Hobie1dog
subaholic
I had 4 of the BP2000 in a 13x14 bedoom. I'm not talking about something you just listen to, I'm talking about the kind of sound you can feel.
speaker recommendations?
- Thread starter BuffaloKeith
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- mc240 sansui speaker advice
Audiohound
Empiredude
Hey Guy, Great to have you aboard. Being a former Manhattanite, what many folks don't realize are the peculiar materials that were used in many of the homes/apts used in the construction of New York State dwellings. Not only should you consider the size of your listening room and ceilings your taste of music as well.
For example many homes now have sub floors but are carpeted unless you have put down laminate flooring. Actual wood flooring will absorb deeper bass notes and reflect upper bass notes, whereas laminate tend to reflect and bounce sounds much like ceramic flooring. I don't know the age of your home, but walls in New York State built homes mostly were wood lath and plaster. Plaster walls act like hard floors, the sound reverberates, whereas plaster board will absorb because of the outer layers of cardboard.
The reason Ive gone thru this for you is, ultimately, speakers are a personal choice, but keep in mind your furnishings in the room, carpets, overstuffed chairs and couches even cabinetry and of course your neighbors and your personal listening levels. You should know what type of room you have "bright or absorptive"
As my learned colleague mentioned, previously owned speakers where DIY's have changed drivers instead of getting them reconed has done a disservice to a possibly great pair of speakers. But 9 out of 10 any speaker, or amplifier or receiver should be recapped to bring the item back to specs of the day or brought up to todays specs.
Back to your vintage Bose, even with equalizer, you might find in an absorptive room they may be bass shy where as in a bright room where Bose work best (hence the 8 speakers in the rear for reflection purposes) they may sound fine.
Personal Note:
I used JBL L-100's for years. In a Listening/Living room of 15x18, 10 ft ceilings (New York Pre War building) the speakers themselves sounded great, but moving to a larger apt I found I needed to accentuate the bass so in came the JBL b460.
Once I moved to a private house in North Carolina, a different kind of build than NYC, the L-100's were again back to their California Sound which was thumping bass, very clear mids and sizzling highs.
Now my listening room is 15x15 9ft ceilings, stick built house, and I'm listening to Definitive Technology BP7000sc with 2 SVS ultra16sb, oh did I mention I was a Bass-aholic, this misses concerts at The Garden.
Good Luck in your search
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swechsler
Frog Whisperer
Pretty sure that most houses in NY built in the last 60 years have sheet rock walls. Before that you'll probably find most plaster with rock and/or metal mesh lath. I think you'd need to go back to houses built in the 1940s to find wood lath.
I too am an MC240 owner, and it gets more play time than any of my newer and higher-power amps. It is 55wpc with the correct / original tubes at its advertised THD spec limit.
This amp can do well with moderate to high-efficiency speakers, provided you don't need ear-bleeding volume. However, the more efficient the speaker, the longer your output tubes will last.
Speaker choices are as others have said a very personal preference, start with good quality and go from there. Try to find speakers that are at a minimum 90dB/watt 1meter
The Sansui -> McIntosh setup should be great, I have my 240 driven by a DAC/preamp, I like the SS and tube synergy.
This amp can do well with moderate to high-efficiency speakers, provided you don't need ear-bleeding volume. However, the more efficient the speaker, the longer your output tubes will last.
Speaker choices are as others have said a very personal preference, start with good quality and go from there. Try to find speakers that are at a minimum 90dB/watt 1meter
The Sansui -> McIntosh setup should be great, I have my 240 driven by a DAC/preamp, I like the SS and tube synergy.
Audiohound
Empiredude
the term “prewar” usually refers to buildings created between the years 1900-1939 — just before WWII. And Yes, Many of these buildings have wood lath and plaster walls UNLESS they were renovated sometime after the original build and building codes allowed sheetrock
swechsler
Frog Whisperer
Yup. But what percentage of current homes were built during that time? I have to assume it's a relatively small percentage...before WWII, a good part of the country was rural, and the US population was less than half what it is now. Consider that many of those pre-war houses are no longer standing, and there were likely significantly more people per household then than now, and I think what you'll find is that most currently extant houses have sheet rock walls. I've never compared (I've owned houses with both sheet rock and rock lath plaster) but since plaster is very similar to concrete in composition, ISTM it will behave in a similar manner, which means you've got 5 out of 6 sides of the room with a concrete-like substance, and one of hardwood.
