Speakerlab S7 vs 4`s?

yaya97

yaya97

Super Member
Hi All,
I am a proud owner of a pair of Speakerlab 4 from 1976-77. They were just recapped and sound great. I have always been tempted by the Speakerlab 7`s
Last night a friend from Seattle let me know he has a pair of Super S7s ( from 81-83) that are in good shape.
Now these are HUGE ( 39 inches and 90 lbs). and could be very difficult to get Wife Approval.
Now the question: Do the Super7`s blow my 4`s out of the water?? Is this huge upgrade?
 
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The super 7's of that vintage use a foster leaf tweeter which is considered an upgrade over the horn( but some still like the horn sound) the mid is larger and it has a 10 and 12" drivers for the bass. You will notice a huge difference in bass output. I'm a fan of big speakers( I have 2 sets of Speakerlab 50's and Infinity IRS Betas) so yes I think the 7's are an upgrade.....
 
I've never had opportunity to listen to Super 7's so could not compare. However, I know a number of people that think they would be an upgrade. The 7's should go a bit lower than your 4's, and they can get very loud with the right amp. The 3's I have seem to be a very mellow speaker with very few faults, and the 4's you have are much like them, except for the horn tweeter. The 7's are a 4 ohm speaker, so this should be taken into consideration. I suppose it depends upon what you seek from a speaker.
 
LOL, I've never had the opportunity to listen to Speakerlab 4s so I can't directly compare. However, I believe that the S7s's would be a very good upgrade for you. I've owned a pair of '83 S7s since new and highly recommend them. I've been resto-modding mine over the last year and will never part with them.

The larger cabinet and extra 10" woofer will give you some serious extra bass. This generation of the 7 has poly cone mids and 10" with foam surrounds. If the haven't been re-foamed expect to need to do that, as well as recapping them. But it will be worth it. I haven't heard a horn type of 7 but the Speakerlab/Foster ribbons are very nice. I've replaced mine with Visaton MHT-12's and they are even nicer.

As GuyK said, they are 4 ohm and to sound their best will need a good bit of power. I've always used Yamaha amps with mine. They sound good at low to medium volumes, but there is a magic point where just a bit more volume suddenly makes the speakers grow much larger in size. After that point they become giants.

If you can them for a reasonable price and can convince your wife to find a place in her heart for them I'd say don't hesitate, snag them. You won't regret it. If you get them please feel free to PM me if there is anything that I can do to help you. It would be interesting to trade thoughts if you get them because so far in the last 31 years I've never met anyone else that has this generation of 7.

Cheers,
James
 
Bratwurst7s said:
LOL, I've never had the opportunity to listen to Speakerlab 4s so I can't directly compare. However, I believe that the S7s's would be a very good upgrade for you. I've owned a pair of '83 S7s since new and highly recommend them. I've been resto-modding mine over the last year and will never part with them.

The larger cabinet and extra 10" woofer will give you some serious extra bass. This generation of the 7 has poly cone mids and 10" with foam surrounds. If the haven't been re-foamed expect to need to do that, as well as recapping them. But it will be worth it. I haven't heard a horn type of 7 but the Speakerlab/Foster ribbons are very nice. I've replaced mine with Visaton MHT-12's and they are even nicer.

As GuyK said, they are 4 ohm and to sound their best will need a good bit of power. I've always used Yamaha amps with mine. They sound good at low to medium volumes, but there is a magic point where just a bit more volume suddenly makes the speakers grow much larger in size. After that point they become giants.

If you can them for a reasonable price and can convince your wife to find a place in her heart for them I'd say don't hesitate, snag them. You won't regret it. If you get them please feel free to PM me if there is anything that I can do to help you. It would be interesting to trade thoughts if you get them because so far in the last 31 years I've never met anyone else that has this generation of 7.

Cheers,
James
Click to expand...

