At the this summer's Capital Audio Fest in DC, I thought the two best sounding rooms were a modern and a vintage room---polar opposites really. One had Wilson Sashas driven by the D'Agostino solid state amps. The other had Western Electric/Jensen field coil speakers driven by electronics using Western Electric transformers and other vintage parts. Hearing Peter McGrath's uncompressed recordings in the Wilson room was a real treat; they had a spooky transparency and natural detail that seemed awfully close to "real" in my book. However, ordinary CDs in the vintage room also sounded "real" although lacking the frequency extremes and dynamics of the Wilson setup.
Overall, I would have chosen the vintage system for smaller scale acoustic music at medium volume levels. The midrange just sounded right to me. But with orchestral music at realistic volumes, I would choose the modern room. Fortunately, I didn't have to choose (I forgot to bring my checkbook.....)
In my own system, I have a similar choice between modern speakers (Spendor SP-100) and homemade speakers using vintage Jensens and Altecs. Each speaker favors a different amplifier. On most days, I prefer the sound of the Jensen/Altec speakers using my single-ended 46 amps, as opposed to the Spendors using Emotive Audio Vita tube amps. But who knows, tonight I may prefer the Spendor/Emotive combination. In any case, I would certainly not dismiss vintage speakers as a group for being too colored or for any other reason. Some vintage speakers are capable of excellent sound by any measure.
Overall, I would have chosen the vintage system for smaller scale acoustic music at medium volume levels. The midrange just sounded right to me. But with orchestral music at realistic volumes, I would choose the modern room. Fortunately, I didn't have to choose (I forgot to bring my checkbook.....)
In my own system, I have a similar choice between modern speakers (Spendor SP-100) and homemade speakers using vintage Jensens and Altecs. Each speaker favors a different amplifier. On most days, I prefer the sound of the Jensen/Altec speakers using my single-ended 46 amps, as opposed to the Spendors using Emotive Audio Vita tube amps. But who knows, tonight I may prefer the Spendor/Emotive combination. In any case, I would certainly not dismiss vintage speakers as a group for being too colored or for any other reason. Some vintage speakers are capable of excellent sound by any measure.