Vintage speakers from legends to unknown .ranked by me
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- Опубліковано 10 гру 2024
- Here I discuss and rank 12 vintage speakers and one modern speaker .
They are
beovox s 75
spender bc1
paralab
monitor audio ma4
beovox 3000
beovox 3800
rogers ls35a
bowers and Wilkins dm4
lac debut 2.0
monitor audio 252
beovox cx100
Kef cantor
KEF coda
Well Kelvin
I totally agree with your choices ! Those speakers ( BC1 and LS3/5s) are both considered the finest speaker ever built !I own both ! There are a few worthy amazing speakers out there namely Rogers Studio 1’s ; Celestion SL6’s ; Rogers LS7’s ; Harbeth HL monitors ! These offer many similar musical enjoyment. I’m the lucky owner of these too!
Quad Electrostatic.... BBC Tannoy monitors.. General Electric 8 Foot Exponential Horns etc
I agree, good choices, I have a set of Rogers LS6 I'm not sure I can part with as they are the first one made off the line, serial numbers st001a and st001b, which is extremely rare and I've never found the first of any of them I've had. They also sound pretty much perfect.
I have the LS 3/5a and they are delicious little speakers.
No vintage monitors :( I went for Dali menuet se . Goodmans xb25 and xb 45 dm4s and a nice pair of castle clifton oh and mission 730 mk1 . All the rest is no older than 10 years ..
Kelvin, what a fantastic review of vintage speakers. Cannot wait for the next video.
My God, it's a monster, marathon speaker test from maestro Kelvin. Strap in, belt up, it's going to be one helluva ride!
As always entertaining, informative and matter of fact. Just excellent. I love the lava lamps, Will Robinson and the robot, Taxi Driver - all photos are as entertaining as your review. God bless you Kelvin
appreciate the feedback thanks K
Another brilliant, informative video Kevin. I feel more confident now when searching to purchase vintage speakers, armed with your insightful knowledge, that I can get the sound I am looking for.
never actually possessed I mean they have special qualities
Great tour of a wonderful array of vintage speakers. I learned a lot listening to your commentary. I think you’re far more eloquent on the topic of speakers versus the topic of amps. Just my honest opinion.
I like the videos. Problem is, accross the pond here, I’ve never heard any of these! It’s great to hear your descriptions all the same
I loved this one Kelvin. Very good comparisons. Top work
kelvin, i love your review style. it's interesting how you break it down by the drivers. i wish we had someone in the states who could do something similar. because of you, i've come to realize that many of the speakers i like have paper cone woofers and silk dome tweeters. all the speakers, that you review are somewhat rare here. we got some b&o speakers back in the day but they usually were sold as part of a whole b&o system. old kef's are pretty rare here and the others very rare. we have tons of old advent, bose, ohm and infinity. on the high end, we got jbl and klipsch.
LNB Paralab 20’s. I bought a new pair of those in 1971 from AT Labs in Enfield. £72. Paired with my Armstrong 521 amplifier. Excellent. Thanks for showing me these again Kelvin😊.
Oh and you didn’t give them your score out of 10 😂.
with right amp parlays are king
Brilliant video Kelvin. Love my Spencer & Dorothy BC1s.
I know nothing about you sir. But you delivered an interesting and truly subjective review. I watched till the end. Well bloody done! This from Vancouver Island BC Canada. Cheers!
thanks from :London
Brilliant video again..
Thank u
I just got DM 4S after this video.
Nice work! tighten the bass driver screws for sure
Loved the video Kelvin great reviews of some classic speakers 😊
🙋♂️KELVIN…THANKS FOR THE REVIEW AND I LOVE ❤️ YOUR LAVA LAMPS💚💚💚
Brilliant as always kelvin 👍
Another great video from Kelvin! And perfectly timed, I was actually looking for a thin speaker to fit in a particular place, and there it is, The B & O CX 100 which I knew nothing about. I have actually bought a pair and am really looking forward to trying them out when they arrive. Thank you!
