Okaaaay, sorry to resurrect an old thread. But I'm sitting here now listening to the A100 Version 2s that I just acquired today.
Hope you'll bear with me for a moment here. I have only been in the vintage audio community for a couple of months. I've been telling myself for ages that I was going to get a classic receiver, I just love the look and sound of many of them (I had never owned one before), and recently I made the move.
It was triggered by finding a pair of Bose 201 Series III at a flea market in Orlando. They looked nice, and they sounded very nice indeed to my untutored ears. On a whim, I snagged 'em, very cheaply. Then, since I had some speakers, I decided I was finally gonna get a receiver (particularly as I was moving from Orlando to Vicksburg, MS, and I knew I'd *need* to depend on music to get me through the boredom--it's nice here, but there's not a lot to do after, say, 6 p.m.). So I got on eBay and bid on a Pioneer SX-750--I'd done my research here on AK (thanks, everyone!), and I determined it had the best combination of sound, power, looks, features, dependability (and repairability if something goes wrong, and refurbishability), and was the best I could get within my budget. So I snagged one on eBay. More than most of you would think I should have paid, true, *but* they're kinda rare where I was living and where I've moved to, and it's in great condition cosmetically, including the vinyl, and in operation.
I got along fine for a bit over a month with the Boses, and they sounded decent. But I kept thinking, when listening to them, that there wasn't quite enough *there* there somehow. Not sure, being as I'm still highly untutored, what that was and exactly how to express it--although I've read all the Bose threads, pro and con, regarding the 201s and the 301 Series IIs, which seemed to be a step up and still affordable.
So this weekend I decided to roll over to Jackson and hit *every* flea market and thrift store I could find. The Goodwills and Salvation Armies were all lame, and one thrift shop had a few pieces of Polk gear, but otherwise it was a desert, basically--which I expected pretty much. But then I walked into a place just east of Jackson called, appropriately, The Flea Market, took a right as I entered, and lo and behold, I ran smack dab into a guy who had loads of vintage audio gear sitting around. A lot of it was kinda cruddy and nothing I'd be interested in, although he did have some very nice and interesting pieces mixed in, but he did have a bunch of good speakers. Several HPM-100s (way out of my price range) and quite a few other really nice speakers. He did have some Bose 301 Series IIs in decent shape, but I noticed he also had a pair of A100s which, despite being dusty from clearly having sat there for a while, were in great shape. And the vendor had replaced the foams (he refoams all speakers that need it before selling them, and recaps most of the older ones, and the receivers/amps, before he sells them--from our conversation, I could tell that he does know a considerable bit about what he's doing, and he clearly loves audio gear and had been selling it for a while).
I got home last night and researched all the options amongst what he had on offer, and it sounded like the A100s, which I'd never heard in action before, had the best combination of praise, relative lack of negative reviews, sonic characteristics I was looking for in a speaker, quality of construction, and again--affordability.
So I came back today, and he fired them up for me. They sounded great, and I offered him my Bose 201s in trade--and we settled on $160. Again, a bit high, but audio gear has shot up in price recently, and in Mississippi, pickin's are a bit slim really. Plus, they really are in great condition and had been refoamed by the seller (I don't think, unfortunately, he actually used the filleted surrounds, but I'm not absolutely sure). So I got 'em home, gave them a clean, hooked 'em up to my SX-750--following the recommendations to place them very near a wall--and put them to work.
Started with a bit of Blur (Out of Time and Tender), then went to a bit of Heinrich von Biber. Followed that up with some Björk and then a lil' Idioteque, thinking those tracks would give me a good idea what the speakers could do. As soon as I hit play on the first of those, I immediately sprang from my seat and turned off the loudness switch. With the Boses, I *had* to use it to get any oomph in the highs and lows (yeeeeeah, I know), but straightaway the A100s delivered some really solid bass and the high parts were very good, too--probably far better than I can hear those frequencies nowadays, at my age--and with the loudness engaged, it was far *too* much of both. Then over to FM, the local R&B station. Shortly after I switched over, Outkast's I Like the Way You Move came on. Big Boii sounded like he and his backing singers & the horns were right in the room with me. Brilliant! I'm about to test 'em out on a movie in a moment.
I'm not gonna bash the Boses--they did sound nice and smooth, and I enjoyed listening to them. But even as little sophistication as I have, I can tell these A100s are considerably better, and I'm sure I'll be happier with them than if I'd gone with my first idea of getting the 301s. Not only that, from what I've read here, one day when my budget allows it I can probably try to find a pair of A200s or A400s and use them as my mains, while rotating the A100s to rear speakers--so I can keep it all in the same speaker family. But for now, these A100s will serve me quite well I can tell already.
Short version: if you are new (or even a little more advanced) and are looking for a great introductory speaker at a truly budget price, which you can still use in a more advanced system later, I would definitely recommend the A100s. Yeah, there are loads of "better" speakers out there, which I'm looking forward to hearing (and, maybe, buying one day when I've got the cash), but it's hard to beat the sound, build quality and affordability of the A100s. It's a really sweet spot for someone, like me, getting their first set of "quality" speakers.
