Best Vintage Speaker Kickoff!

When traveling I visited dealers that sold Appogee in Denver, Dallas, Houston, Lubbock. The Lubbock dealer was the only one getting decent listenable sound out of the panels. When the CD was introduced I auditioned Sony's player thru Threshold electronics and Apogee speakers and the sound was so bad after 30 seconds I left. Here again it was the dealer in Lubbock using Mcintosh electronics and a Revox CD player and Apogee panels that proved the capability of the CD format with Apogee. We did the same thing at our dealership but instead were using Mcintosh, Klipsch, Celestion/B&O and Altec. We couldn't keep the CD players from Revox, Pioneer, Mcintosh, Sansui, and B&O on the display shelves it seemed. So I have very mixed emotions about Apogee as well as Acoustat, Magneplanar, KLH 9, and Martin Logan. My favorite panel is Quad even with all it challenges. Poor bass, rolled off highs, limited dynamic range and some times very high distortion when pushed. But kept with in its operational envelope it is a very nice listen. I can't say that much for the others. Just when you think you have reached nirvana the distortions and non linearities raise their ugly heads and instantly turn you off. Give me a line array with Quality drivers that isn't a dipole. . I'll even take the big ADS panel with the 4 dome mids, super tweeter and 2 14" woofers over the Apogee. It may be more colored, but the ADS doesn't stab you in the back when you least expect it.
 
A polysphere 318, from 66 or older (back to late 50s), was commonly known by several names, however inappropriate you may find them. Y-block, wide block, and, in my neck of the woods back when, big block. Others from other places also used the term to differentiate it from the smaller version beginning in '67. It was a pretty good engine, but difficult to find parts for now, some report.

I've rebuilt a few in my day.....most were from pickup trucks, but the same wide block........U can argue til the cows come home with some (like my 455 Buick was just a bored out 454 Chevy comment....... from a very uninformed buddy, LOL!) but will find that unless they had personal experience.....it's just another Chrysler 318!
 
..........and back to the thread...........I believe I can go with whatever I can afford, right now, that sounds good enough! Now in my stable is a stacked set of Bozak and Klipsch in which I have a total of $100 involved. THAT for now, IMHO, is the "Best" Vintage speaker(s) I've owned.......never mind next week ....or heck, even this afternoon! The best I've ever heard was the first time I heard a friend's homemade speakers (alnico, btw) he and his dad built in Germany as a child with an amp name I couldn't pronounce! Never will forget that experience.......still looking for the sound, but refuse to spend more than my homes value for it. No matter what brand, how big, how many or what planet they are from......IMO, it's all in the listeners mind and ears, lol! Come to think of it......this may not be the initial OP's question........if so.........never mind!!!!
 
Get ahold of Geri at Acoutone/Newcastle Fabrics and ask her to send you their swatch booklet. They've got some phenomenal custom "vintage" and modern fabrics that would look killer on those. acoustone@newcastlefabrics.com
I sourced fabric through them for my Epi M1000 restoration....
Thank you for that. I may get in touch but after getting used to looking at them as they are, I kinda like how they look now.:) However, they are exposed to dust and dirt this way. I pulled the grill socks down on my Model 3 and the panels are clean as new.
 
The pair of Pioneer HPM-100 I have now is true to the OP request. For rock they are hard to beat.
I also would suggest the Mach Ones speakers for balls to the wall rock music. Both are able to effortlessly slam the music.
To a certain extent the Klipsch Belle's do well in that regard but you need LOT'S of space to appreciate their potential. These easily fill my large home without a problem and throwing dual 15" woofers make for one shaking home. It's INSANE how loud they can get. I turned them up to a very healthy level (AC/DC) walked out the front door, closed it and walked to the middle of my street and could hear them. No problemo.
Pioneer HPM-100
Mach Ones
Klipsch Belle's
In that order for rock.
 
Best speaker? Impossible question. I rank my Khorns much higher than you Altec fans will. And you can still buy a brand new pair, an unparalleled success. Tomlinmgt's QLS-1s were some of the best I've heard. I was lucky enough to work for one of the twelve US dealers for Duntech when the Sovereigns were inaugurated, and they were pretty impressive, as were the Crown Prince, a not-so-little brother to them with which I spent more listening time. I felt the B&W 801s sounded better.

To me, if you could take particular attributes from all these and combine them successfully with the best of electrostatic designs, too, then maybe that would be the one under discussion. However, I love my cornerhorns as much as one can love 'things' but what do I know? For example, my dream car remains a 1962 Plymouth Fury Coupe with a 318 big block. Offer me that or a McLaren and I'd take the McLaren, sell it and buy the Plymouth. I may be insane, but I ain't stoopid.

All hail the mighty Klipschorn. (And the Plymouth - The Sound and the Fury.)
I have a large open floor plan house, the living room has Fisher xp-16's facing some 4 way JBL's I built and on the other two sides are Khorns facing Altec 19's I built.
On any given day it's a toss up which speakers to listen too because they are all great speakers, it's that vintage sound.
Everyone who hears them choose the 19's as the best, they are nice and will go low if needed.
The sound track from Zorro is super on them.
 