Great you can get the special hooks on eBay. The originalb and o are like £50 and the reproduction ones are less than £30 a pair.
They arrived, and they sound great especially for voices. Happy!
@@TonyCottrell-iv2qv nice one
What a cracking video-really loved this 😊😊
Nice cross section of speakers Kelvin! I wish we had access to many of these on this side of the pond, I would love to add many of them to my collection. Cheers!
Great collection and comparisons. I got my DM4s on your recommendation and I've added a subwoofer which fills out the slightly lacking bass nicely without overwhelming the sweet mid and top end. Thanks again Kelvin.
What Model sub did you end up getting?
@jeffk2503 Klipsch R120 SW. It took a bit of experimenting to get the low pass to merge to my liking (around 60Hz) and I use the gain control to adjust as it is connected to a tape out on the receiver. Probably sounds similar to a BC1 now!😉
Should've gone earlier b&w and found a pair of DM 2 or dm2a's, oodles of bass 👌🏻😅
And was expecting a cowboy style shoot out😂
Very interesting collection.
0:29 Kef Coda 6/10
1:59 Beovox 3800 7/10
3:34 Elac debut 2.0 db6.2 ??/10
4:48 Kef Cantor 5/10
6:23 Beovox 3000 7/10
8:30 ParaLab ??/10
10:44 Bowers & Wilkins DM4 8.5/10
11:56 Beovox cx100 6.5/10
15:16 Monitor Audio MA4 8/10
17:30 Rogers LS35a 9/10
19:48 Monitor Audio 252 ??/10
21:15 Beovox S75 7.5/10
24:33 SpenDor BC1 9/10
thanks
Nice review, i own a pair of b&w dm2a, love the built quality and the bass (transmission line) the tweeter and super tweeter look a lot like the ones in the spendor. Drive them with a Luxman receiver R1500.
great video kevin lovedvthespeaker review
Hi Kelvin!
Transmission line speakers are making the difference!
I own a pair of IMF’s Reference Standard Professional Monitors mk iV and I never never never heard bass like these speakers produce even in today’s high end products!
A review from you would be a real joy!
Cheers from Greece 🇬🇷
I’ve had a few of the speakers in your video and agree fully with your assessment, I really loved my paralab 40 but I got a pair of rega ela mk1 deluxe and these are amazing and retired the paralabs along with a few other pair mate keep a look out they can be picked up for peanuts.
Thanks Kelvin, great video as per. Have you ever tried the Beovox CX100s paired with the Cona sub speaker that was an option at the time? I added the Cona to my C75 speakers (the C75s were replaced by the CX100s, but are essentially the same I believe) and I'm really happy with the overall sound that the three speakers give. The Cona is an unusual piece of kit and I would love to hear your take on it. All the best.
thanks interesting
I know you already did a separate video for each of these speakers, but I would like to hear some of your thoughts when you compare them directly, like Beovox S 75 vs Beovox 3800 or Spender BC1 vs Bowers and Wilkins DM4 etc.
Thank you for your all the knowledge I got from your videos!
Thanks for another insight into your hifi journey Kelvin, always a pleasure to watch. I can certainly agree on listening distance for the LS3/5As. I use a pair as part of my desk system, mounted on heavy wall mounted TT shelves for a nearfield set up. If I lean forward from my chair I can touch them quite easily, so maybe 4ft away while listening, which is probably pretty close to their original design parameters. At this distance they produce what can only be described as Stereo Laservision (Laserhearing?). At 8ft or more they're less than inspiring to say the least.
I've tried that kind of setup with a variety of smaller speakers and some fairly mundane boxes can sound surprisingly good to my less than perfect ears. Perhaps due to a lack of reflected sound?
Kudos for a look at the TLs, a design I'll always have a soft spot for.
Love this channel. Dangerous viewing though.
Thank you for showing all this vintage stuff, so many good speakers.
