3 80's speakers that I will never forget..... have not owned, at least not yet anyways... 1) Phase Linear P530 in the Jafco audio room. Grover Washington Jr. was on the turntable. 2) JBL L220 same room, Spyro Gyra was playing. 3) Dahlquist DQM-9 in a record store.... the smell of vinyl and incense, fantastic sound in a room with a high ceiling..... will always remember these 3 in particular
Thank you! I am a Canadian, i moved to the US. I truly miss the government there and all that they did to help us in so many ways. Maybe the collaboration you speak of on the Energy series will help Americans understand that. Thank you.
Epicure! I had Epi 20 plus. I loved them! They did image very well. Also I have a pair of KEF 104.2 that I restored 2 years ago. To get to the woofers removed 4 Allen bolts to take off mids and tweeter. Then I used a m4 bolt and it screws it into the bottom of the speaker. That will remove the bottom access board without breaking it. Then 3 10 mm bolts hold the woofer , easy when you know how! Remove 4 screws for the upper woofer cavity and 3 more bolts and you have the woofers removed. They did solder the connections. All my woofer bolts were loose after 30 ish years. Most of the 104s have a buytle rubber for a surround and are usually in good shape, it’s the little donut in the center around the aluminum connecting rod that go bad. Easy to glue them on and bass will be improved! Put them back with some loctite and you will be good fora few more decades.
Great subject Ed! My favorite 80s speakers were my 1984 DCM Time Window 1As. I had them for 30 years and gave them to my nephew in 2014. They were 900 dollars which we absolutely could not afford but my wife insisted we buy them.
That was very nice of her. That's how I wound up with my Cambridge EVO150. My wife liked it have me the go ahead. We are both fortunate to have good partners. Thx
I have a pair of Phase Technology PC70 mk II 3-way speakers that I originally purchased in 1989. They are wonderful sounding speakers designed by William Hecht (patent holder for the soft dome tweeter). They have flat piston drivers for the midrange (5 1/4”) and woofer (10”) plus a 1” soft dome tweeter. I drive them with a combo of a NAD 3155 (purchased in 1989 - preamp section) plus a Sansui AU-317 (purchased in 1978 - amp section). I listen to them several times each week. They are not the last word in soundstage width or imaging. But, they have fantastic bass (rated down to 25 Hz) that is both articulate and punchy; mids are just a bit forward so they seem to place a spotlight on vocalists and soloists; treble is warm but still seems fully extended. They have an uncanny ability to convey vocalists’ emotions. This system is my go to for poor quality recordings, it adds the perfect amount of butter to the audio popcorn! Are you familiar with these speakers? I would be very interested in your opinion of them. I truly believe these speakers are hidden gems that are very much under appreciated.
Enjoyed the vid! The 1980s was the first decade where really good equipment from the 1980s is still "really good equipment" today. The decade which in my opinion, where audio advanced the most; in leaps and bounds. Nothing advanced more than speakers. There were so many good speakers from the 1980s. The KEF speaker you showed with the protruding seperate midrange tweeter compartment might have been influenced or copied from a speaker made in Georgia. It was a real look alike from the front with the same protruding mid/tweter section jutting out. It was the Goetz model GMS 1. I had a pair and heard them side by side, and the Goetz, which were from 1983, easily showed that the look was the only thing in common & easily bested the 104.2s. Their great crossover of the Goetz gave them an effortless transient quick quality, which reminded you of electrostatics. However, lots of what are considered the great speakers of the 1980s used KEF drivers. The IMF Reference Standard used mostly KEF drivers. It could go down to 16 hertz in the bass, with the help of transmission line loading. Some say the best speaker of the latter 1970s & into the 1980s was the Ohm model F Walsh Driver speaker. It was designed to disperse sound 360 degrees ( just like real instruments) and sound completely seamless, not using a crossover, with the full range Walsh Driver. Would have loved to have heard it. I did get a pair of the later Ohm Walsh 2 speakers, which also sounded notably sramless; their Walsh Driver did cross over to a tweeter, but at an unusually higher frequency than usual, which got the crossover out of the vocal range.Bertagni (B.E.S.) came out with thin panel like speakers which effectively used styrofoam as its driver element. Vibrating styrofoan didn't sound bad surprisingly. Great clarity. In the early 1980s, maybe THE best speaker of the 1980s and one of the best of all time was discontinued. after a very short run.; the Watson Labs model 10. It was designed by Dayton Wright, best known for their $7,000 electrostatics, and a TAS favorite. The Watson Labs used conventional woofers & tweeters, but was anything but conventional. It used a bipolar midrange tweeter section atop a sperate attatched woofer cabinet, which was piped full of heavier than air hexaflouride gas. Not sure if I've ever heard a better speaker to this day, or maybe even its equal. Mike Wright was a genius. Almost no chance to find one on the used market. A very expensive speaker back then, and probably THE best speaker that not many have heard of. You mentioned the McGowan/Nudell Genesis speakers. There was another speaker company called Genesis, with less ambitously priced bookshelf speakers. They competed well versus the Large Advent speakers, as did another speaker that the same store carried, called Cizek; which were speakers designed by an acoustics expert Roy Cizek, who designed concert halls. It was the first speakers that made me realize, that my Technics SB 7000 speakers had that common Japanese coloration and lacked tone colors. The DCM Time Windows versus the Dahlquist dq10 was a tough choice back then. A rare competitor was the Clarke Systems speaker. A small bookshelf speaker which imaged great and had a much superior ribbon tweeter. The B&W 801, the version which came out around 1987/88, was amazing. Much better than the earlier 801 model, which even Levinson electronics could not make them sound open. And of course the tall Magnepan Tympani speakers were right up there with the best; a speaker that editor Harry Pearson thought had the best bass definition he had ever heard, and planar speakers are not even about bass.
