to the end.

 

[ol_mcdonald]

John Prine -- is worth knowing.

Start here This is perhaps -- arguably -- his best-known song.

re: @ol_mcdonald: the coolness of owing his erstwhile K-horns?
Off the charts.

I saw John and Bonnie Raitt perform that on the stage at the Ryman Auditorium. My brother turned me in to him when I was a pup. Hooked ever since. When the opp came up to meet him and buy the K horns he was in Hawaii on honeymoon. I HAD to wait a week. The longest week in my young life! I’ll never for get it and always treasure them.

 

[tomtoo]

Amazing history of this horns!!! Very cool!!

 

[amadeuswus]

No love here for the venerable old Klipschorn? Over 70 years in continuous production. Mine are 1977 vintage I purchased in 1984 from singer songwriter John Prine. I paid $1000.00 for them, still have them and can't see us parting ways. John Prine and Roger Cook helped load the in my pickup. Ahhh the good ol days.

Can you imagine owning three pairs of Klipschorns?? The poster of this craigslist ad should buy, not sell--he's some ways toward an all Klipschorn atmos system....

https://boston.craigslist.org/sob/ele/d/scituate-klipsch-klipschorns/7327768342.html

 

[AudioSceptic]

Wow. Pretty powerful stuff there Sal. Thanks for posting.

FYI <https://www.allmusic.com/artist/john-prine-mn0000814751/biography>