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Speaker advice. Please help!!

R

Ryanv448

New Member
Looking for Speaker Recommendations for My Vintage Setup (Dual 701 / Akai AM-2200)


Hi everyone,

I’ve recently taken the plunge into vintage audio and I’m completely hooked! After a few days of reading through posts and doing some research, I’m still a bit confused about which speakers would best complement my current setup.

Right now, I’m running a Dual 701 turntable in near mint condition and an Akai AM-2200 receiver, which puts out 20 watts per channel into 8 ohms. I live in a large apartment and mostly listen to classic rock. I’m not looking to blow the doors off, just aiming for that warm, rich vinyl sound we all love. I’d prefer bookshelf-sized speakers.

There are a lot of speakers for sale in my area that are rated for much higher wattage than my receiver. Is that something I should be concerned about? What should I be looking for in terms of sensitivity, impedance, or speaker type to match my gear? I’m not opposed to upgrading the receiver down the road, but I’d like to get the most out of what I have now.

Any advice or specific model recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
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Ahhh, fresh meat. Welcome. To educate yourself and your Ear, flip a coin. You’re not going to learn if you don’t make a few mistakes. Just start dragging stuff home. The key is to try to make sure you can resell whatever you drag home, don’t lose too much money. You can’t keep it all. Above all, have fun with it.

Biggles
 
dr*audio said:
You want British made speakers. They are experts at making easy to drive small speakers that sound great. B&W, Celestion. ADS are also great.
Click to expand...

Nothing ruins classic rock faster than fine English monitors with them big ol’ fancy crossovers. You want rowdy, badass rigs with attitude that die around 38 to 40hz. Something that makes Some Girls jump up and come alive.

Biggles
 
Ryanv448 said:
.. a bit confused about which speakers would best complement my current setup...an Akai AM-2200 receiver, which puts out 20 watts per channel into 8 ohms.

....What should I be looking for in terms of sensitivity, impedance, or speaker type to match my gear?....
Click to expand...

FYI, the Akai is an integrated amplifier not a receiver as it does not have AM/FM capabilities to "receive" over the air radio signals

Technical Data

Continuous power (at distortion factor)
8 Ohm: 2 x 20 W
4 Ohm: 2 x 23 W

Dynamic power
8 Ohm: 2 x 28 W
4 Ohm: 2 x 33 W

Screenshot 2025-05-05 at 13.23.36.png

Based on the above you have a good amount amount of options with regards to impedance (Ohms) however if it were me stick to 8 ohm as A) they're more plentiful and B) they need less effort so to say from your amp.

While looking for speakers also try to be cognizant of "sensitivity" (dB) ratings, here's a thread discussing as such

Vintage High Efficient Speakers

Is it true that the higher the sensitivity DB rating the more efficient the speaker is? What is the magic number that determines this. Thanks
audiokarma.org

Ryanv448 said:
Any advice or specific model recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Budget?

Recommendations/suggestions are great and there are a lot folks here who are then happy to provide them so ask away however not knowing what you're comfortable spending might make some of the suggestions moot if folks don't know what your budget is.
 
How about something more robust?

faIjw6P.jpeg
 
Dswankey said:
FYI, the Akai is an integrated amplifier not a receiver as it does not have AM/FM capabilities to "receive" over the air radio signals

Technical Data

Continuous power (at distortion factor)
8 Ohm: 2 x 20 W
4 Ohm: 2 x 23 W

Dynamic power
8 Ohm: 2 x 28 W
4 Ohm: 2 x 33 W

View attachment 3496959

Based on the above you have a good amount amount of options with regards to impedance (Ohms) however if it were me stick to 8 ohm as A) they're more plentiful and B) they need less effort so to say from your amp.

While looking for speakers also try to be cognizant of "sensitivity" (dB) ratings, here's a thread discussing as such

Vintage High Efficient Speakers

Is it true that the higher the sensitivity DB rating the more efficient the speaker is? What is the magic number that determines this. Thanks
audiokarma.org



Budget?