I owned a few nice pieces, purchased them all used from neighbor's dad ... Pioneer SX-3800*, Pioneer CS-99, Sony TCK5, Pioneer CT-F750, Technics SL-1900*, also had a Dual turntable that belonged to my godmother and a set of Pioneer speakers she owned ... After that, sort of inherited my dad's Mitsubishi separates system, purchased some Cerwin Vegas for my DJ gig, and came to the knowledge a few years back that I had some Klipsh Heresy Mk 1 and never paid attention to them, all of these was either purchased used or passed down to me. My only new to me electronics before 1990 were a Pioneer SX-6 and a Hitachi ... Sorry, can't remember model of integrated amp, but it was a beast!
I carried my cherished Allison Acoustic 5’s from the midwest to both coasts. That speaker sounded great in every room I put it, with all sorts of amps. Could fill a big room, although it was really pretty small. If the grills weren’t so brittle, they would have survived all the moves.
I have a pair of KEF 304 series II's. They are my daily driver for my tv and music needs. They still have the original box for the metal stands. These may not be the best-known model from KEF... but I love them.
I owned a pair of Energy tower speakers from 1995 - 2001 i believe the model was the CF-30 and they had great sound and i really enjoyed them but like many others i eventually went the home theatre route and because i could not get matching surrounds and a centre channel speaker i sold them to a good friend, but i still miss them to this day and another pair of speakers that i had purchased in 1985 were actually quite rare they were a pair of EV interface 1 book shelf speakers that i sold when my dad was going thru cancer and i wanted to go home and spend time with him and i miss them dearly.....Once again Ed thanks for the great content as always!
Great video....great chat...and really love how the first thing you think to explain a horseshoe is a Bugatti. Cheers from Colombia, really enjoy your videos.
I have just finished restoring a pair of KEF 104/2. Cabinet looked like they were made yesterday but inside, crossover caps, bass units, tweeters all needed repair/replacements. Not a job for the faint hearted!
I had the 104/2 with the kube. (I also added a sub) the 104/2 REALLY woke up with a recap (cap upgrade). Remember- the FR specs you quoted for KEF were +/- 2db, not 3db like most speakers. (They provided that rating too) Conservative rating! Always liked how controlled A/R bass sounded.
Can't believe you started with a pair of Advent Heritage! I've never heard anybody talk about them. I had a pair. Always thought they sounded good with any music. Sadly I blew all 4 woofers one night when I was trying to help out a friend in a local bar by playing a mix tape I made for a "Beach Party." Since I was doing it for free, she gave me the money to refoam them, which my "dear" wife did for me. After those, I went straight down the rabbit hole & bought, sold & traded vintage gear for almost 20 years.
Nice Video, as you told such a listing is always a very personal point of view. So what I’m missing is Quad ESL63, Celestion SL600/6000, IMF RSPM MK VIi, ProAc Tablet, 😊
Thanks for all the videos. Congrats on already hitting 10k. I have the Advent Laureates. Got them for $150, but i had to refoam them. They still sound good. Very well balanced. They work with a lot of amps and make bad recordings sound better. I'm sure they would benefit from upgrades, but i wonder if they would do everything i mentioned as well. Not an issue as that's not even number 1000 on my to do list. 😅 I also have the early 80's NLA's with the fried egg tweeters and the bull nose walnut - which i also had to refoam. Still sound good as well. Lots of deals still to be had on vintage speakers.
