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Top three vintage speaker, vote please!

Fergettit! Of the numerous big boy's I have there's no way I can pass judgment until I move into much bigger space (I'm in a 750 sf apartment).

But this thread has really helped me (hurt me) in developing my wish list.

Thanks all!

Top three on my new list . .

Quad ESL 57 (really, really want to hear what these are about)
Heil AMT (any of a select group of the older bigger ones)(must do more research)
AR3a ('must have' bread n' butter goodness)


Quad ESL 57 (really, really want to hear what these are about)

They're not as inflexible as some people say, but to bring out their best they take careful partnering. You have to build your system around them; not just tack them on to the end of what you've got but if you do that, they can sound extrordinarily good.............
 
I would think that the top 3 vintage speakers would be the technology breakthough designs that were market successes. Based upon that criteria, my three picks would be:

Klipschorn classic folded horn.
AR-3 first quality acoustic-suspension design (not positive on the model number) :scratch2:
Quad ESL-57 first production electrostatic

Unforunately, I don't own any of these. Comments?
 
Three best vintage?

1) Tannoy Dual Concentric
2) Klipschorn
3) So many I don't know where to start

For a fun read, check out:

"Theory, ingenuity, and wishful wizardry in loudspeaker design—A half-century of progress?" by George Augspurger
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, V.77, p.1303 (1985)
 
Ah, There are so many to make this list & since we are to name only three,

1. Bose 501s first series is still a favorite of mine with their smooth bass & nice cabinet.

2. Klipsch 5.2s give off a rich & powerful soundstage.

3. Though mini in size & possessing a 6.5 woofer, my JBL 2600s sound nice, especially with jazz.

Rome
 
Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre family (counts as one choice!)
Quad ESL-57 (i.e., original Quad electrostatic, introduced in 1957)
KEF 105
 
My three favorite vintage manufacturers would be:
JBL
AR
ESS

I just couldn't pick three favorite speakers, well, maybe I could, but I just didn't want to.:D
 
I'm not sure I ever replied to this thread so I'm going to again.

Depends on what you call vintage, actually.

JBL L112. I like it better than the L100

These Linn Isobariks I'm listening to qualify as Vintage because they were designed in the '70s. And they sound outstanding.

The BBC LS3/5A even though I haven't listened to mine in years. It's still an amazing speaker.
 
I have to admit I'm surprised. I just "breezed" thru all the responses but only recall one vote for the Polk Monitor 7's.

I thought they were well thought of here at AK?

....................R1:music::yes:
 
Minimus 7- sound way better than they ought to. Ssssmmmooooth. IMHO.

DCM Macrophone- Groovy looks, smaller but sound bigger and more natural than my AR-4x. Also compares favorably to several of my favorite bookshelf models, makes me figure they must be quite good then

Boston A-150- first speaker I've owned that made me feel like I had never really heard my records before.
 
only 3

Yep, if you had an infinite budget (in the era) and a big house then the Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre (VOTT) units were the ones you got.

And, I forget which model, but the big corner folded horn by Klipsch was a good one.

I've had a dozen + a few systems over the years; but, among the ones I've acutally owned, my current Cerwin-Vega AT15s are my favorites. I realize that last one is bit off topic for the thread. :music:

Harry
 
jensen model four -sweet

mirage sm-2.5- early 80's , 300hz woofer x-over to a SWEET sounding mid in it's own sub-enclosure.very natural.
mission 770- the perfect acoustic jazz speaker .beautiful vifas all'round.
polk monitor 10 - i could listen all day , fatigueless .
L-100T- the fun speaker.
Dahlquist DQM-5 - tight.

sorry....got carried away.
 
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