I own a pair of IMF Professional Monitor speakers, and I love the transmission line design.
Still looking for the perfect amplifier for these speakers.
always wanted them
Learnt so much, thanks.
Kelvin .............. I like your videos ..... keep up the good work
@Kelvin, Nice review of speakers from across the pond! Well, at least most of them. You ended up getting me very interested in the Rogers LS3/5s speakers. However, I was shocked to see the prices on those! Omg, they average from $2000 to $3000! Naw, that's way out of my price range. Not sure what the Spendor speakers go for. They are a bit big, but probably will not need a subwoofer. One speaker from here (US), the Elac, I was kind of surprised that you didn't like them. Many here do, but I have heard they do have a subdued upper mid to high end. Being older and having a bit of high end hearing loss, I definitely prefer a brighter speaker. I know you love for B&O speakers, and the jury is out for me on those. B&O electronics though, just plain suck, and they are nearly impossible to work on. Definitely a troll company that made expensive junk! Speakers though, it did look like they used good drivers. Not sure how good the cabinets are, as they look very thin walled. But, their crossovers are definitely garbage. One would have to redo those. Anyway, that was a very entertaining and informing comparison. Keep up the great work!
Loved it. Took me right back to when my ears worked properly lol
I decided to check out the big 'E' shopping place for vintage KEF and other British speakers. There are some nice deals, and it's often difficult to assess the overall condition of 40 year old speakers until they arrive at your home. Ten years ago much lower prices made collecting more fun.
Kelvin - love it that you do this pissed
Best bargain in speakers is definitely the acoustic energy aegis one and the ae100 series. Mind the B&W dm610i are excellent. Mordaunt short ms202 about the most underrated speakers. They were slated and are actually very good speakers indeed. So musical and enjoyable
Mind the B&W dm610i are excellent
---------------
Agree. Do you know what reason? Because they are successors of B&W Matrix 2 Series 2.
@ I’m not sure to be honest. Matrix were superb but they refined the details. B&W have gone down the route of making fairly average sounding speakers in the budget range now compared to what they used to be like
@@23chilled DM600 serie was released straightaway after Matrix serie. The tweeter looks like 100% the same in 610i and Matrix serie 2(serie 1 had a silk tweeter). The 8 inch woofer also seems the similar. The same approximately the size of the cabinets. I see that the DM600 serie is simplified Matrix...
Have you had a Matrix speakers? I am interested in comparison impressions beetwen thesse two.
@ I’ve not had the matrix series no but if I come across some at the right price hands down I’m not hesitating. Sir Kenneth Grange got involved in the matrix series as you might have known. R.I.P he died back in July and not seen much in way of recognition his involvement with B&W unless I missed 60 minutes
Superb video Kelvin. Im currently using Yamaha ns1000 & Imf tsl50. Im really enjoying them. Is there any speaker 70s or new thats on your wish list?
I'd like you to try the IMF RSP MK IV. They are big, have KEF bass and midrange and Celestion HF and Ultra HF speakers and need a lot of power. I never heard such an airy low bass, mids and highs are just sweet. In the 1980s I had alot of experience by building these speakers myself.
I own a pair in mint condition.
You are telling the real truth!
No speaker sounds like the rspms, not even the today’s high end products
Wish I could find a pair to buy in the UK.
If we talk about vintage speakers in Europe, then they will be mainly German - Canton, Braun, Heco, Telefunken etc. English ones do not happen so often. I don't know if this is good or bad. but some Cantons and Braun are considered top notch
yes just haven't heard enough of them I would love to
Braun Output C vs the Beanos, Mr K@@stereoreviewx
A brilliant trip down memory lane courtesy of the best subjective reviewer we have.
This was a great one. What would you give the Beovox 3700?
