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Best Speakers Made In The 70s

I'll +1 on the rtr 280 dr's awesome sounding speakers, I can't imagine with the electrostatic tops on them
 
The best speakers from that era in my opinion is the OHM F for it's sound stage, However, I love the Technics SB 7070's for loud rock and roll.
 
Cylontymany said:
Looking for opinions on which are some of the best 3-way speakers during the 70s! I am brand new to this hobby and just started to collect. So far I have Pioneer HPM 60s and eventually get the 100s! My receivers so far are Kenwood KR 3600 and 7600 plus Sansui G771 "The Black Version"
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Well I would vote for many. But truth be told the most expensive speakers I got a chance to put through it paces and had truly great sound was JBLs best sounding home speakers from 1977 through to ?? the L212s (I very well could be wrong... But they did cost a nice chunk of change). You should have seen those things new in someone family room. The wood finish, the big wide towers. The huge sub with smoked glass top, and speaking of subs how many had a sub-woofer and this was as subwoofer it filled in that bottom octave missing from many. It has usable bass to 25Hz (good enough for anyone). The towers took over from 70hz. It was stated by JBL as having unlimited dynamic range, and clarity. Well they did play loud and clean, sure look great, but today a pair of Paradigms would put them to shame in measured performance; but its still not the same... not the same today (for me), Somehow those were the glory days IMO. I STILL WANT THOSE JBL L212s :pity:

l212.jpg


I tried everything to get these just was not going to happen. Don't get me wrong, JBLs were better than RS and other speakers but after wanting these nothing cut it, but the Mach Ones another neat leaking speaker :thmbsp::music:
 
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My favorite 3-way speakers from the 1970s, in no particular order:

Infinity RS-4.5
Magneplanar Tympani 1-D
Allison One

Honorable mention:

Dahlquist DQ-10 (5 way)
IMF Monitor Mark IV (4 way)
Acoustat X (full range electrostat)
 
The Altec Model 19 has to be up there with the top speakers produced in the 70's. Extremely dynamic sound with a great presence.
 
Bozak Concert Grands and their little brother the Symphony. Same basic design through the '60s and 70's.
 
I've been very-surprised at the performance I've been getting out of my Wharfedale W60E's (particularly when powered by either a Sansui 2000x or a 4000). They were intro'd in 1973 - Wharfedale changed from ported designs to acoustic-suspension in '68 (along with basically every other speaker-manufacturer, in an effort to reduce the ass-whipping they and pretty-much every other company were getting at the hands of Henry Kloss and his designs). The W60E's are similar to the AR3a. 12.5" woofer, 5" mid-woofer, and that purple dome-tweeter Wharfedale made. Very-smooth, warm-sounding speakers with excellent midrange. Nice full, well-balanced sound. Very, very-smooth, but with a strong, punchy low-end (Drums have lots of weight). And like most older Wharfedales, they work well in smaller rooms.

They do not seem to like neutral, accurate-sounding receivers/amps. It takes a warmer (ie: "tubey-sounding) solid-state unit to really open them up.
 
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