Learn me vintage speakers

I've found myself another expensive and potentially dangerous hobby: repairing vintage electronics. I've successfully resurrected a couple of vacuum tube testers and now I'm working on a hi-fi amp, a 14-watt Eico HF-81 stereo amp. Funny thing is, I have no good speakers to use with it! I have some cheap modern speakers for testing, but nothing really "hi-fi." So, while I search craigslist for speaker deals, what brands should I be on the lookout for? They can't be huge speakers either. I'm not looking to blast the volume- I'm looking for sound quality.

JBL anything is pretty good.

B&W (Bowers and Wilkins), Thiel, Phase Technology, Magnepan, Martin Logan, ADS, Canton...

AR / Acoustic Research built some very nice speakers in various sizes. I've had a set of these for close to 40 years now: http://www.vintage-speaker-review.com/2012/03/acoustic-research-ar-4xa.html

I loved my dynaco A-25 so much that I sold them. I'm dumb sometimes.

With a 14 watt amp, I think you'll want something fairly sensitive/efficient.

What kind of dollars are we looking to throw around?

BrokenYugo wrote: With a 14 watt amp, I think you'll want something fairly sensitive/efficient.

In that case, what sort of ratings should I look at in a speaker (besides max power/RMS) to tell whether or not it is efficient? Or is efficiency more of a reputational thing? Like, Brand X speakers are more efficient than Brand Y even with ratings being equal.

Speaker sensitivity is stated as a number of dB at 1 watt at 1 meter distance. Larger numbers indicate the speaker will play louder at a given setting on the amplifier. Typical speakers are in the 80 to 100 dB range. Very sensitive systems can be over 100 dB.

Remember that dB is a logarithmic scale, so a seemingly small 3 dB difference between speaker systems actually means that the more efficient system will need only half as much power to achieve the same listening level.

Speaker efficiency is a decibel reading made at 1 meter from some predescribed point on the front of the speaker while 1 watt of power is delivered to said speaker. Sometimes it's written as dB/m*2.83v because 2.83 volts into 8 ohms is equal to one watt.

My thought is anything over 90 dB/wm is sensitive. So if you have 87 dB/wm speakers, you need to double the power to get to 90 dB. But unless you trying to drive some unique design like Magnepans, you probably don't need to worry about the sensitivity unless you have a really big room.

When I went through this exercise of looking at vintage/used audiophile speakers, I bought parts and built my own. The folks at www.madisound.com were super helpful when I bought all the stuff from them. I bought these full range 4" drivers and followed the bass reflex cabinets on this page: https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/approx-4-fullrange/fostex-fe126en-4-full-range/

It is a matter of some debate about how good vintage speakers really are. You may have to replace the electrolytic capacitors in the crossovers and may have to replace foams on drivers. Even then they may not be all that great sounding. Modern speakers can be very good too and you can usually pick up something a couple of years old for 50 cents on the dollar. If you come across something try a search on Audiokarma.org and see what the gurus have to say about. Also a demo of the function is a really good idea if you are going to spend real cash. You can find the specs too. A 90dB+ speaker would likely work pretty well with your tube amp.

The cabinet is also a big factor when it comes to sound quality, and that's something you can do yourself.

I always felt that the Advent/Boston Acoustics speakers of the 70's and early 80's sounded nice, and for very little money. Also, speakers from the same era by Infinity.

I've always somewhat arbitrarily drawn the line between power hungry dogs and reasonably efficient speakers at 90 dB. That said, there are some very good speakers with sensitivities down around 85 dB, but it takes a pretty big amp to drive them. All very subjective, of course, depending on your listening habits.

Thanks for the tips. I've widened my net to include more modern speakers. Since I'm not going for max volume and only setting up for one room, I'm going to look for bookshelf speakers or speakers in tall, skinny enclosures. Efficiency will be a major buying point.

My price range is "cheap."

