Vintage speaker buying tips

[@garethparr649]

Great very helpful tips there. My dear old dad was a hifi nut and kind of got out of it since his passing but finding your channel has re kindled my interest. A lot of the things you say and impart to us is things my dad ust to say so it’s really bringing some great memories and nice warm feelings of happy hifi times with my dad. Can’t thank you enough for that

[@stereoreviewx]

My pleasure

[@richardsinger01]

Gareth Parr Nice use of the proper term “hifi nut” as opposed to the modern “audiophile” .

[@greymurdock2]

I would do these tests when I first started getting into vintage gear a few years ago. My wife would watch me and think I was nuts. Then I realized from KZbin I wasn’t alone hahaha great video Thanks for sharing

[@robinspeed1174]

Very helpful, I like down to earth approach, I was scared to buy old stuff, but now I will give it ago, as I cant afford to spend thousands.

[@frostwise87]

top guy, nice to see someone who knows there stuff, not many speaker heads around these days

[@donjohnstone3707]

I have found that on some occasions when a tweeter isn't working at all, it has a break in one of the fine connecting wires, usually between one of the speakers + or - terminals and the speaker coil. You might need a magnifying glass to see it clearly and check if the section where the break is can be accessed with a fine pointed soldering iron. If so, it can be repaired using a tiny bit of solder to join the broken wire back together. You have to be very careful though, as the wires are very fine and tricky to position for soldering, so I use two pairs of reading glasses together to magnify the repair site. If a section of the wire has not just broken but gone missing, then a short single filament of fine wire can be taken and cut from a piece of spare wire that uses many fine wires commonly wrapped in plastic insulating sheath. That single strand of wire can then be soldered in to replace the missing section. I have found a few good quality speakers with this tweeter problem and bought them very cheaply, then fixed the tweeter and BINGO I have a pair of good working speakers for a little bit of money and some careful repair work. PS it is always a good idea to replace all original electrolytic capacitors on vintage speaker crossover circuits with new capacitors of the same specification, because they dry out after many years (decades) of operation and no longer work as originally specified. That change in the specification of old, dried out electrolytic capacitors, is often what causes tweeters to overheat and malfunction, so recapping is very important and not usually difficult or expensive. Some tweeters though, cannot be repaired this way, due to their design and some have burnt out and fused coils and therefore need replacing.

[@stereoreviewx]

Good info thanks yes I’ve never attempted repairing that wire I have but I just 😞

[@jonpatrick66]

Good for you fixing the tweeters. Sounds tedious

[@jonpatrick66]

@@stereoreviewx hey bud, I hope all is well. I enjoyed your videos over the pond here in Michigan. Hope to see more. ✌️

[@Geoff0711]

Great tips - some old some new. I was so happy to see that Sansui 441 reciever - it was my 1s HiFi reciever - very nice

[@Mellonen-Galadh]

I see one of your videos, I click like! You can rarely beat the vintage appeal of old speakers. Some of the newer ones look similarly, but they're rare. They just look hot, in my opinion.

[@johnconway7484]

I just rebuilt my first pair of speakers.. a pair of Atlantis brand, they were originally manufactured in my Minneapolis Minnesota and sold regionally here in the mid west USA in the mid seventies, we put marantz imperial v crossovers and the corresponding tweeters, along with 100 watt 8" woofers.

[@trekjudas]

I'm currently playing a Sansui vintage receiver with a pair of Focal 806s. I know it's crazy but it sounds surprisingly good!

[@reinhardimmergut1123]

Thanks very much for your effort to entertain by giving useful information

[@ampheat]

KEF Coda III from 1985 sound very good overall with natural bass for budget speakers.

[@peterofenback9263]

I have a a pair of 3 way Speakers which contain a Vifa dome Midrange unit. One of them made a scratchy noise. I managed to fix this just by carefully tightening and untightening the four screws that hold it in the baffle. Once done this, the issue did not occur for years.

