Speakers that go above their reputation??

Periodically the audiophile community seems to re-discover horns. The current re-discovery is due to a desire for high efficiency to mate with low-watt SET amps.

Your Speakerlab S7 pair represents a previous wave of re-discovery, but somewhat localized to the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps a conflation with "grunge" results in its "sheetrock-rattling rock and roll" reputation?
 
Periodically the audiophile community seems to re-discover horns. The current re-discovery is due to a desire for high efficiency to mate with low-watt SET amps.

Your Speakerlab S7 pair represents a previous wave of re-discovery, but somewhat localized to the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps a conflation with "grunge" results in its "sheetrock-rattling rock and roll" reputation?

Never thought of that! I based my thoughts by going into the archives of ak. The 7s are always presented as " rock speaker " . I left Seattle before grunge came in.i know I have head speakers that sounded good with led Zeppelin or Boston but failed the Jazz test. The 7s passed wonderfully with all types of music.
 
Periodically the audiophile community seems to re-discover horns. The current re-discovery is due to a desire for high efficiency to mate with low-watt SET amps.

Your Speakerlab S7 pair represents a previous wave of re-discovery, but somewhat localized to the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps a conflation with "grunge" results in its "sheetrock-rattling rock and roll" reputation?

Is there such a thing as an efficient ribbon speaker for say mid-high? After getting used to my Kappa 9s over the last couple years, I don't think I'd be happy with a dynamic driver except for low end. I'm about to start a project I've had all the parts for, for the last three years consisting of JBL 2390 mid and 2405 tweeters which are horns, 2206 mid-bass, and 2245 bottom end. Essentially a 4345 on steroids, fully active. No set amp here but I'm anticipating a potential let down other than kick-ass rock n' roll potential. I'm hoping for a nice delicate top end with the efficiency of these without ripping my head off.
 
Just for giggles, I took out some a25s I had , not using.i re capped them, slightly differant values-poly caps.i put 1/4"weatherstripping under the drivers.removed the tweet screens.dynamat around the woofer spokes.holy crap, I luv em.punchy, clean bass, not flabby as before.they can sound good.im still blown away by my TF 700s.after a full recap and bracing,new woof surrounds, upgraded tweets.earlier today I put them 12 ft apart, with me just 4 feet back., like giant headphones.stunning,superb.they can absorb a lot of power.my buddy has maggies, I.prefer mine.i think he does too.the older Celestions are great , but most know that.ive had some jbls, tried to like them for more than a week..they left the building.i wonder what went on in their tweeter dept....yikes.
 
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Oh, the list could go on forever.
The Smaller Advent Loudspeaker is overshadowed by the original Advents but it does not have the failings of the original and is clearly the light hidden under the basket. Only negative is it never came in a nice wood veneered cabinet.

I am going to throw in the Klipsch Heresy II. All most say about the H line is that it lacks bass and can be pushed with loads of power to make neighbors hate owners. I fond the bass not lacking when compared to most speakers of the past several decades. I think it gets a bad rap because people expect because of the woofer size it will go deep or at least have a bass hump emulating deep bass. The bass balance is very good and has very good details and articulation. No bass hump. The speaker had a distortion level far below almost any dynamic driver speaker and will really point fingers at a poor amp on recording. While some of us recognized the 1st watt is the most important, the H IIs demand a near perfect 1st watt. With the right amp, even low powered at reasonable listening levels it can really dig into classical and jazz. It sadly seemingly is seldom used in a manner that it seems to really excellent at.

A couple of years ago I would include Wharfedale Wx0s series but I think the genie is out of the bag on these now. Same with the real Bozaks.

I would include JansZen regardless of who manufactured them. They universally are an excellent speaker but I think most persons either do not recognize them or get nervous because due to age almost all require the power supplies and crossover's to be rebuilt. Sadly, even when Art was alive while speakers he was commissioned to design were well received only his tweeter array gained the recognition it should have. His KLH Nine Koss One are today still sought.

