Boston Acoustics A40 series II
I finally got my birthday present in yesterday, a pair of BA A40 series II. Small 2-way with a .75 inch soft dome and a 6.5 mid acoustic suspension design. With the exception of 2 corners that were banged up, these are in great shape. As a little background the original A40 (81-85 approx.) is the speaker that put the fledgeling Boston Acoustics (founded by a pair of Henry Kloss disciples, so no great suprise that they sound and look similar to baby Advents) on the map. The series II was produced from the mid to late 80's and sold for about 150 a pair, a steal even then.
My big complaint with the A series (I have owned a pair of A100's and A40' back in the day) has always been the build quality. The surrounds never lasted long, the cabinets were average and they use spring clips. Again, we are talking about a very inexpensive speaker though so that is to be expected.
Anyway, I hooked them up to my 2ch rig (Adcom passive pre, Carver m1.5t amp, AMC cd8b cd player) . Set them on a pair of 18 inch stands (borrowed from the RT7's) about 10 feet from the listening position, roughly 6 feet apart and toe in slightly.
I ran through my list of demo tunes, Chris Rea, Dave Matthews, various telarc recordings, Elvis etc etc.....
The sound is exactly what I've always remembered about the A series....Silky smooth. Bass, obviously these aren't thumpers but they are very tight, well defined. The stereo image is great. Soundstage is very three dimensional. If you couldn't see these speakers, you would be suprised at how small they really are. They probably aren't the LAST word in detail but they are so smooth from top to bottom. In comparison to the RT7's, which can get a little harsh at high volumes, the Boston is very smooth and warm.
A very impressive speaker but not completely flawless. Listening to Chris Rea and Dave Matthews (my first two tracks) the voices seemed didn't seem quite right. Whereas with the Polks, vocals are very open and airy, with the A40's, they were more, for lack of a better term, laid back and chesty. Not unpleasant but not what I am used to listening to. Just theory and I will try these on different gear, but I think it may be more pronounced due to the laid back nature of the Adcom preamp. Pure speculation on my part though. Also, as I said before, they aren't the last word in detail but that's a tradeoff you make for the seamless, silky sound of these.
In conclusion, while these wouldn't make me ditch my RT7's, these are a very good, very fun speaker to listen to. A great speaker to listen to some Miles Davis (Kind of Blue is tailor made for this speaker) and unwind to. All in all, if you can find a pair in decent shape (that's the hard part) I would say, snag 'em.
BDT
My big complaint with the A series (I have owned a pair of A100's and A40' back in the day) has always been the build quality. The surrounds never lasted long, the cabinets were average and they use spring clips. Again, we are talking about a very inexpensive speaker though so that is to be expected.
Anyway, I hooked them up to my 2ch rig (Adcom passive pre, Carver m1.5t amp, AMC cd8b cd player) . Set them on a pair of 18 inch stands (borrowed from the RT7's) about 10 feet from the listening position, roughly 6 feet apart and toe in slightly.
I ran through my list of demo tunes, Chris Rea, Dave Matthews, various telarc recordings, Elvis etc etc.....
The sound is exactly what I've always remembered about the A series....Silky smooth. Bass, obviously these aren't thumpers but they are very tight, well defined. The stereo image is great. Soundstage is very three dimensional. If you couldn't see these speakers, you would be suprised at how small they really are. They probably aren't the LAST word in detail but they are so smooth from top to bottom. In comparison to the RT7's, which can get a little harsh at high volumes, the Boston is very smooth and warm.
A very impressive speaker but not completely flawless. Listening to Chris Rea and Dave Matthews (my first two tracks) the voices seemed didn't seem quite right. Whereas with the Polks, vocals are very open and airy, with the A40's, they were more, for lack of a better term, laid back and chesty. Not unpleasant but not what I am used to listening to. Just theory and I will try these on different gear, but I think it may be more pronounced due to the laid back nature of the Adcom preamp. Pure speculation on my part though. Also, as I said before, they aren't the last word in detail but that's a tradeoff you make for the seamless, silky sound of these.
In conclusion, while these wouldn't make me ditch my RT7's, these are a very good, very fun speaker to listen to. A great speaker to listen to some Miles Davis (Kind of Blue is tailor made for this speaker) and unwind to. All in all, if you can find a pair in decent shape (that's the hard part) I would say, snag 'em.
