Speakers from last century that you love

[DSJR]

I still have my Yamaha NS1000Ms and still think they sound great.

I'm wondering how 'power-needy' they were/are? I wasn't hugely impressed with the pair I owned in the late 80s, but I'm thinking it was the pre-poweramp I was using (which had 'character' to it at the time).

 

[Frank Dernie]

I'm wondering how 'power-needy' they were/are? I wasn't hugely impressed with the pair I owned in the late 80s, but I'm thinking it was the pre-poweramp I was using (which had 'character' to it at the time).

They are pretty efficient and don't need a huge amount of power.
IIRC when they were my main speakers they were driven by a Cambridge Audio P60 then as a system in your bedroom by a Nakamichi 530 receiver.
I only listen to them if I am ill in bed now, which is thankfully not often, using NuForce monos with a Resolution Audio Cantata s source and preamp.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Turns out you were right, Frank!

Here’s a later threat of mine with photos,asking about them. And I’ve currently got them up for sale (for my father-in-law who is selling his home):

Monitor Audio MA3 Series II - Old School - ANYONE KNOW THESE SPEAKERS?

Monitor Audio MA3 Series II My father in law, an engineer and sort of old school audiophile, is emptying his home and so we'll be selling these speakers (probably!). He listens only to classical music, and bought these Monitor Audio speakers apparently in the 70's. Also uses a Harman Kardon...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Mine were theoriginal version with an inverted fibreglass dome Focal tweeter and Peerless mid-range.
I haven't heard these Mk 2 versions but they probably sound quite different to mine given the big difference in both tweeter and particularly paper to larger woven mid driver!

 

[DSJR]

We sold the very likeable MA3mk1 which I believe were another Martin Colloms design. He had this thing back then of spicing up the tweeter levels (what goes around comes around eh, PMC and B&W) to subjectively take attention away from any colourations in the midrange (he bought some prototype large MA10s (?) to us which did this and explained why).

Do remember folks, that many of the older speakers mentioned here may well be well past their best now. i believe a HFN article showed how badly a set of KEF R105s had drifted off by 2020 or thereabouts. I shudder to think how bad my admittedly tweaked BCIIs are now, but they'll do for th elittle speaker listening I can do these days

 

[Jokke]

My first speakers, used in my little student room in the 80ties : RAM CD10. I stil have them, but not in use at the moment.
Compact, but with high quality SEAS drivers. RAM was a brand from the UK. It doesn't exist anymore.

 

[MattHooper]

Today after work i went looking at some old speakers (i did not buy them), but the owner, a lawyer that lives in a 17th century castle, uses a pair of big JBL 4350's as main setup, amped with 2 NAD M23 amps and a minidsp. The space is a big hall with plaster walls with wood paneling on the lower section, and wood floors and ceiling and it sounded wondefull good. But these things are huge, and only work in big spaces i think. They probally also cost a fortune, then (new) and now (second hand).

View attachment 470922
(picture from internet as illustration)

I see plenty of pictures and videos of Japanese audiophiles with speakers like those. Very curious how they sound.

 

[Waxx]

The guy where i saw them corrects them with dsp and like that they sound great from a distance, to close messess with the imaging due to how the drivers are layed out. This is a true farfield speaker. The owner sits about 6 meters from them to listen to them. They sound very neutral and effortless in his setup. Not that different than the modern 4367 that my girlfriend has, but they go a lot louder.

I never heared them in an original setup with the original Urei amplifiers (like JBL sold them) and filters. I also don't know if they were full original as these are old speakers. These got modified a lot by their users, that were in the first place music studio's (as main monitor).

 

[hex168]

Back when the JBL L-100 was king of the showroom, I discovered the Electro-Voice Interface "A". In terms of performance, it was considerably better than the L-100, with a low end that was solid down to the mid-30s and IMO a considerably smoother overall response. Unfortunately, the woofer and PR had rot-prone foam surrounds and its little (SEAS?) cone tweeters were as delicate AF -- but to my younger self's ears it was the best "bookshelf"-sized speaker available at the time. Despite requiring its (very modestly speced, unlike the Bose 901's) equalizer, it was also considerably less profligate of amp power than the ARs, KLHs, and Advents of that era. It also might have been the first widely-available speaker designed according the now-standard T/S math, which most folks don't know includes provision for the use of electronic EQ.

I loved the Interface As. Subjectively "fast" bass (I know, I know). I could not believe how good they got that cone tweeter to sound. Combination of EQ and that felt filter with the small-diameter hole in the middle, I suppose. Anyone know if EV ever did a white paper on it? I think the cone tweeters may have been Peerless, but not sure.

 

[MAB]

I like the JBL XPL200a

I briefly had a biamplified pair. They were tremendous. I miss them to this day.