KLH Nine is panned for its bass but as far down as it goes, around 50hz, it's bass has to be near perfect in almost all ways. After getting my first set and living them for a short time, I absolutely could not tolerate a dynamic driven woofer. Truth be told, I still can not. I have never heard an acoustic suspension woofer I can honestly say is outstanding. Port designs also generally bother me. Infinite baffle does far better, generally and I will say the Cornwall and HII do not make me want to smash them. The Wharfedales W70 and W70D also work for me, I suspect the short throw woofer may be responsible with these. I am trying to like the restored KLH Five and while the mids and tweeter are decent I am running into that acoustic suspension issue with the woofer. The only real solution would be going to a full range electrostatics or horn loaded bass as each have very low magnitudes of distortion.
 
Is there such a thing as an efficient ribbon speaker for say mid-high? After getting used to my Kappa 9s over the last couple years, I don't think I'd be happy with a dynamic driver except for low end. I'm about to start a project I've had all the parts for, for the last three years consisting of JBL 2390 mid and 2405 tweeters which are horns, 2206 mid-bass, and 2245 bottom end. Essentially a 4345 on steroids, fully active. No set amp here but I'm anticipating a potential let down other than kick-ass rock n' roll potential. I'm hoping for a nice delicate top end with the efficiency of these without ripping my head off.

That's all well and good except for one thing. The EMIT's and EMIM's that were used in Infinity speakers are not ribbons. They are planar magnetic speakers.
 
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Advent/1 for me. Not that they have had negative comments, just sounded better than I anticipated, particularly in bottom end. Really nice imaging. But need to be raised for best performance. Truly a "bookshelf" speaker.

Yep, we use two pair of the Smaller Advent (green and orange) for HT use here hooked up to a BPC older Marantz SR780 5.1. No sub woof needed with those 'Spitwad' woofers. :thmbsp:
 
M&K S-100B Sats...
People let the whole "home theater" era distract them from the fact that these speakers paired with even a modest sub can do things that more pricey speakers wish they could in terms of imaging, detail and even power handling.

Filter them at 80hz and life is good!

S-100b%2520wm.jpg
 
Tcom

I am in NJ (near Flemington) too and my newly acquired A25s are growing on me. They were a one owner find ,all original in excellent condition. Am going to change the single cap once my non magnetic screwdriver arrives. Not taking any chances.

Don

Well, I'm sure I will have a lot of people who disagree, but..

1. Dynaco A25 is on the top of that list of underwhelming speakers that I would have expected to like.

2. Anything that I've heard from B&W, not to say there isn't any that I'd like, just haven't heard them yet.

Not going to continue this list as my next submission will probably have people at my door with torches and pitchforks :)
 
I think the Sony SS-MB350h deserve a place on the list, although they did garner a pretty good reputation among the cognoscenti. One caveat, though: Even though they do in fact go reasonably low, they will disappoint without a sub.
 
Tcom

I am in NJ (near Flemington) too and my newly acquired A25s are growing on me. They were a one owner find ,all original in excellent condition. Am going to change the single cap once my non magnetic screwdriver arrives. Not taking any chances.

Don

The A-25s are probably a good stacking candidate.
 
Yup,W90's:)

Yeah...
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I threw in some really-nice n.o.s. oil caps in mine, US-made ones from the '50's (600VDC Sangamo - tweeters) and '60's (1000VDC Sprague - midwoofers), and after that, they were just perfect (Much thanks to the former sony6060 for his help in acquiring those). I mostly use them at low volume levels, playing vinyl on my Dual 1019 (Probably 65% vinyl, 35% digital stuff). The old Wharfedales and Duals share a very-high level of synergy for whatever reason, and they both go really-well with the old Fishers. If you want a huge speaker in a low volume situation, Wharfedale and Fisher tube gear are the key (With the 800C receiver, the vocals are very-relaxed and laid back... Never shouty). Once I added the oil caps, that was it. They're ultra-smooth, rich, and uber-natural, and very-open-sounding. Background beasts. And you add the Dual 1019 into the mix, and forget about it. Hendrix, Zeppelin, the Stones, the Beatles, etc... This setup gets it done.