Recommendations/suggestions are great and there are a lot folks here who are then happy to provide them so ask away however not knowing what you're comfortable spending might make some of the suggestions moot if folks don't know what your budget is.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the info. It is starting to make more sense now.
As for a speaker budget, I really don’t have one. I am willing to spend some money to get a nice set of bookshelf size speakers. I’d like at stick to $500 or less for the pair, but if there is gold out there I’m willing to bump it up a bit.
 
Ryanv448 said:
.. I’d prefer bookshelf-sized speakers.....There are a lot of speakers for sale in my area.... I’d like at stick to $500 or less for the pair
Click to expand...

Keep your eyes open and with the some patience you should be able to find a suitable pair (specs wise) for less then $500

Biased opinion:

Some brand names to look for, Advent, KLH, AR, EPI, Polk I'm sure others will chime in with some other names
 
There can be speakers "rated" for 300 watts that can be powered by your amp easily. The sensitivity number will tell you how well they take the power. There are MASSIVE speakers that are very sensitive and your amp can make them sing. You might not want to make the room shake, but you do want to be able to turn them up without stressing the amp, and the dB curve in a bigger room is a factor.

Here's the general understanding in simple terms. XdB sensitive means with 1 watt of power and standing 1 Meter away (1W/1M). And doubling the power adds 3dB.

So 85dB sensitivity at 1watt 1 meter, means 2 watts you get 88dB, 4watts gets 91dB, 8 watts = 94dB, 16W=97dB, 32W=100dB, BUT that's all at 1 Meter (3ft) away from the speaker. I don't personally sit that close ;)

The other part of the equation is (again in simple terms) is when you double the distance away from the speaker YOU LOSE 6dB of volume. So take that 32 Watts making an earth shattering 100dB!, and stand 2 meters away you're hearing 94dB, 4 meters away (12 feet) and your right back to 88dB.

So with a 20 Watt average amp, you'd want a speaker with a sensitivity probably in the mid 90's since you mention being in a bigger room.

Remember this is dumbed down math, but the average understanding. If you google a dB chart you'll get some examples to understand how loud that is and make some estimates on what your amp can get out of speakers.

90dB is described as being about as loud as a Hairdryer or lawnmower or vacuum cleaner. 95 dB is about as loud as a chainsaw. That can seem loud, but a Rock Concert averages 105dB, so you won't get that loud rock concert sound if you're driving 85dB speakers. Getting 105dB when sitting 10 ft away from the speaker takes some power!

Also, not always, but bigger speakers tend to be more sensitive because they have displacement working on their side. And Also Also, that's the rating for One speaker, and you plan to buy two, two speakers are louder than one. So everything I mentioned above is useless :D
 
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drbiggles said:
Nothing ruins classic rock faster than fine English monitors with them big ol’ fancy crossovers. You want rowdy, badass rigs with attitude that die around 38 to 40hz. Something that makes Some Girls jump up and come alive.

Biggles
Click to expand...
I'll agree to disagree here. Speakers are a very personal item and everyone's ears are different. As you said, he's just going to have to listen to a few speakers and see what sounds real to him.
 
I second the Dyanco A 25 suggestion - by vintage standards, a reasonably small speaker, but unusally satisfying to listen to. If you can handle a bit bigger speaker, the KLH 23 is lovely sounding, and rather nice to look at (the KLH 6 is almost as good, but not quite (to my ears, not everyone's ears), and just a standard speaker in terms of looks.
 
There are a lot of good speakers out there, and for not much money. The descendents of AR/KLH/Advent - EPI/Genesis/Boston Acoustics (and Burhoe and Reynolds.Advance) tend to be very good for their size and price, but expect to have to refoam the woofers and maybe recap. But keep an eye out at tage sales, church sales, and free on the side of the road. There are good speakers all over the place for not much money, and getting something cheap and using them for a while while you look carefully is a not a bad idea.
 
Honestly, since you mentioned that there are a lot fo speakers for sale locally maybe you could post up which ones you are considering. Frankly 20 WPC is probably plenty of power being that you are in an apartment. And of course there is the question of whether or not you want your neighbors to hate you. I also live in an apartment and limit the sound levels to about 70 dB max. I also use Scott 166 speakers because they have a 6.5" woofer so excessive bass isn't really an issue for me.

But there are literally thousands of speakers to choose from. New, old and everything in between. You can even build your own from a kit.
 
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