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Best vintage style floor speakers $150-300

From my favorites:
Boston Acoustics either A series or T 830 or 930 if you want a tower.
Advent Heritage - very good speaker in that price range
ADS - most 3 ways are usually outside of that price range, but you may get lucky.
Some Radio Shack as listed in some posts already
Klipsch KG4 - great speaker if you like horns.
 
$300 won't get a good set of what would be considered "floor standers".
Ditto what Krosya said. Any ADS 3-way. The Bigger, the better.
Add stands and you have a floor stander.


Pair of L-880/2's in the SF Bay area. A bit higher priced than OP's desires, but a wad of 20's and some haggle nerve could bring them home within budget.

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$300 won't get a good set of what would be considered "floor standers".
Ditto what Krosya said. Any ADS 3-way. The Bigger, the better.
Add stands and you have a floor stander.

There were some 300 and less speakers listed that would be really nice but I'm going with your second comment, And ADS 3-way, slap on some stands, as ADS offered, use your own design, built or bought, and you have floor standers is right. Hard to find the ADS stands today but there are a few out there. Buy the speakers right and the stands would make the total in budget.
 
There were some 300 and less speakers listed that would be really nice but I'm going with your second comment, And ADS 3-way, slap on some stands, as ADS offered, use your own design, built or bought, and you have floor standers is right. Hard to find the ADS stands today but there are a few out there. Buy the speakers right and the stands would make the total in budget.
If you look at it from an enclosure volume standpoint, the 880/810's are actually bigger than modern skinny towers.
Although my little 780's don't fill the 15 X 25 room as effortlessly as the vintage behemoths, the do it as well as the modern skinny towers from the home theater (shown with temporary stands at a recent steak/hooch/speaker-fest).
I know it goes against the grain of the original post, but I would hope that it inspires a removal of Boognish88's "floorstanding" criteria, which limits out a lot of potential great speakers in his price range.

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It's too bad the OP hasn't been back to clarify his needs and share his location. There have been some really great recommendations in this thread, but ultimate, I think it comes down to what's available locally, what exactly the OP means by floor speakers and vintage, what he's going to be driving them with, how much he cares about cosmetic condition, and if he's willing and able to perform basic repairs (refoam and recap), or if he expects someone else to have already done this work.

I have/had several of the speakers mentioned and paid less than $300 for each (KEF 104/2, Infinity Qb, Klipsch KG4, Rectilinear Highboys, KLF Model 23, etc.), but most needed some kind of work (cosmetic refinish/repair, refoam, recap, etc.), but I was willing and capable to do that work myself. I will also add JBL L36 Decades to the list of potential targets. Unless they have been recently rebuilt and refinished, these almost always sell for less than $300, but they almost always need a little work, too (usually at least a refoam of the woofers).

Hey @Boognish88, please come back and help us help you. Please let us know where you are located and what amp/receiver you will be using to drive these speakers. Let us know if you have basic repair skills and are willing to accept something that is less than perfect cosmetically. If we know your location, we can help you check to see what's available on your local craigslist and maybe a fellow AKer will have something perfect for your needs at a favorable price.
 
My 2 cents, can't help it! I agree, ears are the best judge. Hopefully with a little time to audition over a few days with different material.

We're talking equipment that has aged over decades. I've had the experience of owning 2 pair of KLH Model Six speakers at the same time. One earlier and one later but same restoration process, same caps. I spent an entire afternoon going back and forth and realised that one of them had a better sound than the other. I didn't want to believe it but it was true for reasons I don't have the equipment, finance or patience to discover
 
There have been some Timeframes
in my area below $200, some more but usually always under $300 and those have nice imaging and a timeless look.
Just saw a set of 500's for $100 and posted in Dollars and ...

Nice set of Polk 10's should be $300 range.

Maybe I'm spoiled, there are always nice speakers for very good prices in my area which is Chicago land.
 
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I have to chime in with Large Advents. I have JBL 4430s, but I CRAVE a set of Advents. Amazing classic speaker.
 
Many very nice speakers mentioned here for $300 or under.

Paid $40 bucks for my small Advent/3's, they are all original and I enjoy that little speaker.

(Sorry those aren't floor speakers but they sound better than some floor speakers I have heard).
 
Or on a smaller budget
Realistic Optimus 1 or 1b, Optimus 5 or 5b, Nova 7 or 7b, Nova 8 or 8b. Very similar in sound to those suggestions

Nova 8's are a very good speaker, that easily can be had for under $100.
 
I'm partial to the vintage Snells. So much so that I now have 3 sets. All were bought under 300.00. E II, C IV, Type C's. The Type C's are the rarest and hardest to find, but if you get them in good shape they are amazing. IMHO
 
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