I succeeded in having the Nova Scotia guy rebuild by Energy tweeters. I have the original Connoisseurs (found them in a Salvation Army). Really hurt my back moving them once.
Your videos are the bests! Your knowledge is refreshing, I lived through all these brands and wanted them all. What a cool channel, thanks so much! Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Enjoy your videos. Still using a Boston Acoustics T 830 in a second system. Originally did combine it with a 50 watt NAD receiver but that eventually stopped working. The store gave me 30 feet of 16 gauge speaker wire. Speaker cables were not considered important back then. I have tried and bought other speakers, but for vocals, I have not found anything that I like better. I think they were popular because they were a narrow floor standing speaker unlike the A series. Can you think of any current speakers that have that slightly warm sound and solid base?
Your detailed information on these speaker models, is priceless , very refreshing. It’s pretty neat that the Boston Acoustics Owner , Also Owned Epi And Epicure early on. They have an incredible sound signature. I really like the early air spring inverted dome tweeters, combined with the natural roll off woofers .
I have a very nice condition of EPI 100s that I am selling. I just don't need them but there simple deign plus these are the earliest versions with the inverted dome tweeters on masonite with rubber surrounds have a remarkable speed, clarity and very good bass with solid construction, even when compared to my ATCs.
Great video! Of these, I had the little brother of the Advent Heritage...the Advent Laureate. Loved them! I also had the Energy C200. My end game speakers are ones the I currently own...the Gershman Acoustics Studio MkII.
Hi. Great video and a wealth of knowledge. Speaking of API, I bought a pair of one of their more "budget" line of speakers, the DB Plus 990. I paid $600 for them when I was a teenager back in the 80s. I still use them to this day. About 2 years ago I replaced the passive radiator and refoamed the woofer. Surprisingly the tweeters still work. I'm not sure if I love them because of how they sound or if my judgment is clouded by nostalgia. Pretty impressed with your review of the Boston Acoustic T1000. I'm going to keep a look out for a pair. Take care.
In the mid-90s I was going through a nasty divorce and one of my gifts to myself for getting through it was finally buying a complete system, new, from an audiophile store. When it came to speakers it came down to Mirage vs Energy. I ended up going with the Mirage partially for the looks and partially because it seemed like they had slotted what I bought in between the two lines of Energy available. I still have those Mirage but part of me wishes I'd saved up for the Energy Reference set. I know the cats would have ignored the Energy but live and learn.
Mirage almost made the list. We were Mirage dealers as well as Energy. I always like Mirage a lot. Thank you for sharing your experience and your view.
@@OldGuyHifi Personally I think they're the best value in vintage/used hifi right now. Folks have no idea what they are or they get lumped in with the crap that Klipsch sold under the Mirage name at the end. The 80s/90s Canadian-made stuff is excellent. I've seen the flagship OM-5s for $350 a pair! I need another pair of speakers like I need another hole in my head but if I came across a pair of the MRM-1s I'd have to jump for the right price.
I still have a pair of black grand piano connoisseur with rebuilt tweeters. A gentleman from Calgary rebuilt them for me. I bought them in 1984. They replaced my B&W 802s. I thought they were a better speaker. Could image like crazy. Still do
Hi Ed, So, which Hania Rani albums did U Buy then ? Or did u get the 'Full Set' ! ? And, did it include the new, just released ( September ) LIVE album ? Going back to our ''Spooky'' Nostalgia Theme .... Again .... Can u guess the 'Title' of said new Album ? .... ( It ain't Rocket Science ! ! ) 🥴 Have you heard the ''Vocal'' Albums yet ? 'Home' & 'Ghost's'. Assuming that U have now heard ALL of her Albums, do you have a Standout 'Fave' ? ? Mine would be a toss up between 'Flaga' and 'Home' ... with a slight 53% to 47% advantage going to 'Flaga' 😲.... Vintage Speakers. I still have my Dad's 1985 Spendor LS3/5a's in Rosewood. Stunning. Still have original Box & Receipt .... Also have Meridian M3 Actives / Stands with the 'system' 101B Pre-Amp and matching 104 FM Tuner. Yep, it's all still in Full Working Order and sounds Brill. I have a ton of other Vintage Gear ... But, I am now an ATC Fan Girl .... All 3 of my Systems have ATC's on the end of them. But I do swap them out occasionally just for a 'Change of Sonic Character' .... Am looking forward to the BIG ITEM Review on Sunday ... Another Nice Video. ATB
Boston is a great brand. I had the T1030's for a while. Blew them up with a GFA555II and Nakamichi CD1 (cd player has a variable out, so ran it directly into the amp). My local dealer had a very good speaker trade up policy, so I was always trying different things. I had a pair of Klipsch something or other and lasted maybe a month before I traded them. I have an idea for a video. Some subwoofers have both speaker level and RCA in/outs. Which is better?