[@stereoreviewx]

Yes there are many easy fixes and people throw things away when they’re not even broken

[@bobdarlington4634]

Thanks for this video, I enjoyed it very much, so much so I've just subscribed to your channel. Couple of reasons for that, one, it's great to have a UK based hi-fi video channel, I find your comments more relevant to my hi-fi buying history and background than certain others, and two, your channel also suits my budget and buying power, or lack of same, thanks again chum, much appreciated !

[@kymvalleygardensdesign5350]

Brilliant as always

[@Techrewinds]

Great tips I get a lot of speakers off crag list and offerup I had a lot of occasions that I get home and listen to a bad tweeter

[@dhldfm]

I’m liking your reviews ! I am listening to a set of vintage Japanese speakers by a company called “ living audio”. Heard of them ?They are rare and bring me a lot of joy

[@dhldfm]

Also looking at a set of Epos es14. Would you rate these ? They can be acquired for about £ 300 in Australia with original stands.

[@stereoreviewx]

So not familiar with living audio the E Poss all I would know about those that they are fairly bright but I am low on information here K

[@Ronnymikkonen2686]

Maybe You can test grandma's tips to harden the old spider. They can soften up due to old age. Simply use water and sugar to give them that new stiffness. Dissolve sugar in water. And use a brush to apply the solution on the spider. It will change the parameters of the driver.

[@johnsweda2999]

You can put some Super Glue in the holes if the wood is stripped and adviser anyway if you're taking the screws out before you put them back in, just a drop a super glue in each hole put the speaker on its back will stop the thread from stripping not on metal fasteners tho. If it's a metal basket driver you can bend it but this takes technique if it's rubbing. And for amplifiers always take a multimeter connected to the speaker output put it on DC voltage and measure the DC if it's anything above 80 millivolts probably want to walk away.

[@ajvboston1]

I enjoyed the talk. Cheers!

[@grantwilson4696]

I learned a lot here.... thank you!

[@socksumi]

Kef Chorales used the early version of Kef T27 which sounded muted. If listened to flat they sound bloated in the mids and dull in the highs. But with lots of of EQing... lift the low bass, reduce the lower mids then raise the highs from 2000 hz and up so that your equalizer bars altogether look like a big check mark... then they sound wonderful.

[@stereoreviewx]

Interesting thanks K

[@richardsinger01]

socksumi this is presumably why vintage amps always had tone controls - to overcome the shortcomings of the speakers.

[@socksumi]

@Bucks Bunny Actually there was a huge change in the T27 around 1975 at the time the Chorale was discontinued and the Corelli introduced which featured the updated T27. It's not evident in appearance but was, I believe, identified by a new SP number. The newer T27 featured a substantially lower mass diaphragm with a beefier voice coil for enhanced efficiency and power handing. The earlier T27 is very smooth but noticeably rolled off in the top octave. Later T27s are quite a bit more explicit along with being more efficient and also show measurable peaks in the 8 to 10 khz range. I even installed later T27s into my Chorales out of curiosity and it had a very much sharper and more detailed top end if a bit explicit.

[@bartvanransbeeck1341]

Top tip , big thanks

[@dibble2005]

Love your videos. I'm looking for two vintage powerful speakers. I love the look of Technics Pioneer and Jbl. Is there any hope for me getting any of these good old speakers for approx 500 pounds of am I just deluding myself. One more thing I have seen great speakers on eBay but I was caught with faulty items in the past and they didn't work so I do not trust eBay. How do you know something is working on eBay when you don't know the people selling them if they are honest or not.

[@nickdoughty518]

Watch out for glue drying out sticking the rubber surrounds to the metal frames. Evostick sorts these problems out. Bought some Kef Carltons recently that needed this problem sorting.

[@CM-dw3gh]

When I get home I'm doing the turning round the driver trick. As myn had the scratchy sound, but it's the bottom part. I'm hoping this works. As I really like the goodmans SL's

[@MichaelYates]

Thanks for another nice tips video

[@m00nraker39]

Best channel on KZbin 😎🎧

[@wessandlin8056]

Hi, I have a set of pioneer floor speakers they don’t seem to have a crossover just directly wired to each other and a capacitor on one of the tweeters would it be safe to install a crossover to get better sound?

