Speakers from last century that you love

[Waxx]

Not sure that MTM and vertical line arrays are ground-breaking, but they are certainly a 21st century thing.

i don't think so...

The Greatfull Dead their 1974 "Wall of Sound" are already a kind of primitive line array.

And D'Appolito patented the MTM and presented it to AES in 1983. You can find that original paper here if you got a AES subscription.

 

[Paul Ebert]

Whenever I see these kinds of threads, I think back to the Martin Login CLSs which made such an impression on me in my early 20s. I wonder how I'd react to them now.

 

[eddantes]

Dynaco A25... Small, innocuous, don't call attention to themselves, always pleasant.

 

[SSS]

Still using these tall speakers which have a very natural sound, especially for voices and double bass. Transmission line construction with an internal line driver chassis. D'Appolito arrangement of the chassis. Purchased late 1980ies still sounding very well. From german company T+A, model T230.

 

[Timcognito]

The evolution in speaker design the last 50 years was minimal, mainly fintuning of old principles, and the invention of dsp processing.

And Neodymium compounded magnets (NdFeB).

 

[Capitol C]

Still have my AR-3a speakers mounted on a bookshelf, as god intended them to be. They are my part of second system.

 

[MattHooper]

I would argue that DSP-corrected actives are somewhat groundbreaking, and were rare at best in the 90s. There was no such thing as a speaker with onboard FIR until somewhat recently.

You might argue that Purifi's surrounds are groundbreaking in how they reduce certain kinds of distortion, but that might not be big enough to call it "groundbreaking".

A problem with such a debate is that, while we can point to objective technical changes, it's ultimately subjective as to what someone will feel is "groundbreaking," and that is even more so in terms of evaluating the subjective effects.

So for instance, the Kii Audio Kii 3 speakers, which benefit from advanced design/DSP. I've heard/auditioned them several times. They sounded very good.
Paradigm changing? Not at all. In fact I preferred some passive speakers to the Kii 3s. So the significance of the advances will suffer somewhat in being in the ear of the beholder.

 

[computer-audiophile]

Ich habe meine AR-3a-Lautsprecher immer noch auf einem Bücherregal montiert, wie Gott es beabsichtigt hat. Sie sind mein Teil des zweiten Systems.
View attachment 277338

Nice picture in a suitable environment!

The AR3a was once sold in Germany as a package together with an NAD 120 receiver and a Thorens TD 160 turntable. I can still remember this beautiful stereo system very well.

However, I think that loudspeaker development has made great progress.

 

[pablolie]

I'd love the chance to listen to the Spendor my Dad had - probably a 1970-something edition. By the end 80s I came back to visit him for Christmas and during the summer, and his system sounded excellent (and by the time I had developed my own audio preferences and had listened to great stuff). I doubt they'd sound bad today. Like I stated, I can bring out my 90s German compact towers, and they still sound amazing compared to current SOTA.

The one thing I think is true is that the quality of cheap speakers has improved immensely from the 80s-90s, in my opinion. They deliver over 80% of what an expensive (and for me back then it would have been $2k :-D). A lot of it probably has to do that the building of these things went industrial rather than what used to be something more artisanal... but I was very young and may be idealizing the past in that particular aspect.

 

[MattHooper]

I'd love the chance to listen to the Spendor my Dad had - probably a 1970-something edition. By the end 80s I came back to visit him for Christmas and during the summer, and his system sounded excellent (and by the time I had developed my own audio preferences and had listened to great stuff). I doubt they'd sound bad today. Like I stated, I can bring out my 90s German compact towers, and they still sound amazing compared to current SOTA.

The one thing I think is true is that the quality of cheap speakers has improved immensely from the 80s-90s, in my opinion. They deliver over 80% of what an expensive (and for me back then it would have been $2k :-D). A lot of it probably has to do that the building of these things went industrial rather than what used to be something more artisanal... but I was very young and may be idealizing the past in that particular aspect.

