Your Favorite Vintage Sealed Box Bookshelf Speaker?

[mmannaxx]

My two favorites so far are the ADC-303AX and the Boston Acoustics A60. Also a big nod to the Siemens RL-171, but those are pretty rare. I didn't like the Acoustic Research RedBox IIs (updated AR18) at all. One listen comparing them to the Boston Acoustics A60s, and the ARs went on craigslist. (Also, ARs will need eventual refoaming, and the BAs have rubber surrounds, if that matters to you).

Charles.

Boston Acoustics A60, 1st gen, have foam surrounds. As do the 2nd gen I believe.

 

[Old Guy8]

ADS L880, Three way 10". Soft dome tweets and mids. Gorgeous walnut cabinets watch beveled corners.

 

[Bill Ferris]

1st. choice would be my B-I-L`s Infinity Infitesamal something that he has had since the late seventies..
2nd. would be my purchased in 1992 for center channel duty in my living room`s HT, to match the 1990 purchased Mc. XRT-22 line array speaker system`s mid/tweeter timbre/SQ: would be the excellent sounding Mc/ XR-1 book shelf speakers, that now reside in this radio/computer purposed spare bedroom.

The XR-1s are powered via a Crown DC-300 Series II power amp with the bookshelf speaker`s weak bottom octave supplemented with a passive floor firing 12" subwoofer.

They just delivers smooth accurate HQ sounding WAV. ripped audio to my ears all day long as I sit here perusing A/K`s new posts everyday all day long with zero listener fatigue no matter the music genre playing.

 

[tubelectron]

I was wondering what vintage 2-way and 3-way bookshelf speakers other people like.

I have the pair of BrAun L-500/1 that my parents bought new in 1971 or 1972...

Original documentation :

Original look - pure Dieter Rams design :

About the pair owned by my parents, I was prepared to do an Autopsy, but to my surprise, not at all !

Yes, cosmetically, they were neglected (oh, my dear Parents !) : full of dust, rubbed and dirty white paint, the front grille was so unpresentable that I could not re-employ it...

Below, after grille removal and frontface cleaning :

The two speakers were intact, fully working, no leaks... Amazing !

So let's repaint the cabinets in satin white, make a removable new grille, keeping the small BrAun logo alive...

And Voilà !

Saved from trash, these sealed BrAun L-500/1 sings fine today !

T

 

[tubelectron]

Other than that, I have a pair of Klipsch Heresy I HBR, on which I modified the E-2 crossover to balance the relative levels of the speakers, and also filled 100% the inside of the cab with cotton wool. I also did a bit of TLC to the exterior of the cab :

T