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'Fast' vintage speakers?

bhairavi

bhairavi

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hello.

I bought some modern Wharfedale Lintons not too long ago for my 2 channel TV system, run with a HK3490 (120 wpc). I bought the Lintons because of their reputation for warmth and rolled off highs. They are meaty and sound pretty good, but I have a hard time eq-ing out what I perceive as their 'forwardness', and I believe they have a dip in the area where vocals reside, which I don't really enjoy.

Recently I bought some KLH Sixes, and A/Bing them, my wife and I found that we both preferred the KLH to the Lintons. The Linton are forward even on a cap-coupled receiver. The KLHs have clearer vocals and bass. The only thing they don't do that well is really heavy, abrasive or complex modern music, and I imagine they wouldn't do that well with movies.

So my Q is - are there 'fast' speakers just like there are 'fast' amps, and are there any vintage speakers that can be relatively nimble?

I also have Boston A200s but I can't have them in the TV system. I haven't heard ADS and I'm wondering if they would be better suited to modern music and movies, or perhaps the Yamaha NS line?
 
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Mission 770 Freedom are fast, at least to my ears.
There is no bloated, nor boomy bass on these.

They are elevated about 16 inches ( tweeter to ear level when I'm sittin with a beer on hand ). Compare them to my IMF or DM2's, there is a world.

Amplification does stand for a lot in this. Damping factor is important ( I am not opening a can of worms here : )
 
The Lintons were basically at the maximum for what I'd be willing to pay for a speaker, so Missions and new KLHs are out, I think.

Anything in the vintage realm?
 
bhairavi said:
The Lintons were basically at the maximum for what I'd be willing to pay for a speaker, so Missions and new KLHs are out, I think.

Anything in the vintage realm?
Click to expand...
Might be prevalent information to know what you did pay for the Lintons.
 
I am not sure what you mean re: "fast" speakers. As far as vintage, based on your observation of the KLH Sixes, you might want to look for a pair of properly restored AR3s. By properly restored I mean crossover tended to, and the mids and tweeters rebuilt. I ran my pair for a few years as fronts in my surround sound system on a NAD T748. That AV amp has a really nice two channel mode with 80 watts. The AR3s like a lot of SS power, in my experience. Your HK would have no problem driving them.

The AR3s are somewhat more difficult to find that the 3as, but the 3as should sound similar. If I had not gone down the road of low power tubes with really efficient speakers, or the Altec 19s, the AR3s would still be my main speakers.

On that note, you might want to check out some of the smaller Altec 2 ways--14s or 15s.
 
Fast tight bass can be had with vintage klipsch heresies. They don't dig much below 50 htz, but from there to 200htz they're solid.
 
So the KLHs are acoustic suspension. They're pretty good. But what about performance in upper frequencies? A lot of the stuff I listen to might have an abrasive guitar distortion edge, that tends to get grainy fast.
 
Right now I have replaced the Lintons with KLH 17s and added on the M&K V2b subwoofer. I need to re-transistor my HK3490 and then recheck the sound.

Unfortunately I don't think the amp features an internal crossover, so the KLHs get the full frequency range. Apparently it's hard to find stereo amps that have a crossover.

I suppose I could run everything through the subwoofer...
 
wmgwizard said:
Fast/tight = Sealed/Acoustic suspension

Look for some floorstanding NHT's(SuperTwo or 2.5); or if you can add a sub, the SuperOne's are hard to beat for the money.
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Agree 100% on the NHT speakers. They can be somewhat hard to find, especially the made in Benicia, Ca., models from the 1990's. I recently picked up a pair of HDP-2 (Hybrid Dipole) which is basically 2 Super Zero's one firing forward and the other rearward plus a 6.5" woofer that were meant as rear surrounds. Basically a 3way system plays down to about 60 hertz. Am using them as fronts!

Also grabbed VS-2's in the same haul.
 
Keep an eye out for some of the higher end JVC speakers like the SX-3, SX-5, and SX-7, or the slightly 'less vintage' versions SX-311, SX-500, SX-911. Some of them even have special paper cones by some English fella named Kurt, so they must be good ;)
 
One more vote for NHT. I have the SuperOne's, and It's amazing how much good, quality sound comes out of those little boxes.
 
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wmgwizard said:
Fast/tight = Sealed/Acoustic suspension

Look for some floorstanding NHT's(SuperTwo or 2.5); or if you can add a sub, the SuperOne's are hard to beat for the money.
Click to expand...
Speakers with properly tuned passive radiators produce fast tight bass with good impact too. I really like the Polk Monitor 7's and 10's I have.
I also have a small pair of Monitor 5jr's with 6" midbass drivers and 6" passive radiator. They do well in a small room.
 
Not only are we firm on cones, we're also firm on non-floorstanding, real wood veneer, and probably a bunch of other prejudices I didn't even know I had. :D
 
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