Sore Subject?? maybe????? Different brands

tophatjohnny

I am keen as heck on the Polk's especially the SDA line, although I own the RT2000is for my living room fronts and the fx300i's as surrounds, I am posting this thread to get opinions on what other brands are great to own as mains. Not trying to stir up trouble by talking other brands, but this is the only forum I trust and may consider some other speakers if I am steered in the right direction. Hope this doesn't make waves here.

decal

I'm very satisfied with both pairs of my Tyler Acoustics speakers.

tophatjohnny

decal wrote: »

I'm very satisfied with both pairs of my Tyler Acoustics speakers.

Should have been more specific... vintage speakers is what I am hot on!!

bluecomet

I have always enjoyed ADS speakers. They are excellent all around speakers. I have some old 810's that are very musical.

mdaudioguy

I've liked the vintage Klipsch models I've had in home - the Heresy and Forte (both series II models). Some don't care for horns, but I found them both to be much more balanced than I thought they'd be. A lot of people say you have to use tube amplification to tame them, but all I used was solid state amps from around the same era as the speakers. Sounded nice to me.

Btw, it's not really stirring up trouble around here. There are many on the board who've had Polks and have moved on - not a problem, IMO. Different strokes for different folks.

Conradicles

Vintage Klipsch

mhardy6647

If you like 1970s/1980s Polk Audio products, you owe it to yourself to seek out some of the British speaker systems of the same era - these were the models for the "tone" and presentation of the Polk "Monitor Series".

Personal faves include: IMF (e.g, the SuperCompact), KEF (any of the "10x" family, e.g., or the Corellis or the Calindas or whatever other "C" named speakers they had in the early to mid 1970s), Spendors (cannot come up with a specific model off the top of my head), Tannoys of that era (their coax drivers were/are very, very good).

The vintage Klipsch speakers will have a very (VERY) different tone and presentation than the vintage Polks.

Other vintage choices that share some resemblance to the Polk sound of the 70s/early 80s include the New England family of sealed-box loudspeakers - e.g., Allison (the Allison One is a superb floorstanding three-way), Acoustic Research (the AR-3a, for example, is a classic), KLH (the KLH Six and the KLH Five are very worthy) and the AVID 102 or 103. I was then and am now a big fan of the ads loudspeakers. Couldn't afford them back then - but am pleased to own a pair of ads L-710 three-ways now. Another New England classic of the era were the EPI/Epicure loudspeakers. They were very popular and made at all price points. Seek out a pair of Epicure 20s or a pair of the huge-mongous :-) EPI 1000s if you can find 'em.

The original DCM Timewindows (from Ann Arbor, MI) are also superb.

FWW - I am a big, big fan of vintage Altec Lansing theatre speakers and studio monitors - but again, these have a very different presentation than the Polks. Superb midrange performance, though (at least relative to my tastes and expectations).

mhardy6647

oh, I forgot the Dahlquist DQ-10... and I guess on the subject, the speaker that "inspired" the DQ-10's cosmetics - the archetypal Quad ESL-57.

mhardy6647

Dahlquist


Quad

[Deleted User]

Hello,
You could also put on your list: Celestion SL600 and SL600si, Yamaha NS 1000 and the Spendor SA1 (already referenced) and Spica TC50 (harder to find). I would also list the Fried speakers, but even harder to locate.
Cheers, Ken

mhardy6647

The scarcity of Frieds (at least up here in New England) is why I didn't mention 'em :-)
It's probably - barely - worth mentioning that the IMF moniker of the IMF loudspeakers in fact represents the initials of Mr. Irving M. "Bud" Fried (of Fried speaker fame)... even though Mr. Fried's connections to IMF, as best I can tell, were tenuous at best.

I have next to no experience with any Celestion loudspeakers.

The NS1000 is good but pricey.

cnh

All great suggestions. Really, no one here much cares if you want to talk about speakers that aren't Polk. Heck, lots of the old timers don't even own Polks anymore! And some do!

There are really too many speakers out there to consider. That's why this is a "lifetime" hobby!

What are you looking for? Big cab fronts that can fill up a room or is something smaller OK?

I'd like to here those Altecs mhardy has there. But some of the best I've heard were some vintage Tannoy floorstanders (never got a chance to see the model but they were pretty big and on two monster tube mono-blocks). Man did those slam. But they were also very "clean"!

cnh

gmjungbluth

First off, i completely second all of mhardy's recommendations - took most of the words out of my mouth!

In addition to vintage Klipsh, I would recommend looking at semi-vintage Klipsch, in particular the Klipsch KG4 - they are horn speakers, but from what I understand aren't the full 'Klipsch Sound' that Fortes and Heresys put out. They are a good size, attractive (in my opinion most attractive in the oak finish), and can put out a lot of bass through their dual 8" drivers and 12" rear-mounted passive radiator - perfect for HT mains. They're also pretty efficient, meaning that you get more clear sound per watt than you might with other systems. They're easy to upgrade (Google Bob Crites for readymade crossover kits and tweeter upgrades) but I find mine very pleasurable right out of the box. And they're cheap - I picked mine up off of CL for $120 in excellent condition.

