Last and BEST speakers you would buy...

naturallight

Ok..i'm 60+ and in 2 years i should have enough money to buy my last and best speakers. Now i have my original 1C SDA's, plus a set of RTi12's. Now the 12's are nice..but will be put up for HT stuff.

The 1C's are original..nothing done to them an had them (as in total rehab) since new. Now i have 2 problems with these speakers..1 mw6511 dose not like to be played to loud, it depends on the music..but will POP.

In some cases the tweeters will shut down, which i have changed the pico stuff on both..but does not work all the time.



Now my room is 17X30..I play this stuff loud. If i play stuff like Lizt. Les Preludes at volume..the tweeters will shut down on one set of speakers.



Now i would really like a set of SRS 1.2 TL's...BUT..if i run into the same problems with these..then NOT what i want. I just don't know. At this point i would tend to a set of Legacy focus stuff..but as i've never heard them...not sure. So i'm not sure what speaker is going to be the best that i want...

Any of your thoughts would be nice.. They pretty much have to be BIG...and put out Big bass..which most "tower" speakers can't do.



Altho i like and have heard big Martin logans...they are all at a loss with out a 1 K sub..so i think Maggeis are the same. I just don't want a sub, and the speakers should do what is needed. So they have to be pretty pretty big to get what i want.


This may be a waste of time as large martins or maggies with a sub..may just blow your face off...

But i tend to dislike this setup for 2 channel strait music..so not sure what to say about it.

Toolfan66

ACAPELLA

If I had the money that is!!! I love them!!!

gudnoyez

I bought all mine last year 2 pair of Crs+'s and a pair of 2b's. I plan on the TL upgrade on all of them. I want one pair of Crs's to be done like Neil's, so I can proudly display them on the original stands I bought from him. I think The cost of TLing all of them will be a hefty investment. However if I could sneak in a pair of LSIM's I would make that my final pair.

locnguyen26

I would go w/ CRS

txcoastal1

Really need to know a budget, and used market is where I'd look.

If you are looking for good bass extension Dynaudio Focus 260 or 220's

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-dynaudio-focus-220-rosewood-floor-standing-speakers-2013-04-26-speakers-98683

boston1450

Now thats a set of speakers. Lol. Nice

Moose68Bash

I just finished moding my SRS1.2s with crossovers a la VR3 Mods, and I drive them with monoblocks at 750 watts rms into 8 ohms. I crank them to levels that nobody, and I mean nobody, could stand for any period of time. I've never heard a pop, and the sound remains crystal clear.

I'd shoot for SRS1.2tls fully mod'd as described on this Forum, and let Trey do the crossovers. I don't think you will get the beauty of the SDA effect no matter how much you pay for any other speakers.

I would add that I have mod'd my 1Cs, I drove them with 300 watts rms per channel into 8 ohms, and no matter how loud I've cranked them, I don't get any popping or cracking. Try did the crossovers on them, too.

drumminman

naturallight wrote: »

The 1C's are original..nothing done to them an had them (as in total rehab) since new. Now i have 2 problems with these speakers..1 mw6511 dose not like to be played to loud, it depends on the music..but will POP.

In some cases the tweeters will shut down, which i have changed the pico stuff on both..but does not work all the time.

Now my room is 17X30..I play this stuff loud. If i play stuff like Lizt. Les Preludes at volume..the tweeters will shut down on one set of speakers.

Any of your thoughts would be nice.. They pretty much have to be BIG...and put out Big bass..which most "tower" speakers can't do.

Moose68Bash wrote: »

I would add that I have mod'd my 1Cs, I drove them with 300 watts rms per channel into 8 ohms, and no matter how loud I've cranked them, I don't get any popping or cracking. Try did the crossovers on them, too.

Naturallight, you should have your crossovers reworked (new caps and resistors and new polyswitch). If you're using high quality amplification replace the polyswitch with a 1/2 watt Mills 12 ohm resistor. Also, replace the defective MW. No way should those speaks not be able to play loud and clear.

If you're not comfortable rebuilding the crossovers, there are folks here on the board that, by reputation, do excellent work at reasonable prices.

Mystery

I haven't heard my BEST speakers yet to even think of buying them.
And, when I hear them, there is a possibility that I have to reverse mortgage my house. :eek:

gudnoyez

Yeah I plan on asking Trey to do my crossovers, and getting rings and tweeter brackets from Larry, there have been a few people who have motivated me to do so that's why I want to go all out and make my SDA's my final ones. Those of you that have motivated me thanks you know who you are. I'am saving some coin so I can get my dream started.

naturallight

Unfortunately..I'm trying to reproduce my fathers set up from the 1970's. Which to be blunt..i'm not sure is doable, with out massive money, for a 2 channel rig,

The speakers were custom made Bozak's, which each speaker cab had 2 12', 4 tweeters and i think a 5" mid. The cabs were massive, at least 3+ feet wide if not more..3 feet tall..and 3 feet deep, just stupid large. He ran them with Dynaco tube mono block amps.



