Do you own (and use) any Vintage speakers

[bgcat57]

I bought a pair of ESS AMT-1Ds about 30 years ago. I've not heard better speakers yet that have convinced me to do anything but update them by replacing the woofers because of age of the rubber suspension of the cones. They are clear and flat even at high volumes. Perfect for a Mahler symphony or a HD-DVD music sound. The only speakers I've hear that are better sounding cost far more than I can afford.

[dndrussl]

I came upon a set of TOA SE380's in the mid 80s. Haven't heard anything that will touch them since. They were originally made for keyboard sound. They are tri-ampable with a SPL of 102db. Use them as my mains with a set of Magnat 8,AF's for surround and Paradigms for centre and back on a 6.1. My sub is an Energy 10" which goes down to 20hz (measured).

[barfle]

In the early 1970s I was an engineering tech at Altec Lansing in Anaheim. They had a warehouse where they stored all sorts of stuff, and one day while I was there, they decided to have an employee sale of the stuff in the warehouse. I scarfed up the only engineering prototypes I know of of the model E-8. They're a 3-way bookshelf with 10" woofers, and they still sound amazing when given a good source.

[DaveLadely]

Originally Posted by BillD

I guess all the speakers I use are sort of vintage. I still use my DCM Time Windows as surrounds in a 5.1 setup. The mains are Carver AL-IIIs. For bass reinforcement in the family room, I'm using a pair of AR3a speakers powered by a Carver cube. The mids and tweeters went a long time ago by being driven with an underpowered amp for many years, but the woofers survived. In my office I have realistic Minimus 7s powered by another M-400 cube. I also have a 5.1 setup of M&K speakers that are scattered in use around the house (from their previous incarnation, including am MX-125 Mk.II sub). My main sub is a Sunfire True Subwoofer Mk.II.

How do you like the Carver Amazing Loudspeaker IIIs? I know Carver built them to use amps of fairly good power. I have Infinity Kappa 9s for front, Kappa 6s for surround, 9.1 system with two Velodyne UDL 18" subwoofers at present. I like the ribbon tweeters of the Kappas. I did change the upper midrange 3" domes for the Dynaudio 3" domes on the front two Kappa 9s. When I go to specialty audio stores to audition speakers, I can't say I have listened to any except the Genesis speakers that I can say compare or exceed the sound of the Kappa 9s, especially the high sounds.
The Kappa 9s are known for demanding power due to their inefficiency (which helps the smoothness of the response). I am using two Sunfire amps, the Signature seven channel and a Signature two channel (for biamping the front speakers). I found that the improvement of sound from biamping is approximately equivalent to a substantial upgrade in speakers. Bob Carver, an old friend, said he likes the design philosophy of Arnie Nudel on the Kappas and assured me that the Sunfire amps could handle the Kappa 9 impedance, which can dip below 2 ohms due to the crossovers (Arnie gives actual listening primacy over worrying about impedance issues), and they have done so for a couple of years without complaint, running cool. The power of the Sunfire amps and biamping results in a richness, depth, and openness of sound that I have yet to hear when actually auditioning speakers in showrooms today.

[Theosysex]

What's up everyone, I'm new to the forum and just wanted to say hey. Hopefully I posted this in the right section!

[rbinck]

Originally Posted by Theosysex

What's up everyone, I'm new to the forum and just wanted to say hey. Hopefully I posted this in the right section!

Good as any. Welcome to the forum.