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Most Important Speakers?


chisoxpurdue

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I know everyone here loves the Klipsch speakers. I will one day jump into Khorns (maybe Jubilees but leaning toward Khorns at this time). Eventually, I want to have multiple other brand of "great speakers". By that I mean good sounding speakers that have a place in history.

I am thinking along the lines of Bose 901s, Magneplanar something, Carver Amazings.

What else? I am interested in opinions of relatively inexpensive speakers. Inexpensive in the sense of less than La Scalas used.

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I'd skip the 901's. Trade the magnaplaners for some Quad ESL's (ok my preference). Any of the larger classic Jensen's. Tannoy dual concentric speakers but pretty rare in the US. A big pair of Bozaks. Hmm 30's - 50's Western Electric RCA Lansing theater or monitor systems. A pair of Lowther's. Could rattle on forever but lots of goodies of collect.

Edit dam missed the inexpensive part sorry. Just collect what you like and appreciate. There are lots of gems out there.

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I also think there are many brands that I would be interested in trying and hearing........

To me; this also goes hand in hand with Receivers and various tube amps; etc......

(A perfect example is a Sansui 9090db).

I am once again an owner of too many speakers.... Although down the line; I could perhaps move the KG 2s to HT duty and put the JBL L36s in the bedroom. (They sound great; but the WAF is that they are just too big for the bedroom.... I agree with her on this).

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I'd skip the 901's. Trade the magnaplaners for some Quad ESL's (ok my preference). Any of the larger classic Jensen's. Tannoy dual concentric speakers but pretty rare in the US. A big pair of Bozaks. .

The Bose 901s I will get. I know they are not really the best soundings, but they are unique and have sentimental value. That got the Idea started.

Passing on Maggies for Quad ESLs is an idea. I am open.

Large classic Jensen's; what models?

I am young and relatively inexperienced with other speaker brands. Especially vintage. All suggestions are welcome.

JBL Century L100; I will look into them.

I do not know how many I will get to purchase and keep around, but it is a goal of mine to have a good number of pairs of "classic" speakers. These are outside of the Klipsch that I will always have.

People could do this with receivers and amps as well. I started another thread about Carver Amps. I am sticking to those mostly. I have a couple NAD amps that will stick around.

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I'd skip the 901's. Trade the magnaplaners for some Quad ESL's (ok my preference). Any of the larger classic Jensen's. Tannoy dual concentric speakers but pretty rare in the US. A big pair of Bozaks. .

The Bose 901s I will get. I know they are not really the best soundings, but they are unique and have sentimental value. That got the Idea started.

Passing on Maggies for Quad ESLs is an idea. I am open.

Large classic Jensen's; what models?

I am young and relatively inexperienced with other speaker brands. Especially vintage. All suggestions are welcome.

JBL Century L100; I will look into them.

I do not know how many I will get to purchase and keep around, but it is a goal of mine to have a good number of pairs of "classic" speakers. These are outside of the Klipsch that I will always have.

People could do this with receivers and amps as well. I started another thread about Carver Amps. I am sticking to those mostly. I have a couple NAD amps that will stick around.

It doesn't matter what I or anyone else likes just collect what you like and appreciate.

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JBL Century L100; I will look into them.

The drivers in these don't have foam surrounds, so they are a rather safe purchase. The tweeter has a flat foam ring to control dispersion, and this usually crumbles over time. Replacing is easy.The crossovers are simple, so replacing caps would also be easy. They are about the same size as Heresy speakers but not as efficient (approx. 88-89db).

Bruce

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I think a lot of us have the same collecting passion, as the most "significant speakers" I have, are altec 604 8-g's a vast percentage of the music we listen to that was recorded pre mid-eighties, was mastered on a speaker of this type, the sound is unbelievable. Better than my cornwalls, a whole different league than my 901's, and in my space they are better than my altec model 19's. Good luck with your search.

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I think a lot of us have the same collecting passion, as the most "significant speakers" I have, are altec 604 8-g's a vast percentage of the music we listen to that was recorded pre mid-eighties, was mastered on a speaker of this type, the sound is unbelievable. Better than my cornwalls, a whole different league than my 901's, and in my space they are better than my altec model 19's. Good luck with your search.

Getting a pair of 604's is on my list but the price keeps going up. I'd also like a pair of RCA LC1C speakers. The 40's equivalent of the 604. Actually I think the 604 was developed a little later than the RCA LC1 but both were used in the studio. The 604 was longer lived.

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Don't "discard" the 901 idea just because everyone says they suck, etc. Two things.....

First read this thread: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/103276.aspx?PageIndex=3

Also, the EQ (which is essential, by the way) will more than likely need to be recapped.

I recapped my parents' 901 series 4 EQ, replaced the op amps, refoamed the speaker drivers, and boy, I was shocked at how good they sounded. They were an entirely new speaker. I am a big Klisch fan and love the sound of horns, but I would be surprised if anyone not hard-headed wasn't impressed with these 901's. Definitely a legendary speaker, if for no other reason because of their ridiculous controversy!

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My dream big room for many years would have Quad ESL 63 on one end and Khorns and video on the other.

I have ESL:63's now, had ESL 57 in the past, and for what they do few speakers come close, but they are 86.5 db sensitivity and anything more than about 145 watts can trigger the protection circuit.

Urei Big Reds are a lot of fun, and do some fantastic things. (604-H with another 15" for umph).

I like Carver amazing speakers, but I've would opt for the bigger version of the ribbons they are based on in one of the DIY designs, awesome in a big room.

Wondering if I even want to touch on Bose, the light beer of audio, thinking no.

Most of the following I think left a mark, made a statement this can be done, or done this well, made things important that were not previously. All of them in good operating condition and support electronics to match would be very hard not to enjoy.

Altec A7

Quad ESL 57

Klipschhorn

AR 3a

Dahlquist DQ10

Infinity IRS

Rogers LS3/5a

B&W 801

Koss model I

Carver Amazing

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I've heard some pretty stellar Martin Logan electrostats, and McIntosh's big $40k line arrays are impressive, but for the money, the Carver Amazings are REALLY hard to beat. At CarverFest 2007, we set up 3 pair of the 4 models made (out to inner: Original, AL-III, Platinum) with a Sunfire 400x7 amp....it ROCKED~

Posted Image

The only version not represented there was the Silver model (3 12" woofers, one 48" ribbon)

I think the most impressive thing about the Carver Amazing line is that they continue to compete with speakers costing MUCH more than they did new ($2-$3k).

One of the few drawbacks (other than SIZE) is they are incredibly inefficient. There are stories of folks using 1,000 watt amps to drive them...

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Fulton J Mods (for Modular) Don't hear much about them now, but in the mid seventies, they were the cat's meow.

Bozak Symphonys Smaller than the Concert Grands, better sounding - at least to me. Less thumpy, work in smaller rooms. Like big power.

Tannoys - can be expensive. Older ones may need new surrounds.

Altec Bolero - get the first generation, with the multi-cell tweeter.

KLH 9s - Different sound than Klipschs, better in multiples. Attract dust.

Stacked large Advents - Go ahead and laugh - turn top ones upside down to put the tweeters together, and you've got D'Appolito arrays.

Dahlquist DQ-10 with DQ-1W subwoofers. DQ-10 will need refoaming. Placement fussy. Bi-amped with crossover at abou 60 hz. Forget that malarkey about putting woofers anywhere. Put woofers on floor, set DQ-10s on top. Looks funny, but can sound wonderful.

Altec 604 - first ones date back to late forties. High end got smoother in each reincarnation (604-b, 604-c etc.)

Altec 605 - same as above, but smaller magnets. Some claim it sounds better than a 604.

Electro Voice Sentries 1 & 2 Figure a Heresy with no midrange horn, in a bigger ported cabinet. Better bass extention - almost into Cornwall territory. Very low power handling.

EV Sentries III and IV - Big. The III was EVs go at the JBL L-200. Big and heavy, tremendous output. Natural sounding, but not as detailed as a Cornwall. Will need new surrounds. The IV was EVs assault on the Voice of the Theater. Three way folded horn, two 12" woofers which, again will need to be re-surrounded. Able to compete on even, or better than even terms with LaScalas and VOTs. Develops volume levels usually associated with geologic events.

EV Six - these used to be really cheap, but people are catching on. 18" woofer, 8" midbass, horn mid and hf. Comparable to Cornwall with deeper bass. Won't handle much power - thirty watts or so.

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