I found a set of Klipsch cabinets at a garage sale ten years ago and used them In my garage until someone told me they could be converted into cash AND a good set of pioneer speakers. They converted well and in the garage I can't hear a difference. They sounded great though when they were in the warehouse.

1988RedT2 wrote: I always felt that the Advent/Boston Acoustics speakers of the 70's and early 80's sounded nice, and for very little money. Also, speakers from the same era by Infinity. I've always somewhat arbitrarily drawn the line between power hungry dogs and reasonably efficient speakers at 90 dB. That said, there are some very good speakers with sensitivities down around 85 dB, but it takes a pretty big amp to drive them. All very subjective, of course, depending on your listening habits.

I, and dr boost, both love or advents speakers.

I agree that, in some ways, modern speakers can sound better not only because there's a few less decades of wear and tear, mainly worn caps and such, and weak/deteriorating foam. That stuff can be fixed pretty cheap. The leg up that modern speakers have is the material they are constructed out of. Super light and rigid cones are great for recreating the sound as it was intended, and give very fast response and accurate details. But honestly, most people will never hear much, if any difference. Room issues play a bigger role than a carbon fiber woofer cone or a newer capacitor. Kinda like putting the most awesomest, light and rigid tires on your race car, and setting the tire pressure 10 lbs low. You'll never notice the gains the tires and wheels could have given you.
I've found nice Bic Venturi and Advent speakers at Goodwill. Bics are odd, but I like them. Like Joey48442 said, it's really, REALLY hard to beat Advent, or since I heard his, Dynaco speakers. They are handsome, well constructed, are decently sensitive (so you can drive them with not too much power) but sound great.

If you decide to build your own there are several good places to pick from like "parts express" or "All Electronics" those are both online stores.I saw a blog article a while back about some super ghetto 5 gallon bucket subwoofers so pretty much anything is possible. We have an old late 60's early 70's Zenith stereo in our pool house/shed I got from an auction for 5 bucks and that thing still kicks butt. It's the kind that says "solid state" on it all space age looking. My parents had one similar when I was growing up. When they were gone we would turn up some Kiss or Frampton comes Alive. I am sure we wore all of those old albums out but it was the 70's. You might look into buying a yard sale set and refreshing them. I did that with some Boston Acoustic book shelf speakers someone mentioned earlier and gold replacements from All Electronics.

I might still have a set of old Harman Kardon bookshelf speakers. They both need rewinding but I couldn't just throw them away. I believe they are single cones. If you want I can look. They would be free + shipping.

In reply to pjbgravely:

PM sent. Check the e-mail account associated with your GRM account.

We have a pair of vintage Klipsch kg2 speakers that we bought new back when it was a stretch to buy them. That said, these weren't high-dollar speakers, and they lack power and midrange... however, they do fit your criteria for size (they're small for vintage pieces) and sound quality (crystal-clear, crisp sound that for most of what we listen to more than makes up for some blow-you-away soundstage). Klipsch also has tons of online community support.

Margie

RexSeven wrote: Thanks for the tips. I've widened my net to include more modern speakers. Since I'm not going for max volume and only setting up for one room, I'm going to look for bookshelf speakers or speakers in tall, skinny enclosures. Efficiency will be a major buying point. My price range is "cheap."

I was all ready to talk you into buying a paragon.

So, to close the loop on this thread, I purchased a pair of 1988-ish Acoustic Research TSW-710 speakers. The foam rings on two of the woofers and one of the mids have holes in them, so I plan to replace all of the foams. They are otherwise original and in good physical and working condition. The seller auditioned the ARs for me with a 20W Pioneer solid-state speaker and they have a 90dB sensitivity rating, so I'm confident my Eico will drive them fine.

Nice. If you re-foam them yourself I have a trick I can share that will not only make the job easier, but just about eliminate the possibility of screwing it up. I used to repair speaker drivers for a living. Shoot me an IM.

In reply to RexSeven:

Nice score! They look like they should make some noise. Did they come with the boat?