The Boston Acoustics T1000 speakers have their crossover points at near ideal points for a 3-way. They require a big value coil on the woofers, but if you get a sintered metal core coil, you can get clean(er) bass response. I think that BA is no longer in existence - a number of their folks are in other companies now. Frameless midranges? The cabinet and the mounting method must have been *critical*? Edit - the "million dollar" tweeter have a similar layout (at a very different scale) to the Allison tweeter? And it seems to have some similarities to some ring dome tweeters?
I should say that one of my favorite speakers from the 1980s was the Snell Acoustics Type E/II. 8" 2-way floor stander with excellent bass - I managed -6dB response at 32Hz. Original price was about $900/pr, though I paid a bit less because I was a regular customer at Natural Sound.
good stuff, though most of those speakers don't ring a bell, even though i'm old enough. I see Vandersteen 2c's on FB market place all the time, often wonder if it's worth picking up a pair. (I know they're still produced, but curious about an older model). Thoughts? Happy thanksgiving Ed!
Thanks for the great video I bought a pair of Boston Acoustics T1000 from American TV scratch and dent demo cabin should beat up but there are 375Dollars they worked fine I redid the cabinets my dad was a cabinet maker they turned out fantastic no grills I didn't care they kicked I don't know for about 5 years then I sold them to buy some cornwalls but anyway thanks for a great video I enjoy them very much I had too much junk Happy Thanksgiving
I had a pair of Polk Monitor 10's in the late 80's early 90's, wish i still had them. A buddy of mine bought a set of Klipsch Forte I's. I always thought I wanted a pair, but after time, i would have to listen to them first. I love love to hear your thoughts on the new Elac 3.0 speakers. I remember seeing Bose 901's in the stores alot back then. What did you think of those?
3 80's speakers that I will never forget..... have not owned, at least not yet anyways... 1) Phase Linear P530 in the Jafco audio room. Grover Washington Jr. was on the turntable. 2) JBL L220 same room, Spyro Gyra was playing. 3) Dahlquist DQM-9 in a record store.... the smell of vinyl and incense, fantastic sound in a room with a high ceiling..... will always remember these 3 in particular
Thank you! I am a Canadian, i moved to the US. I truly miss the government there and all that they did to help us in so many ways. Maybe the collaboration you speak of on the Energy series will help Americans understand that. Thank you.
My 1985 Polk SDA CRS speakers have become my most prized possession I own.
Understandable.
Epicure! I had Epi 20 plus. I loved them! They did image very well.
Also I have a pair of KEF 104.2 that I restored 2 years ago.
To get to the woofers removed 4 Allen bolts to take off mids and tweeter.
Then I used a m4 bolt and it screws it into the bottom of the speaker. That will remove the bottom access board without breaking it. Then 3 10 mm bolts hold the woofer , easy when you know how!
Remove 4 screws for the upper woofer cavity and 3 more bolts and you have the woofers removed. They did solder the connections. All my woofer bolts were loose after 30 ish years.
Most of the 104s have a buytle rubber for a surround and are usually in good shape, it’s the little donut in the center around the aluminum connecting rod that go bad. Easy to glue them on and bass will be improved! Put them back with some loctite and you will be good fora few more decades.
Great subject Ed! My favorite 80s speakers were my 1984 DCM Time Window 1As. I had them for 30 years and gave them to my nephew in 2014. They were 900 dollars which we absolutely could not afford but my wife insisted we buy them.
That was very nice of her. That's how I wound up with my Cambridge EVO150. My wife liked it have me the go ahead. We are both fortunate to have good partners. Thx
I worked in a hifi shop in the 90s and remember the 104/2. They were some serious speakers - lots of bass and a big sound (and heavy).