I too recently aquired a set of Infinity RS-1b's, just on strength of their rep. "The man that I bought them from had 2 sets!",They arrive this Tuesday so I've not heard them. Theres actually a fellow that still makes them! I have no idea how much time that has been spent lovingly working on this set that I purchased over the decades, but it has to be ALLOT of man-hours. They have been rewired,resoldered into a line source config. And all the mids "upgraded", replaced with "Monsoon" ribbon Transducers. The last owner found a tech wiz and had the crossover completely re-built and redesigned with modern tech. I havn't even received them and am already planning on rewiring to a new schematic I've heard about to tri-amp them instead of the stock bi-amping. That will make them technically quad-amped, if you count the amps in each woofer cabinet that push just servo controlled woofers.
I've heard of speakers that have had a following, but this is ridiculous! These guys seem still readily available, which is amazing for a speaker design that hasn't REALLY changed in nearly 40 years.
It makes me wonder.... What would happen if say, a reputable Co. Like "Martin Logan" or "Bowers & Wilkins" took an old, very successfull design like this one. And then threw a year of R & D plus modern technology at it. They might just come up with one hell of a nifty set of speakers. A set that I wouldn't be able to afford I'm sure!
But I think that I'd travel a fair piece just to hear them!
Scott
 
I have a pair of Klipsch Forte ll's for listening to mostly Rock Music and I feel the sound is amazing for that. But my Bozak B4000 speakers are simply incredible for Big Band, Jazz and Classical music.
 
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1974 or 75, right after wife and I bought our house, I went out and got a pair of BIC Venturi Formula 2's. Had a Concord amp of some kind and a Dual that I never did get figured out. Those speakers survived the next 30 years until they were replaced with a pair of Monitor Audio 5i's.

Were the Venturi's good ? Don't know, they rocked the house for ever then did home theatre duty. This was before the internet and all that stuff so unless you read hifi mags you were kind of in the dark. Never worried about what cart and stylus I had and never got the Dual set up right till the day I tossed it. Mortgages and 3 kids did not allow a lot of spending on gear. But I kinda wish I still had them now, just for a workshop pair or just for nostalgia.
 
Don't know if they are considered vintage or not--but I believe late 90's design--I'm runn ing B&W 605 S2 floor standers an LCR6 center channel and 602 S2's--I bought these at a local audio shop in 2002(not too many brick and mortars left around). I swooned and had a bad case of the vapors when I heard these and bought them immediately. I had disposable income then. This setup then cost around 2700 dollars. These are 8 ohm speakers that you can drive with just about anything and they sound good. I bought the cheapest yamaha 6.1 receiver they had and it drove them great. Rated from 25-200 watts. They still sound better than most of the stuff I hear so I have no plans to replace them since I'm an old guy w/tin ears and they will probably outlast me. But I see some pretty good buys on ebay for some of these guys. I see some people put B&W's down but I see more 5 star reviews than bad reviews--I just like the B&W sound and if I won the lottery I would probably order a pair of 800 D3's.
 
when my sister got her brand new klh model 20 in 1966,i was dumbfounded,i had never heard anything besides little dumb red record players etc..but wow..what full bass,an treble,and that live band sound for over 40 years they stayed incredible

then either tweeters went north..or needed recapped..i hooked them to new cerwin vega v12f..big gray speakers,and wow..dam..
i sat an listened to zz tops tres hombres album,an shook my head,just wow...and the best of creedence a few years before this,in her carpeted bedroom..it sounded like the band was in there as she was dancing around...also many others through the years,i love my ar2ax better than anything,such live treble,and tight great bass..you hear everything thats recorded thru my mighty onkyo stx,whatever 7.1....im a lead guitar player and have heard massive killing ridiculous systems all over atlanta an chattanooga etc..but these are a different story,massive yamaha and huge cerwin vegas that will do you bodily harm,an way louder than us,an we play loud....model 6 klh,wow, what bass and a great live sound,also have heard mcintosch a little up in virginia,very warm,an pure lifelike..but..all the good ones are......i love marantz for the warm sound an that mid knob control,i had bunches of those..wonderful.............i have a soft spot for klh,and i wanna fix my model 19, so bad.and whats that white coating on the inside of that one part..i dont think its anthrax..o lordy........i love the b series marantz......silvery and blue..clean em up,an put in a few bulbs an there ya go...in the mid 1970,s i had quad stuff,a big white elephant something,also compatable discrete turntable and cd albums,also a muntx discrete 8 track in my tojo wagon,just weird,the thing had 8 pickups inside it,instead of stereo 4 ones i think..one instrument coming out of one speaker, had also sq matrix stuff..just weird.........
 
First time I ever heard hi-fi was before stereo--early 50's my older brother became really interested and got an invite to hear this early audiophile system. I don't remember all the components but do remember Fisher tube amps and I believe a huge either Altec-Lansing or Klipshorn loudspeaker--whatever it was was bigger than me--I was about 10 years old at the time. It must have been life changing or I wouldn't be posting this at 6:15 am.
 
Big Thumbs up to OP. He started an 11 (and counting) year thread! Went off track for a bit with engine nomenclature (351 Windsor hard to beat though my mopar smog dog 400ci bored, stroked and nitroused in a New Yorker was a beast) but got back on track. Even for AK this thread has to be worth a Whoot Whoot! :jump: as some kind of example.
My vote. Money No Object, Big Maggies, KHorns. Reasonable price for West Coast Sound? HPM-100s of course! Nods to AR9s. All comes back to what I like vs. what you like. ya like?
 
Love love love ADS speakers!
I've own all of these in just the last 2 yrs;

L300
L420
L520
L570
L620
L810
L880
But my all time favorites are the L710!
 
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