Best vintage style floor speakers $150-300

[Blue Shadow]

To address Blue Shadow question about 2'x1'x1' basic size speakers floor standers?( KLH fives are a little larger than that. ) IMO, If the choice of clasificaton is bookshelf or floor stander, would call them floor standers. Never seen a shelf big enough for one. Granted they should have an angled base stand at minimum.
I hope the KLH five recommendations are accurate. I'm rebuilding a pair.
Welcome to AK site.

I had AR-5s on the shelf in the dorm in college. That is a big bookshelf same size as the AR-2-series speakers. I consider any box speaker a bookshelf unless it is designed to be on the floor and as you stated they are NOT and need a stand, shelf, cinder blocks, corner of a desk or other chunk of furniture to lift em off the floor so they sound right. Think of all the people around the world listening to these large bookshelf speakers sitting on the floor with horrible boomy bass response and highs that hit em in the knees. Calling these floorstanders is a disservice to the audio less-literate, leading them to believe the speaker is supposed to be on the floor. Maybe we need to make the determination and put that info out there as AK standards. Look at all the ak rigs with those type speakers on the floor instead of raised and or tilted up to listening level.

 

[GD70]

In the KLH Six instruction manual, they state to put them on the floor. There were never factory stands for them. Doesn't mean they will sound worse if on stands though. I have mine horizontal, ear level when sitting down, they sound great, no lack of bass with these.

 

[Tim D]

+1 on the KLH's mentioned. You will end up with a sweet sounding set of speakers that don't take a lot of power to drive, they look fantastic if you put some elbo grease into the cabinets, and will hold their value. I drive my KLH Sixes with a 20W Marantz 2220B and I'm not really needing more. If you have more then fine......

 

[Blue Shadow]

In the KLH Six instruction manual, they state to put them on the floor.

Had to look that up and found two the one on CSP, the original that does mention that, shouting it actually and then late in the 4 pages talks about moving them around. The other one from the Cambridge days talks about positioning to get the sound preferred, a better discussion of the changes based on where the speaker is in relation to the room boundaries and listeners.

That first manual talks about hammering in the supplied rubber feet on the side of the speaker when positioning is determined. I'm glad I don't see those feet hammered into any of the speakers I have ever picked up and doubt we would do something like that to them today. Cones are something different. My ads towers need cones.

 

[Old Guy8]

The OP can look for what ever speakers he wants. IMO, if looking for vintage 60's, 70's speakers, I would open my target to what sounds best in your under $300 budget. If it has to sit on the floor, you may miss some great speakers. Some of the big bookshelves were 2+cu. ft. volume. At that size, I rarely saw them on shelves, often on short tables or on the floor, from what I remember of the 70's. A lot of original buyers were in thier 20's, playing rock and liked boomy base. Most were not into audiophile sound, like the readers of this site are.
Today there are more floor standing speakers being built. A change of style design from then. Again my opinion. Not likely correct.

 

[toxcrusadr]

AR 11
Klipsch Kg 4 or 4.2

Infinity Qb mentioned earlier is a great speaker as is the Genesis 2 or 20 about the same size.

 

[Isotonic]

My current favor in that range is the Boston Acoustics A150. Versatile and an excellent performer all around.

 

[Blue Shadow]

Most were not into audiophile sound, like the readers of this site are.
Again my opinion. Not likely correct.

There that reads better.

I know of a few here that are looking for many things that aren't audiophile sound.

But you are right the OP should look for the best sounding speakers in his opinion.

 

[Boognish88]

First, welcome to AK!

There are a lot of variables to consider when looking for speakers. Are they going to need to fill a big room or are they more for background music? Do you prefer "in your face" bass or something more refined?



Very good questions! It all depends on personal preference.

I listen to mostly folk and country music so i think more refined over in your face

 

[blhagstrom]

"Best" is completely your preference and hearing dependent.

No one has heard every speaker made or available.

I like Dahlquist and Advent, but I've never had many good JBL or Klipsch.
SpeakerLab are excellent and so are ADS.

There are so many good speakers and different tastes and desires and styles listening along with taste in music and your particular ears that its an impossible question to answer.

This must be, what, the 10,000th time someone asked this?

I don't suppose a few sticky posts explaining that the "best" speaker, amp, turntable, wire, LP, CDP, etc.... would help.