I have a pair of Phase Technology PC70 mk II 3-way speakers that I originally purchased in 1989. They are wonderful sounding speakers designed by William Hecht (patent holder for the soft dome tweeter). They have flat piston drivers for the midrange (5 1/4”) and woofer (10”) plus a 1” soft dome tweeter. I drive them with a combo of a NAD 3155 (purchased in 1989 - preamp section) plus a Sansui AU-317 (purchased in 1978 - amp section). I listen to them several times each week. They are not the last word in soundstage width or imaging. But, they have fantastic bass (rated down to 25 Hz) that is both articulate and punchy; mids are just a bit forward so they seem to place a spotlight on vocalists and soloists; treble is warm but still seems fully extended. They have an uncanny ability to convey vocalists’ emotions. This system is my go to for poor quality recordings, it adds the perfect amount of butter to the audio popcorn!
Are you familiar with these speakers? I would be very interested in your opinion of them. I truly believe these speakers are hidden gems that are very much under appreciated.
I remember the brand but I don't have any experience with those. Thank you for your view and comment.
Nice listing. However, nothing could eclipse the B&W 801. My pair was accurate to +/- 1.5dB, which was unheard of back in the day.
They were good for sure. Thx for tuning in.
Enjoyed the vid! The 1980s was the first decade where really good equipment from the 1980s is still "really good equipment" today. The decade which in my opinion, where audio advanced the most; in leaps and bounds. Nothing advanced more than speakers. There were so many good speakers from the 1980s. The KEF speaker you showed with the protruding seperate midrange tweeter compartment might have been influenced or copied from a speaker made in Georgia. It was a real look alike from the front with the same protruding mid/tweter section jutting out. It was the Goetz model GMS 1. I had a pair and heard them side by side, and the Goetz, which were from 1983, easily showed that the look was the only thing in common & easily bested the 104.2s. Their great crossover of the Goetz gave them an effortless transient quick quality, which reminded you of electrostatics. However, lots of what are considered the great speakers of the 1980s used KEF drivers.
The IMF Reference Standard used mostly KEF drivers. It could go down to 16 hertz in the bass, with the help of transmission line loading. Some say the best speaker of the latter 1970s & into the 1980s was the Ohm model F Walsh Driver speaker. It was designed to disperse sound 360 degrees ( just like real instruments) and sound completely seamless, not using a crossover, with the full range Walsh Driver. Would have loved to have heard it. I did get a pair of the later Ohm Walsh 2 speakers, which also sounded notably sramless; their Walsh Driver did cross over to a tweeter, but at an unusually higher frequency than usual, which got the crossover out of the vocal range.Bertagni (B.E.S.) came out with thin panel like speakers which effectively used styrofoam as its driver element. Vibrating styrofoan didn't sound bad surprisingly. Great clarity.
In the early 1980s, maybe THE best speaker of the 1980s and one of the best of all time was discontinued. after a very short run.; the Watson Labs model 10. It was designed by Dayton Wright, best known for their $7,000 electrostatics, and a TAS favorite. The Watson Labs used conventional woofers & tweeters, but was anything but conventional. It used a bipolar midrange tweeter section atop a sperate attatched woofer cabinet, which was piped full of heavier than air hexaflouride gas. Not sure if I've ever heard a better speaker to this day, or maybe even its equal. Mike Wright was a genius. Almost no chance to find one on the used market. A very expensive speaker back then, and probably THE best speaker that not many have heard of.
You mentioned the McGowan/Nudell Genesis speakers. There was another speaker company called Genesis, with less ambitously priced bookshelf speakers. They competed well versus the Large Advent speakers, as did another speaker that the same store carried, called Cizek; which were speakers designed by an acoustics expert Roy Cizek, who designed concert halls. It was the first speakers that made me realize, that my Technics SB 7000 speakers had that common Japanese coloration and lacked tone colors. The DCM Time Windows versus the Dahlquist dq10 was a tough choice back then. A rare competitor was the Clarke Systems speaker. A small bookshelf speaker which imaged great and had a much superior ribbon tweeter. The B&W 801, the version which came out around 1987/88, was amazing. Much better than the earlier 801 model, which even Levinson electronics could not make them sound open. And of course the tall Magnepan Tympani speakers were right up there with the best; a speaker that editor Harry Pearson thought had the best bass definition he had ever heard, and planar speakers are not even about bass.
I owned a few nice pieces, purchased them all used from neighbor's dad ... Pioneer SX-3800*, Pioneer CS-99, Sony TCK5, Pioneer CT-F750, Technics SL-1900*, also had a Dual turntable that belonged to my godmother and a set of Pioneer speakers she owned ... After that, sort of inherited my dad's Mitsubishi separates system, purchased some Cerwin Vegas for my DJ gig, and came to the knowledge a few years back that I had some Klipsh Heresy Mk 1 and never paid attention to them, all of these was either purchased used or passed down to me. My only new to me electronics before 1990 were a Pioneer SX-6 and a Hitachi ... Sorry, can't remember model of integrated amp, but it was a beast!
