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Vintage sealed cab bookshelfs - what should I keep an eye out for?

S

sATLite

New Member
Looking to upgrade or add to my modest home setup. Running a 2.1 setup with my EPI100s (which I love) and a sub from my Yamaha TSR7850 receiver. I keep my eye out for local vintage finds and have had some fun with it, but haven't found anything that beats my EPIs - the closest I got my hands on were Altec Model Ones which I ended up giving to a good friend of mine.

So I'm moving in to a new home in a few months and I'm toying around with adding/modifying/upgrading. I'm thinking if I can find some better mains I can make my EPIs side surrounds and work towards a surround sound setup, but I'm not even sure if I want to do that to my EPIs because while surround is cool, I mainly want the perfect setup specifically for music, which the EPIs excel at IMO.

Curious if anyone has some suggestions on what to look out for or what my next step should be.

Some restrictions though:

My wife (love her to death) doesn't like the idea of big speaker cabs. One day I brought home a pair of Advent Legacy Is just to see for myself how they sound and she thought they were too big. So anything I get would have to be bookshelf size, or I could maaaybe get bigger cabs as long as they looked nice like the JBL L110s with those iconic foam grills (she hates the grill cover being off).

Also, it's just going in my average sized living room so I'm not sure I could drive bigger cabs loud enough to really let them shine - that was part of my takeaways from the Advents. I don't want to piss off the neighbors (I'll be sharing walls in a townhome). I've thought about getting a proper amp too but wife and I do a lot of airplay/casting so the receiver is kind of our hub for everything, and it seems to work fine at levels we currently listen.

Lastly, if music genre makes any difference: I'm big into jazz - Basie's my #1 but I'm pretty across the board. If I'm not listening to jazz it's indie/alternative stuff - guitars and synths. Wife is more pop and latin pop, and lo-fi hip hop when she's working from home. The EPIs shine with jazz and it's why I love them so much.
 
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honestly, if you like the EPIs I would just keep an eye out for more EPI and Genesis speakers.

At one point I did have an all EPI/Genesis surround system (except for the Outlaw sub) and it was awesome. Sold all but a pair of 100s though because I don't have space anymore.
 
That's definitely an option, but I figured I'd open up to any alternatives before I do anything. The biggest thing I'm missing with the EPIs is soundstage depth, and I might be stuck with it with cabs that size in a room the size of mine. But if there's an alternative that will give me as much musical neutrality and clarity as the EPIs but a deeper, bigger stage then I'd explore it. Thanks for your input!
 
I really like the Canton Karat 30's. Might be kinda tough to find these days. AR 4x or the Dynaco A25's as stated above would also be worth looking into.
 
If you really have to have vintage and you can't go much bigger than the EPI 100s, maybe try a pair of Celestion Ditton 15s? Although I think that would be a lateral move more than a step upwards. Have to considered new? There are some good reports about a recent Totem find in Dollars and Cents. Something like that? Rogers LS3/5a?
 
Luck ..the EPI's are good ..It's hard to beat a Burhoe ..

With the right front end the Snell Type K's might be an improvement ..
Not easy to find though ..and most speakers will be sideways moves from the EPI ..

Improve your front end and the EPI's will sound a lot better ..
The EPI's will reproduce a lot more detail than that receiver can provide ..
Try a separate MOSFET power amp and a passive preamp .. especially for Jazz .. simpler devices and circuits ..

You can pick up a used power amp for $400 or so and a new passive for under $100 ..
Keep the receiver for video duty ..

The beauty of the EPI is that it's an 8" 2-way running the 8 inch driver full range ..almost no other 8" 2-way does that,
but it gives the EPI a wonderful upper midrange presence... perfect for Jazz.

It's sealed box, and so requires a fair amount of power to achieve the tight fast bass that it's capable of ..
A tube amp would sound great with Jazz, but the bass would be rounded and a bit tubby compared to a big Solid State amp.
MOSFET is a good compromise .. most of the harmonics and detail of tubes, but still has that Solid State speed and kick for the bass..
 
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The best speaker in the world can only reproduce what it's fed ...

For me it's about transparency ... getting out of the way of the music.. not some new and different coloration ..
 
sATLite said:
My wife (love her to death) doesn't like the idea of big speaker cabs. One day I brought home a pair of Advent Legacy Is just to see for myself how they sound and she thought they were too big.
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Women generally seem to have a psychotic aversion to loudspeakers, and the psychosis is in direct proportion to the size of the speakers.
Personally, I have a psychotic aversion to refrigerators and won't let my wife have one any bigger than a shoe box. :rflmao:
 
I didn’t say “sealed”. I said “enclosed” meaning two sides, a top and bottom, and a front and back. JBL L19s are also vented. The OP is looking for small speakers which sound good and look appealing to his spouse. I also second Stratmel’s recommendation above for the AR4x which perhaps has the smallest enclosure so far mentioned. They sound way bigger than they look.
 