Here's a writeup with some information and literature:

JBL XPL-200A: The Holy Grail of Audio? - Audiophile Nirvana

The JBL XPL-200A is considered by many to be the holy grail of loudspeaker systems. They are coveted by collectors and music lovers alike, especially when they are paired with one of the most rare of all audiophile components: the JBL DX-1 active crossover network with an XPL-200A card set. When...

www.audiophilenirvana.com

 

[Ropeburn]

Quadral Phonologue line from the 80s.

The dream speakers of my teenage years in the 90s. Massive construction, transmission line cabinets, always 3-way, big drivers. Inefficient and needing BEEFY amplifiers. Considered "high end" back then. The names alone are terrific. Who wouldn't want Wotan/Odin pump that bass? Or a Mountain, Volcano or Titan?

These and similar product lines shaped my idea of "proper hifi". There's a lot of nostalgia involved. <3

 

[DanielT]

Low SPL, probably a bit wonky FR. Doesn't seem like a recipe for good sound BUT damn they are fun to listen to. Makes me want to listen to music even more. There's something about them, I can't put my finger on what it is. Maybe they just fit well in my room, with my furniture. That is; room acoustics and they go well together. Maybe it's the coaxial design that appeals to me. I don't really know.

I bought them for a good price. I thought I would try them out for a while and then sell them, hopefully for a little profit, but I still have them. That's what happens when you come across something you like.

Tannoy T225 Mayfair:

 

[smygolf]

I like the JBL XPL200a
View attachment 471072
I briefly had a biamplified pair. They were tremendous. I miss them to this day.

Here's a writeup with some information and literature:

JBL XPL-200A: The Holy Grail of Audio? - Audiophile Nirvana

The JBL XPL-200A is considered by many to be the holy grail of loudspeaker systems. They are coveted by collectors and music lovers alike, especially when they are paired with one of the most rare of all audiophile components: the JBL DX-1 active crossover network with an XPL-200A card set. When...

www.audiophilenirvana.com

XPL 200 with active filter was a Great speaker.
Had a pair for almost 8 years.

 

[BeepPeep_61]

Good evening everyone,The first photographs concern my RCF BR1056, the first speakers purchased with great sacrifices back in 1983 and after replacement of the woofer foam, still used in a secondary system ...Then in 1995 I bought the beautiful Infinity Kappa 8.1 that I held for almost 20 years !!

 

[Bruce Morgen]

I loved the Interface As. Subjectively "fast" bass (I know, I know). I could not believe how good they got that cone tweeter to sound. Combination of EQ and that felt filter with the small-diameter hole in the middle, I suppose. Anyone know if EV ever did a white paper on it? I think the cone tweeters may have been Peerless, but not sure.

Interestingly, IMO the other Interface (B, C, and D) models were disappointing -- sort of like the way JBL's L-200 and L-300 didn't sound nearly as good (subjectively, of course) as the L-100 did. Thanks for reassuring me that I'm not the only one who remembers those things -- they made for some really joyful listening back in the day. You might be able to find a paper -- which I dimly remember reading many years ago -- by doing a search on the designer's name: Ray Newman.

 

[hex168]

Interestingly, IMO the other Interface (B, C, and D) models were disappointing -- sort of like the way JBL's L-200 and L-300 didn't sound nearly as good (subjectively, of course) as the L-100 did. Thanks for reassuring me that I'm not the only one who remembers those things -- they made for some really joyful listening back in the day. You might be able to find a paper -- which I dimly remember reading many years ago -- by doing a search on the designer's name: Ray Newman.

The tweeters were Peerless 2" cones - confirmed.

 

[JaMmy]

These are my pair of ‘hanging quads’. Twin ESL 57s. There is a winch in the roof space that allows me to lower them for listening without ruining the view.
Underneath are a pair of Beauhorns with Lowther drivers. Their frequency response is all over the place, the bass just disappears in what is a rather large room, but they are just beautiful…
I originally bought the B&W 801s because I thought they might pair with the Beauhorns and boost the bass but they just didn’t integrate. However I followed SergeAuckland’s thread on turning them active and they sound very nice indeed.
Apart from the Beauhorns I picked everything up from house clearance auctions. I’m consistently surprised by how good last century speakers sound with little more than some cosmetic tlc

 

[Hippy]

 

[Hippy]

Chario premium T1000. Year1989

 

[Bruce Morgen]

The tweeters were Peerless 2" cones - confirmed.

Like the L-100's, the Interface A's crossover was pretty crude by modern standards -- a more sophisticated circuit would have made a big performance difference IMO, as it did with the crossover retrofits for the L-100.

 

[hex168]

Quadral Phonologue line from the 80s.

View attachment 471074

The dream speakers of my teenage years in the 90s. Massive construction, transmission line cabinets, always 3-way, big drivers. Inefficient and needing BEEFY amplifiers. Considered "high end" back then. The names alone are terrific. Who wouldn't want Wotan/Odin pump that bass? Or a Mountain, Volcano or Titan?

These and similar product lines shaped my idea of "proper hifi". There's a lot of nostalgia involved. <3

The tweeter in the Wotan and up looks like the Panasonic leaf tweeter EAS-10TH400, which was my favorite tweeter.