Vintage speaker questions

[Takeereasy]

Hi guys, I'm curious about some older speakers available for sale near me at pretty reasonable prices. I want to know a few things before I go check them out however. What should I be looking for on vintage equipment? I know about foam rot for example but is there anything else I should be looking for, driver wise for example? Also is there any difference in the sound quality from a well built speaker from the mid eighties and today? How about from the mid 70's? One set I'm looking at is from 1974, 3 years older than me . I'd really like to pick them up because they are like the second or 3rd speaker ever made by PSB, and I enjoy that brand, but will a speaker from 1974 still sound decent when compared to my new speakers? In case you would like to know they are PSB AVANTINI's. I don't need them to sound better than my 2B's, I just need tham to be good enough as zone 2 speakers for my bedroom.

Also is anyone familiar with older speakers by Altec Lansing? I'm aware of their computer speakers but they have a couple of pairs of speakers available too and they seem to be really nice. A 3 way design with a carbon fiber 12" woofer, made of walnut veneer, claimed response down to 25hz. Oh well, I figured I'd throw these questions out there, you never know what you'll find out. Thanks in advance guys.

 

[Hi Ho]

I don't have experience with the speakers in question but I do own a pair of Advent Smaller Loudspeakers (1977) and I love them. They can certainly compete with speakers of today. They have excellent bass, midrange, and high end response. The tweeters in these speakers are still sought after today.

They are very power hungry, however. They are 4 OHM speakers and need a robust amp to really make them shine.

I say listen to them and see if you like them. It's your ear that should determine whether or not they are good.

 

[Tomorrow]

Hi guys, I'm curious about some older speakers available for sale near me at pretty reasonable prices. I want to know a few things before I go check them out however. What should I be looking for on vintage equipment? I know about foam rot for example but is there anything else I should be looking for, driver wise for example? Also is there any difference in the sound quality from a well built speaker from the mid eighties and today? How about from the mid 70's? One set I'm looking at is from 1974, 3 years older than me . I'd really like to pick them up because they are like the second or 3rd speaker ever made by PSB, and I enjoy that brand, but will a speaker from 1974 still sound decent when compared to my new speakers? In case you would like to know they are PSB AVANTINI's. I don't need them to sound better than my 2B's, I just need tham to be good enough as zone 2 speakers for my bedroom.

Also is anyone familiar with older speakers by Altec Lansing? I'm aware of their computer speakers but they have a couple of pairs of speakers available too and they seem to be really nice. A 3 way design with a carbon fiber 12" woofer, made of walnut veneer, claimed response down to 25hz. Oh well, I figured I'd throw these questions out there, you never know what you'll find out. Thanks in advance guys.

Both speakers you mention had very good reps when new. Altec Lansing became trash in the 80's, tho'. Surrounds are the main problem with older speakers...you may need to redo those. Specs were kinda 'made up' back then. the 25Hz is probably more like 60+/-3db (as is the case in my vintage JBL monitors).

Gosh, maybe we can do a "speaker break-in" test on them....

 

[Takeereasy]

thanks hi ho and rjbudz, good points guys. I really didn't believe the 25hz spec, but as long as they can hit below 80hz they'll do fine for what I have in mind. this is just something I'm doing for fun to be honest. I want to take these guys apart and compare the components to each other, but at the end of the day I'd love to have some good sounding speakers that are dirt cheap. I guess I'm just worried that there would be a big difference in sound quality for some reason, but I guess well built is well built. How much work is it to replace the surrounds RJ? I know getting PSB parts won't be too hard as their headquareters are only a 20 minute drive away.

Here is my other question, if I get the speakers and they just don't work out, would I be able to "recycle" the cabinets and make some DIY speakers with the same sized drivers and cabinet size requirements? Let's face it, you can't build decent speaker cabinets for the cost of these vintage speakers including all the drivers and components.

 

[Tomorrow]

thanks hi ho and rjbudz, good points guys. I really didn't believe the 25hz spec, but as long as they can hit below 80hz they'll do fine for what I have in mind. this is just something I'm doing for fun to be honest. I want to take these guys apart and compare the components to each other, but at the end of the day I'd love to have some good sounding speakers that are dirt cheap. I guess I'm just worried that there would be a big difference in sound quality for some reason, but I guess well built is well built. How much work is it to replace the surrounds RJ? I know getting PSB parts won't be too hard as their headquareters are only a 20 minute drive away.

Here is my other question, if I get the speakers and they just don't work out, would I be able to "recycle" the cabinets and make some DIY speakers with the same sized drivers and cabinet size requirements? Let's face it, you can't build decent speaker cabinets for the cost of these vintage speakers including all the drivers and components.

Replacing the surrounds is easy. Here is a link to a helpful (almost my homeboys) website/bidness. You should find everything you need there.
http://www.speakerworks.net/
They should be able to help you a lot if you decide to go with the DIY replacement, as they have DIY speaker-build stuff there, too.

It looks like a fun project, Takeer!

 

[Sheep]

I have a pair of Pioneer HPM-100's that I was using as speaker stands for my new Energy C-1's.

When they were hooked up, they sounded great. Solid wood enclosure (100Lbs) 4 way 4 driver design. They even had midrange and treble gain knobs.

