Vintage Speakers Worth Owning Today?

[Talisman]

I won't go into the great classics, but rather into some almost unknown speakers (which I bought by chance as a bundle with other audio equipment):
DCM Timeframe TF400
A very strange speaker, very thin (for dynamic drivers), three-way with a concentric tweeter, all covered by a fabric sock, transmission-line loaded bass, and a huge baffle for the size of the drivers.
The bass is surprisingly good for that volume, but the most incredible thing is its ability to disappear and generate a huge, wide, and airy soundstage.
I fell in love with the reproduction of these speakers, which, once I sold the other components in the bundle, cost me a whopping... 10 euros.

 

[Mart68]

I won't go into the great classics, but rather into some almost unknown speakers (which I bought by chance as a bundle with other audio equipment):
DCM Timeframe TF400
A very strange speaker, very thin (for dynamic drivers), three-way with a concentric tweeter, all covered by a fabric sock, transmission-line loaded bass, and a huge baffle for the size of the drivers.
The bass is surprisingly good for that volume, but the most incredible thing is its ability to disappear and generate a huge, wide, and airy soundstage.
I fell in love with the reproduction of these speakers, which, once I sold the other components in the bundle, cost me a whopping... 10 euros.
View attachment 549208

Think I have a magazine somewhere with a review of those from back when they came out.

 

[MAB]

How would that do it?

I can see no technical reason how a 30Hz tone could centre a voice coil with sagging spider.

Agreed.
It is a gross-reality-check to tell if you have VC rub. It doesn't center it very well, it sometimes will mechanically alleviate severe misalignment that scrapes, but only by happy-accident. In reality, explicitly testing for VC rub is a better option.

This low-frequency centering has become an online quick and dirty way to do speaker repair, sorry to say.

I use shims. Like these old 4" Visonik woofers that have very tight clearances.

Repairing without shims adds risk that is unnecessary...

 

[Talisman]

Heritage gets all the love. But as a result Klipsch KG series gets overlooked, and often sell for really little. They are very nice as well, and severely under valued across the board. I prefer the passive radiator models over the ported models.

Oh, yeah!
I bought some practically new KG3.2s for around €300. They sound exactly as you'd expect from Klipschs from those years (so not everyone would like them), but they have much more body than the Heresys, and in my opinion, they sound better overall.

 

[Roderik]

Are there any vintage speakers worth owning today?

In particular, I'm thinking of big-ish speakers, of the size of the JBL Century or larger.

Have recently heard some lovingly restored Acoustic Research (AR-5, I think) vintage speakers, I was surprised at how decent they sounded. They gave up some detail relative to modern designs, but they seemed to play loud easily without getting compressed, and they had a good sense of 'scale'.

Something seems to have been lost when we transitioned to smaller boxes as decor-friendliness demands, as opposed to the big chonks of the past.

I'm now thinking I should pick up a vintage set of speakers just for fun.

What are some vintage speakers worth owning today?

My Diapason Prelude II's on their Adamantes stands, bought in 1998, still look and sound as beautifully as they did almost thirty years ago. That of course is a subjective view and this judgement may be influenced by my decision a few years ago to add a 12 inch Dali subwoofer and a new Marantz amplifier to my set-up.

 

[mhardy6647]

How would that do it?

I can see no technical reason how a 30Hz tone could centre a voice coil with sagging spider.

Indeed, it won't.

What the poster may be thinking of: Some of us -- rather than shimming* -- use a relatively low frequency signal to keep the VC centered (and audibly diagnose any dragging) whilst installing replacement surrounds.
It is a dandy trick for that... but would never help if the spider were causing the VC to drag.

I've always though of installing surrounds on a 'working' loudspeaker as (broadly) akin to performing brain surgery with a fully conscious patient. If anything goes wrong... you'll know it in real time.

_____________
* I will note that I have self-reported as being preternaturally lazy on numerous previous occasions... all that shimming... so much to go wrong. Let electricity do the work!

 

[Bunnyhug]

Canadian fans of vintage 2-way will appreciate Sound Dynamics R-85's 8in woofer and 3/4in dome tweeter from the early 90's. Bought at a pawn shop for $100 they are pristine. Not a mark on them and I don't think the speaker grills have ever been off, they look brand new. No fingerprints, no dust, no sign of foam rot. I thought I would need a sub but the bass is deep and encompassing, like a warm blanket. As with all things Canadian they are a little too polite but that's ok, they will be pampered.

 

[Sal1950]

As with all things Canadian they are a little too polite but that's ok, they will be pampered.

Be gentle with them. Be sure to turn it down a few db after you hear the woofer's voice coil bottoming out.

 

[Flaesh]

why those big horizontal JBLs have so many ports

2 ports each, no?..

 

[garyrc]

A lot of them used foam surrounds which rotted out years ago. That was the fate of my dual large Advents, Phase Tech 60's, and Snell E III's.

Klipschorns and most/all Klipsch did not use foam surrounds ...

 

[EJ3]

Klipschorns and most/all Klipsch did not use foam surrounds ...

I never bought a speaker with foam surrounds (by sheer luck, I guess, maybe, in the back of my mind I did not like something about them).

 

[Sal1950]

Klipschorns and most/all Klipsch did not use foam surrounds ...

Right, the K-33v 15"woofer use the "folded" type suspension. The ones in my La-Scala's lasted 32 years and are probably still going strong 20 years since my sale of them. Here's a photo of one with busted cone for sale in ebay.

Sadly the foam surrounds of the 12" subwoofs in my HSU's just disintegrated and turned to dust in 10 years.

 

[Flaesh]

foam surrounds of the 12" subwoofs in my HSU's just disintegrated and turned to dust in 10 years.

Did\can you repair them?.. It is not necessary to do it yourself, sometimes it's possible to find a specialist nearby.

 

[Sal1950]

Did\can you repair them?.. It is not necessary to do it yourself, sometimes it's possible to find a specialist nearby.

No I was moving so I sold them, honestly informing the buyer and at a low cost. He was going to repair them.

 

[mhardy6647]

Redoing foam surrounds is easy enough... that I can do it!

 

[Sal1950]

Redoing foam surrounds is easy enough... that I can do it!

If I wasn't moving I would have repaired them, they were great subs. But no way in hell was I going to fit a pair of 7 foot tall subs in my new crib.

 

[mhardy6647]

If I wasn't moving I would have repaired them, they were great subs. But no way in hell was I going to fit a pair of 7 foot tall subs in my new crib.

View attachment 550533

ahh, a different, yet very pragmatic, consideration.

The time will come when I'll have to take stock of volume (as in l x w x h volume, not dB spl volume), too.

I only realized after we were in this house that there was no way to get a pair of, say, Altec A5 VoTs in here without deconstruction/reconstruction -- or removing the three-window array in the hifi room and using a lift.

 

[fpitas]

9846-8AA, one of the few nice Altecs that are usually reasonably priced:

View attachment 281580

Since there was some spirited discussion about FR of old speakers. Note they were usually soffit mounted.: