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Worst speakers you've owned?


Ray Garrison

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ahh the 70s audiophile days. is advent still around? they were pretty popular along w/ of course jbl & bose, commercially that is.

besides the walsh super tweeter, anybody remember the hiel(?) driver/air transformer/whatever? i think ess for 1 used that.

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quote:

Originally posted by boa12:

ahh the 70s audiophile days. is advent still around? they were pretty popular along w/ of course jbl & bose, commercially that is.

besides the walsh super tweeter, anybody remember the hiel(?) driver/air transformer/whatever? i think ess for 1 used that.

Yo! Soul Brother!

Owned a pair of "New" Advents (brilliant moniker). First real hifi speakers I ever bought, excluding a couple of not-that-bads from Radio Shack.

Bose Boob -- GUILTY (901-IVs)

Ah, The Heil AMT! Now that was a speaker! Bought a pair from Burstein-Applebee in KC MO in the late 70's. Really nice sounding speakers, but I kept melting the little ribbon diaphram in the "air motion transformer" (cool moniker!) Then blew a woofer cranking Fleetwood Mac. I sold them to my brother-in-law and finally got some real LOUDSPEAKERS -s> - Klipsch Cornwallss>

Ah. happy audio boy. smile.gif

------------------

JDMcCall

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yo, jd, sound like many of us have been down similar paths to true hi-fi. i forgot to mention that my first real system was the bose 301s w/ something like a pioneer qx-747 quad receiver. at 13, couldn't afford 2 more speaks or even a turntable w/ a quad cartridge. do still have the 1 quad album I could afford - Tull, aqualung. sold the 301s to a friend after just a few months. talk about a dead sounding speak (& of course the dr tweets blew 1st. sold the pioneer to my brother. then went mail order w/ a package from Wherehouse Sound Co. in San Luis

Obispo, CA. sansui integrated amp, EV bookshelf speaks, & a garrard turntable. big improvement & the rest is history.

------------------

RF-3 (front), RC-3, Cornwall I (rear)

Velodyne HGS-15 sub

Monsterbass 400 sub cables & Monster Z-12 speak wire

Sony de935 a/v receiver

Sony DVP-C650D dvdp

Sony Trinitron 27" tv

Technics dual cassette deck

Technics direct drive turntable

Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000 digital cable box

rock on!

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probably a little spoiled or lucky, except for the family console my first speakers were these slap dash jobs that Ralph Karsten of Atma-sphere OTL amps made, my parents were very upset that I spent $150 on the pair because they looked like a teenager after a night of partying, so I did not tell them Ralph also sold me a Fisher tube reciever and a Garrard turntable with the cartridge (Shure of course) mounted on a shim

I was always jealous of these impressive looking units that other people had, but I never got tired of the sound

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Colin, I grew up in a hifi household. My dad loved to build kits. His last set (he passed away in 66) was all Dyna...pre, tuner, monoblocks. To that he added an AR turntable (to replace his Weathers) and some verrrry heavy sand suspension Wharfedale speakers. A sister *Still has that system and it sounds *Great.

The rest of the story is that when I started getting my own gear I was inevitably dissatisfied. I loved looking at gear, but none of it seemed to measure up to my boyhood standard. Until I had a tube driven Klipschorn system in my living room...

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The family was chipping in on components for differnt holidays for my mother in law. I was supervising to a certain degree. During a period of time I was out of town on business, my brother in law went out and bought the speakers.

Cerwin Vega

I just cannot stand to listen to them; even my favorite music sounds sluggish. I keep waiting for a lightning strike to put them out of their misery.

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The family was chipping in on components for differnt holidays for my mother in law. I was supervising to a certain degree. During a period of time I was out of town on business, my brother in law went out and bought the speakers.

Cerwin Vega

I just cannot stand to listen to them; even my favorite music sounds sluggish. I keep waiting for a lightning strike to put them out of their misery.

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you guys are spoiled.

the worst speakers i've ever own, i'm using them right now and they're also the best I've ever owned...

sniff...

:-(

big Sony towers, by the way. And some tiny JBL midtowers...

At least I have a paradigm PW2200...

I NEED HEADPHONES!!

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yea after 1st hearing them i told the salesman that i would find a way to own these speakers. w/ unemployment at 11% in '83 but being a college grad w/ my 1st job paying a whopping 12k/yr I discovered the wonderful world of visa. credit line $1500. klipsch cornwalls $1150. even had enough left for some wire.

------------------

RF-3 (front), RC-3, Cornwall I (rear)

Velodyne HGS-18 sub

Monsterbass 400 sub cables & Monster Z-12 wire

Sony de935 a/v receiver

Sony DVP-C650D dvdp

Sony Trinitron 27" tv

Technics dual cassette deck

Technics direct drive turntable

Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2000 digital cable box

rock on!

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quote:

Originally posted by Steve P:

A pair of big 1972 Radio Shack 12" woofer things that I can't even remember the models.They had 3 tweeters and 1 12" woofer in each that the cross over had to deal with,and adjustable high and mid controls.

Had them untill 89',that's when my X and I parted.Some months later I got my KG-3's.The Heresy I've got now I've had since 78',had to just about steal it from her.

My loving wife of present,Becky,lets me spend money on Klipsch.She knows what sounds great.

Life is great!

STeve

i think the speakers you were talking about

from radio shack were either the Optimus-5

or the Nova-8

Both were identical drivers wise, except

the crossovers and exterior cosmetics

Nova 8 was a bit more elegant, while the

opt-5 looked more like a KLH or AR of the day

in fact...my aunt still has her Nova-8's

powered by her allway's faithfull dynaco

sca-80Q, and a interesting st77 sony tuner

(the small vertical one with the round dial)

im still trying to get that dynaco from her

Dynaco and Klipsch go well together

Rob

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hey, gimme a break guys, I'm still in school for chrissakes!!

besides, credit cards are evil.

EVIL I TELL YOU!!

unless you use them purely for practical reasons, like buying some gum from that indigenous store in the middle of Africa.

or so it seems in their ads!

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quote:

Originally posted by robB:

STeve

i think the speakers you were talking about

from radio shack were either the Optimus-5

or the Nova-8

Both were identical drivers wise, except

the crossovers and exterior cosmetics

Nova 8 was a bit more elegant, while the

opt-5 looked more like a KLH or AR of the day

in fact...my aunt still has her Nova-8's

powered by her allway's faithfull dynaco

sca-80Q, and a interesting st77 sony tuner

(the small vertical one with the round dial)

im still trying to get that dynaco from her

Dynaco and Klipsch go well together

Rob


sorry oops,.the little sony tuner is a st80F

and there is one on ebay..i see

nice little unit

and very rare....for re-sale.!

Rob

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I do remeber getting nausiated by a pair of Pioneer Centrex somthin'-r-others I traded from a "friend" circa 1980. I also remember how easy it was to blow the mid-ranges out of AR-11's (4ohm) from 1976(?) with a Phase Linear 400 and a Marantz 1150D. The AR's didn't sound all that bad though till the cat decided to sharpen her claws with the woofers. The Bogen DB-230 we had given to us just sat around as a backup.

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I do remeber getting nausiated by a pair of Pioneer Centrex somthin'-r-others I traded from a "friend" circa 1980. I also remember how easy it was to blow the mid-ranges out of AR-11's (4ohm) with a Phase Linear 400 and a Marantz 1150D. The AR's didn't sound all that bad though till the cat decided to sharpen her claws with the woofers. The Bogen DB-230 we had given to us just sat around as a backup.

------------------

Tom

KLF-20 Mahogany

Carver Receiver MXR-150

Yamaha PF-800 Turntable/ Sure V15 Type V Cartridge

Carver TL-3100 CD

Yamaha K-1020 Cassette

dbx 1231 EQ

dbx 3bx Series Two

H.H. Scott 830z Analyzer

Monster Interlink 300 mk II

Original Monster Cable

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  • 11 years later...

This is another goodie oldie thread for resurrection...

 

#1 worst speakers owned: AR-90s

 

It's hard to explain just how much harmonic and modulation distortion dominated the sound of these towers - string orchestras sounded like steel drums, and vocals all had a characteristic edge on them. The dome tweeter and the next drivers--a dome midrange and cone mid-bass--had their own sound. I found that I was finding reasons not to listen to them after a few weeks, even though they could soak up a lot of input power.

 

#2 worst speakers owned: Magnepan MG-IIIa's

 

These speakers needed a complete owners manual which included the unwritten rules for use, including the first and most important one: they require a very large room (front-back, side-side) to sound reasonable, and then they required the listener to have a head in a vise to hear the stereo imaging. Additionally, real power was needed to get these things to something like a quiet concert level, and they had a habit of going through ribbon tweeters--I had three sets of them before I gave up. The Carver M1.5t was just enough to push these units to pleasant in-room levels.

 

#3 worst speakers owned: Home-made acoustic suspension 3-ways

 

While in high school/college, I built these, and they included piezoelectric tweeters, a rather stiff 5" cone midrange and 12" woofer in an acoustic suspension cabinet . These boxes rivaled the size of Cornwalls. I never could get them balanced properly and the crossover filters steep enough. Didn't have the right gear to test them and tweak the crossover/balancing networks.

 

Bottom line: the best speakers that I've heard now sit in my den. It's been a long time coming.

 

Chris

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This is another goodie oldie thread for resurrection...

#1 worst speakers owned: AR-90s

It's hard to explain just how much harmonic and modulation distortion was dominated the sound of these towers - string orchestras sounded like steel drums, and vocals all had a characteristic edge on them. The dome tweeter and the next drivers--a dome midrange and cone mid-bass--had their own sound. I found that I was finding reasons not to listen to them after a few weeks, even though they could soak up a lot of input power.

#2 worst speakers owned: Magnepan MG-IIIa's

These speakers needed a complete owners manual which included the unwritten rules for use, including the first and most important one: they require a very large room (front-back, side-side) to sound reasonable, and then they required the listener to have a head in a vise to hear the stereo imaging. Additionally, real power was needed to get these things to something like a quiet concert level, and they had a habit of going through ribbon tweeters--I had three sets of them before I gave up. The Carver M1.5t was just enough to push these units to pleasant in-room levels.

#3 worst speakers owned: Home-made acoustic suspension 3-ways

While while in high school/college, I built these, and they included piezoelectric tweeters, a rather stiff 5" cone midrange and 12" woofer in an acoustic suspension cabinet . These boxes rivaled the size of Cornwalls. I never could get them balanced properly and the crossover filters steep enough. Didn't have the right gear to test them and tweak the crossover/balancing networks.

Bottom line: the best speakers that I've heard now sit in my den. It's been a long time coming.

Chris

Wow Chris, You did go deep in the vault for this one... I'll have to think for a while before I post...
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I think it's fun when someone dredges up an old thread. Especially one that I'd never seen. Here's my tale of sonic woe.

After giving away* a pair of Belles at the insistance of the wife (now ex wife) I bought a pair of used JBL L65 Jubals. They sounded pretty good. Not Belle good (some would argue that) but I was happy with them.

A few years later the house was broken in to and the Jubals stolen. The insurance company would NOT just stroke me a check to buy what I wanted. They insisted on "replacing" the stolen equipment with "equivalent" equipment. A couple of weeks later a truck pulled up at the office with my "replacement" equipment in boxes.

They did pretty good with the receiver, cassette deck, and CD player choices. All were at least as good up to much better than what was stolen. And then there's the speakers. I'd like to have a chat with the person who thought that the a pair of Infinity SM-152s was the equivalent" of the JBL Jubals. Really? OMG did those Infinitys SUCK. They only did one thing well. Get really REALLY loud. They didn't stay here very long. One of my neighbors thought they were the coolest thing he's ever seen. I made him a helluva deal.

* In fairness to the ex I didn't actually give them away. I sold them. It's just that the buyer never did get around to paying me for them.

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