I have mine on 10" risers now because, in my situation, it puts the mids and tweeters at ear-level. And they are very-placement-dependent. As I've said in the past, there is some real magic in that last 1/4" of tolerance. Move one of them, and you lose it. You can hear it when you get them just right. Suddenly, they become VERY-3D-sounding, and then you're talking goosebumps.
 
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Tcom

I am in NJ (near Flemington) too and my newly acquired A25s are growing on me. They were a one owner find ,all original in excellent condition. Am going to change the single cap once my non magnetic screwdriver arrives. Not taking any chances.

Don

I like the A25 a lot. It was very-well-reviewed back in the day. It has the accuracy AND the "life". Plus, it's great with tubes AND solid-state. Talk about a no-brainer.


M&K S-100B Sats...
People let the whole "home theater" era distract them from the fact that these speakers paired with even a modest sub can do things that more pricey speakers wish they could in terms of imaging, detail and even power handling.

Filter them at 80hz and life is good!

S-100b%2520wm.jpg

Wow, what kind of tweeters are THOSE? Some kind of horn-driver? ... Damn... BIG Hoss.
 
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SpeakerLab reputation? I have no idea. But…..
A couple of years ago I was given a mint pair of SpeakerLab 6(s) by an old friend who hadn't used them in years. [W1208R woofer, HM700 mid horn, HT3500 hi horn].

They have been on my main system ever since.
[ProJect Xtension9 w/Dynavecxtor 10X5 - Phonomena II / NAD C542 CD / Sansui TU717, all feeding a Jolida 302B w/ KT77 finals.

I don't own any Metal Music… but listen to Classical, Jazz, SingerSongwriter, Blues, Classic Rock [ Alman Bros., Stones, etc]

I have quit looking for alternative speakers for that system….. listened to many but there just isn't any thing out there that would be worth spending any amount of actual $$$ and expect any improvement in listening pleasure.

I have ADS speakers on my computer [SS] and shop systems and plenty happy with both of them as well.

So…. I really don't know what the SpeakerLab reputation is… But you can't have mine!

Mike
 
SpeakerLab reputation? I have no idea. But…..
A couple of years ago I was given a mint pair of SpeakerLab 6(s) by an old friend who hadn't used them in years. [W1208R woofer, HM700 mid horn, HT3500 hi horn].

They have been on my main system ever since.
[ProJect Xtension9 w/Dynavecxtor 10X5 - Phonomena II / NAD C542 CD / Sansui TU717, all feeding a Jolida 302B w/ KT77 finals.

I don't own any Metal Music… but listen to Classical, Jazz, SingerSongwriter, Blues, Classic Rock [ Alman Bros., Stones, etc]

I have quit looking for alternative speakers for that system….. listened to many but there just isn't any thing out there that would be worth spending any amount of actual $$$ and expect any improvement in listening pleasure.

I have ADS speakers on my computer [SS] and shop systems and plenty happy with both of them as well.

So…. I really don't know what the SpeakerLab reputation is… But you can't have mine!

Mike
The old speakerlab 6s are awesome I recall .The 7s are very close to the 6 but with a second woofer for extra bass ...maybe bass used mostly in rock thus maybe that's where the reputation came from ?. I would have never got rid of my 4s but the 7s were a dream for over 35 years so when the opportunity came I had to take them.
 
I have two pair of HPM700's, just a great all around speaker. Between guitar music like Lynyrd Skynyrd and more in depth stuff like Pink Floyd and Yes, they are a great balance. Powering them with a Marantz 2250B, they also crank on newer metal music like Avenged Sevenfold "Hail to the King".

Also Boston A150's, i was really surprised by how well they sound.

Klipsch KG2's too, as long as you keep the wattage down...
 
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