Snell Type-Ai… what next?

[user_alfm]

Hi, new member here so apologies if this is the wrong place to post this.

I am currently running an Outlaw Audio RR2150 receiver into a recently acquired pair of snell type-Ai’s. I love their beefy monolithic look and are an tremendous upgrade from my type-E II’s. The system sounds very nice but a little bit too bright and lacking slightly in the bottom end. I boost the bass eq to 3:00 and roll the treble off to about 11:00. Because the room is asymmetrical I find a little nudge to the balance knob helps the overall presentation tremendously as well.

I have a hunch that my receiver isn’t a great match for these speakers. I’m contemplating the idea of replacing it with a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III integrated amp with the idea that a piece of tube gear could soften the high frequencies and sweeten the midrange while preserving enough power for the low end right out of the box. The type Ai’s are 4 ohm nominally and the CMIII has the ability to toggle between a 4 and 8 ohm output setting. As a relative neophyte I’m also intrigued and eager to try some tube gear having never owned any. The CMIII has a balance knob but no eq so I might have to roll some tubes to get the sound I want.

The guy who sold me the speakers said he reformed the woofers but I haven’t disassembled the bottom cabinet to inspect. I’ve read elsewhere that the spider can sag over time due to that 10” woofer facing downward.

I guess I’d like some advice. Am I barking up the wrong tree with the CMIII? Should I just be looking for a tube preamp and a big beefy solid state amp to get the sound I’m looking for? Gear recommendations welcome if anybody has experience with type-ai’s… Should I dissect the speakers and inspect the woofer?

Thanks for your ideas!

AL

 

[trinhsman]

Power, and more power should do it. I have a set of E II’s and Type C’s. They were originally powered by a Marantz 2275. Not bad. However, they now are powered by a Pass Labs X250. Totally different in how they perform. Much better bass. Still a little bright on some things, but when the recording is first rate, OH MY!!!
Just my experience.

 

[trinhsman]

Also: If the woofer surrounds were not specifically for Snell, you will not get the bass. Surrounds are critical to Snell Speakers, so much so that Atomic HiFi says don’t replace the surrounds, they say replace the woofers.

 

[user_alfm]

Also: If the woofer surrounds were not specifically for Snell, you will not get the bass. Surrounds are critical to Snell Speakers, so much so that Atomic HiFi says don’t replace the surrounds, they say replace the woofers.

That’s interesting. I’ve read elsewhere of people having luck with denser, rubber surrounds but it seems like a bad idea considering the original manufacturer’s care and attention given to tuning the crossovers.

 

[user_alfm]

Power, and more power should do it. I have a set of E II’s and Type C’s. They were originally powered by a Marantz 2275. Not bad. However, they now are powered by a Pass Labs X250. Totally different in how they perform. Much better bass. Still a little bright on some things, but when the recording is first rate, OH MY!!!
Just my experience.

Very nice. I bet that amp is a joy. I’ve been toying with the idea of a second-hand parasound a21 which would give me a lot more power and not blow the bank completely…

 

[spark1]

Heavier surrounds will certainly work, but the woofers Snell used in many of their models require higher compliance surround for ideal excursion and therefore best low frequency performance. However, I cannot confirm that this is the case with your version.

I am not a believer in the need to replace the woofers. Surrounds from Audionote or Audiofriends will have the necessary compliance. True Boston-style (aka filled edge) surrounds are close and perform nicely as well.

 

[trinhsman]

Very nice. I bet that amp is a joy. I’ve been toying with the idea of a second-hand parasound a21 which would give me a lot more power and not blow the bank completely…

The Parasound will do the trick with your Snells for power. The surrounds are very critical for proper bass response.
There is a member on here that restored a set of Type A’s. I don’t remember his name, but I know he lives in Florida. Maybe a search of the forums on Snell Type A’s would locate him.

 

[The Fuxtor]

That’s interesting. I’ve read elsewhere of people having luck with denser, rubber surrounds but it seems like a bad idea considering the original manufacturer’s care and attention given to tuning the crossovers.

I must have lucked out by using rubber surrounds on my type J/3 . The bass ended up being really good !

 

[spark1]

Interesting. Never seen anyone replace foam surrounds with rubber.

