Best vintage speakers you ever heard?

[Dave N.]

What is the very best sounding vintage speakers you have ever heard. Personally heard . Let's say any brand 1989 or earlier. For me it is my Frazier Model 7.

 

[DeadTrader]

In the mid 70's I heard a pair of Klipsch La Scala. This event started me down the rabbit hole that I'm still stuck in.

 

[JoeESP9]

That's easy to answer. There are actually two. They are the Infinity IRS-V and and Apogee Grands.
There are a number in thew next tier down. The Ohm F, Infinity IRS Beta, Magnepan MG-20 and B&W 801 are the ones that first come to mind.

Yes, I've heard all of them

 

[mythless]

There are so many I could list. So, I will only list what I think are less common ones. Axiom AX5, Burhoe Blues, Epicure 3.0, EPI 500 and Energy 22.

 

[sanford12]

I'll go with what I've owned. Dahlquist DQ-12's

 

[Dave N.]

In the mid 70's I heard a pair of Klipsch La Scala. This event started me down the rabbit hole that I'm still stuck in.

That's funny. That is a big rabbit hole man. I will look those babies up. I'm not looking to really get more speakers. Just a fun thread to hear everyone's best they've heard.

 

[Dave N.]

That's easy to answer. There are actually two. They are the Infinity IRS-V and and Apogee Grands.
There are a number in thew next tier down. The Ohm F, Infinity IRS Beta, Magnepan MG-20 and B&W 801 are the ones that first come to mind.

Yes, I've heard all of them

Decisive. I like it. Seems I'm going to have quite a few speakers to look up. Thanks for answering.

 

[Dave N.]

There are so many I could list. So, I will only list what I think are less common ones. Axiom AX5, Burhoe Blues, Epicure 3.0, EPI 500 and Energy 22.

Cool. Thank you for your input. When I have time I'll start looking all these up. Fun.

 

[fishondwan]

Bi-amped Electro-Voice Sentry III’s

 

[Chris Brown]

I fully understand that there are "better" speakers out there but there is just something special about the JBL L150s that has always kept them as my favorites. The align almost perfectly with my listening preferences. The texture of the bass (likely due to the passive radiator), that also reaches amazingly low for only having a 12" woofer. The tweeter that is very pleasant to listen to, while still being revealing and not veiled at all. When I listen to my L150s, I'm never disappointed. I have heard many "better" speakers that I did not like nearly as much.

 

[Dswankey]

What is the very best sounding vintage speakers you have ever heard. Personally heard . Let's say any brand 1989 or earlier. For me it is my Frazier Model 7.

What other ones did you or still have that the Fraziers won out and why?

 

[E-Stat]

Dayton-Wright XG-8. Stacked pair like Nelson Pass once used to demo his Threshold amplifiers.

I was seduced by their transparency and coherency as a teen.

 

[aje123]

HPM-100
RBH-1261
Rectilinear III Highboys
Sansui SP-300
In that order. Thanks

 

[trinhsman]

Tympani Magneplanar 1C’s with Audio Research gear. 1976.
I was so impressed I bought the system and financed for 3 years.
Dumb 24 year old!

 

[fjdds]

Only what I know, limited as it is. (Acquired and refurbished, not the stuff I built myself.)

Dahlquist DQ-10
Bozak Symphony

 

[tcdriver]

QUAD ESL (1957).

 

[Dave N.]

Bi-amped Electro-Voice Sentry III’s
View attachment 2576475

Never heard of them. But they look very cool.

 

[Dave N.]

I fully understand that there are "better" speakers out there but there is just something special about the JBL L150s that has always kept them as my favorites. The align almost perfectly with my listening preferences. The texture of the bass (likely due to the passive radiator), that also reaches amazingly low for only having a 12" woofer. The tweeter that is very pleasant to listen to, while still being revealing and not veiled at all. When I listen to my L150s, I'm never disappointed. I have heard many "better" speakers that I did not like nearly as much.

I get that totally. What sounds good to your ears , sounds good to you. Enjoy.

 

[Dave N.]

What other ones did you or still have that the Fraziers won out and why?

Quite a few. Most weren't that great though. I've been building up over the last 2 years now that I'm single. I've always loved music. But have gotten into this vintage gear a lot lately. So I currently have 9 sets of speakers. 5 receivers. 2 turntables. Too much. I buy things if they are underpriced and I want to hear them. Listen to them and fix them up if I can . Then sell them. So really my Mach 2's and Mach 3's have been my mains for a while. Listening on a 100 watt JVC quad receiver. 4 speakers playing at a time. But now that I have the Frazier it is a different story. It was good before. Now it is basically rock n roll nirvana. Ha ha. I'm using the Fraziers and the Realustic Mach 3's hooked to the JVC. I have a newly acquired set of Pioneer HPM 900's. They came with realistic woofers. I am about to put some Dayton or Eminence. Woofers in them. But I'm enjoying the combo I have so much I dont have a whole lot of desire to fix the HPM speakers. Soon. I also just found some wierd Kanazawa soeakers and bought them. But they don't do anything for me. Could be because they are from the 60's and almost surely need caps.

 

[Dave N.]

Dayton-Wright XG-8. Stacked pair like Nelson Pass once used to demo his Threshold amplifiers.

I was seduced by their transparency and coherency as a teen.

View attachment 2576659

Huge. Never heard of them. I bet those are damn rare.