 

[Old Guy8]

blhagstom has it right that only your ears are going to tell you what sounds good. If you read this site for opinions from members over weeks, might give you idea of a few universally disliked speakers to avoid, and maybe not. Discribing what a speaker sounds like in words is problematic if you have not heard many varied speakers.

 

[bluestime]

Time Frame 600's are liked by most everyone and fit the budget.

 

[BilboBaggins]

I like big ass power amps, and speakers I have personal experience with and can recommend, in no particular order are;

Genesis Physics II
DCM Timeframe TF-350
ADS L630
Celestion Ditton 44s
Celestion Ditton 66s
ESS AMT 1aM
Wharfedale Dovedale 3s
Wharfedale W70s
Kef Concerto's
Kef 104/2
Kef 105
Polk Audio Monitor 7
Advent Large Utilities
Advent U4

In the end though, your questions should be, I like loud Rock and Roll and I have a large space. What amp and speakers should I get?

Or, I have a Yamaha m40 amp and I'm looking for a large pair of floorstanders to match them with, ..., ...., ...

You need to qualify things down a little if you want to get any useful information.

 

[gbroot]

It goes back to musical preferences etc. I prefer sealed box/ acoustic suspension speakers with the somewhat laid back, refined sound, and tight bass for musical tastes that have changed. Back in my 20's it was all about loud rock and Pioneer HPM series or the JBL's in your face sound. Pretty good chance that's why I've got a good dose of tinnitus now and prefer my KLH 5's!

 

[stevo137]

The highest quality 2 way that you can afford and you don't need to perform technical work on, caps, foam, all that stuff.
I respect the people that restore all of the nice pieces mentioned but I just want to plug em' in and listen.
I'm like a bad doctor, (no patience) but that's just me.

You have entered the realm of the true "audiophile" and many here can do these things with their eyes mostly closed and by memory.

It took me awhile to learn this, subscribe to AK and there are members in Barter Town that are selling some really nice pieces and they have done all the stuff and offering some really good deals and they have done all of the work.

How can you beat that?

 

[tubed]

To the OP, if you are still here, of course you have your preferences, ears and frame of reference blah blah blah.
You are also perfectly correct in asking for opinions on this site about which speakers are preferable floorstanding vintage speakers under three hundred dollars, how else would you build a frame of reference.
I stated my opinion, which is better than most the speakers listed here that I've owned and heard and can be had under $300( even the ones more than 3 bills)

 

[Ross6860]

To the OP, if you are still here, of course you have your preferences, ears and frame of reference blah blah blah.
You are also perfectly correct in asking for opinions on this site about which speakers are preferable floorstanding vintage speakers under three hundred dollars, how else would you build a frame of reference.

Agreed, you have to start somewhere, and someone telling you to just go and listen isn't helpful. You would be limited to what is available to audition.

Knowing your amp or receiver would probably help.

FWIW I have KLH 5 speakers and a Technics SL-D2 in my family room right now. Get a decent cartridge and stylus for your TT, too.

In addition to what others have mentioned I'll throw out the classic Infinity RS series, RS5, RS5a, RS4 or RS3 are in your range (you may have to shop).

Large Advents, AR2a, AR4ax, EPI 100, EPI 150, Polk Monitor 10, Klipsch KG 4 and other Klipsch KG series, and a whole bunch more. Lots of nice stuff out there.

 

[Old Guy8]

I like my ADS L880's which are 10" three ways. Not quite floor standers. Sometimes found under $300.
New Large Advents sound fine when tweeter switch is set to lowest setting, IMO.

 

[BMWCCA]

I resisted contributing to this thread lest my normal suggestion sound like a broken record, but:

The JBL L5 can often be found in this price range. It's a fantastic speaker that flies under the radar. I've owned one pair for years and bought another recently in perfect shape from the original owner for $250. I've also purchased two pair of L7s for even less over the last few years, but they often go for much more. Local purchase is key since neither are very easy to ship. If you can find a pair of L7s within that price range, and you have enough amp to power them properly, I doubt you'll find anything that will come close to them for three-times the money.

 

[cohog]

Lots of good advice here - hearing being the key word tho. Let your ears decide among the many great suggestions. I did appreciate the post that said to drill down and qualify by including more details about your other components, musical taste, room size, etc. That would allow those of us with wide experience of many different speakers to offer suggestions more tailored to your needs. I have repaired, owned or still own many of the speakers recommended here and found almost all to be fine choices, and often perfect for a given situation. Bottom line tho is always you hearing the qualities you like - in person,.