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Snell Type J II....score?

Jonesy09

Jonesy09

Super Member
$40 @ St. Vinnies. I had to call the wife and have her google these as the store was closing. She didn't come with much so I went with my new mantra..."When in doubt, pull the trigger" which I came up with after loosing out on a nice Onkyo tape deck at GW.

They are in rough shape but the cabinets appear to be real wood so they can be refinished. The grills are rough but can be re-done (I like my speakers naked anyway). One of the dust caps is pushed in but from what I understand that dosen't impede the performance much and there seem to be ways to pull them back out anyhow. They have a funky looking jumper rig that appears to be just a simple piece of bare wire that is locked down tight by the binding posts. I may replace that.

But they sound great! :banana: Nothing seems wrong functionally so I'm hoping I lucked out here. The only thing the wife came up with is a manufacture date of 1982-1989. Does anyone know anything about these things?
 
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Welcome to the family.
I also own a pair of Type J's. Mine are III's with the IV upgrade retrofitted, or so the original owner told me, anyway.
He did give me some unused crossover components.

And, just this morning, I picked up an orphan Type K.
 
Saint Johnny said:
Welcome to the family.
I also own a pair of model J's. Mine are III's with the IV upgrade retrofitted, or so the original owner told me, anyway.
He did give me some unused crossover components.

And, just this morning, I picked up an orphan model K.
Click to expand...

Orphan?!......I smell center channel. Is someone gonna build a Snell theater setup?

Please explain "the IV upgrade retrofitted". Thanks.
 
Hey, that's a great score. I have a pair of these in black finish. I've never tried, but apparently you can bi-amp these once you remove the jumper wire from the binding posts.

Enjoy, these are excellent sounding speakers.:banana:
 
So I've been listening to these for a couple hours now and I have to say...Damn!:yippy:

Fantastic high-end and mids. They get loud real quick too. And the louder they get more low-end shows up. :D They aren't on an audiophile rig or anything but my amp in this setup is more than capable (Carver PM 175).

So far Patty Griffin, Miles Davis and Stereophonics have all responded great on these. I have to say that the mid-bass is a little hidden at moderate volumes but when you crank it up it has great definition!
 
Jonesy09 said:
Orphan?!......I smell center channel. Is someone gonna build a Snell theater setup?

Please explain "the IV upgrade retrofitted". Thanks.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I mis-spoke. I just went to check. Mine are Type J II. Supposedly retrofitted, up to Type III.
I believe, the Type J IV is a totally different beast altogether, with a rear firing tweeter, from what I understand.

I don't recall what the original owner of them, told me he had done to them, exactly. But I do vaguely remember him saying he had them sent back to Snell, when the Type J III came out, circa 1987-88, where they changed the woofers and upgraded all the necessary crossover components. He gave me the the original coils, (inductors, I think?) And some other pieces, maybe caps, IIRC. When I bought them, (Which I still have somewhere.) I asked him what happened to the original woofers, and he said, he couldn't remember that far back. Snell may have kept them or he may have sold or given them away.

That's about all I can tell you for sure. As, I am not very familiar with, nor very knowledgeable about, Snell speakers. The only pair I have ever seen or heard was this pair of J II's I bought off of CL last year. Until I got the orphan K, today.
HTH
 
I'm glad somebody here got them. They languished there for a while and I was wondering if anyone else knew what gems they were. Biamp ready speakers rarely show up at thrifts (ie the dual set of binding posts). I was seriously thinking about buying them but having recently bought 3 large speakers (JBL L112, RS Mach Ones and JBL Lancer 99) I was in no position to drag another pair home. The dented dustcap can be pulled with a vacuum cleaner but it can supposedly damage the speaker if used carelessly. Search AK for dustcap pulling tricks and gadgets.

When I went through my Stereophile phase back in the late 80s, I think the Snell J were a "Recommended Component" in the budget section. I might have listened to a pair at "The Happy Medium" on State St back in the day but I never had the $700 to take 'em home.