BuffaloKeith
New Member
Thank you everyone for all the advice, it’s really helpful! I found a pair of Sansui SP-2500X speakers locally, he’s asking $300. Is anyone familiar with those that can tell me what to look out for and if there would be any technical issues pairing them with my setup? (MC240 amp w/ Sansui AU-7900 as pre-amp) thanks again in advance!
BuffaloKeith
New Member
My home was built in 1894, so it’s pre-war-war LOL. I am aware how a rooms shape, materials, decor etc can affect sound. Not to say I know how to adjust for it but I am not completely ignorant to it. I was a pseudo pro musician for years and have a lot of experience in recording studios and also playing live in different size rooms etc. So that’s a bit helpful. But my home is wood constructed and originally had lath and plaster, however the previous owner stripped the plaster, then dry walled over the lath. I’ve since had blown in insulation done too. We also have hardwood floors with area rugs. Our third floor however is still original plaster and lath, and I’m having the roof line insulated so if I ultimately set this up there that will be interesting to see how that affects sound.
swechsler
Frog Whisperer
Price is way high, and IMO you can do much better. Most Sansui speakers are mediocre at best, and these are no exception. For this price I'd buy new instead.
BuffaloKeith
New Member
Noted, thank you again!
swechsler
Frog Whisperer
If you've got access to your email for a good part of the day, might want to set up an automated search on Craigslist to email you as soon as someone posts a listing with "speakers" in the title. You'll have to create a CL account if you don't already have one. I'm currently in Orlando, FL, and most of the stuff on the used market is overpriced. I have gotten a couple of good deals with automated alerts and being one of the first people to contact the seller.
Unfortunately there is no way to do this with Facebook Marketplace.
Unfortunately there is no way to do this with Facebook Marketplace.
BuffaloKeith
New Member
BuffaloKeith
New Member
BroncoJimbo
Well-Known Member
Another way to find used speakers is to set up an eBay search and sort by "distance to me". Most floor speakers are prohibitively expensive to ship so you can bid a little higher than others who are looking at paying shipping. I've scored a couple of good sets that way.
WattNot
Glazed Over
Keith,
Something else came to mind besides the recapping that may be needed in a vintage set of speakers, is what kind of material are the surrounds made of on the woofer. Paper, foam or butyl rubber, etc. Although replacing the surrounds is not terribly difficult there are some speakers like Dynaco A25, A35 and Advent that used butyl rubber for the surrounds and they remain intact 40 years later. So unless you are looking for another DIY project make sure you look at the woofer surround material carefully. When I hooked up my first set of speakers from 1973 that had been in storage for 30 years and turned up the volume the paper surrounds blew out into room and rained down like confetti.
Another question to ask yourself is do you want a purely vintage system or do you want the best sound you can get. You can have both. I recently bought my first set of new speakers and now I seldom listen to anything else. Nostalgia drives me back to the cassette deck with a graphic equalizer from time to time but a decent amp with a good DAC streaming HiRes files or playing your digital library through a new set of speakers is hard to beat.
Something else came to mind besides the recapping that may be needed in a vintage set of speakers, is what kind of material are the surrounds made of on the woofer. Paper, foam or butyl rubber, etc. Although replacing the surrounds is not terribly difficult there are some speakers like Dynaco A25, A35 and Advent that used butyl rubber for the surrounds and they remain intact 40 years later. So unless you are looking for another DIY project make sure you look at the woofer surround material carefully. When I hooked up my first set of speakers from 1973 that had been in storage for 30 years and turned up the volume the paper surrounds blew out into room and rained down like confetti.
Another question to ask yourself is do you want a purely vintage system or do you want the best sound you can get. You can have both. I recently bought my first set of new speakers and now I seldom listen to anything else. Nostalgia drives me back to the cassette deck with a graphic equalizer from time to time but a decent amp with a good DAC streaming HiRes files or playing your digital library through a new set of speakers is hard to beat.