Vintage Speakers are back in style

[Mike Madigan]

Yep. I love mine. Bought my 2nd good system in 1979. First one stolen. I also built a hafler pre and amp kit and a Luxman PD-277. They all still work and are in various systems.

 

[JRowland]

My old house had a vintage to me NuTone system I wish I still had. The guy built the house and died soon after and the system never saw any use. His widow grew up in the depression and wouldn’t use anything for fear of wearing it according to the neighbor. The deceased widow had saved all of the receipts (for everything). it was over $10,000 back in ‘72. Speakers and intercom in every room and stereo in a few.

 

[Mike Madigan]

My old house had a vintage to me system NuTone system I wish I still had. The guy built the house and died soon after and the system never saw any use. His widow grew up in the depression and wouldn’t use anything for fear of wearing it according to the neighbor. The deceased widow had saved all of the receipts (for everything). it was over $10,000 back in ‘72. Speakers and intercom in every room and stereo in a few.

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Wow.

 

[Mike Madigan]

I don’t see the thread , but is there one for the first system I had ?

 

[Kblade]

Oh these are really cool man. Look a bit like the AMT's just not the ribbon tweets? And this vid is using a proton amp not far off from my hitachi? Nice. Kef 100's
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Those sound nice

 

[vrobec]

As I wrote here I have JBL L110A and JBL 4311AWX speakers. Maybe someone compared these vintages to new compact speakers? I'm interesting in buying the new Elac Debut DB63, but don't know how they sound comparing to the speakers I have.

 

[Mike Madigan]

I still love my ADS 810s I bought in 79. I would love to compare them to some modern speakers which in Today’s money should be around $3K +.

 

[Valvetubehead]

I’m still rockin’ my KLF-20’s, by no means perfect but checks a lot of boxes for me.

 

[vrobec]

I still love my ADS 810s I bought in 79. I would love to compare them to some modern speakers which in Today’s money should be around $3K +.

I realy like this ADS 810 speakers. I think these was Braun L810 in Europe. The difference is ADS is 8 ohm, Braun 4 ohm?

 

[Mike Madigan]

I realy like this ADS 810 speakers. I think these was Braun L810 in Europe. The difference is ADS is 8 ohm, Braun 4 ohm?

Yes. MIne are 4 ohms. The only thing I have done is replace the tweeter fuse 2 times.. No cheap foam on the speakers. I did compare them to some other speakers I have. 1980's ESS and 2000's PSB towers. The ADS sound better. But I do have the itch now to look at new speakers. But I don't have many local stores for audio equipment like back in the day. I live in Tucson. There are only 2 by appointed high end A/V stores mainly selling built in systems. Phoenix 90 miles away does have a couple of real audio stores. Thanks

 

[Mart68]

As I wrote here I have JBL L110A and JBL 4311AWX speakers. Maybe someone compared these vintages to new compact speakers? I'm interesting in buying the new Elac Debut DB63, but don't know how they sound comparing to the speakers I have.

IME people tend to be shocked at how much better vintage JBLs - like those you have - are compared to their modern, compact speakers.

Proper JBL are relatively rare in the UK so there's a lot of 'JBL virgins' but people occasionally bring some to the meet-ups.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

IME people tend to be shocked at how much better vintage JBLs - like those you have - are compared to their modern, compact speakers.

Proper JBL are relatively rare in the UK so there's a lot of 'JBL virgins' but people occasionally bring some to the meet-ups.

Generally, I agree -but I think, being on ASR, we can also admit that most 70s gear doesn’t really live up to the high prices it goes for these days. Most of it is driven by nostalgia and inflated by resellers cashing in.

That said, if we shift the focus more to quality JBL gear from the 80s and 90s, I’m totally on board. Some of those vintage JBLs are genuinely excellent. The 250Ti for example. -Or the XPL-series.

 

[Mart68]

Generally, I agree -but I think, being on ASR, we can also admit that most 70s gear doesn’t really live up to the high prices it goes for these days. Most of it is driven by nostalgia and inflated by resellers cashing in.

That said, if we shift the focus more to quality JBL gear from the 80s and 90s, I’m totally on board. Some of those vintage JBLs are genuinely excellent. The 250Ti for example. -Or the XPL-series.

For vintage receivers people just like the look of them and, a few retro pieces aside, modern equipment is very bland in its styling and many don't want that. I think that's the main driver of the price, and the performance of them is good enough that it's not an issue. There's surely an analogy to cars there, the value of 1970s classics has rocketed in the last decade.

Not just nostalgia as even people now in their fifties are really too young to have owned that equipment back in the '70s when it was new. And they're certainly too young to have owned the cars first time round.

For loudspeakers I agree the vast majority of 1970s speakers are outperformed by the better modern offerings. But even a fairly crude JBL like the L100 has positive attributes that are not possessed by even the best small two-way speakers. There's now some modern, wide baffle three-way speakers with ten or twelve inch drivers available again , there used to be none.

I had this conversation with the owner of a small speaker company ten years ago or so, I suggested to him we develop something like a modern L100 for the gap in the market. He was interested, but never went ahead with it, I forget what his reasoning was. Now JBL have brought it back themselves.

 

[Old_School_Brad]

..
For loudspeakers I agree the vast majority of 1970s speakers are outperformed by the better modern offerings. But even a fairly crude JBL like the L100 has positive attributes that are not possessed by even the best small two-way speakers. There's now some modern, wide baffle three-way speakers with ten or twelve inch drivers available again , there used to be none.

I had this conversation with the owner of a small speaker company ten years ago or so, I suggested to him we develop something like a modern L100 for the gap in the market. He was interested, but never went ahead with it, I forget what his reasoning was. Now JBL have brought it back themselves.

Yeah, the classic monkey cage speakers. There’s just something about a proper 3-way with a big woofer -the kind of dynamics and slam they often deliver is on a different level. Modern slim-line speakers, no matter how many small drivers or subwoofers you throw at them, just don’t quite capture that same tactile impact.

 

[lowkeyoperations]

How about a big pair of Roger’s speakers if you’re in the UK. LS5/8 for example.

 

[BigVU's]

I found some Altec Lansing Model 14's. Not quite the 19's I have been hunting. Decent asking at 850 and in working condition.

What do the members say about these? Has anyone had both the 14's and the 19's?

Too small? Not worth it? I really wanted to be big mamma 19's but they are like unicorns right now.

The 14's are on top in the left photo and the ones on the right in the ad from 1970's.

 

[mhardy6647]

Hold out for a pair of the Fifteens if you can.
The Fourteen isn't bad, but not the same league as the Fifteen.
Realizing I've shared this opinion before , I will share it again: The one "hidden gem" in the big domestic Altec "Voice of the Theater-esque" loudspeakers, IMO, were the sealed-box systems using the "Dynamic Force" woofers. Those loudspeakers are a little less sensitive than their bass reflex cousins, but deliver more LF extension. They also have some contouring (and padding) applied to the treble driver for more extended treble, too. They also have zero cachet with the Altecista, so they're comparatively (very) inexpensive.
Bottom line: Seek out and try a pair of Santiagos!





EDIT:
PS Nineteens aren't hard to find at all -- they are, however, big, heavy, and expensive.

 

[BigVU's]

Thanks for sharing your insight. I'll check out the 15's. I am definitely not finding many Model 19's out there. 1 set on eBay but I think they are asking more than I'd like for the condition there in. Big, Heavy and sensitive is what I am after - just not the expensive so much. Hoping my patience hangs in there.

I did see someone mention checking out the Electro Voice Sentry 3's as potential option too.