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Speaker advice. Please help!!

JohnnieO said:
Advent. KLH. Or Cerwin Vegas. All good for classic rock and under $500 on FB Marketplace. Be sure to inspect thoroughly and test if possible
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NOT Cerwin Vega's! They're nothing but base. You need a balance between the treble and the base. CV's are some of the most colored speakers I've ever listened to. I had a pair in my younger days, the 211R's. I kept them for one afternoon before returning them.

If you can find them, get either refurbished Larger Advents or Dynaco A-25's. They're vintage speakers, but they rock. I had 4 of the Advents, stacked them, then wired them in series. Some of the best speakers I've ever heard.
 
I'll add another speaker that is a real bargain: Advent Legacy. You will probably have to get the woofers refoamed but if you find a pair that needs it you can pick them up for $20 or even free! They are easy to drive and sound amazing. I use them as my bench speakers.
 
coonmanx said:
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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I will compile a list of ones I have found and post them shortly. There are so many!! Now I’m really lost
 
I am currently looking at:
-Dynaco A-25’s ($280 cad)
-EPI TI70 bookshelf speakers ($140 cad)
-Sansui SP-50 ($150 cad)
-Mission 701 ($100 cad)
-Bose 301 ($150 cad) not a Bose fan but they look cool. lol
-Vintage Klipsch KSB 2.1 ($150 cad)

There are more, but you get where I’m coming from. All of these sets are in very good condition.
Any immediate no’s or standouts on this list?
 
If you can hear any possible candidates prior to purchase, buy whatever sounds best to you. It's not like you're shopping for a new kidney or the last word in bleeding-edge high end, right? Advents are a solid recommendation. Bose would not make my long list, much less my short list, but that's my preference, not yours.
 
dr*audio said:
I'll add another speaker that is a real bargain: Advent Legacy. You will probably have to get the woofers refoamed but if you find a pair that needs it you can pick them up for $20 or even free! They are easy to drive and sound amazing. I use them as my bench speakers.
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I've heard of them. How do they compare to the larger Advents? Are they made by the same company?

I remember that we used to call speakers like the Advents and the Dynaco's 'Boston speakers', because that's where they were made. In the '70s, some of the best speakers came out of Boston.
 
Ryanv448 said:
I am currently looking at:
-Dynaco A-25’s ($280 cad)
-EPI TI70 bookshelf speakers ($140 cad)
-Sansui SP-50 ($150 cad)
-Mission 701 ($100 cad)
-Bose 301 ($150 cad) not a Bose fan but they look cool. lol
-Vintage Klipsch KSB 2.1 ($150 cad)

There are more, but you get where I’m coming from. All of these sets are in very good condition.
Any immediate no’s or standouts on this list?
Click to expand...
The Dynaco A-25's, hands down. I'm not familiar with the EPI or Sansui, but the Bose needs specific placement, and sounds only OK. Klipsch sounds impressive on some levels, but I'm not a fan.
 
MuseChaser said:
If you can hear any possible candidates prior to purchase, buy whatever sounds best to you. It's not like you're shopping for a new kidney or the last word in bleeding-edge high end, right? Advents are a solid recommendation. Bose would not make my long list, much less my short list, but that's my preference, not yours.
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I totally agree with you. When I was 19 and in my first apartment, I had larger Advents and my neighbor across the hall had Dynaco A-25's. We used to compare them, but liked them equally. I didn't hear anything better until I listened to the Bowers and Wilkins 801's in 1988. But the 801's were $6,000 a pair, and I bought my Advents for $115 apiece. They need to bring those back.

As for listening, run what you're listening to from high to low volumes. People neglect to do this, but they need to sound good at lower levels as well. Also, ask if you can bring them back if they don't sound good in your home. Speakers can sound VERY different at home from what you heard at the store.

Lastly, try to listen to the speakers you're considering side by side if you can, which is called 'A-B'ing' them. That will refine your decision quickly.
 