They were put in a 30x30 room..at least i guess it was close to that. Now he played mostly classic stuff..but my god...you put on the 1812 the bass on that stuff would give you a heart attack, forget the cannons...LOL I played live Cream on that an sat 30 feet back and you would think you were in the Fillmore.



The 1C's are nice..but not even close..I'm thinking the SRS 1.2TL's are closer to that, but if they have the same tweeter problem as the 1C's...then not so great. If they shut off..i don't want to deal with that.

drumminman

naturallight wrote: »

The 1C's are nice..but not even close..I'm thinking the SRS 1.2TL's are closer to that, but if they have the same tweeter problem as the 1C's...then not so great. If they shut off..i don't want to deal with that.

Your 1C's shouldn't be doing that. You may have a couple of issues causing this (besides the crossovers/mw issues). What are you driving them with?

PolkieMan

That would be a MILLS MRA-12 Resistors .22-.5 max ohms.
Update you 1C's X-overs and Tweeters replace the Mw 6511 and then
if that's still not enough go with some 1.2tls and do the full mod on them.
I plan on keeping my 2.3tls, till, well, the lights go out.

drumminman wrote: »

Naturallight, you should have your crossovers reworked (new caps and resistors and new polyswitch). If you're using high quality amplification replace the polyswitch with a 1/2 watt Mills 12 ohm resistor. Also, replace the defective MW. No way should those speaks not be able to play loud and clear.

If you're not comfortable rebuilding the crossovers, there are folks here on the board that, by reputation, do excellent work at reasonable prices.

polkfarmboy

Mordaunt short performance 6 may be my next

leroyjr1

Lasareath wrote: »

I own two pairs of 1.2TL's, My next Pair of SDA's will be 2.3TL's

Why not try something different?

bobsauto49

Ive got these in my radar!
http://www.studiospalicek.cz/sites/elektrospalicek.cz/files/imagecache/product_full/products/kef_reference_207-2_2.jpg

Face

bobsauto49 wrote: »

Ive got these in my radar!
http://www.studiospalicek.cz/sites/elektrospalicek.cz/files/imagecache/product_full/products/kef_reference_207-2_2.jpg

http://techtalk.parts-express.com/showthread.php?237357-Kef-s-Flagship-207-2-Woofer-Klippeled!

ZLTFUL

TAD Reference 1s

Face

ZLTFUL wrote: »

TAD Reference 1s

Those sound wonderful!

MikeC78

My Salk Sound (W16 SEAS) SuperCharged SongTowers will be my last...

Toolfan66

ZLTFUL.

Those are amazing speakers!! you would disappear from this forum with those..

naturallight

I know it is the cross-over shutting down the tweeters. My left speaker used to do that. Back in the day when Polk made, and you could buy the cross-over for the 1C's. Thats what i did and just replaced the cross-over...the tweeters have never shut down on that speaker since. The right speaker is all original since 1987. So yeah, both cross-overs have to be rebuilt, all new tweeters, and on and on..LOL It's not like this happens alot, it's just annoying when it does happen and is more source dependent then anything else. So to redo the 1C's..your looking at close to 1K Now to tell the wife i need to spend ANY money on speakers at this point, when the house needs all kinds of work, plus the fact i have 3 sets of speakers sitting down in the basement along with all kinds of other crap....

Thats a complete loosing battle and you don't even bother to go there...LOL



Thats why i came up with 2 years...the house has to be done by then, she has to be pretty much done spending every penny on this stuff (altho that may be wish full thinking) I figure at that point i can save up like 3K. I do like my 1C's, heck i've had them since new in 87, but i'm not sure it's worth the 1K to upgrade them. I'm not getting any younger for sure, so i think it's time to go big..or go home sorta speak. If i can find a set of 1.2 TLs. for say $1500, i also have to have them shipped..there not going to be close, as this is a stereo dead zone where i'm living, so 500 bucks for shipping. Then i still have 1K for the upgrades. I'm not discounting other speakers, but there are not alot that can compete with the 1.2's (forgetting the SDA "effect") the only one that jumps out in my head is the Legacy Focus, which MAYBE you could get used in the 3K price range. I'm sure there are some others, but at the moment, can't think of any.

mhardy6647

I am not dissatisfied with where I am now; I suspect these are my forever "real" loudspeakers for serious listening. Altec 604E Duplexes in the cabinets designed by "Billfort" - http://www.wardsweb.org/Billfort/ and equipped with MasteringLabs crossovers.