 

[WILDHEART1]

Hi AL,
I have a pair of Snell Type Ai that I have had since they were born. Recently had them restored by Steve at Atomic HiFi, including replacing the woofers, which were original. I push them with a vintage Conrad Johnson PV7 tube preamp and pair of PSE Studio II solid state amps. The sound is amazing. I vertically biamp the Snells using the internal crossovers. These speakers love POWER. The PSEs play clean at 140WPC into 4 ohms, so I have a total of 560 watts going into the speakers. I don't play them immensely loud, but as loud as you can stand indoors, lol!

 

[mcgjohn]

@trinhsman is quite correct, the Snells need tons of power to really open up. Have owned the Snell As, AIIs and AIII'i . The last pair I drove with a quartet of JC-1s. Only with TONS of power do the snells really open up and image. The A1 never did have a large bass output. The A2s and A3's improved on this. But a good sub always helped.

 

[user_alfm]

A quartet of JC-1’s!? Wow, that’s a lot of power… Thanks all, I’ve decided to see what a Hegel H190 integrated amp will do. I’ve read about their remarkably high damping factor and am eager to see how they “grip” the sealed 10” woofer on the AI’s.

 

[twiiii]

Snell A7 Illusion. Probably the best speaker I have ever heard fresh out of the box. They were being pushed with two MC 2301 tube amps a C-500T tube pre-amp using one of t op of line Ayre CD players. The only issue was they worked well only in smaller rooms with shorter listening distances. Larger rooms the Magico S-7. But thats been a while ago.. I had a chance to buy a new Pair for $35,000, when Mcintosh group took over Snell. But I didn't. One of my few regrets when it comes to Audio. It was one of the few speakers systems that Carol liked too. She had been a professional reed player and singer for awhile and new what she was hearing and she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. The Army will do that to you as a former Colonels wife stationed at West point. .

 

[abasin]

A bit late to the party on this thread but just stumbled upon it. Picked a set of AI's in excellent shape quite some time ago but left them aside due to original owner's replacement of the woofers with Eminence Alpha 10As, as you would imagine a combination that didn't do them much good. Just replaced them with Atomic Hifi direct replacements and the sound is very good. They image well and the sound stage is quite good. I'm driving them with a Van Alstine SET 400, 300W into 4 ohms. Bi amping is in the future. I agree with trinhsman these guys love power and will reward you for it. Pay attention to your source material as they will treat poor recordings accordingly. Definitely a fun set of speakers to play with to see what you can get out of them. And, as an unexpected bonus my wife likes the 2001 monolith look.....and the sound. My advice is put on some Snarky Puppy (Silva) sit back and enjoy.

 

[mcgjohn]

A bit late to the party on this thread but just stumbled upon it. Picked a set of AI's in excellent shape quite some time ago but left them aside due to original owner's replacement of the woofers with Eminence Alpha 10As, as you would imagine a combination that didn't do them much good. Just replaced them with Atomic Hifi direct replacements and the sound is very good. They image well and the sound stage is quite good. I'm driving them with a Van Alstine SET 400, 300W into 4 ohms. Bi amping is in the future. I agree with trinhsman these guys love power and will reward you for it. Pay attention to your source material as they will treat poor recordings accordingly. Definitely a fun set of speakers to play with to see what you can get out of them. And, as an unexpected bonus my wife likes the 2001 monolith look.....and the sound. My advice is put on some Snarky Puppy (Silva) sit back and enjoy.

If you can swing it, get a pair of Parasound A21s. and vertically biamp the Snells. Their crossover chews up power like crazy. Have also used a pair of Threshold S500s, and a few others. Large current output is what you need.

 

[twiiii]

How about a Pair of Snell A7 Illusions. The best speaker they ever built. $50,000 new. I really liked the sound of them. But they were for smaller rooms being a point source speaker. Being driven by a Pair of Mac MC 2301's using a 500 T pre-amp and a AIRE CD player the sound was fantastic. Better than anything I have heard from B&W including todays models. Just google the speaker and a Test by Stereophile will pop up. Frank Gow at Audio Classic loved the speakers too, and his faather was president of Mcintosh and Roger Russell was still there designing speakers. Thought Rogers XR 290s were better some times with their stronger cleaner bass. Also Thought the A7 highs were better. A7 for smaller rooms 290's for larger rooms.