Another excellent brand of speakers that had a connection the to Canadian National Research Council is Camber.
I put a video up a month ago featuring my buddy's refurbished KEF 104.2 and they still sound is fantastic.
Jim🏴⭐
Great years the 80's for speakers,thanks for trip down memory lane.
Glad you enjoyed it
My favorites were Proac EBS's, which I owned for many years.
I carried my cherished Allison Acoustic 5’s from the midwest to both coasts. That speaker sounded great in every room I put it, with all sorts of amps. Could fill a big room, although it was really pretty small. If the grills weren’t so brittle, they would have survived all the moves.
I always thought highly of Allisons. Good speakers. Thx for sharing your experience.
Klipsch Forte’ ll. Still have em today.
I have a pair of KEF 304 series II's. They are my daily driver for my tv and music needs. They still have the original box for the metal stands. These may not be the best-known model from KEF... but I love them.
That's great. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Cool, the advents come up pretty often in my area, $200ish, sounds like I should pickup a pair, thanks Ed!
You don't need any more stuff!!
You are correct, don’t tell my wife I said that tho…
I picked up a mint condition A/D/S bookshelf speakers from a thrift store. They sound great, were they elite in their time
In my opinion they were
I owned a pair of Energy tower speakers from 1995 - 2001 i believe the model was the CF-30 and they had great sound and i really enjoyed them but like many others i eventually went the home theatre route and because i could not get matching surrounds and a centre channel speaker i sold them to a good friend, but i still miss them to this day and another pair of speakers that i had purchased in 1985 were actually quite rare they were a pair of EV interface 1 book shelf speakers that i sold when my dad was going thru cancer and i wanted to go home and spend time with him and i miss them dearly.....Once again Ed thanks for the great content as always!
Thank you
Close to the 80’s. My favorites are ESS any, Sonab, DCM time window, Bose 601’s, Boston Acoustic.
my 104/2 are still pumping fantastically i recapped them and added new tweeters a couple of years ago ,havnt heard a better speaker..
Great video....great chat...and really love how the first thing you think to explain a horseshoe is a Bugatti. Cheers from Colombia, really enjoy your videos.
Thank you.
had many kef speakers in the 80s 90s great speakers isobaric loading was a great idea .
I still use my ADS L1590 tower speakers, amazing full range sound, they have been restored correctly
I have just finished restoring a pair of KEF 104/2. Cabinet looked like they were made yesterday but inside, crossover caps, bass units, tweeters all needed repair/replacements. Not a job for the faint hearted!
Not an easy speaker to work on.
I had the 104/2 with the kube. (I also added a sub) the 104/2 REALLY woke up with a recap (cap upgrade). Remember- the FR specs you quoted for KEF were +/- 2db, not 3db like most speakers. (They provided that rating too) Conservative rating! Always liked how controlled A/R bass sounded.
@@scottlowell493 where did you get your capacitors from? I refurbished my 104 except the caps.
Can't believe you started with a pair of Advent Heritage! I've never heard anybody talk about them. I had a pair. Always thought they sounded good with any music. Sadly I blew all 4 woofers one night when I was trying to help out a friend in a local bar by playing a mix tape I made for a "Beach Party." Since I was doing it for free, she gave me the money to refoam them, which my "dear" wife did for me. After those, I went straight down the rabbit hole & bought, sold & traded vintage gear for almost 20 years.
I understand completely. Thx for watching and commenting.
Nice Video, as you told such a listing is always a very personal point of view. So what I’m missing is Quad ESL63, Celestion SL600/6000, IMF RSPM MK VIi, ProAc Tablet, 😊
Nice speakers all. Thank you for your view and comment.
I have KEFs with the Ref model 2 coaxials , great soundstage and off axis freq accuacy
The Uni-Q speakers were quite good.
I remember hearing Peter Gabriel,Shock the Monkey on Energy speakers and was amazed
What a fun trip down memory lane! I remember more than a few of them. 😊
Thanks for all the videos. Congrats on already hitting 10k.
I have the Advent Laureates. Got them for $150, but i had to refoam them. They still sound good. Very well balanced. They work with a lot of amps and make bad recordings sound better. I'm sure they would benefit from upgrades, but i wonder if they would do everything i mentioned as well. Not an issue as that's not even number 1000 on my to do list. 😅
I also have the early 80's NLA's with the fried egg tweeters and the bull nose walnut - which i also had to refoam. Still sound good as well.
