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List of TOL vintage speakers

Harman Kardon Model Sixty

Finally pics of the elusive and mildly enigmatic 1992 TOTL Harman Kardon Model Sixty:)
 
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If you were listening to Allison IC-20's that alone would be rare, since less than 50 PAIR exist in all the world!

A truly magnificent loudspeaker and unfortunately a disaster in the marketplace.

Near legend to Allison Fans. Which Allison Model were you listening to?
 
From Marantz during 1977-1980, 1-4 best models made:
1. Marantz M 16 20hz - 28khz
2. Model 600 25hz- 28khz
3. DS-940 30hz- 22khz (incredible looking!!)
4. HD-880 30hz- 22khz

Not sure of retail price for these, if you know please share your information.
 
...and no TOTL list would be complete without these gems from the early - mid 80s...

dbx SF1A

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Mine in an older setup :D
 
js1138 said:
Add your candidates to the list.

Rules are that a speaker should have been the best produced by a manufacturer at a given time.
Companies that were in business for a long time might have produced more than one top of the line model at different times.
In general, quality follows price, but not necessarily. This should be a list of the best produced by a company, regardless of price.

Rules are that the speaker should have been produced in enough numbers to have developed a following, and should be available, at least occasionally, on the used market.

Limited edition speakers qualify, but do not disqualify speakers from the regular lines of the same manufacturer.

I'll start with some obvious candidates. Then I'll try to keep this first post updated (but I'll get behind).

Acoustat 2+2
ADC 18a
ADS L2030, L1590
Advance A+
Advent Powered
Allison Acoustics - One, Nine, IC-20
Altec 19, 604, Barcelona, Valencia
Apogee Scintilla, Apogee
AR 1, AR3a, lst, Classic 30, AR9, M6, 10 pi
Audio Concepts Sapphire
Avid.. 103, 230, 330
B&W 801, dm7, Nautilus
Bang and Olufsen 5700 Studio Monitor
Beovox MS150, MS150.2
Beveridge Model 2 sw
BIC Venturi Formula VI
Bose 901
Boston T1030
Boston Acoustics A400
Bozak Concert Grand
Braun LS150, LV1020
Burhoe Blue
Carver Amazing
Celestion SL700, Ditton 66 or 88
Cerwin Vega D-9, 1215
Cizek Model One
Dahlquist DQ10, DO-30
DCM Time Windows
Dynaco A50
Energy Pro 22 Reference
EPI 100, M1000
ESS Amt-3, AMT 6
EV Patrician, Sentry III, Interface D
Fisher XP-18, ST 550
FOSTEX RP-1001
Frazier Dixielander
Fried Model H
Fulton J
Hartley Concertmaster
Heathkit Legato
Genesis II, III, 3+, 410
IMF TLS80,RSPM, SACM
Infinity Beta, Kappa 9, QLS-1, IRS, QRS, RS-1a, RS-1b, RSIIIa & B, RS 4.5, Monitor IIa, Servo Static, WTCL
JansZen Z-824
JBL L300, 250Ti LE, 4355, 4350A, 4345, Everest, Paragon, Hartsfield, Olympus
Jensen Imperial
JVC Zero 9
KEF Reference 1, 104.2, 105.3, 107.2, KM1
kenwood LS-X9, LS-408B, LS-1900, Seven,
KLH 9, 12
Klipschorn
Leslie DVX 570/580
Magnepan Tympani, 20.1
Marantz HD-88,HD-880,DS-940, Model 8, MKII, Imperial 9, M16
McIntosh XRT20
Mission 747
Nearfield Acoustics - Pipedreams
Norman Lab model 9
Ohm A, F, G
Ohm Acoustics Model I
Onkyo grand scepter GS-1
Phase Linear Andromedas/III
Pioneer TZ-9, HPM-200, HPM-1100, CS-99A
Polk SDA
Rectilinear III
RSL Speed Screen II
RTR-280D
SAE Mark XII
Sansui SB L900, SB L800 II
Sanyo/Fisher STE1200
Snell Type A
Sony SS-G9
Soundlab A1
Speakerlab 7, K
Spica Angelus
Stephens Tru-Sonic (Charles Eames design) E3
StudioLAB 4D
Tannoy Gold, Westminster
Technics SB-9500, SB-10000, SB-M10000
Thiel CS
Quad ESL 63
Wharfedale E90, W90
Wilson Audio Watt Puppy. WAMM
Yamaha NS-1000, NS-1000X, NS-2000, NS-10000
Click to expand...
 
Acoustic Research AR3A(with tube amp or high current solid state)
Infinity: Monitor 1A (w Walsh tweeters)
OHM: Model 1
Free-Air Acoustic Design: Rendition (not sure if these qualify as they only made a handful)
 
Zonker92 said:
Not sure when the 4355 was phased out, but in its wake the 4435 may have been the TOTL JBL professional monitor from about 1984 to 1996 (?), overlapping with the home-use Everest and Paragon; see:

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?349-Old-JBL-Pro-Studio-Monitor-Price-List

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/reference/price-lists/1970-1999-prices.htm

http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/jbl/4430-35.htm

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The original price of the TOTL JBL 4355 was $2,619 in December, 1981 and $2,802 in October, 1982 when production apparently ended.

According to the CPI inflation calculator, that amount is the equivalent of $6,876.80 today (ea.) or $13,753.60 for the pair.

As you can see, they were the highest priced speakers during this period :)

To my understanding, JBL discontinued the 4355 because it cost too much money to make (which is why they decided to cut cost to make cheaper models). IMO it was and still is their best studio monitor (using charge-coupled networks from GT).

It should also be noted that the later (more rare) models had black colored baskets and 2311 horns, instead of grey/silver :D

qa5lMwo.jpg
 
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