[@stereoreviewx]

My guess is no however simple the configurations may look it is intentional for those drivers in that box Having said that I’ve done these things in the past and they are fun but I wouldn’t spend a lot of time and money on it

[@antonisxenos1053]

NICE AVICE. THANKS. By the way, what is the music you are paying?

[@madmantronixx7998]

I am looking at a pair of KEF chorale to go with my AU-101

[@stereoreviewx]

Well if you’re asking me I would say not bad but not the best it’s like the bass driver is a bit heavy and he needs some watts to get hold of it and kick those speakers into action. But quite a nice big sound I mean not a bad idea

[@madmantronixx7998]

@@stereoreviewx what do you think of B&W DM4? Better?

[@stereoreviewx]

Basically yes

[@madmantronixx7998]

@@stereoreviewx thanks for your input Kelvin I am on the hunt now. Thanks and keep up the good work.

[@dynacoman7363]

Madmantronixx: I assume kelvin's speakers in this video are Chorales. I have Sansui AU-777a driving KEF R101's and was curious if you bought the Chorales you mentioned for your AU-101... and your impression.

[@martyjewell5683]

Interestingly enough, most tweeter "failures" are due to UNDERPOWERING from anemic amps. Speakers rated for even a mere 50w can handle a lot more if the signal is clean, within reason, of course. Underpowering sends a clipped signal to the tweeters which are not necessarily designed to handle that. Result? A burned out tweeter, and you won't even know it till it's too late.

[@florinmoldovanu]

any examples of such "anemic" amps or values to look out for?

[@martyjewell5683]

@@florinmoldovanu- not so much anemic. Just consider room size, speaker efficiency and taste (how loud you like it) prior to amp purchase. A 15wpc-ish amp can drive many speakers to satisfying levels (i.e.; background music). Vintage "budget" stereo receivers such as Pioneer SX-434, SX-450, Onkyo TX-1500, Technics SA-80, SA101, can be overdriven causing HF distortion and tweeter burnout. These are fine receivers when matched to appropriate loudspeakers; Bose 301, EPI-70 or 100, Ohm E, Infinity Qe, AR-18s and Boston Acoustics A-40 and 60. And keeping volume levels reasonable. If the music don't sound loud but you have to shout to be heard, it's loud. Even mid-powered amps can be overdriven.

[@florinmoldovanu]

@@martyjewell5683 ​ OK. Well I was asking as I'm a newbie in terms of hi-fi. In the past few months I bought vintage amps and several pairs of speakers. I'll list them below with details regarding their state and my dilemmas regarding their state Amps: Sansui 881 - 60WPC - more than I will ever use (this one I'm pretty sure is solid and has no issues that I'm aware of. I'm in the process of changing the binding posts at the back so that it would take banana jacks) On the multimeter 881 measures 10.XX on one channel and 41.XX on the other. Later measurements showed -3.XX and 53.XX on the other channel. Musical Fidelity B1 - 32WPC - this is the one I'm concerned about - makes a pop sound when I turn it on. Now this one has a story. It came in a package with a pair of B&W 110i which had the tweeters dead. This is the reason I got curious on your post. The B1 by the looks of it has been opened before and considering that the tweeter had been burned on the speakers it came with I was fearful not to burn my own speakers. I've put it through some cheapo drivers first and those faired well so I've been listening to it at my other speakers and other than the pop it makes when turned on it doesn't seem to have any other issues, distortion or clipping but considering what you've said that some clipping might be inaudible and one might realise too late that the tweeters are gone it got me wondering again. I've put the multimeter on "mV" and it reads on first reading 20.XX and on the second reading 31.XX Second channel read 30.XX at first measurement 51.XX on the second with music on. After a while I've taken a reading again and whereas one channel was at 70.XX the other was -40.XX. Why would one channel be on the minus?!? Don't know if that's normal Trio KA-2000A - 13WPC just loud enough, distorts if pushed over 3/4 volume mark - when turned on it makes a pop sound in the speakers like the B1. Don't know if that's dangerous for the speakers or it's normal (This one is a lovely little amp in a chipboard with a nice veneer finish. Haven't seen another one like it anywhere on the iternet) On the multimeter it measures around 0.XX on both channels constantly fluctuating around 0 or - 0. I've noticed when probing the Trio that there was no reading unless a speaker was connected to the terminals. If no speaker was connected, the multimeter read 0.L Got an Aneng AN80008 which is praised for being a great budget multimeter. As for the speakers, I've gotten the following. Monitor Audio Studio 2 - mid 90's 100W Monitor Audio System R352 - mid 80's 120W Monitor Audio Radius 90 - early 00''s tiny speakers also 100W B&W 110i - mid 80's (burned tweeters)

