sonicHeart
New Member
Was wondering what everyone's opinion is of these speakers? I have an opportunity to pick up a pair at a reasonable price.
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Signet SL260
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Michael Powers
Super Member
Don't let these get away, even if they have problems.....
This is your basic, under the radar, find.
This is your basic, under the radar, find.
sonicHeart
New Member
Cool, the guy I'm dealing with is a very stand up guy and helped me a bunch with the purchase of an integrated tube amplifier. I haven't been able to find much via the google, but what I have found is extremely positive, this just reinforces that. Really I'm just trying to do my due-diligence before shelling out more money into a hobby i'm really quite new at. Thanks for all the good info and you continued help.
I'm getting the speakers (with upgraded caps, resistors, and silver wiring in the crossovers), 2 DH Labs T-14 8ft speaker cables, Cardas 4-way binding posts, and two speaker stands for a little over $400 shipped.
sonicHeart
New Member
any further thoughts?
pauldrewry
Super Member
I heard them once at a store. Adcom amp and pre amp, Rotel CD. The sound was incredible; soundstage, imaging and timber was right on. I think I stayed little past closing time. Couldn't afford them. :tears:
If you have the chance jump on them. Matched with tubes they should be heavenly. :yes:
If you have the chance jump on them. Matched with tubes they should be heavenly. :yes:
I found a pair of 280B's on craigslist, but they were on the complete other side of the country! He was only asking $80, so I talked him into shipping them, for a grand total of $160 :thmbsp:
I also have the 260's. The 280's beat the 260's only because I like the bigger sound of bigger speakers. Sonically, they're really close.
Both pairs beat my brand new $650 Dynaudio Audience 42's hands down, as well as a pair of borrowed McIntosh XR14s!
Recently, I've been thinking about upgrading, but I'm probably going to have to spend way more than $1000 to top the 280s...
I hope that you bought them.
I also have the 260's. The 280's beat the 260's only because I like the bigger sound of bigger speakers. Sonically, they're really close.
Both pairs beat my brand new $650 Dynaudio Audience 42's hands down, as well as a pair of borrowed McIntosh XR14s!
Recently, I've been thinking about upgrading, but I'm probably going to have to spend way more than $1000 to top the 280s...
I hope that you bought them.
Reviving this thread haha. I just got lucky a snagged a mint pair of SL280's for $150 last week. About 2 months ago I snagged a pair of Camber 3.0ti/sm 2 way 8in monitors also. I'm so torn right now. I think the edge that the Signets have is sheer output. They will crank and ask for more. The Cambers sound bigger too but not quite like the Signets. The edge the Cambers may have is the Seas 3/4" titanium tweeter. The. Again im not so sure on that either. The SL280s aluminum dome is so smooth and laid back but can jump out when it calls for it. Just different. They both have a sweet sound signature of their own and I'm not sure one is better then the other. I highly recommend either brand to anyone on the .market for quality vintage speakers. I may just have to buy an a/b switch selector and another pair of stands and keep them both. I don't think I'll ever be able to bring myself to sell either pair lol. When I was on the way home with the Signets I told myself whatever speaker I like better I'll flip the other pair. This seems impossible at the moment haha. Do you think getting them recapped would make any improvements? I can't imagine how much better can they get. My preamp is a Rotel rap-1068 processor got it brand new in the box still about a yr ago for $100. Great find so far she runs beautifully. Great bass management for the time too. I run 2 12in powered subs too crossed over @80hz. The Signets I run highpass 40hz and Cambers 60hz. Sometimes I feel like the Signets like full range better but I'm still not sure. I've run them with a Crown XLS 1002 and right now I have them powered by a mint all original Hafler dh-220 I also bought used a few months back. I have no experience soldering but I really want to refresh the Hafler even though on the outside everything looks and sounds spectacular. Absolutely dead silent amp. She seems to run just a tad bit hotter on the right channel. There's no HiFi shops near me which really sucks. I wish I could find someone reasonable in Delaware to work on my stuff. I wanna recap both pairs of speakers and the Hafler. Anyways in conclusion like a few people have already said. I highly recommend to anyone to pick these up if you come across them. I wouldn't be mad if I payed $400 for them. They are that good and you would probably have to spend $3-4k on new speakers to match the performance of either the Cambers or Signets.
People, if you have 280 s or 260 s, please check if the rubber edges are stiff and hardened.
These are SEAS drivers, as far as I know, that I don't have experience with but the similar
Vifa P21 and P17, all that I've seen have significantly hardened edges. It would be great to know.
These are SEAS drivers, as far as I know, that I don't have experience with but the similar
Vifa P21 and P17, all that I've seen have significantly hardened edges. It would be great to know.
My 280s are soft as hell like brand new still.
samrobertson
Active Member
To echo others, these are very nice under the radar speakers. I had a pair of 260s that I both bought and sold very cheap due to some peeling veneer. Sold too cheap, instantly regretted. Took 4 years but landed a pair of 280s a few months back and they are extremely accurate, great sounding speakers to my ear. Bass quality defies what should be possible from what I believe is only an 8” woofer.
I had a pair that I purchased new in the 1990’s. The bass is great, and as I recall wooférs were only 6.5 “. I found that the sound was too veiled for my taste, over time. I prefer an only slightly more forward sound. I sold them about a year ago in mint condition to someone whom I hope will appreciate them. Excellent build quality.
Just picked up a set of 260ii for $60
These small bookshelves pack a punch.. absolutely live them
They have the seas tweeters (Can't go wrong), solid case, and reinforced
Pics of internals if anyone's curious.
If you come across a working set of these for a fair price, snatch them up you won't regret it..
These small bookshelves pack a punch.. absolutely live them
They have the seas tweeters (Can't go wrong), solid case, and reinforced
Pics of internals if anyone's curious.
If you come across a working set of these for a fair price, snatch them up you won't regret it..