Guten tag! I admit it was your restoration post that got me thinking about the S7s. I loved seeing all the comments.
They would be VERY cheap ( even free shipping) . I just need to see how to get 39 inch speakers into the room. could be a deal breaker :(
 
yaya97 said:
Guten tag! I admit it was your restoration post that got me thinking about the S7s. I loved seeing all the comments.
They would be VERY cheap ( even free shipping) . I just need to see how to get 39 inch speakers into the room. could be a deal breaker :(
Click to expand...

Way cool. That makes it all worthwhile. One of the motivations with my thread is the hope that it would prove useful to another Speakerlab fan.

FWIW I have mine in a relatively small apartment living room, listening distance is only about 8 feet, with about 6-1/2' speaker separation (center to center). And they sound great. In terms of footprint the 7s are less than 1 inch wider and 2 inches deeper than your 4s, so only the height is seriously different.

Cheers,
James
 
I think the 6 and the 4s are rather close (12 inch woofer) but have that awesome horn.

I know my dad was a classical nut and his 3s were great for him and had no need to listen to my brothers 7WAs that he had back in the day.
I wonder how classical sounds in the 7s? the 7s always are mentioned as THE rock speaker but no mentions how detailed they are ( or not).
 
I had a pair of 7's vintage 77-78' that I gave to my son for graduation. His friends are blown away by the sound a pair of 35 yr old speakerlabs produce. They are great rock and roll speakers but they play classical well too. Several articles back in the day talked about how detailed they were. That being said compared to my 50's they aren't as audiophile . Then again my 50's aren't as detailed as my Betas.... That price point thing comes into play..... Ignorance is bliss so don't ever listen to Betas unless you want to know how much detail, nuances and bass you are missing....
 
So in a perfect world i need a speaker with tons of base like a 7 and the detail of the infinities in a box not bigger than my 4s :)
Don't think it exists !
 
I think that the major difference (in listening terms) between the ribbon generation 7 and say the 50s is in the 3-6khz area. The specs for the `81 7 show an upper crossover point of 6khz. My '83s are 3.8khz. Looking at the freq response chart for the Foster ribbon they start to fall off below 6khz. I can't find any real specs for the poly cone M658 6/1"" mid and don't have them anymore to test but I wonder how they really perform above 3khz.

So at some point it seems that Speakerlab started with the mid working quite high, and then lowered the crossover point and let the tweeter work lower than before. Since I went more than 10 years with imo poorly performing Goldwood replacement mids I've lost the ear memory as to exactly how the speakers sounded in this range.

Choosing the Visaton MHT-12 ribbons and the Wavecor WF160WA-01 mids as replacements has been a very rewarding experience. The speakers are fantasticly articulate in the mid and upper ranges now. I find myself sorting through my music collection and finding the CDs that have more acoustic guitars etc because they sound sooo good. I don't have any classical music but have been thinking about it just to try the experience.

Cheers,
James
 
The 4's are nice speakers. The S7's are A LOT better speaker if you have the space and want to rock out. If you don't want to entertain the neighborhood, I'd stick with the 4's. If you can get the S7's at a good price ($300.00 or less) I'd pick them up and compare and then sell off the pair you don't like. The S7's are harder to find than the 7's and 7 WA's. I've owned them all and found that I prefer the 7WA's, which I kept. The S7's are second to the 7WA's in my book.
 
Yes the magical unicorn would be beta sound out of 4 cabinets ... Lol. Super 7's compared to 50's..... Paul at the Loudspeaker store would have a much better description than me but here goes.... Nestorovic woofer system... 4 layer voice coils and much heavier magnets. Bass is crisper and deeper than 7's. The mid bass/mid range is a 30 oz magnet ,1 1/2 voice coil beast that cracks you in the sternum. then it hands off to a 1 1/2 dome that has a magnetic structure that is heavier than a lot of midrange drivers. They both share the same leaf tweeter. Basically the 7's are awesome but the 50's take it to another level... It's that price point thing.... The 50's were more than twice the cost of the 7's. Speakerlab was a huge bang for the buck company and the 50's were top dog. Nestorovic , Graebner and Snyder were a winning combo.... That being said I have my eye on a pair of super 7's for sale.... My wife says I have a problem... But she was the one who bought the Infinity IRS Betas.... So I think she has the problem .... :)
 
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Bratwurst7s said:
I think that the major difference (in listening terms) between the ribbon generation 7 and say the 50s is in the 3-6khz area. The specs for the `81 7 show an upper crossover point of 6khz. My '83s are 3.8khz. Looking at the freq response chart for the Foster ribbon they start to fall off below 6khz. I can't find any real specs for the poly cone M658 6/1"" mid and don't have them anymore to test but I wonder how they really perform above 3khz.