[@martyjewell5683]

@@florinmoldovanu-wow, as a "newbie" you've assembled a nice brace of audio. Admittedly, I had to google some of your stuff. Seems that you like smaller bookshelf type loudspeakers. A few of my speakers are also bookshelf types; Ohm L, EPI-100, Boston Acoustics A-40 and Synergistics S12B. As for the popping sound, that's due to unmuted switching/power up surges getting to the speakers. Larger (and more powerful) amps and this includes pre-amps, integrated amps and receivers, have muting circuits to protect speakers and less expensive (cheaper) amps don't. I always power up with speaker switches off to avoid this. With some amps the power and speaker switching is on the same knob, not the safest setup for longevity. The loud thump can damage speakers. I checked out your Monitor Audio speakers and find them rather nice. A very good performing "all purpose" vintage speaker is the EPI-100. Tight bass, +/-3dB's @ 48Hz, open, airy highs, good balance and wide dispersion. They are AS, not too big and weigh 25 lbs. I think you would really dig their sound. I bought mine in 1980. Yeah, I'm an old man now, but was hot stuff in my twenties during the 1970's when I got into audio. Don't know where you're located or what access you have to component purchase. I'm in upstate NY and bought most of my audio during the 1970's/80's while living in Brooklyn. NYC had a zillion (not really) audio stores in those days and plenty of bargains for frugal/savvy shoppers. I have my "big" hifi in the living room with extension speakers in the dining room. Have a mini system in the 900+ cu/ft kitchen consisting of a Pioneer SX-434 receiver powering a Nakamichi BX-1 cassette deck and two pairs of speakers, the A-40's and S12B's. The little Pioneer can easily drive a 4 ohm load. Minimum power requirements for speakers help give you an idea of just how much power you'll need. The A-40's need 5w minimum and S12B's need 6w. Plenty of reserve power in the SX-434 which puts out a bit more oomph into 4 ohms than into 8 ohms. Hope I ain't boring you with all this. What other stuff do you have??? Turntables, equalizers, expanders, tape decks???

[@steviepeers8602]

In your opinion what speakers shall i put with mordaunt short ms400 for a richer sound

[@societyofhighendaudio]

There used to be Stereo Review Magazine.

[@morganarthur9000]

hey whats you opinon on the Wharfdale Linton 3xp for beginners speakers

[@stereoreviewx]

Well, not bad I prefer the Glendale XP2 and I wouldn’t have the older Lyntons where the Twitter is covered in a grey cloth. They are terrible tweeters XP2 has different Twitter,

[@dayfornight88]

I just picked up some near mint celestion's DL8 series 2. only 25.cnd .

[@stereoreviewx]

I don’t know where you are back in England in London there’s never shops selling cheap hi-fi I’m always hearing about these bargains it’s quite annoying actually 😁

[@richardsinger01]

Stereo review X I know what you mean - there’s always someone on KZbin that found a fully functional pair of mint Kef 105s in a skip!

[@hippohoppa]

Are the Akai-137II in a good condition speakers worth buying? How much would you pay for these?

[@victorycraftawards]

Hi Calvin, Are those bass driver the sam 8inch ones that are on the monitor audios? You know, that 8” kef bass driver you always mention thats really good?