Kelvin got a lot of speakers but best set are the Sendor's SP 2/3 .They just sound SO good
I'd love to know what you think or thought of the "B&W DM'70" ("improved" or not version) the curvy fronted continental or the first flat rectangular version, same internal volume & units. It's 1 of the only speakers I know of that B&W made unchanged.. (i.e. the curved 'continental" version only) ..for Sony in Japan who stuck the Sony badge on it. I'd read how B&W apparently sold fewer than expected here & more worldwide & accordingly lost money on making them until 1970'ish when they stopped it's production after a short time (for such a radically different, large & heavy B&W speaker) I have a pair which did fully work after I re-foamed both of their 13" inch (!!, yes) woofer's foamed edges, (far easier than I imagined, tho 12" foams didn't quite overlap onto the chassis enough so I had to order an old American speaker's 14" woofer's re-foam kit who's size did suit the B&W 13" inch woofers well. But so much bass overwhelmed me a bit too much in my not-small & =y not massive living room. Not given up on them, I read online their bass overwhelmed others without a hall or v.large living room. An L-pad impedance retaining resistor before the woofer may bring them back in line?? theoretically at least without changing the top e/stat's section's x-over point?? (of 350'htz I'd read) Only their bass was a bit "too much" making Johnny Cash's voice sound like a huge chested giant's, cello's were a bit too overblown, upright bass louder than normal but tuneful with it, they got something I heard in them that sounded very good indeed, if I can get that goodness out of my "continental" version's but with less relative volume of "bass Vs all other frequencies" 1 guy online replaced his with 8" woofers but he has the flat baffled rectangular version, mine with the curved bass baffle has appropriate strangely curved woofer chassis to fit tight to it's inward curving baffle inside, so i cant do the same. (i'm trying to recover from mourning the loss of 1 of my 15" Tannoy D.C. drivers, that started rumbling to destroy the sound of the pair. I still got em but sure do miss their sound.
Those B&O have nice drivers! I think a little more thought with the crossover, they would have been a great speaker for any system.
The Monitor Audio needs to have that tweeter grille removed..Its a silk diaphram so its not especially vulnerable to damage as opposed to a titanium dome..sounds a lot better without the metal mesh..You might need some small washers to make up the difference due to the plastic frame not being there any longer..
Good selection of speakers Kelvin, just wondering if you could get hold of some 70's Goodmans speakers..the RB range I remember especially the "20"s they where around ninety bucks in 1978 and I had them in a photo studio and sounded pretty good to my tender ears back then. Thnxs for the review as Always, Cheers, Kelvin.
My BC1's are 45 years old and still sound great.
i bet
That "big midrange" that sometimes sounds too forward on the KEF 8" B200 drivers is a coloration typical of bextrene cones. It was known as the "bextrene quack" as it does appear to have a quacky sound. Few companies addressed it in their crossovers but the ones that did were KEF themselves in their 104ab and 103.2. Also Tangent in their model TM1... who did so thorough a job of EQing out the quack that the mids sound a bit lean and reticent. Nonetheless a very smooth, clear driver. Female voices have a highly polished smoothness (like crystal) which is a unique quality of bextrene that I don't hear with other woofer materials.
Bextene BTW is trade name for a vulcanized, layered composite. There is no such material as bextrene.
One of the best vintage speakers in my humble opinion > Monitor Audio MA3 from around the mid 1970s .
Great to see you Kelvin, get yourself some Grundig and Telefunken if you haven’t already!
I did have an early Grundig receiver 40 years ago I loved it
I do rate them
@@stereoreviewxmeant to refer to speakers here sorry! Try a combination of a V7000 amp or an R7500/7200/7150 receiver with speakers Box850a professional you’ll be amazed. Must be pretty cheap also.
How about some Harbeth Kelvin surely a fine example of British classic speakers for detail & midrange honey sound. Best Ritchie
Great Collection i remember most of these, i worked in an hifi shop in the 80s. They all have one thing in common, ugly front baffles!! for small speakers i had AR18s great for there size!