Dawgfish

I am very fond of DCM Timeframe and Timewindows. The smaller Timeframes (TF-250s, TF-375s) can usually be had for very reasonable prices used (under $100). The medium to larger ones (TF-400s, TF-600s, TF-700s, TF-1000s when they come up) can be had in the $150 to $300 range. All sound great with a very wide soundstage and great imaging. They are not as detailed as SDAs, especially modded ones, but they have a very warm and pleasant sound that is easy to listen to for hours on end.

The Timewindows are a step up from the Timeframes, but they are hard to find and a more expensive (typically $300-$1000 depending on model).

[Deleted User]

I remember having Bud Fried as a guest speaker when we first began selling his speakers, in fact minutes before the demo started his son was soldering new parts into our store speakers. Bud was quite a character to say the least. He was a big Mercedes fan and had just bought the latest model, "It can cycle 100 miles per hour in under 60 seconds". He started an argument with some of our customers who preferred their Caddies over anything else. He made a point of dismissing every other speaker brand we carried and only believed his could make real music. His "coffin" subwoofer still lodges in my brain as one of the best low frequency experiences I've had.
Ah, the good old days!

tophatjohnny

http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/ele/3368616262.html

I like these, just not the $$$??

tophatjohnny

Dawgfish wrote: »

I am very fond of DCM Timeframe and Timewindows. The smaller Timeframes (TF-250s, TF-375s) can usually be had for very reasonable prices used (under $100). The medium to larger ones (TF-400s, TF-600s, TF-700s, TF-1000s when they come up) can be had in the $150 to $300 range. All sound great with a very wide soundstage and great imaging. They are not as detailed as SDAs, especially modded ones, but they have a very warm and pleasant sound that is easy to listen to for hours on end.

The Timewindows are a step up from the Timeframes, but they are hard to find and a more expensive (typically $300-$1000 depending on model).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DCM-TimeFrame-350-TF350-Speakers-/290810432856?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item43b5a70d58 someone's getting a deal!!

Mystery

Besides brands mentioned above, JBL monitors and L series like 4311, 4312, L100, L120 etc...
ADS, BA are also good.
However, if you need a single pair of speakers that are more accurate than anything (unless you spend way too much) and fills even large rooms without any trouble is Yamaha NS-1000.

zippty2001

some of the best speakers for my ears vintage wise are Any Old KEF speakers or ditton 66.

zippty2001

i have a set of the KEF Corellis they are my best all around speaker. was thinking about selling the set have not used them in 2 years but i cant make my self lo.l

mhardy6647

My timewindows were $10 at a charity fleamarket. Ugly as sin but they sound fabulous. As a special guest benefit, they're surprisingly sensitive and work (to my ears) well even with a pp EL84 amplifier (ca. 14 wpc).

They will be cosmetically rehabilitated... someday.

cnh

I suspect what our original poster wants is to Rock himself out of the HOUSE. In that case you could not do much better than a monster set of AR 9s (Acoustic Research, that is) and a truckload of POWER! Those are DUAL 12" woofers on either side of the cabinet there. A cabinet well over a 100 lbs!

This is "probably" what "you" are looking for! At least I'd bet on it?

As for me, I'm enjoying a set of Dynaco A25s and college FM from my HK 430 (a little heavier than a modern HK 3490 and only 25 watts x 2). Very nice, some relaxing JAZZ!

cnh

Schurkey

Had a near-religious experience in an audio retailer in Minneapolis once.

Magnepan 3.3R. The "sweet spot" was perfect, but only one head wide. (Nearfield listening) My wife, sitting beside me, didn't "get" it. Neither did I when we changed places!

I'm under the impression that Maggies don't age well. They seem to require return to the factory for replacement "drivers"; and, like Polk, I have heard (but NOT confirmed) that the crossovers are full of underperforming parts.

I've wanted a pair of 3.x or 20.xs ever since.

The guy I bought my monobloc amps from demoed them on 20.1s; but I was extremely time-limited and couldn't take advantage of his hospitality like I wanted to.

mhardy6647

FWIW, one of the aforementioned butt-ugly, original series DCM timewindows at my house. They originally had foam "sock" grilles and were very handsome in a 1970s way.

bigaltx24

+1 on the vintage DCMs, I have a set of TF350s and a set of TW1s. Both really great speakers. I also am a big fan of anything by Henry Kloss, KLH, Advent, AR etc.

Mystery

Also add Epicure (EPI) speakers.
Even small 100v sounds very nice.

http://www.humanspeakers.com/

Dawgfish

Wow! A set of Timewindows for $10. That is a steal! Those are definitely worth a full restoration. Did you see the thread on here were this guy did a total from scratch build of a set of Timewindows? They came out beautiful and the guy who made them said they sound even better than the originals because of the better crossovers, drivers, materials, etc. he used. If I only had the time and talent!