So at some point it seems that Speakerlab started with the mid working quite high, and then lowered the crossover point and let the tweeter work lower than before. Since I went more than 10 years with imo poorly performing Goldwood replacement mids I've lost the ear memory as to exactly how the speakers sounded in this range.

Choosing the Visaton MHT-12 ribbons and the Wavecor WF160WA-01 mids as replacements has been a very rewarding experience. The speakers are fantasticly articulate in the mid and upper ranges now. I find myself sorting through my music collection and finding the CDs that have more acoustic guitars etc because they sound sooo good. I don't have any classical music but have been thinking about it just to try the experience.

Cheers,
James
Click to expand...

My 50's crossover points are 350hz, 1.5khz, 8khz.... The 50's are a 5 driver 4 way speaker compared to a 4 driver, 3 way S7. The 6 1/2 mid bass/ mid range isn't trying to cover as much ground as the S7's 6 1/2. the 50's have a 1 1/2 dome that handles the frequencies from 1.5khz to 8khz and then the Foster leaf tweeter takes over. The leaf doesn't have to come down to in frequency as low as in the S7.
That being said I have been following your adventure with your S7's and I'm impressed . If you are a Facebooker you can look up The Loudspeaker Store and see Paul's rebuild of my 50's crossover and mid bass.... I am not as brave as you so I had Paul do the work. I have my other set of 50's in his shop getting a look over right now. Actually Paul is probably doing more listening to them than actual work..:music:. haha. I have become friends with him and his wife so I'm having fun picking his brain....
I have been watching a pair of S7 for sale and I just might purchase them.... just because....... It's a sickness I tell ya :D
 
sc427 said:
My 50's crossover points are 350hz, 1.5khz, 8khz.... The 50's are a 5 driver 4 way speaker compared to a 4 driver, 3 way S7. The 6 1/2 mid bass/ mid range isn't trying to cover as much ground as the S7's 6 1/2. the 50's have a 1 1/2 dome that handles the frequencies from 1.5khz to 8khz and then the Foster leaf tweeter takes over. The leaf doesn't have to come down to in frequency as low as in the S7.
That being said I have been following your adventure with your S7's and I'm impressed . If you are a Facebooker you can look up The Loudspeaker Store and see Paul's rebuild of my 50's crossover and mid bass.... I am not as brave as you so I had Paul do the work. I have my other set of 50's in his shop getting a look over right now. Actually Paul is probably doing more listening to them than actual work..:music:. haha. I have become friends with him and his wife so I'm having fun picking his brain....
I have been watching a pair of S7 for sale and I just might purchase them.... just because....... It's a sickness I tell ya :D
Click to expand...

That's exactly my point. The 50 adds that upper mid to bridge the area between the 6-1/2 and ribbon. The stock 3rd gen 7 sounds very good. But I think that the reason that they are considered more of a "rock" speaker is an output dip between 3 and 6 khz. I have no measurements to back that up, just the freq response chart of the Foster ribbons, and guesswork. The MHT-12 is basicly flat down to 2.5khz on the freq response chart from Visaton. A 7 with these things in it has every bit of the upper mid response that the 50 has imo.

Full disclosure: I've never listened to a 50, but I lived with a pair of Delta I Hybrid Type 5's for a couple of years. In the mid to upper range they have the same drivers afaik. My roommate in the Air Force bought a pair, would have to have been ca 1980. They contributed mightily to the daily barracks stereo wars.

Would you ask Paul if he bought the MHT-12? When we were trading e-mails he mentioned that he was considering them but was having trouble finding a pair over there.

Cheers,
James
 
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