The only bad thing other then size is getting the 2 gain knobs right. PAIN in the assssstronaut.

SheepStar

 

[Dryseals]

Altec Lansing were more along the line of professional speakers for PA and large stadiums. I rebuilt quite a few drivers back in the 70s. They were more heavy duty than anything else, but they had some top notch gear. The nostalgia value should be quite good on them, you might want to check some other sites for prices and see if you are getting a deal. During the 80s they tried the consumer market and failed terribly, but stilll could be a collectable for some freaks.

 

[Hi Ho]

I have some altec Lansing speakers in one or my cars. They are from the mid 90's. They are 4" speakers with superb sound. The bass response is absolutely amazing. People that ride in that car swear there is a subwoofer in there.

 

[Takeereasy]

Thanks again guys, I'm driving out there tomorrow weather permitting. I'll let you know what I think about them sound wise but I'm pretty sure I can't loose picking these guys up at a reasonable cost, even if like I said all I do is wind up recycling the cabinets. I might start getting some prices from parts expess or somewhere, just in case. I've got to be honest I kind of like the idea of trying to build my own speakers, despite the fact that I know it will be a terrible failure. There is no way I'm building the cabinets myself, all the woodworking only happens in the Garage (unheated) and I'd like this to be a winter project, something nice and indoorsy.

 

[Tomorrow]

Takeer...

Have you seen this?! (Are these the ones?...are you going to Mississauga, lol?) It's Canadian. The price is not only right, it's absolutely right! One day left!

http://cgi.ebay.com/PSB-AVANTINI-2-WAY-VINTAGE-1974-BOOK-SHELF-SPEAKERS_W0QQitemZ5838058896QQcategoryZ14991QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Takeereasy]

OK, I boughtt the PSB Avantinitis, total cost to me $44.38 Cad. I'm heading out to pick them up as soon as I can get time off when I know the seller is open, hopefully tomorrow. I did demo them but decided to go throught the ebay auction for the added protection. Nice sounding speakers but they really didn't floor me. Of course the room and equipment weren't exactly ideal. We'll see how good these guys sound hooked up in a proper setting to some better gear with an 8"sub filling in the lows in my bedroom. I'll let you know.

 

[Takeereasy]

Ok guys I've got them, played with them a bit, Did my very own blind A/B test with a couple of buddies and here's what I've found so far:

These speakers are an unbeatable value for what I paid. Turns out the guy had the surrounds done and the speakers re-coned using all PSB parts. They have great midrange and highs with bass that I would say is only kind of decent from a midsized bookshelf. The port on these guys is TINY. I can barely fit a finger inside it as opposed to my 2B's where the port is pretty big. The lack of bass doesn't mean anything to me because I'm breaking an old 8" sub out of retirement to fill in the lows, also this is going to be my Zone 2 setup in my bedroom, so there most likely won't be too much need for high volume. These speakers tend to get a little harsh at very high volumes, much sooner than the 2B's. They are heavy, well built, and in great condition. I'd say they play down to about 80hz with real authority so I'm going to try that with the cross over on the sub first.

When it came time to A/B the Avantini's and the 2B's I hooked both to the reciever using the appropriate speaker connections and put my Marantz 8400 into Direct mode, bypassing the sub. I then had my room mate come downstairs and sit in the optimal listening position. I had the Avantini's hooked up to the A speaker terminals and we started with them. I turned it on and my room mate said OK, I already know that these are your old speakers (meaning the 2B's), switch to the new guys. I switched to the 2B's and he simply said these ones sound way better. He said that the bass was tighter and deeper and that the sound was richer. He also said that he knew for certain that the B speakers were my Old set up, meaning the 2B's. I then had a buddy come down and did the same thing, with identical results, The 2B's walked all over the new competition. There was pretty much a 10X price difference between two so I couldn't complain. I then sat in the sweet spot and had one of them switch between speakers so I could hear the difference. It was big indeed, but the Avantini's really held their own, especially on Acoustic tracks that I really like. Also my room mate offered to buy them from me for $100. That's saying something as he's actually got a pretty good ear I think.

I'll post some pics of the new guys soon and give some impressions of the improvements a sub makes, but to sum up for under $45 these speakers are easily the best buy I've made in audio.

 

[Takeereasy]

Hey guys, here are some pics of the new/old speakers. My impressions on dismanteling them are as follows:

Construction I'd give a C+. The dampening is great, and the magnets are pretty darn heavy, especially for the tweet. The speakers are pretty darn heavy, and all the components look first rate. The answers I've gotten from PSB are great, especially considering that these speakers are 29 years old. All documentation was mailed to me physically and most of my questions were answered within 24hrs via email. Great customer support IMO. Just another reason to love PSB, lol. I can't believe these guys are from the 70's. I'm going to post some more pics.

Comparing them to the 2B's there is a big discrepency. You can really see a big quality difference. There are some pics of both speakers and their drivers.

Edit: The very first pic is of the 2B's driver, for some reason it didn't save under the right name so I posted it wrong.

 

[Takeereasy]

Here's some more. If there's anything anybody wants or if anyone has any opinions I'd love to know.

And for the bad news I think I might need new surrounds. Oh well, 29 years old, can't complain.