Nice score. BTW What are the speakers next to your CD rack? They look pretty sweet.
 
gonzothegreat said:
I'm glad somebody here got them. They languished there for a while and I was wondering if anyone else knew what gems they were. Biamp ready speakers rarely show up at thrifts (ie the dual set of binding posts). I was seriously thinking about buying them but having recently bought 3 large speakers (JBL L112, RS Mach Ones and JBL Lancer 99) I was in no position to drag another pair home. The dented dustcap can be pulled with a vacuum cleaner but it can supposedly damage the speaker if used carelessly. Search AK for dustcap pulling tricks and gadgets.

When I went through my Stereophile phase back in the late 80s, I think the Snell J were a "Recommended Component" in the budget section. I might have listened to a pair at "The Happy Medium" on State St back in the day but I never had the $700 to take 'em home.

Nice score. BTW What are the speakers next to your CD rack? They look pretty sweet.
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Wow! I am surprised they survived. I've been hitting that store for about a month and totally spaced these things. Never turned them around. What can I say....I'm new to this. Finally turned them around and saw "Snell". Done deal. Some of the gear was cleaned out when I stopped in today and they were a little more prominantly placed.

Did you happed to look at the EPI's there? It looks like the woofer was replaced with....something :scratch2:

I am pondering hitting the dustcap with either the duct tape, the vaccum or the pin. Don't know which yet.

The other pair of speakers are Polk 7B's on custom stands. I paid way too much for them on epay but I was hooked after putting a system together for my daughter. She has 5jr+'s donated by a friend that I put with a rotel RX-402....that thing rocks!

Let me know it you want to hear these Snell's....seeing as how you're in the nieghborhood.
 
I think the EPIs had Pioneer HPM series white woofers. I pulled the grills off and shook my head. Not only were the EPIs wrecked but so were a pair of HPMs. <cue primal scream>

As for the dustcap, I'd buy a cheap hose type vacuum (at a thrift of course) and drill a few holes in the hose end so you could control the airflow by covering the holes instead of relying on switching off the vacuum. Avoid the pin trick until you have tried everything else.

The speakers in your avatar I was lusting were the ones with the dual passives, woofer with a yellow cone and a dome tweeter in a ported cab. No stands in sight.
 
gonzothegreat said:
The speakers in your avatar I was lusting were the ones with the dual passives, woofer with a yellow cone and a dome tweeter in a ported cab. No stands in sight.
Click to expand...

Ah....sorry. I thought you were talking about the pair behind the Snells. Those are B&W 604s3 in the main rig. I know there is a snob factor in the B&W line but I got these second-hand mint for a great price......and I really love the sound.

But I have to say, after hearing some vintage gear, and finding this site.....and hearing some of the stuff I've found since learning a few things here....I am more inclined to keep stalking the thrifts.
 
Snell J's were my first really good set of speakers as a kid. I think that I paid about $680 for them new in about 1984. I sold mine in 1988 shortly after I purchased my CIIs. And I'm using these same CIIs to this day. :thmbsp:
 
Great score! Snell's are a great speaker, and for $40, ya done good!

Snells are still being manufactured just up the road from here, still mostly hand assembled/finished. The Snell brand is under the umbrella of D&M Holdings, a Japanese firm that is also the controlling force that owns Marantz, Denon, and Boston Acoustics as well.

I think you will enjoy them, and will keep an eye out for another pair when you are thrifting! :D
 
Oh yeah man, great score. I've had the pleasure of spending a great deal of time with a pair of Snell A's and then later a pair of big towers, dont remember model, they were to profitable to keep for any great period of time. But damn, Snell makes a great speaker. I'd pay twice that for nearly any working pair of any Snell model nearly any day.
 
Those Snells are the little brothers to the ones JohnCan has. His have pretty amazing bass, for an 8" woofer!

Regards,
Gordon.
 
I have a pair of type E's that I love the sound of, rescued them from a garage sale about five years ago.
 
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