Vintage Speakers for Vintage Sansui

 

New member
Username: Thesage

Post Number: 1
Registered: Nov-13
Hello everyone, I am new to the forum. I just acquired a Sansui AU-717 Integrated, I would like to match it with some vintage speakers as well, any recommendations are welcome. Budget $400.00 room 20 x 14.
Thank you
 

New member
Username: Thesage

Post Number: 2
Registered: Nov-13
Looking for floor standers
Have a Cambridge Audio CDP and a Vintage Pioneer Turntable.
Like Classic Rock and Classical Music
Thanks
 

Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 17813
Registered: May-04
.

Vintage speakers are a somewhat dicey investment. Recommending vintage speakers even more so. "Vintage" alone literally opens up the market to thousands of possibilities. None of which are guaranteed to satisfy you or do so for long. Parts wear out and eventually repair parts are no longer available. Replacing a damaged vintage driver means replacing the driver in both channels and soon you no longer have your vintage sound since the drivers are no longer vintage. Add all of this to the fact it is difficult to provide advice on new speakers when so little is known about the situation and the owner's tastes and you have a virtually impossible task.


There are also vastly different opinions of vintage audio gear. In its day the Sansui was the "better" component among a group of mediocre - at best - mass market, Japanese sourced electronics. As such it still had to compete on the watts pre dollar and buttons and knobs per dollar playing field which dominated the 1970's mass market. Even at this early date the high end was moving in an opposite direction with few frills and low watts per dollar being common. I won't argue the merits of the Sansui integrated since I don't know what your audio priorities are or how you listen. IMO though this also makes speaker recommendations more difficult.

Overall, I would avoid unusual speakers such as electrostatics or "difficult" speakers with multiple drivers and/or complex crossovers. The concept of current delivery into a loudspeaker's load was not a consideration for 1970's mass market companies, with the one notable exception of Harman Kardon which made current delivery a hallmark of their designs. However, since the speakers were never a consideration in the design of a mass market amplifier in the 1970's, many of the vintage designs you are likely to find will be multi-way systems. There's no room in this post to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of speaker design but I would suggest you limit your search to the more well thought of two way systems of the day. Certainly, for classical music reproduction, simpler is generally better IMO. Though even that recommendation raises questions since the '60's through early 90's were days of broad innovation in speaker design.

In general, speakers of the day were divided into camps. The East Coast sound came from speakers such as Advent, AR and Boston Acoustics later on in the time period. The companies were all located in or around Cambridge, Mass. and shared owners and designers as the market grew. Acoustic suspension designs in general, this type of speaker offered excellent performance on classical music and was an honest broker on more popular fare. Unfortunately, most of these speakers were built with parts which have deteriorated over time and you're very unlikely to find an original sample that doesn't soon need some repairs.

West Coast sound came primarily from JBL, Altec and most of the designers turning out ported enclosure designs. "West Coast sound" represented rock and roll sound. With little interest in flat frequency response these speakers emphasized high volume potential and, at their best, broad dynamic range. A JBL L100 was the quintessential West Coast speaker in 1975 and came more or less from JBL's own studio monitor systems.

You've not provided a budget that will accommodate such speakers however. $400 in today's money isn't likely to buy a very good floor standing speaker from the 1970's forward. The best selling Advents and JBL's of the time were still considered to be "bookshelf" speakers which could, by way of a short stand, be placed close to the floor. Where you place a speaker in relation to reflective surfaces strongly influences the sound you will hear in the room. Placing a speaker intended to be off the floor down towards the largest reflective surface of the room will result in a sound quality which is highly skewed in response. High frequencies are very directional, most especially in the vintage drivers which lack broad dispersion.

Basically, you're asking for a recommendation which will provide only the look of vintage audio and not the sound of high quality audio. You can probably buy some old Sansui or Cerwin Vega speakers and stick them on the floor. Advents and JBL's existed on the floor despite their designers suggesting otherwise. The British speakers of the time were highly thought of in most cases though high quality examples are rare in today's market. Rogers, Spendor, KLH and Celestion were the best of the British lines in their time.

If there were only one suggestion I could make, it would be to avoid and speaker which falls beneath an 8 Ohm system load.

There really is no good answer to a question which is too broad and, IMO, rather poorly thought out. Buying an unauditioned pig in a poke isn't what I would suggest for any speaker. Limiting yourself to samples which are poor examples of what the design originally represented would be foolish IMO. Locating the speaker by way of its appearance - a "floorstanding speaker" - with no regard for its performance is throwing money away as far as I can see.

I would say do your research and find what you feel is a "good deal". There really is no way to answer your question and those who try are, IMO, blowing smoke up your skirt when they really don't know anything about what they are suggesting.




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New member
Username: Thesage

Post Number: 3
Registered: Nov-13
You seem to be a very complicated person, I ask a simple question that just needed a simple answer, there was no need for such elaborated text nor I was expecting someone to reply and try to talk me down. You just wasted your time and mine with this rather boring post. If this is your way of providing "assistance" then all I can do is ignore it and move on.
Please do not add any more postings to this thread.
 