BDT
I plan for the future. - F1Nut
Post edited by TroyD on
Comments
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Nice review. The A40 was the baby of a great line of speakers from Boston. I hope to bag some A200's, or the rare A300 in the not so-distant future. Very true statement on the surrounds, more than half, heck maybe as high as 70% of the A series Bostons I have come across, the surrounds were cracked or flat out gone.
As far as the voices, do you have an idea where the A series was crossed over? I think it was fairly high, in the 3000-4000 range....
How did they handle the power from the Carver? I take it just fine. Where are these headed? Office rig? Magic Closet?
Cheers,
RussCheck your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service. -
I haven't seen the specs but, an educated guess is that since the two guys that designed these were also in on the Advents, I'd guess that they were crossed over fairly high as were the Advents.
Good thing is that Boston does have all the replacement parts in stock for the A series but you are right, the surrounds are always in rough shape that I've seen.
No issues with the carver, obviously, 350wpc was overkill, but I didn't feel like unhooking and bringing in the smaller carver.
Dunno what I'm going to do with them yet. I'm thinking that, mated with the fish integrated, it would make a fine office rig but that is still up in the air. Hell I spend 8 hrs a day here so it's not like they will be unused, it would seem a shame to put such a classic speaker in the magic closet.
BDTI plan for the future. - F1Nut -
Just further 'nfo, not that it makes a difference to anyone but me...
Tonight, I hooked the A40's to the HT rig setup, Denon 1801 receiver (using the preouts) hooked up to a Carver m0.5t (140 wpc) and a Tosh DVD player. The vocals were still chesty and laid back but not nearly as much as with the other rig. I'm not judging it as a good or bad thing, just different.
Just thought I'd keep my peeps informed........
BDTI plan for the future. - F1Nut -
We care Troy, we care....
Cheers,
RussCheck your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service. -
Glad you're having fun, man! I'm starting to feel the urge to have a RT12/RT55/RT800 shootout in the living room. I mean, I gotta find something to do with all my free time.
Aaron -
I gotta find something to do with all my free time.
Hmmmmm.....let's see.....I know!.....How about a job.....Put that Lehigh University higher education to some good use
"Just because youre offended doesnt mean youre right." - Ricky Gervais
"For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible." - Stuart Chase
"Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago." - Bernard Berenson -
My money is on the 55's(are yours "i"'s?). For a 2 channel environment they best the others mentioned. Do it and tell it.
-
You know, I thought about then but then decided against it.Hmmmmm.....let's see.....I know!.....How about a job.....Put that Lehigh University higher education to some good use Just kidding. I actually just finished up a 2-week contract job with a local company. It went quite well, and I'm hoping it will lead into more work or a full time position. I also just landed an interview on Monday that sounds promising. I've also started my own company and just scored my first client. So, things are looking pretty good.
Aaron -
Nope, my speakers aren't the newer "i" series. I actually think it's going to come down to the RT12's and the RT55's. At that point I suspect I'll prefer the tighter and more accurate bass of the RT55's but like the overall sweet/smooth sound and ungodly imaging/soundstage of the RT12's. So who knows....My money is on the 55's(are yours "i"'s?). For a 2 channel environment they best the others mentioned. Do it and tell it.
Aaron -
Good Job Aaron. I always wanted to start my own company but never had the nads for it.... Good luck on that!
What did you study if you don't mind??
Henry***WAREMTAE*** -
Thanks, man! It's fun, but I really hate all of the legal crap you have to go through. At Lehigh I received a B.S. in Computer Engineering with a minor in Economics.Good Job Aaron. I always wanted to start my own company but never had the nads for it.... Good luck on that!
What did you study if you don't mind??
Aaron -
If your interested send me your resume @ hnavaroli@alamosapcs.com
I have a Sun Enterprise 450 connected to two Lucent 5E swithers for system performance and configuration management. It is a killer machine and needs some TLC. Cost me about 125K!
I'd like to get you on file. No promises though because we are going through a budget crunch right now. Wireless has been bludgened on Wall Street and were doing everything possible to stay ahead of the curve. No ENRON here!***WAREMTAE***
