Let's share old, cheap-ish speakers with good measurements

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

Damn spell check. How do I turn it off?

 

[andreasmaaan]

No issues with the link. It might be your Web browser that's having an issue opening up the PDF file.

Funnily enough, it's working fine now

 

[mk05]

Energy Connoisseur series speakers, the ones with single-digit numbers, not the more recent ones with triple digits.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/energy-connoisseur-c-2-loudspeaker-measurements

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/energy_c3.htm
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/energy_connoisseur_c3/

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/energy_c9.htm
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/energy_connoisseur_c9/

RC series: RC-10, etc: (Plus real wood veneer!)
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/energy_rc10.htm
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/energy_rc_10/

Lots of things by PSB, for instance:
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/psb_image_t45.htm
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/speakers/psb_image_t45/

Some NHT stuff, such as the Absolute Zero or Classic Three.

I started with Energy Canada, most specifically the Connoissuer C-5 floorstanding speakers. Took me ~15 years now to decide on searching for "an upgrade"- and by upgrade, I mean a pair for another room.

 

[goldark]

Came across this thread and adding old school Paradigms to the list (not a surprise they used to measure well given their NRC roots; however, it seems they've gone away from neutral in their newer models).

The older versions of the Studio 20 measured pretty decently:
original: https://www.stereophile.com/content/paradigm-reference-studio20-loudspeaker-measurements
v3: https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/paradigm_studio20_v3/
v4: https://www.soundandvision.com/cont...-studio-20-v4-speaker-system-ht-labs-measures

older Signature series:
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/speakers/paradigm_signature_s1_v2/
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/paradigm_signature_s2/

 

[napilopez]

Wow that's so much better than their new stuff lol. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Eetu]

Perhaps the Jamo Concert (II, V, VII) line? Jamo doesn't have the best reputation nowadays but the Concerts were made when they were one of the biggest speaker manufacturers in the world.

Eyeballing the graph above the Concert VII seems to be within +-1.5dB? Assuming the data is accurate..

I have the Concert II (6.5" bookshelf) at home, maybe I'll try to take some nearfield measurements when I have time.

From a Hifi-Classic review of the Concert II:
"Quasi-anechoic FFT response measurements with our IQS signal-analysis system confirmed the smoothness and uniformity of the system in the audible range, showing only ±1.5 dB variation from 180 to 16.000 Hz"

 

[prerich]

I'll just throw the Infinity Composition Prelude P-FR and the Prelude MTS into the ring. Only issue is the P-FR you must be willing to refoam them, and the MTS...up to a certain serial number - were subject to the CMMD coating flaking off of the magnet.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/infinity-composition-prelude-p-fr-loudspeaker-measurements
https://www.stereophile.com/content/infinity-prelude-mts-loudspeaker-measurements
https://www.stereophile.com/content/infinity-prelude-mts-loudspeaker-measurements-part-2

 

[Pio2001]

The Infinity IL60. Extends past 20 Hz, is ruler flat throughout most of its frequency response, and has smooth directivity.

View attachment 37371

The graph title says "equalized". It means that this is not the real frequency response of the speaker, but the frequency response after they ave been equalized.

 

[Nicolaas]

About 10 years ago one of my diy electrostatic panels had no output anymore. At that time I needed a budget speaker as a temporarily replacement.
So I bought a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 speakers with stands. They had very positive reviews back then. Long story short: Up to now I am still using these Diamond 10.1's as my main speakers and love them. And strange enough I prefer them with their grills on.
This week I discovered a few church organ (Bach) recordings. I turned up the volume on my Topping D90 and wow, did these Diamonds sound great!

 

[napilopez]

The graph title says "equalized". It means that this is not the real frequency response of the speaker, but the frequency response after they ave been equalized.

Yes and no. The IL60 (and IL50) use a powered subwoofer with a basic parametric equalizer for in-room bass optimization. See manual, page 10: https://usermanual.wiki/Infinity/InfinitySpeakerIl60LRUsersManual342652.1863775253/html

So it seems you have some built-in control over the worst room peaks, as you can affect the frequency, level, and Q of the filter per unit.

So while there's some degree of EQ in the low end here, it appears to only affect the subwoofer's operating range. Honestly pretty awesome for such an old speaker.

 

[gene_stl]

If you look on page 453 of Dr. Toole's book you will see that the vintage speaker with the best spinorama of the twelve shown is the Yamaha NS1000M. It holds up well against modern speakers. It was also mentioned for low driver distortion in Martin Collums book "High Performance Loudspeakers" back in the seventies.

I am running a pair at the moment driven by a Pioneer Series 20 class A amp (25 watts) It sounds very good to me.


Edit: I wouldn't consider them cheapish at all. I have bought them locally here from 300 to 600 dollars. and they sell on AudioMart up to $1500.
But in this wonderful day and age that is a very low price for good loud spikkers.
I also wish I could get my hands on some of the later models they made using the later models of Be speakers but it seems that not many of those made it to the USA.