I would recommend looking for a pair of cheap speakers, preferably that you can sell for more than what you paid for them. Best to consider your first speakers as a way to get your feet wet. If you can find well regarded speakers at a cheap price, all the better. I would recommend to make sure they have butyl surrounds which are low maintenance and make sure everything works right.
 
Sansui were not known for great speakers, I’ve had a pair of sp-1500 that admittedly I thought were underrated, but as a company they’re more coveted for their receivers and amps.

Everyone is recommending the A-25’s, so the thought would be that you’ll never really lose money on those, you can always sell them for what they’re asking, and probably won’t have a very hard time selling them if you decide to move on. Just a thought
 
baeron said:
EPI M-100's would be under your $500.00
And sound real good.

Make sure the surrounds of been replaced on the woofers.
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Great speakers but a little tough to find in decent shape. www.humanspeakers.com Their model 81 is the modern day equivalent of the epi m-100. Affordable and sound great. I own them as well as a recently rebuilt pair of epi 100’s using humanspeakers components.
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With your present gear for power you will have to be selective in your future choice of amp/receiver.

Personally, I'd wait and build a bit of reserve before venturing out and blindly buying what ever.

With your "genre" in mind, you'll want a decent bass output, and the rest will be determined by the dept of your pocket.

What range of cash are you willing to spend?

It will be a subjective choice on your part as some have already suggested, and only YOUR ear will tell what you want.

As a Plan B, you may want to purchase a good set of headphones, taking into consideration the neighbours, long run, taking into account your close living quarters at this time, eh?

Q
 
One more consideration: are the speakers going to sit on the floor or stands?

If the midrange/tweeter isn't close to seated ear level, you might need/want to put the speakers on stands. I recently found that I didn't like the sound of my floor standing ESL-63s beaming the sound up at my ears from close to the floor. I made some stands to lift the speakers up 350mm and I am much happier with their sound. I got those speakers via CL for $300, then spent the better part of a month and another $2-300 restoring them.

If you get bookshelf speakers, you either need to put them on furniture or stands. Small speakers sitting on stands take about the same floor space as "towers" that sit on the floor, but the towers will usually have better bass response. You'll usually find a lot of tower type speakers available cheaply via CL because no one wants to pay to ship tower speakers. I found a pair of Infinity Beta 50s in rough shape on CL last year for ~$130 and restored them. they have two 8" bass drivers each, and actually sound pretty good, even next to my B&Ws.

If you buy "vintage" speakers >15-20 years old, plan on replacing electrolytic caps in the crossovers. If they have ferrofluid tweeters, plan on replacing the tweeters.
 
Why not go to a few audio stores that have a decent stock of used speakers to listen to? It's the best way to hear a variety before buying. Some stores might even allow you to bring your integrated amp in and hook it up to speakers you want to hear. You might even find some brand-new speakers that sound good to you and are close to your price range. It's ok to ask for speaker advice on audio forums, but I wouldn't buy anything without seeing and listening to them first.
 
I would want speakers that are at least 96 db 1 watt 1 meter efficient and 8 ohms, too. That will give you approximately 99 db peak level with both speakers combined. Most folks listen with peaks around 85 to 90 db so you would then have ample margin for the very short instantaneous peaks sound level meters can't measure but you sure enough can hear. My first system was very close to those capabilities with an amp that put out 17 watts before straining a bit. Tubes were more forgiving back in the early 60's.
 
I think a pair of B&W DM23 will do the job. Nice speakers with a slightly warm sound and easy to drive.
 
Ryanv448 said:
I am currently looking at:
-Dynaco A-25’s ($280 cad)
-EPI TI70 bookshelf speakers ($140 cad)
-Sansui SP-50 ($150 cad)
-Mission 701 ($100 cad)
-Bose 301 ($150 cad) not a Bose fan but they look cool. lol
-Vintage Klipsch KSB 2.1 ($150 cad)

There are more, but you get where I’m coming from. All of these sets are in very good condition.
Any immediate no’s or standouts on this list?
Click to expand...
From personal experience I like the Mission 701 and Bose 301. I've never listened to the others so can't give an opinion on their sound.
 
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