If you need a true bookshelf speaker that is similar-sized as the EPI 100 then consider the Smaller Advent. Hands down! Best performance to size ratio of any loudspeaker, probably. As I type I am listening to Smaller Advents on my office shelf (horizontal) driven by a Proton D940 receiver (40 watts). Granted the AR4x looks way better due to the walnut veneer (Advent is vinyl, but looks good if not too scratched up), but the low bass is lacking. I concur with the other posters re: the great EPI sound. I have a pair of M110's, which is basically a vinyl covered version of the M150. Its a crazy-good speaker. Its a pretty big speaker and not really bookshelf-able in most situations (although I've done it with the EPIs.. I have a large room with shelfs that easily support large speakers. Currently running a pair of AR 5's on the shelf). IMO the EPI's image fantastically, mainly due to the awesome inverted-dome tweeter. I could also recommend a pair of ADS L520's, which are 8" two ways that are similar sized as the Smaller Advent and your EPI 100s. The ADS L520 is easily the best looking of the bunch, and probably the best sounding.
Size-wise, I attach a pic of a few of my small-ish 8" two way speakers: from left-right: KLH 20, ADS L520, Smaller Advent, AR4x, and Boston Acoustics A60.thumbnail_325E9D23-1D8A-461B-B57D-1AC22820C7A7.jpg
 
If you can find a pair, I would suggest some Genesis Physics II or II+ (or perhaps some EPI 200's). While not "sealed", I think that they offer more bang for the buck than even the EPI 100's while maintaining the EPI/Genesis Physics sound. Of course, if you are running a sub, the extend bass they have over the 100's might not be as big of a deal.
 
botrytis said:
Dynaco's are not sealed, they have an Aperiodic vent.
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Quite true.

macyjrm said:
I didn’t say “sealed”. I said “enclosed” meaning two sides, a top and bottom, and a front and back. JBL L19s are also vented. The OP is looking for small speakers which sound good and look appealing to his spouse. I also second Stratmel’s recommendation above for the AR4x which perhaps has the smallest enclosure so far mentioned. They sound way bigger than they look.
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botrytis said:
Vintage sealed cab bookshelfs - what should I keep an eye out for?

The thread title - says sealed. I guess you can't read.

So both are not sealed, why put them up?
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True, the OP is asking about sealed speakers. However, he doesn't say why he's ruling out ported speakers. :dunno:
 
NHT SuperOne

Piano black finish has high WAF

Sealed enclosure delivers accurate bass response

Large soft dome tweeter delivers great mids and smooth highs.

Can be found on eBay / Craigslist / FB Marketplace etc for under $200 a pair, sometimes considerably less.
 
Canton Quinto 520, Canton Karat 200. Both are sealed cabinet, 3-way of reasonable size, 8" woofer, 28mm and 19mm soft dome mid & tweeter, and sound neutral and very good.

After the Karat 100/200/300 models pretty much all of their speakers are ported, including I believe the Karat 30.

Cheers,
James
 
Akustic said:
Luck ..the EPI's are good ..It's hard to beat a Burhoe ..

With the right front end the Snell Type K's might be an improvement ..
Not easy to find though ..and most speakers will be sideways moves from the EPI ..

Improve your front end and the EPI's will sound a lot better ..
The EPI's will reproduce a lot more detail than that receiver can provide ..
Try a separate MOSFET power amp and a passive preamp .. especially for Jazz .. simpler devices and circuits ..

You can pick up a used power amp for $400 or so and a new passive for under $100 ..
Keep the receiver for video duty ..

The beauty of the EPI is that it's an 8" 2-way running the 8 inch driver full range ..almost no other 8" 2-way does that,
but it gives the EPI a wonderful upper midrange presence... perfect for Jazz.

It's sealed box, and so requires a fair amount of power to achieve the tight fast bass that it's capable of ..
A tube amp would sound great with Jazz, but the bass would be rounded and a bit tubby compared to a big Solid State amp.
MOSFET is a good compromise .. most of the harmonics and detail of tubes, but still has that Solid State speed and kick for the bass..
Click to expand...

I've had a separate power amp on my to-find list for a minute, but before I get one I need to move and therefore upgrade my entertainment center to be able to hide more of this kind of gear that my wife doesn't want out in the open. I'm no expert so bear with me if I'm wrong or ignorant about any of this but here it goes: I know my receiver has 2.2 preouts that can go to a separate power amp, but could I use a passive preamp along with it? I'm all for finding separate amps if it's going to drive my speakers better but I don't want to lose any ease in functionality that the receiver provides, so I want to keep the ability to stream music/video through my receiver and control volume via the remote or my phone. Plus my receiver has a second zone that I can use for patio speakers which is convenient.

To zoom out a little and get off topic, considering an all-in-one receiver might not be the best, is there a better gear setup? My eventual goal is to have two fronts (EPIs right now), a center, two sides/rears, two ceilings (installing when I move), and the sub. But I'd like to have the functionality to play my tv (HDMI ovbiously), stream from my phone (bluetooth/airplay/cast/wifi), and play my xbox (HDMI). Currently all I have to do is switch inputs on my TV and use the tv remote for volume control which is easy enough for my wife and guests to handle.
 
I can recommend the AR-4x and the Advent/3. They are about the same size, though the Advent cabinet is not as deep; however, the Advents have a bigger sound and amazing bass - well beyond what you'd expect from a small speaker. If I had to pick between the two, I'd take the Advent.
 
KeithD said:
I can recommend the AR-4x and the Advent/3. They are about the same size, though the Advent cabinet is not as deep; however, the Advents have a bigger sound and amazing bass - well beyond what you'd expect from a small speaker. If I had to pick between the two, I'd take the Advent.
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I have a quad setup in my bedroom oddly with EPI 100s in front (early Masonite tweeters) and Advent /3s in the back (this is now the third pair of these that have gone through my hands; the two previous were sold, now if I had them all back I could have an Advent surround system!)

I have to say I prefer the EPIs still, while the Advents are good, and also the EPIs will take more power whereas with the Advents you run the risk of bottoming the woofer VCs if you really put the beans to them.

Now the EPIs are physically larger, if that is a consideration - if the smaller size is appealing the Advent /3s are worth a look, especially in a small room.
 
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