Are Snell Speakers any good?

[AudioAddict]

Ive got a friend that says he has a pair of snell speakers (three feet tall and a foot or so wide and a foot deep) that he'll trade me for my Sony 32" Trinitron TV
Just wondering if My Sansui G-9000 would blow them up...Thanks , AudioAddict

 

[cableguy]

Yes Snells are great speakers. I have a pair of the E III's in my second system and they sound fantastic. I am pushing them with a 12 wpc tube amp and they are very efficient, somewhere around 91 db.

 

[Squidward]

Those dimentions might fit the description of the Snell Type C. I have a pair, and they soak up the watts. Some Snells are efficient, but some really need the power. However, once you got them matched with something that can drive them, watch out! Great sound!

If you're at all interested, I suggest checking them out. :thmbsp:

 

[Mister Pig]

I Coiuldn't Throw Mine Far Enough

I bought a pair ofg Snell E II. Terrible speaker. Had trouble imagine, the tweeter was a long long ways away from the woofer, and created imaging problems. Bass was good, and midrange was passable. But lots of venitian blind problems in the soundstage. What was a shame was that I traded ina pair of Mourdant Short MS 30I to buy these. The MS were a far superior speaker.

Regards
Mister Pig

 

[redcoates7]

I owned a set of Snell Type D's a while back and loved them...like any speaker company, they've improved over the years so do a little research on the model before you get into a trade!

Good luck

 

[Johncan]

I have a pair of Snell Type E (not the ones that Mr. Pig mentions above) that are wonderful speakers. Mine do not have a rear-firing tweeter. They have a sweet midrange and are very efficient.

John

 

[AudioAddict]

Just got the lowdown from the trader

They are the Snell "The Ones" Type One or type I speakers..Looks like they have some sort of ramp in the front on the cabinets..Power handling according to the brochure is 300 watts RMS @4 ohms..Anyway hes bringing them at 5PM I have nothing in the 32" sony but 2 regulators, a .01 ohm resistor, and a Horizontal Output, so


Thanks all..AudioAddict

 

[AudioAddict]

Well the treble and midrange are well defined, but they do the Pucka Pucka when I try to push much bass through them, almost like the spiders are worn out , By pucka Pucka I mean the Woofers seem to be "Bottoming out" Im not pleased at all Unless I can find another ten inch woofer to throw in these.:scratch2: I took the guys word for it and traded the TV....Chit!!!!

AudioAddict

 

[GordonW]

Is the foam surround good on the woofers? Those frequently need refoaming by this point.

Otherwise, I've reconed those woofers. Should be some pretty hefty suckers... REALLY LONG voice coil windings. Probably better to recone, than to replace...

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[Johncan]

Trade him back... tell him they are not working correctly.

 

[cableguy]

Trade him back... tell him they are not working correctly.

Absolutely....

 

[AudioAddict]

I took the woofer out of one cabinet and replaced it with a 500 watt 4 ohm Infinity sub and ..WOW!!!!!!!!!! Big huge Bass Rattle the pictures off the walls stop your heart disembowel the neighbors type bass...... But theyre 4 ohm
eeeeeeeek....... AudioAddict BTW hes the type that wont trade back once the deal is done ..My bad so Im stuck with the suckers....But thats okay too it'll be a good project to restore or update them....:>)

 

[dnewma04]

Didn't Snell use peerless sourced drivers?

 

[AudioAddict]

Didn't Snell use peerless sourced drivers?

I checked the back of the woofer it is Polydax Made in France....weird I think these might not be the original drivers.... AudioAddict ...BTW Just won a set of Bose 301's on the bay..for 5.50 need refoamed..cool huh?

AudioAddict

 

[AudioAddict]

I just took measurements on the cabinets, they are 32" tall.. 18 1/2 " wide..
17 1/4 deep at the bottom and 7 1/2 deep at the top, theyre angled in the front Woofer and tweeter on the bottom, a 4" port sits dead center of the baffle, with some sort of fin 18 1/2 wide hinged on the bottom that you can raise..weird stuff here folks..Ill try to post some pics..

AudioAddict

 

[jeffe]

Original type E's

Very nice sounding speakers, good bass, natural mids, sweet highs and a very nice soundstage. Only parted with them when I found a pair of IMF TLS 50 II's locally for use with my primary vintage set up. The new owner is VERY happy!

 

[AudioAddict]

heres some pics of the crossover , the connector plate, the cabinet, and the owners manual..hope they take ok...lemme know? Thanks ...AudioAddict

 

[Jeff K]

I have vague memories of reading the Stereo Review test for these when they were new. IIRC, these are supposed to be placed on the floor and the "ramp" or wedge thingy leading up to the speaker that is pictured on the owner's manual is part of the speaker. The tweeter and midbass are almost right on the floor and reflect off the wedge thing. One of the strangest arrangements I've ever seen. The intent, I believe, was to create a predictable room interface much like Allisons. Julian Hirsch liked it.

If you get the whole package working as intended, I'd love to hear what you think.

Jeff

 

[johnny ro]

odd but great

I worked at a snell dealer in 1980s. Snell killed off ADS sales with us.

I got a free pair of model ones, demo at the store. 10" Polydax woofer, rubber surround, basic coated silk tweeter down at floor/ramp interface lost its shield and picked up dust. I got snell to manufacture two new shields, not for free, the factory took a pair of tin snips to a small strip of tin can and told me to glue it on myself.

Low quality but elaborate components on the extremely elaborate crossover- numerous variable ceramic resistors, lots of cheap elecrolytic caps soldered together to get desired value. Snell claimed, then, to keep original prototype and match each speaker to it, recording all values on board, for future replacement. They got real mad when I asked about mylar caps.

Cabinet a bit boomy to knuckle test, I myself like an inert cabinet. Nice finish, a nice expensive spekaer, the ski ramp made it a very hard sell. It did sound very nice when in good shape with my Mac 6100 driving it.

Then Peter Snell died, company continued.

I gave to nephew, he broke some parts, we ended up dumpstering them. Probably should not admit this.

If you want to keep and modify I suggest calling Zalyron on LI, NY. If they dont convince you to go with new cabinets, they can set you up with better cheap drivers and a modern crossover. If you are afraid of zalytron go with madisound.

Later on I picked up some snell Ks, refoamed, gave to sister. They are in my mind no better than other similar size 2way boxes.

The E's were similary spec'd but came out as a really great, well balanced product. Not sure about the imaging problem reported above.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I'd like to give them a listen!!!