4 ohm bookshelf speakers you have loved?

hearwax

New Member
Hello Karmic Seekers, I'm hoping to make a list of all 4-ohm bookshelf speakers that the forum members have loved.

Vintage and modern; economical and pricey....

(In my case, for a project in which I want to wire pairs of identical small speakers in series and have the final impedance come out around 8 ohms. Others might likely be interested for other reasons.)

Many thanks.
 
Well,top of my list are my Canton GL-260.
Then there are my Delta Labs M1 (AKA: ADS L200 more-or-less).
Short list I guess :dunno: most of my "smalls" are 8 ohms as SOP.

Some ADS L300C are on my shopping list as well. ;)

Probably some others but those are the ones that come to mind right away.

FFT

Bret P.
 
A little large for bookshelf speakers, but the Infinity Qb was marketed that way. I run mine as floor standers on the original bent metal stands. I find 4 ohm speakers to be a little difficult to manage. Why would you limit your search to just 4 ohms? I can't think of any sonic advantage to that limitation.
 
First off, Welcome to AK hearwax. :)

To answer the question usefully it would be helpful to know what exactly "small" means to you. It would also help to know which continent you live on as that will have a large role to play with availability.

Having said that, I can happily second the Canton GL 260 in what I consider the very small range. I have 2 pairs. One set is used normally in a desktop PC system and the 2nd set are wired in series (so, effectively 8 ohm, as you inferred), sitting on their sides and used as my HT center speaker. Beautiful sounding small speaker.

Moving up in size a bit the Canton Quinto 510 and Canton Karat 100 (nearly identical) are a great 3-way (6.5" woofer) speaker. I've also used some Grundig HiFi Box 650's (similar in size to the 510's and 100's) and they have great sound too.

Going another step up to an 8" woofer (and getting into the upper end of what I consider small) There's the Canton Quinto 520 and the somewhat larger Karat 200. And today I just finished a resto-mod on a pair of Braun L 630's that are in the same general size range as the 510 and 200. With most of the Braun speakers from the '70s one will have to deal with replacing rotted foam surrounds. Also, the Karat 100 and 200 came in both 4 and 8 ohm versions so one has to look closely so as to not buy the wrong type.

All of the above speakers have soft dome tweeters and mids (with the exception that the GL 260's are 2-way) and paper cone woofers and all have a similar clear and clean sound, very neutral to my ears although some people seem to consider them a bit on the "bright side". But my ears say that they just sound fantastic.

ADS was not imported to Europe that I know of so I have no personal experience with them but I strongly believe that they will sound very similar to the above mentioned speakers because they have the same DNA so to speak. Look for some members to pop up with suggestions in that direction.

Cheers,
James
 
Not sure if I love them yet but the sound from this little speaker is very impressive.

Acoustic Research Redbox Improved

12.75" tall, 7.5" wide with 6" woofers and liquid cooled tweeters.

4 ohm, 50 watts.

IMG_4547.JPG
 
Others to consider:
- Anthony Gallo Classico CL-1
- Epos Epic 1 and Epos Elan 10

Both(All) are very well-reviewed and of newer (not vintage) provenance.
 
Bang and Olufsen Beovox 1702's. Small and sweet sounding, 4 ohm 22wrms.

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I have not heard those but I know they must sound very nice.

Do you use them on stands and is the low end sufficient without a subwoofer?

I've heard them in store and really liked them, low end is quite good for their size, However I'm sure they would benefit from a good musical sub. If I actually had them I'd certainly use 16 - 20 inch stands.
 
Though they were colored a 3 channel set up of AR-3's was very special to me. The AR-3a wasn't quite as magical. I've for gotten, but a great Book shelf speaker was the B&O 5700 / 5702. But it may have been closer to 6 than 4 ohms. We used to stack 3 pairs or 2 pairs of Mcintosh ML=1c, for either 4 ohms or 2.6 ohms with a MC 3500 Power amp. The first time I ever felt 16 hz. ADS made some small speakers. I like the K7 M&K speakers I use in my HT set up for the motor home. The K5 M&K in the rear are even smaller. And my powered sub with the dual 8" woofers is small. .
 
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