Lots of deals still to be had on vintage speakers.
I succeeded in having the Nova Scotia guy rebuild by Energy tweeters. I have the original Connoisseurs (found them in a Salvation Army). Really hurt my back moving them once.
Lucky. What ever happened to him?
No idea. Too bad he has dropped off the grid.
Curious what you used as a replacement?
My 1980's line was Thiel 03A, and Ohm Walsh 4, then Legacy Audio/Real to Real "Classic".
Your videos are the bests! Your knowledge is refreshing, I lived through all these brands and wanted them all. What a cool channel, thanks so much! Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Enjoy your videos. Still using a Boston Acoustics T 830 in a second system. Originally did combine it with a 50 watt NAD receiver but that eventually stopped working. The store gave me 30 feet of 16 gauge speaker wire. Speaker cables were not considered important back then. I have tried and bought other speakers, but for vocals, I have not found anything that I like better. I think they were popular because they were a narrow floor standing speaker unlike the A series.
Can you think of any current speakers that have that slightly warm sound and solid base?
Your detailed information on these speaker models, is priceless , very refreshing.
It’s pretty neat that the Boston Acoustics Owner ,
Also Owned Epi And Epicure early on. They have an incredible sound signature.
I really like the early air spring inverted dome tweeters, combined with the natural roll off woofers .
I have a very nice condition of EPI 100s that I am selling. I just don't need them but there simple deign plus these are the earliest versions with the inverted dome tweeters on masonite with rubber surrounds have a remarkable speed, clarity and very good bass with solid construction, even when compared to my ATCs.
Great video! Of these, I had the little brother of the Advent Heritage...the Advent Laureate. Loved them! I also had the Energy C200. My end game speakers are ones the I currently own...the Gershman Acoustics Studio MkII.
Very cool!
Hi. Great video and a wealth of knowledge. Speaking of API, I bought a pair of one of their more "budget" line of speakers, the DB Plus 990. I paid $600 for them when I was a teenager back in the 80s. I still use them to this day. About 2 years ago I replaced the passive radiator and refoamed the woofer. Surprisingly the tweeters still work. I'm not sure if I love them because of how they sound or if my judgment is clouded by nostalgia.
Pretty impressed with your review of the Boston Acoustic T1000. I'm going to keep a look out for a pair. Take care.
They were very nice speakers. Thx for watching.
In the mid-90s I was going through a nasty divorce and one of my gifts to myself for getting through it was finally buying a complete system, new, from an audiophile store. When it came to speakers it came down to Mirage vs Energy. I ended up going with the Mirage partially for the looks and partially because it seemed like they had slotted what I bought in between the two lines of Energy available. I still have those Mirage but part of me wishes I'd saved up for the Energy Reference set. I know the cats would have ignored the Energy but live and learn.
Mirage almost made the list. We were Mirage dealers as well as Energy. I always like Mirage a lot. Thank you for sharing your experience and your view.
@@OldGuyHifi Personally I think they're the best value in vintage/used hifi right now. Folks have no idea what they are or they get lumped in with the crap that Klipsch sold under the Mirage name at the end. The 80s/90s Canadian-made stuff is excellent. I've seen the flagship OM-5s for $350 a pair! I need another pair of speakers like I need another hole in my head but if I came across a pair of the MRM-1s I'd have to jump for the right price.
@@tmdillon1969 It is a shame what Klipsch did to so many brands. Thx.
BTW I installed the butyl rubber surround woofers in my 104.2 biwire speakers,
Boston Acoustics, I have been hoping to stumble on a pair of B.A. speakers for sale for many years . Thanks for the video.
I still have a pair of black grand piano connoisseur with rebuilt tweeters. A gentleman from Calgary rebuilt them for me. I bought them in 1984. They replaced my B&W 802s. I thought they were a better speaker. Could image like crazy. Still do
Great speakers for sure. Thank you for your view and comment.
Bought some lightly used polk audio sda with a nad power amplifier and nad preamp it needs to be played a little loud but very rarely disappoints
I love that lamp, Ed. And thank you for the Thanksgiving Day vid. I needed the distraction. 😊
Happy Thanksgiving my friend.
ADS L980 was nice.