Fine speaker review sir the dyanco a25 is still being used here and it's fine.
yes 25 s share drivers with some of these spas sure they sound great
Great stuff! It seems that KEF B and T units still rule.
Yes it’s got to be said the bextreen cone on was such a winner
Interesting as always, but what are your thoughts on electrostatic speakers?
Hello I really like your little poster sayin WAKE UP AMERICA indeed we are going down hill faster than rolling lol now would you please provide us some info about T+A speakers and receivers. Thanks
??
Hi Kelvin have you ever heard the B&W dm17? Of yes, could you share a word about them?
Exellent video as always. Kelvin, What is your current favorite amp for ls 3/5a? Regards from Poland :)
well it sounds crazy but I always love Sansui 331 rogers combo
@@stereoreviewx what a suprise ;) I have 331 and I love it too. I own it few years (I bought it based on your review). Currently I connect 331 with falcon's ls 3/5a (silver badge). For my taste I think that amp more linear, with more power and without coloration will be better suit for ls 3/5a so I think about Sansui AU 317 or something similar
My current speakers , most old Marantz, Dali ,Mordaunt short, Tangent, and Dick Smith. All different.
If you like vintage speakers:
Celestion 66
Yamaha NS1000m
AR3 or derivatives
My favourites (second 2 dependant on amp).
Try the Snell type e, the 3 in particular, should top those mentioned, depends on preference. Also the flagship dynaco a50 is an amazing speaker.
@@JukeboxAlley I don’t think there are many speakers on the planet that can expose the sound of your audio (down to about 45hz) like the Yamaha’s. This is of course a potential negative attribute. They are phenomenal with valves - provided a reasonably powerful amp (don’t bother with SET).
Also there aren’t that many speakers that reproduce deep bass like the AR 12 inch woofer (given a hugely powerful amp than can handle the load). I’d quite like to try running a pair as subs for my Yamaha’s. They are still extremely potent.
Jacob Jensen put together allot of great loudspeakers.
Vintage Tannoy 15" concentric driver w/ super tweeter sitting on top and vintage rel storm lll sub
hooked to a Conrad Johnson Premier 10 Pre and CJ Premier 11a tube amp...you will never get ear fatigue, very natural and pure🎶😁
I can her it in my head now sounds beautiful
No rogers LS6? Interesting. I have those at the time, would be hard to part with as their the first ones made, serial numbers st001a and st001b which ill probably never find the first of any british classic again, like a needle in a haystack, and unsure of the actual value of this particular set them being the first set of those produced so wouldnt know how to price those if i decided to sale anyway. I like them better than the proacs ive had before and the lss/5a, but i like those all fine as well. Anyway, great video, keep em comin!
No Epos? Kelvin you disappoint me! 😁
It's a shame you don't do a review on Richard Allan RA8 or the monitor 80,s.
Very nice one. Thanks A lot!
The latest version of that Elac is getting very good reviews.
well part of me is saying hear we go again
but I will reserve judgment
Kelvin have you ever tried horn speakers a review would be great totally agree with your choices other than the royd sinatra as an inclusion
I'd no idea KEF had been going so long. Which decade has the best sounding gear?(I have 90s missions that wipe the floor with modern equivalents)
Can you check some german speakers from 60, 70.. grundig, braun , saba... I think those are nice too, some of the models... and not expensive like english clasic boxes..
thanks
Great, thank you! 👍
It was Spencer Hughes that created Spendor speakers.
2 pairs of leak sandwich 600 speakers works very very well for me. I drive them with a sansui au 717.
Leak sandwich 600s
Any recommendations from this list for speakers to suit a Pioneer sx-980?
I currently have Mission 720
big speakers
Norway is Seas, Vifa is from Denmark
thanks
Ahhh a man after my own heart, I've a few favourites I swap in and out, b&w dm2a, Monitor Audio MA 1 especially at the moment, have plenty of others I can't seem to get rid of
TDL RTL 2
Acoustic Energy aegis evo one
Visonik David 8001's
Goodmans magnum k2
Mordaunt short pageant 2's
Rigonda Bolshoi speakers from Latvia
Sony APM-22ES
B&W D5
I'm sure there's more laying around 😅
You are the Keith Richard of the hifi world, congrats
No wharfedale?