[@stereoreviewx]

Not exactly the monitor audio Ma fours have a bigger magnet

[@raymondroberts8709]

I'm running vintage 2-way Infinity speakers. Am ready for some vintage 3 ways. Suggestions?

[@djsd-1292]

Advent maestros are great sleepers, just need 80+ real watts for them, then they open up.

[@cubbykovu8955]

What if the screws are allen key screws ?

[@stereoreviewx]

Yeah just use an Allen key If it’s an old speaker it probably has a metal sleeve inside Which means you can go pretty tight but don’t go insane

[@jbensson]

Hi, I just bought a B&O Beocenter 3500, and am thinking about also getting B&O speakers, Beovox s45, is that a good match up?

[@stereoreviewx]

Well as Bo vox speakers go there not bad ones at all I mean that smooth sound Bang And Olufsen make it easy to put speakers on even harsh ones may get tamed And don’t let anyone tell you that it’s not proper hi-fi it’s as good as the best Japanese stuff of the time at least as good

[@jbensson]

@@stereoreviewx thanks a lot for the advice, I indeed went for a set of S45.2, and they sound grate. Unfortunately wasn't so lucky with my Beocenter 3500, as upon arrival at home I tested it and it wont power on, any idea as in what steps to take to fix it. Regards

[@Freedom-eo9fg]

magnat all ribbon 7P...👍🏻

[@beslemeto]

So which vintage speakers are your favourite sir?Spendor BC1?

[@stereoreviewx]

Yes I think you guessed right

[@beslemeto]

@@stereoreviewx 😊 👍🏻. I have got the SP1 version.Really strange thing with them is they really start singing after you use them for an hour or so.

[@stereoreviewx]

Interesting now you’ve got me going trying to work that out

[@beslemeto]

@@stereoreviewx Absolutely true! The bass gets bigger and deeper as well as the depth and dimension.

[@think2023]

Dont tighten woofer! Take it out...and put it back in 180degrees off...ie "upside diwn" the cones sag and eventually rub...flipping woofer gives decades more life.....and...allows a proper reseal with fresh gasket.

[@theaudioman4446]

Hi thanks for the excellent video, much appreciated. Would you say speakers from around the mid 70's are similar to amplifiers in that they were rated lower than they are actually capable of? Thanks very much again, and may your channel continue to grow

[@stereoreviewx]

Yes pretty much agree In a way the whole WATS thing is misleading I guess it’s dB Level before things start to distort K

[@billybeck]

Any thoughts on old Wharfdales?

[@stereoreviewx]

Well old Wharfedale covers a lot of ground I don’t think they were as well put together as kef or Celestion but they’re not bad and often quite big I had Glendale XP2 three-way jobs they weren’t bad and they don’t go for big money with a good clean amp to tame them because they have a metal dome tweeter it’s a bit spiky . I would definitely avoid Wharfedale Linton the two-way speaker really disappointing. K

[@pesolikestea]

Tweeters an easy fix

[@DethroneD..]

NOICE!

[@Denito_legal]

Not a single word on the crossover ? Most of the time that is a suspect !

[@chrisanderson9542]

Most old speakers have crappy crossovers

[@sambuttle1529]

I see a b139 in the background

[@stereoreviewx]

Yes probably my favourite bass driver certainly of the vintage period

[@greymurdock2]

You can always trust an audiophile when they have good taste in music 😎

[@think2023]

Aha....my bad....premature articulation

[@davidtennien39]

Vintage speakers are a myriad of messes. Most of them were just built with marketing hype and didn't have a lot of real engineering involved. When you start to see a speaker with 6 drivers in them on a huge,wide box with a ton of defraction along with other issues. I have nothing against Vintage electronics, its just you want the best of both worlds combine vintage electronics with modern speakers. Modern commercial speakers like Heco Auroro 700's which are less than $1k new and even less openbox sound much better than older speakers with vintage electronics.

[@stereoreviewx]

on the other hand modern speakers can sell huge numbers by media reviews I just put on elac debut 2.0 and once again they are terrible . fun killers those kef s blow them away . only judge by your ears is what I am saying