Hi Ed, So, which Hania Rani albums did U Buy then ? Or did u get the 'Full Set' ! ? And, did it include the new, just released ( September ) LIVE album ? Going back to our ''Spooky'' Nostalgia Theme .... Again .... Can u guess the 'Title' of said new Album ? .... ( It ain't Rocket Science ! ! ) 🥴 Have you heard the ''Vocal'' Albums yet ? 'Home' & 'Ghost's'. Assuming that U have now heard ALL of her Albums, do you have a Standout 'Fave' ? ?
Mine would be a toss up between 'Flaga' and 'Home' ... with a slight 53% to 47% advantage going to 'Flaga' 😲.... Vintage Speakers. I still have my Dad's 1985 Spendor LS3/5a's in Rosewood. Stunning. Still have original Box & Receipt .... Also have Meridian M3 Actives / Stands with the 'system' 101B Pre-Amp and matching 104 FM Tuner. Yep, it's all still in Full Working Order and sounds Brill. I have a ton of other Vintage Gear ... But, I am now an ATC Fan Girl .... All 3 of my Systems have ATC's on the end of them. But I do swap them out occasionally just for a 'Change of Sonic Character' .... Am looking forward to the BIG ITEM Review on Sunday ... Another Nice Video. ATB
Boston is a great brand. I had the T1030's for a while. Blew them up with a GFA555II and Nakamichi CD1 (cd player has a variable out, so ran it directly into the amp). My local dealer had a very good speaker trade up policy, so I was always trying different things. I had a pair of Klipsch something or other and lasted maybe a month before I traded them.
I have an idea for a video. Some subwoofers have both speaker level and RCA in/outs. Which is better?
The Boston Acoustics T1000 speakers have their crossover points at near ideal points for a 3-way. They require a big value coil on the woofers, but if you get a sintered metal core coil, you can get clean(er) bass response. I think that BA is no longer in existence - a number of their folks are in other companies now.
Frameless midranges? The cabinet and the mounting method must have been *critical*?
Edit - the "million dollar" tweeter have a similar layout (at a very different scale) to the Allison tweeter? And it seems to have some similarities to some ring dome tweeters?
Yeah. Boston is now owned by Vox. Essentially dead.
I should say that one of my favorite speakers from the 1980s was the Snell Acoustics Type E/II. 8" 2-way floor stander with excellent bass - I managed -6dB response at 32Hz. Original price was about $900/pr, though I paid a bit less because I was a regular customer at Natural Sound.
good stuff, though most of those speakers don't ring a bell, even though i'm old enough. I see Vandersteen 2c's on FB market place all the time, often wonder if it's worth picking up a pair. (I know they're still produced, but curious about an older model). Thoughts? Happy thanksgiving Ed!
They are very nice sounding speakers. As long as they are in good shape and not too expensive.
If possible, try to add audio sample in your video as well. Thanks. 😊❤
Samples are an issue as I don't want to get a copyright strike note also I don't have the right equipment to record a clip. Thx for the suggestion.
Yeah the Energy's Ref C were my dream speakers . They were so beautiful sounding. The speakers i could afford and happy with were PSB 50r.
Wonder what you think about vintage infinity speakers. I have some QBs I love.
Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of experience with them. My impressions were always positive though. Thx for watching.
ADS for the win
Thanks for the great video I bought a pair of Boston Acoustics T1000 from American TV scratch and dent demo cabin should beat up but there are 375Dollars they worked fine I redid the cabinets my dad was a cabinet maker they turned out fantastic no grills I didn't care they kicked I don't know for about 5 years then I sold them to buy some cornwalls but anyway thanks for a great video I enjoy them very much I had too much junk Happy Thanksgiving
That hilarious. America TV was a customer of mine back in the day. Thx for watching and sharing your experience.
Tannoy are the best . Tannoy Arden , SGM and also the more expensive once. Tannoy alot better than Kef and Bw801. Old Tannoy sell for alot of money
I don't have any experience with Tannoy. They were not widely distributed here in the 80s. Thanks for the view and sharing your experience.
I had a pair of Polk Monitor 10's in the late 80's early 90's, wish i still had them. A buddy of mine bought a set of Klipsch Forte I's. I always thought I wanted a pair, but after time, i would have to listen to them first.
I love love to hear your thoughts on the new Elac 3.0 speakers.
I remember seeing Bose 901's in the stores alot back then. What did you think of those?
I may be getting a pair after the first of the year. 🤞
@OldGuyHifi Cool!
I had Polk Monitor 10's also . It was all I could afford as a Dominos pizza driver, use Hafler equipment so they sounded really good!
I’m wondering if you like any other speakers than box speakers? They’re not my jam
I did own a pair of 1 ohm Apogee Scintillas for a few years.