This reminds me:

1. Another favorite speaker of mine are owned by my Father-In-Law. He was an engineer and something of an audiophile (classical music enthusiast), and he has these big honking Monitor Audio speakers from the early 80s. They look in style and shape very much like the larger Spendor or Harbeth classic speakers.
Wow did they sound fantastic: huge, rich, powerful, and with a very authentic beautiful tonality, like the way horn instruments had that shiny harmonics-rich "blat" and "shine" to the sound that cut through very convincingly, while deep string instruments had weight and grunt. They played electronic just as well. Haven't heard them in years and wish I had a photo so someone could identify the model.

2. As for advances: I mentioned that I still have some old Thiel 02 speakers from the early 80s. I inherited them from my wife, who had them in her condo when I first met her. Her audiophile brother and father picked them out for her for her own system. They were fairly cheap 2 way box speakers, before Thiel went fancy with time/phase coherence. And hearing them at her condo actually wow'd me enough to help get me back in to audio gear.

I keep them around because I absolutely LOVE how they sound. In fact, all these years I've been searching for a speaker that did what these little guys do "but more/better" and I haven't necessarily found it. It's dangerous for me to throw them in my system because they show up what I'm missing (to a small or larger degree) in many of the more advanced modern speakers I own. The main characteristics: A warm timbre that sounds to me more like real acoustic sources, but mostly a density, palpability and "liveness" and presence. The sound of someone whapping a bongo sounds just more like someone right there hitting a solid instrument than through most speakers I've heard, save horn speakers. It seems to describe not only the specific timbre of instruments, but what they are made of: metal instruments sound distinctly of "solid metal," wood instruments of wood. Even many of the more advanced speakers I've owned have sounded a bit more ghostly in comparison.

When I put them in my system my reaction is always "god I love this sound! Maybe it's all I need." However I find after some time...maybe a couple of weeks or longer, I become aware of the slightly more crude nature of the presentation, and I go back to the finesse of my "higher end" speakers.

 

[Doodski]

like the way horn instruments had that shiny harmonics-rich "blat" and "shine" to the sound that cut through very convincingly

Yessss. A very good sound that I like too.

 

[Deleted member 58722]

This reminds me:

1. Another favorite speaker of mine are owned by my Father-In-Law. He was an engineer and something of an audiophile (classical music enthusiast), and he has these big honking Monitor Audio speakers from the early 80s. They look in style and shape very much like the larger Spendor or Harbeth classic speakers.
Wow did they sound fantastic: huge, rich, powerful, and with a very authentic beautiful tonality, like the way horn instruments had that shiny harmonics-rich "blat" and "shine" to the sound that cut through very convincingly, while deep string instruments had weight and grunt. They played electronic just as well. Haven't heard them in years and wish I had a photo so someone could identify the model.

2. As for advances: I mentioned that I still have some old Thiel 02 speakers from the early 80s. I inherited them from my wife, who had them in her condo when I first met her. Her audiophile brother and father picked them out for her for her own system. They were fairly cheap 2 way box speakers, before Thiel went fancy with time/phase coherence. And hearing them at her condo actually wow'd me enough to help get me back in to audio gear.

I keep them around because I absolutely LOVE how they sound. In fact, all these years I've been searching for a speaker that did what these little guys do "but more/better" and I haven't necessarily found it. It's dangerous for me to throw them in my system because they show up what I'm missing (to a small or larger degree) in many of the more advanced modern speakers I own. The main characteristics: A warm timbre that sounds to me more like real acoustic sources, but mostly a density, palpability and "liveness" and presence. The sound of someone whapping a bongo sounds just more like someone right there hitting a solid instrument than through most speakers I've heard, save horn speakers. It seems to describe not only the specific timbre of instruments, but what they are made of: metal instruments sound distinctly of "solid metal," wood instruments of wood. Even many of the more advanced speakers I've owned have sounded a bit more ghostly in comparison.

When I put them in my system my reaction is always "god I love this sound! Maybe it's all I need." However I find after some time...maybe a couple of weeks or longer, I become aware of the slightly more crude nature of the presentation, and I go back to the finesse of my "higher end" speakers.

When you go back to your higher end system, is your reaction, god i love this sound, or is like putting on your comfy slippers?

 

[fpitas]

i don't think so...

The Greatfull Dead their 1974 "Wall of Sound" are already a kind of primitive line array.