Gold Member
Username: Petergalbraith

Canada

Post Number: 2255
Registered: Feb-04
How about some vintage Klipsch Heresy, or Forte if you like a little more bass in your music. They are pretty much indestructable so you can generally buy a 20-year old pair without issues.
 

New member
Username: Thesage

Post Number: 4
Registered: Nov-13
I looked them up, they run about $800.00 on E-bay ! double my budget but certainly something to consider, I can always try to swing more funds. They look nice

Thank you Peter
 

Gold Member
Username: Petergalbraith

Canada

Post Number: 2256
Registered: Feb-04
They sell for $400 and under in the US, so if you are close to the border that's a possibility. Otherwise hold out. I paid $600 for a pristine pair maybe 4 years ago and I thought that was stretching it.

Check out the Garage Sale section of the Klipsch forums. They turn up from time to time there.
 

Gold Member
Username: Magfan

USA

Post Number: 3088
Registered: Oct-07
The Sansui was an 'object of lust' for me when they were new. Never did own one.

However, speakers popular at that time would include the ORIGINAL 'Large' Advent.
Finding a pristine pair will be a hassle. The advertising claimed some huge %age of the 'best' available for some small %age of money, relative to the 'best'.
It is a 2-way speaker of minimal complexity and at the time only sold for about 125$��each.

My 2nd choice�not knowing anything about your room would be a NEW pair of Magnapan MMG which will set you back 600$ and have a Very Liberal return policy.
Why Maggies? Well, not only do they represent a great value, they are also pretty much the same as they've been since introduction in the 70s...
 

Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 17815
Registered: May-04
.

Leo, you seem to be a very complicated person.


 

New member
Username: Thesage

Post Number: 5
Registered: Nov-13
Those Magnepan look nice as well, closer to the range of he budget.
Thank you too Leo
 

New member
Username: Thesage

Post Number: 6
Registered: Nov-13
Jan Vigne,
I requested before for you to refrain from posting on this thread. Please learn to be respectful.

Judging by your writing behavior one would suggest that you have had a hard time going through puberty.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 17816
Registered: May-04
.

Why does it always go this way?

Fella, you ain't no sage, you ain't being respectful and you ain't got the money or the knowledge to buy vintage floorstanding speakers.






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Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 17817
Registered: May-04
.

Oh! And don't forget this is a public forum. You do not get to decide - especially after 3 posts - who can post here and who cannot. My newly revised advice, get some manners before you start looking for speakers.




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New member
Username: Thesage

Post Number: 7
Registered: Nov-13
ha ha ha ha
You are so easy to read ! you have issues mate...I have already spent too much time on this non sense much more than you are worth...I am out of here...

Thanks everyone else
 

Gold Member
Username: Magfan

USA

Post Number: 3089
Registered: Oct-07
Sage, the Vignester is perfectly capable of 'self defense' but has little patients for some approaches.

Here�.the colonies�.we have a saying about catching more flies with honey than with vinegar��.

Now, that being said, maybe I can explain something that Jan has been over dozens of times.
SALES experience. This person has LOADS of sales experience which until pissed off you COULD have taken adavantage of.
Large Knowledge base. Since sales were the game, large amounts of gear were listened to over the years and compared.
Technical background. While Jan and I have disagreed over the years, no question that responses contain more than a little technical expertise.

Me? I'd tend to skip vintage speakers. They ARE a hassle and easily out performed by many new designs. Computers help with crossovers and driver design. Some new materials and manufacturing techniques help with component building.
All told�.the modern speaker is a huge step up from a similar LOOKING item of 2 and 3 decades past.

Stick new stuff into an old box and be done with it.
 

Gold Member
Username: Superjazzyjames

Post Number: 2244
Registered: Oct-10
"Here in the colonies, we have a saying about catching more flies with honey than with vinegar."

True, but there is an addendum to that which goes, "If we tear the wings off of the flies, they'll eat what ever we give them."

Just saying...

Sage, if you are willing to bear with Jan, you'll get good advice, but if you can not, you may want to check out the Yamaha NS-A642 if you can find them. They were $1000 each brand new, but you probably could get them at around $200 or less for a pair now. I had a pair of these for about 10 years and they were great. You will however, need a subwoofer with them as strange as that sounds. I know, usually, one of the advantages of floor speakers is that they don't need a sub, but these do.
 

Gold Member
Username: Dakulis

Spokane, Washington United States

Post Number: 1344
Registered: May-05
Sage,

I've got a pair of Altec Lansing Stonehenge II speakers that I purchased in 1976. They have been reconed and have some wear because they have been in and out of a system for over 40 years. You can come get them in Spokane Washington for $150 a pair or I can ship them to you and the price would likely double because they are solid oak and beasts.

I suspect that you will like the sound but maybe not. That is part of the issue that Jan and others are trying to address. It's hard to recommend "vintage speakers" if you haven't heard them and have no idea how they will integrate with your integrated.

Here's a pic - it's the speaker to the far left in the picture - http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/altec/catalogs/1976-home/page01.jpg
 

Gold Member
Username: Superjazzyjames

Post Number: 2245
Registered: Oct-10
Nice speakers Dak!
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