... but, if I had the $ and the opportunity presented itself, I would love to have a pair of Altec VOT A5 topped with 1505 horns, 288 drivers, and the Hiraga crossovers... just like Gary Kaufman's! :-)

Oh, and a pair of Altec "subwoofers" made from a split A210 cabinet, too! :-)




see post 7 at http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=215835
http://www.the-planet.org/A210.html (the King Solomon gambit applied to an Altec A210)
http://www.the-planet.org/ (Gary's site)

Note: any resemblance between Gary's hifi room and mine was purely intentional - on my part! :-)

Schurkey

naturallight wrote: »

I know it is the cross-over shutting down the tweeters. My left speaker used to do that. Back in the day when Polk made, and you could buy the cross-over for the 1C's. Thats what i did and just replaced the cross-over...the tweeters have never shut down on that speaker since. The right speaker is all original since 1987. So yeah, both cross-overs have to be rebuilt, all new tweeters, and on and on..LOL It's not like this happens alot, it's just annoying when it does happen and is more source dependent then anything else.

Agreed about the "annoying" part, especially if the speaker sounds decent at lower volume.

naturallight wrote: »

So to redo the 1C's..your looking at close to 1K

I don't know where you get the 1K figure. Seems WAY high.

naturallight wrote: »

I do like my 1C's, heck i've had them since new in 87, but i'm not sure it's worth the 1K to upgrade them.

I bought my 1Bs in '86 or '87. Rebuilt the crossovers and added a pair of RD0-198 tweeters. Had to replace a MW6509 more recently due to being clumsy and careless, dropped it on the floor and broke the pole-piece free from the magnet. All told, I don't even have $500 in the upgrades/repairs, and they sound GLORIOUS.

naturallight wrote: »

I'm not getting any younger for sure, so i think it's time to go big..or go home sorta speak. If i can find a set of 1.2 TLs. for say $1500, i also have to have them shipped..there not going to be close, as this is a stereo dead zone where i'm living, so 500 bucks for shipping. Then i still have 1K for the upgrades. I'm not discounting other speakers, but there are not alot that can compete with the 1.2's (forgetting the SDA "effect") the only one that jumps out in my head is the Legacy Focus, which MAYBE you could get used in the 3K price range. I'm sure there are some others, but at the moment, can't think of any.

I wouldn't try to talk you out of 1.2s or the Legacy products. It seems to me that since you already like the 1Cs, and they can be fixed for considerably less than you're stating, you should start there. No multi-hundred dollars blown on shipping which adds nothing to the sound quality. "Shipping" is penny-ante (or even free) for a few electronic components. You get better-than-new 1Cs which are very likely to be all you need to fill your room with music.


And you don't have to put another pair of speakers in the basement.

VR3

I think he is taking the 1K price by factoring all upgrades -

Gimpod boards, inductors, caps, resistors, terminal plates, new SDA cable, new binding post, tweeters, NL2/4 conversion, the full monty

ZLTFUL

My buddy's shop has a pair of the TAD Reference 1s in stock and they are asking $79k.
I have listened to em several times but would most likely never have the cash for them.
The JBL Everest IIs are a close second for me but a different sound...The JBLs would be my hard rock speakers with the TADs doing everything else in a channel system.

naturallight

Well with the 1C's your dealing with 4 tweeters so thats 200 bucks, for VR3 to mod both cross overs (depending on what he's doing to them) your pretty close to 500, then Larrys rings and such, so 1K may be a little over the top, but i's pretty close. Not that the 1C's do not fill the room..they do. Even in there 26 year old state...LOL



I think it comes down to the point of..I've had these for 26 years. I think it's time to move on to the big boys. The 1.2's are just massive speakers, they have 8 drivers, 4 tweeters and a 15" pr Sitting in a massive cab that weighs about 180 lb's. IF you have the room size for them and the power to push them. They pretty sit there screaming at you to turn them up and let me melt your face off...LMAO



OK..thats a little over the top there..LOL But you get the idea. There are just very few speakers that can compete with that.

Mystery

ZLTFUL wrote: »

My buddy's shop has a pair of the TAD Reference 1s in stock and they are asking $79k.
I have listened to em several times but would most likely never have the cash for them.
The JBL Everest IIs are a close second for me but a different sound...The JBLs would be my hard rock speakers with the TADs doing everything else in a channel system.

Dang...
Even if I had cash, I don't think I can ever convince myself spending that much on speakers unless I become crazyphile. :eek:

WLDock

ZLTFUL wrote: »

My buddy's shop has a pair of the TAD Reference 1s in stock and they are asking $79k.
I have listened to em several times but would most likely never have the cash for them.
The JBL Everest IIs are a close second for me but a different sound...The JBLs would be my hard rock speakers with the TADs doing everything else in a channel system.

The Everest would be on the list when I hit the lotto.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JBL-Everest-DD67000-Rosewood-finish-2-weeks-old-flawless-like-brand-new-/121098520365?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item1c3208c72d

GospelTruth

If you are looking for something other than SDAs, I thought the Gallo 3.1 Reference speakers were pretty amazing. Had a friend who had them and they definitely had an amazing sound stage. I don't know what the opinion of them around here is though, but if you want something different I think you should give them a listen.

Poolgod69

The TAD Reference 1s are huge... I would hope they sound amazing given the price.