Or acoustic research
Or tannoy
Or celestion
How about HPM's....?
What abaut beovox s45-2?
Very good speakers
Wow that was like The Generation Game, do I get to keep all the speakers I can remember?
Class review 😊
Just as well that you didn't have Coda II, my first speakers, and to say the least, they weren't the finest KEF's.
Apologies for the dreaded grocer's apostrophe. I am annoyed that I didn't spot it before it was too late to edit, but much more annoyed at autocorrect.
Do you guys have Cerwin Vega in the UK? I you dont see those brands in the US. I'd like to koww your opinion of the Cerwin Vega VS 120 - 3 way 12 inch ported woofers had them since 93 - never heard a nicer , richer speaker.
there are some but not common
11:45. Bass light. I can see the foam fill plugging the port. Move that away from the port and you will gain bass
I think they are all like that.
I might try that myself.
Its a very loose wool.. that falls down from the top
why there is no Tannoys reviewed ?😢
Wharfedale Meltons - don't judge me!
Have you tried blocking the ports on the lec? What you're saying sounds it might give it an improvement especially in the low mid-range. Try it out let me know
yeah I could tell with the kefs there's a design issue going on there. With the size of the vocal coil of the woofer and the small tweeter is just wrong they don't make good partners that's why it Sheltie going up too high! A larger tweeter going up one and a half inch would have been a better choice marriage. Allowing the tweeter to to go a bit lower and rolling off the top end of the woofer would have sorted it out. I mean it's possibly you could change the crossover slightly with a different type of capacitor and inductor to smooth it off! but at the end of the day you're better off probably with a better woofer or full range driver
No Mordaunt Shorts? 💔
Where would the ar18hj be in your list?
I'm intrigued. Why did you include the Elac 6.2 Debut? All the other speakers are probably 20 - 30 years old whereas the Elacs are probably only around 6 years old. It's not that you even like them. It's almost as if you are trying to say, without any sense of subtlety, 'they don't make 'em like this anymore'.
Don't get me wrong Kelvin, I'm not defending the Elacs myself but I am curious.
Well, I was literally reviewing every Speaker I had at the time
@@stereoreviewx My other half would go nuclear if she found all those in the house. I have, however, got a pair of Celestion UL6 which she doesn't know about - yet.
Any recommendations for a sub with the Rogers speakers?
I use AB1s - there is some debate about how these should be used - I use them as they were designed under the LS3/5as - same bass unit as the LS but in a ported box. Adds the bass to the mix - some like it, some don't!
On the other speakers, I have had almost every B&O speaker of this generation.The S75 I found to have a quite uncontrolled bass - great as a student for parties but the S45.2, a smaller speaker gave better and more controlled bass. I do still have a pair and also the top of the range M100.2s (being repaired as I type). Much more controlled bass than the S75s and a great speaker.
Great comparisons, surprised no vintage Tannoy in your hifi collection? Vintage Tannoys are a bit like an old pair of slippers......you know they are old and probably a bit past their best but the fit and comfort are perfect.....and a new pair of slippers will be poorer quality and made in China.
Byron .?
Lava lamps!
Hey K :-) So many speakers, are you an hoarder? haha. There are way to many variations in how one hears music from a defect to injury to being exposed to really loud sound for long periods. For example; the brain of any man married more than ten years definitely filters out female vocals. ;--D. Cheers Big Ears!
Kef cantata?
Yes, but they came a bit later
Carelli, that’s one I forgot
@@stereoreviewx 1976 I think. Got a set. Big, heavy but definitely worth a review
👍🌟👍
Only uk speakers ?
just what happens in London