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Know if these are any good?

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maydaynomore

Member
3na3ka3o95O05Y35W2a8ab569d4577f7214f3[1].jpgHi

This is my first post. Have been reading for a while, but now I need help.
I found these speakers in the local CL ad. The guy selling them said that they are Magnavox SD2570wa01. He is sure of the brand but the model # is very faint. so not a 100% that is it. The box is hardwood.
Anybody ever see/hear these before.
He wants $100 for them but i'm pretty sure he would let them go for $75 or maybe even $50.
The sub needs new foam.
I hope the pic will show up.

Thanks for helping
 
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Welcome to AK!

Universal rule of thumb: certain brands are just not known for making great speakers. Magnavox is one of them. You can get a lot more speaker for a Benjamin. Stick around, read up in the Speaker forum, and include your location in your profile so people know where you are. You might find another AKer with some great gear for sale at a great price near you.

PS: that's a woofer, not a subwoofer.
 
Woofer, not subwoofer. Subs are something completely different.

toxcrusadr has great advice - lurk around the Speaker forum, gather up brands and models that people say good things about, and take trips to your local Goodwill, thrift store, Craigslist, etc. Find something you think might be worth it? Get it. Needs a refoam? Not an issue - it's easy and pretty inexpensive. Cabinets look like they've been to hell and back? So what - it's the sound that matters.

I wish you good luck.

P.S.: The suggestion about putting your location into your profile details is a really good one.
 
Thank you all for your quick responses, and thanks for keeping me from making a newbie mistake. I will pass on these and keep looking. Now off to figuring out how to update my profile to include my location.
Also: thanks for correcting me on the woofer vs subwoofer thing. need to find out what the difference is. although i imagine a subwoofer is a stand alone unit while a woofer is aprt of a speaker (like a 3 way speaker). I have lots to learn. :)
 
The prefix sub means below so sub-woofer would mean below woofer, or a woofer which woofs frequencies below that of a normal woofer.
 
stick to the big names,

Acoustic research
KLH
Advent
JBL
polk
boston acoustics
klipsch

etc, and it'd hard to go wrong...even their crappy offerings are better than most.

a little more hit & miss are the offerings by mainly stereo component manufacturers
(pioneer, marantz, sansui, fisher, kenwood, etc)

best thing is to listen before you buy if possible.

a quick scan of the des moines craigslist shows a pair of advent heritage speakers for $40, another for $135, some polk monitor 12's for $225, and a number pf pioneer, sansui, fisher, and kenwood offerings....
 
thanks for the explanation about woofer vs subwoofer. does that mean that, if you want to cover the whole range you will need to have 3 way speaker + a subwoofer: Tweeter + mid + woofer + subwoofer. (If you have a good link that explains these kind of things I would love to have it. I don't seem to be able to effectivly search these forums) Right now I have a setup of a pair of Polk Audio RTi8, CSi3 for center and a couple of Polk audio bookshelf (monitor.... something) and a PSW10 sub (I know the sub is not any good). All of this powered by a Pioneer Elite VSX-29 i believe (i'm at work right now, don't remember the exact model #).
I am not very happy with my sound. Something is missing. I use stereo for music and 5.1 for movies. I'm not happy with either. Its Ok, but its not great.
Thats why i have started looking for other speakers, and since I don't have a lot of money to spend on new speakers I need to look for used "old" (vintage) speakers. What would I have to buy to be able to notice a big difference over my Polks?
Thanks again for all your help
 
No it doesn't necessarily mean a three way plus a sub. A two way plus sub done well will also work.

Also depends on your objective. If you're listening to music and not interested in movies, then a design that plays to 40Hz (-3dB) will cover virtually all music. If you also want explosions, you will need a sub.
 
Magnavox made some good speakers but they lack kool factor and aren't worth much money. I'd take the Maganvox 10" 2-way with the horn tweeter over an AR, Dynaco or KLH any day.

Well not over a KLH 9. ;)
 
maydaynomore said:
thanks for the explanation about woofer vs subwoofer. does that mean that, if you want to cover the whole range you will need to have 3 way speaker + a subwoofer: Tweeter + mid + woofer + subwoofer. (If you have a good link that explains these kind of things I would love to have it. I don't seem to be able to effectivly search these forums) Right now I have a setup of a pair of Polk Audio RTi8, CSi3 for center and a couple of Polk audio bookshelf (monitor.... something) and a PSW10 sub (I know the sub is not any good). All of this powered by a Pioneer Elite VSX-29 i believe (i'm at work right now, don't remember the exact model #).
I am not very happy with my sound. Something is missing. I use stereo for music and 5.1 for movies. I'm not happy with either. Its Ok, but its not great.
Thats why i have started looking for other speakers, and since I don't have a lot of money to spend on new speakers I need to look for used "old" (vintage) speakers. What would I have to buy to be able to notice a big difference over my Polks?
Thanks again for all your help
Click to expand...

looking at the specs of the RTi8's, their -3db cutoff on the low end is 30 hz...a sub would help with the last 10 hz of the audio spectrum...is it worth it for music? probably not.

the RTi line is polk's mid-level from a few years ago, IIRC, and should be pretty good, but all listening is subjective....what doesn't sound "right"?

comparing bookshelfs in an A/B, I ran some polk RT20's back to back with my refoamed Acoustic Research AR18 speakers, the AR's had much tighter bass, and were a lot more "airy" running on my marantz 2230. the polks sounded muddy, is the best discription. the AR's sound good with the bass/mid/treble controls all at about the same level, the polks, I needed to drop the mid control down 4-5 notches to sound decent to my ears.