 

[prerich]

If you look on page 453 of Dr. Toole's book you will see that the vintage speaker with the best spinorama of the twelve shown is the Yamaha NS1000M. It holds up well against modern speakers. It was also mentioned for low driver distortion in Martin Collums book "High Performance Loudspeakers" back in the seventies.

I am running a pair at the moment driven by a Pioneer Series 20 class A amp (25 watts) It sounds very good to me.

Owned a pair of those too.......The pair I regret selling the most.

 

[amadeuswus]

Yes and no. The IL60 (and IL50) use a powered subwoofer with a basic parametric equalizer for in-room bass optimization. See manual, page 10: https://usermanual.wiki/Infinity/InfinitySpeakerIl60LRUsersManual342652.1863775253/html

View attachment 113822

View attachment 113824

So it seems you have some built-in control over the worst room peaks, as you can affect the frequency, level, and Q of the filter per unit.

So while there's some degree of EQ in the low end here, it appears to only affect the subwoofer's operating range. Honestly pretty awesome for such an old speaker.

Is the Infinity IL50 also well regarded? Would it be worth getting even if the RABOS kit is missing? Thanks.

 

[prerich]

The graph title says "equalized". It means that this is not the real frequency response of the speaker, but the frequency response after they ave been equalized.

Just the built in sub has been eq'd.

 

[johnk]

About 10 years ago one of my diy electrostatic panels had no output anymore. At that time I needed a budget speaker as a temporarily replacement.
So I bought a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 speakers with stands. They had very positive reviews back then. Long story short: Up to now I am still using these Diamond 10.1's as my main speakers and love them. And strange enough I prefer them with their grills on.
This week I discovered a few church organ (Bach) recordings. I turned up the volume on my Topping D90 and wow, did these Diamonds sound great!

I have a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 10.2's for my office and I am having a lot of fun eq'ing them following my recent purchase of a UMIK-1. Objectively, the eq has improved the measurements quite a bit and non-objectively the sound-stage is significantly improved. I spent a while trying to work out the best eq by ear, but the rew + umik is much better.
I also keep the grills on and have not measured with them off.

 

[Kegemusha]

Energy Connoisseur series speakers, the ones with single-digit numbers, not the more recent ones with triple digits.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/energy-connoisseur-c-2-loudspeaker-measurements

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/energy_c3.htm
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/energy_connoisseur_c3/

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/energy_c9.htm
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/energy_connoisseur_c9/

RC series: RC-10, etc: (Plus real wood veneer!)
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/energy_rc10.htm
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/energy_rc_10/

Lots of things by PSB, for instance:
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/psb_image_t45.htm
https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/speakers/psb_image_t45/

Some NHT stuff, such as the Absolute Zero or Classic Three.

Nice find!
I had those RC, I gave them to my brother in law after like 11 years of use. They sounded nice to me.

 

[p79alvarado]

my friend gifted me a matched pair of infinity il60s. they are in very good condition.

the tweeters are bad and i'll order a new pair tomorrow, well, a suitable replacement from infinity. i was told the oil in the ferro fluid dried up due to old age.

does anyone here have them and know how to make them sound good. i know mine have bad tweeters at the moment but i'm not impressed at all right now. unless a bad tweeter throws everything else out of whack.

i do not have the rabos kit for the bass though.

after a long time of tweeking, here's my settings:

sub input - speaker
low pass filter - on
bos - off
frequency - 15 clicks clockwise
level - 15 clicks clockwise
width - 5 clicks clockwise
avr - 80hz

 

[prerich]

my friend gifted me a matched pair of infinity il60s. they are in very good condition.

the tweeters are bad and i'll order a new pair tomorrow, well, a suitable replacement from infinity. i was told the oil in the ferro fluid dried up due to old age.

does anyone here have them and know how to make them sound good. i know mine have bad tweeters at the moment but i'm not impressed at all right now. unless a bad tweeter throws everything else out of whack.

i do not have the rabos kit for the bass though.

after a long time of tweeking, here's my settings:

sub input - speaker
low pass filter - on
bos - off
frequency - 15 clicks clockwise
level - 15 clicks clockwise
width - 5 clicks clockwise
avr - 80hz

You need to fix the tweeters. No speaker would impress me with dead tweeters. Fix the speakers. You don't need the RABOS kit if you're using DIRAC, ARC, or XT32 .

 

[hex168]

You may be able to repair the tweeters. See:
https://www.speakerrepairshop.nl/en/instructions/replace-ferrofluid-in-tweeter/c-36

 

[Euphonious]

The RABOS system IS those three dials (Frequency, Level, and Width) plus a CD, meter, tool, and graph. If you have "bos" set to off, then all the dials are off, too. No amount of clicks in either direction will make any difference whatsoever.