And D'Appolito patented the MTM and presented it to AES in 1983. You can find that original paper here if you got a AES subscription.

Those are indeed primitive line arrays. Not sure how common they were until the 2000s though, even in pro audio. Lots of people stacked drivers, I guess. And you certainly didn't see them domestically. As for D'appolito...once again, it was around, and he certainly popularized the idea, but you won't find many commercial offerings until the 2000s. To this day some people insist they can't work, oddly enough.

Don Keele more or less popularized line arrays for domestic use:

Don Keele's CBT (Constant Beamwidth Transducer) Page

 

[MattHooper]

When you go back to your higher end system, is your reaction, god i love this sound, or is like putting on your comfy slippers?

Usually it's "Ok, this reminds me why I paid more for these speakers." The refinement and scale difference is so obvious. (The Thiel 02s are a tad rough and slightly peaked in the upper mids for instance). So I immediately appreciate the difference. On the other hand, with the memory of the Thiels fresh in my mind, I immediately hear what the higher end speakers aren't quite doing that I like in the Thiels.

You'd think that if I were looking for "sound like the old Thiels, but better" the obvious choice would be "newer, more advanced Thiel models." And that is a major reason I've been attracted to Thiel speakers for many years, and still own my larger floor-standing Thiel 2.7s, which use their last most advanced designs. It is that density and liveness to the Thiel sound that I like. And yet...even though I find my big Thiel 2.7s do this aspect better (for my taste) than most speakers I hear, they are still bettered by those cheap old 02 Thiel speakers! They sound just a bit more dynamically, palpably exciting and "alive." Go figure...

 

[gnarly]

Those are indeed line arrays. Not sure hopw common they were until the 2000s though, even in pro audio. And you certainly didn't see them domestically. As for D'appolito...once again, it was around, and he certainly popularized the idea, but you won't find many commercial offerings until the 2000s. To this day some people insist they can't work, oddly enough.

I'd call the Dead's wall of sound the complete opposite of a line array.
The idea behind the Wall was that each musician would have their own dedicated speaker section(s).
Much like a small live event where backline amps/speakers handle each instrument separately, with only vocals needing PA.
Clarity out the gazoo.

 

[fpitas]

I'd call the Dead's wall of sound the complete opposite of a line array.
The idea behind the Wall was that each musician would have their own dedicated speaker section(s).
Much like a small live event where backline amps/speakers handle each instrument separately, with only vocals needing PA.
Clarity out the gazoo.

I don't know much about them, honestly. It was common enough to stack drivers for vertical control, even back then. But we're talking about home speakers here.

 

[Doodski]

Thiel 2.7

Wonderful speakers. I reallly liked them too.

 

[gnarly]

Whenever I see these kinds of threads, I think back to the Martin Login CLSs which made such an impression on me in my early 20s. I wonder how I'd react to them now.

Probably like them still

I have a pair, and in the right room, one that's small with very stiff construction, and along with good sub(s) integration, they still rate with the best imo.

I guess my fav old timer, which I have running now, is Acoustat-X with their high-voltage direct drive tube amps.

 

[gnarly]

I'd call the Dead's wall of sound the complete opposite of a line array.
The idea behind the Wall was that each musician would have their own dedicated speaker section(s).
Much like a small live event where backline amps/speakers handle each instrument separately, with only vocals needing PA.
Clarity out the gazoo.

I don't know much about them, honestly. It was common enough to stack drivers for vertical control, even back then. But we're talking about home speakers here.

Gotcha. I've studied what the Dead did, largely as a result of following John Meyer, and other engineers associated with the Dead.
They went to incredible efforts to bring supreme audio quality to large scale sound. I think that (and the drugs!) is what created such a following.

 

[SteveC]

My Spendor S3/5s. They still produce certain sonic qualities I enjoy that I don't quite find in any other speaker of my acquaintance.

My old Thiel 02s (circa early 80s).

I also have a pair of Thiel 2's. They get daily use in my video system (stereo only, no surround sound for me!) My audio system speakers are Spendor SP1/2r2's, made in this century but not very different from the original SP1's (which I also owned back in the day) which were designed in the 1960's.