I'm not sure how well some of the newer mid level receivers are as far as performance for music. you might be happier with a vintage setup like a 22xx series marantz.

another option would be to watch craigslist/ebay for an Audiocontrol EQ (2 channel ones can be found pretty cheaply) to shape the sound to fit your ears and room acoustics. I have one on my home theater setup (which is a mid 90's technics Pro Logic receiver and AR312HO's for mains), and being able to tweak output every octave is very nice to fit a system to a room. your pioneer might have that functionality built into it, I don't know.

"subwoofers" as an assembly are a driver, enclosure, and typically a self contained amp and active crossover and are designed to produce frequencies up to ~150 hz or so.

"subwoofer" as a driver, is a specialized woofer, designed to produce the lowest frequency ranges, typically from ~20-200, sometimes up to 1000 hz or so...a woofer typically has a wider frequency response, depending on it's size....a lot of subs typically have dual voice coils to input both channels into 1 driver, since the lowest frequencies (under 80hz or so) are non directional.

for example,

here's a 12" subwoofer, note it's frequency response specs, 25-200 hz...
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=295-555

here's a 12" woofer, note, it's frequency response is 25-2500 hz
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=295-320

or this one, with an advertised freq. response of 19-5000 hz
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=290-118
 
Well, one thing to think about before slagging off the speakers in the OP's post- those Magnavox may well have some parts in there, made by Philips. This is entirely likely, since Philips OWNED Magnavox when those speakers were likely made. They may not suck...

I'd do a little investigation, before turning up my nose immediately...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
I use exclusively Bozaks,I have 3 pairs...With all this talk of Sub-Woofers,I have no need for Subs at all with the sound I get and especially wouldn't want to corrupt a Vintage System by using SUBS!
 
maydaynomore said:
thanks for the explanation about woofer vs subwoofer. does that mean that, if you want to cover the whole range you will need to have 3 way speaker + a subwoofer: Tweeter + mid + woofer + subwoofer. (If you have a good link that explains these kind of things I would love to have it. I don't seem to be able to effectivly search these forums) Right now I have a setup of a pair of Polk Audio RTi8, CSi3 for center and a couple of Polk audio bookshelf (monitor.... something) and a PSW10 sub (I know the sub is not any good). All of this powered by a Pioneer Elite VSX-29 i believe (i'm at work right now, don't remember the exact model #).
I am not very happy with my sound. Something is missing. I use stereo for music and 5.1 for movies. I'm not happy with either. Its Ok, but its not great.
Thats why i have started looking for other speakers, and since I don't have a lot of money to spend on new speakers I need to look for used "old" (vintage) speakers. What would I have to buy to be able to notice a big difference over my Polks?
Thanks again for all your help
Click to expand...


You don't say what your sources are...do you listen to radio, vinyl, CDs, mp3s...?? This could have a profound effect, both the type and quality.
 
BOUXY said:
I use exclusively Bozaks,I have 3 pairs...With all this talk of Sub-Woofers,I have no need for Subs at all with the sound I get and especially wouldn't want to corrupt a Vintage System by using SUBS!
Click to expand...

Your Bozak love is aces with me but I find your notion that subs "corrupt" vintage systems an odd one. I suppose if the system were a museum display.....
 
I'll catch some flack for this, but I don't care.

Radio Shack (Realistic, Optimus) pre-80, though a few after 80 are listenable.
Agree with Fisher, again early
Infinity
Pioneer (some CS, most HPM, etc.)

A couple of these brands are often real bargains due to the hype over the other name brands. Keep in mind Hype is not saying overrated, they're just at the top of so many peoples list that the values tend to be overinflated (whatever the market will bare).

Wise thing using this list, but use it for reference as your ears will dictate what you like. Oh, don't assume that a JBL L100 doesn't meet your needs (just as an example) without listening to at least two pair. Vintage speakers don't age alike due to the way they are played. The harder the more wear and tear on the components, including the crossovers. It's not fair, or wise, to judge any brand or model without giving a listen to a few in the lineup. You could miss a great deal assuming that all models in a line sound alike.

Keep your options open, and to steal (corrupt) an old saying "keep your friends close, and the ones with great speakers closer"

Ciao
 
Thank you all. I really appreciate it. I can't believe that I got this many responses in a single day.
I told the guy that I wasn't interested and he lowered his price to $50 immediately without me asking. Me being a woodworker one thing I like about them is that they are hardwood, but speakers are for sound and that is the most important thing. I realize that.
I listen to classics and Jazz when I want to relax and that's the time I enjoy "good" sound the most. I also listen to rock a lot, but classics and Jazz come first when it comes to sound quality. I like the sound to fill the room. I like to feel surrounded by......sound. There is nothing better than listening to a familiar song, but for the first time "hearing" all the different instruments. You get to appreciate the song, the complex composition of the different instruments that come together to deliver the beautiful sensation that penetrates your body, not only through you ears, but your whole body. When you positively forget where you are and immerse yourself completely into the song or composition, and when you feel like you're floating in mid air........that's nirvana............. that's the perfect pair of speakers.
Now tell me: what speakers am I talking about.
 
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