Old school shootout: Snell A/III vs. Original B&W 801

@erik_squires +1! I agree! Snell Type A’s one of the all-time-great dynamic speakers. I first heard them at Audiocom in CT in 1977. They were driven by the GAS Ampzilla. Price was $1390/pr. Talk about value for your dollar! Several years ago I was lucky to find an original owner pair bought at Audiocom - $400 + shipping to Florida by USPS ($400). The owner had passed away and his son sold them to me. They arrived safely and remain in storage until I can find space for setup.

Audiocom also had the B&W 801 first series. As fine as that speaker was the Type A’s were even better - more holographic and dynamic. They could make the back wall vanish! This was a time when we only had LP’s for demonstration. The Philips Colin Davis/Concertgebouw Rite of Spring was indeed a sonic spectacular heard on the Snell's!

Eric,

 I had a pair of Snell type A’s. They were my first BIG high end speakers and I’m betting today’s speakers are hands down better in every way.  Although, it’s been almost 50 years since I had them, so things are a little fuzzy.

Store i managed carried the KEF 105.2 and dealer down street had Snell. We used CJ they used Apt.. we both got fantastic sound… in the war of sales to discerning listeners it was a tie……

But yes…another audio great lost way to early……

Oh and Jason,

My type A’s were driven by Hafler’s that were upgraded while I still had the Snells and then I got an Ampzilla. It was a big difference in sound. Not necessarily a better sound, but a different sound. Both sounded very good, but I ended up selling the Ampzilla and going back to the modded Hafler’s

@curiousjim

Yes and no. The drivers used in the mid and treble are a lot smoother and have better extension than the Vifa units in the Snell perhaps, and caps are MUCH better today but the hemispherical upper baffle, and high mass woofer drivers did outstanding things with the room and imaging that is rarely replicated today. In terms of dispersion and imaging, and smoothness the closest I know of today is the SF Stradivari ( I keep calling them the Amati Heritage elsehwere and I’m wrong).

However I know of no single speaker that had both the amazing imaging and the amazing bass in a single speaker.

Not to mention the illusion of height that seemed to defy the top of the speakers.

@erik_squires 

I can’t agree with you more. The A’s we’re so right for the time. After about a year, I horse traded them for a pair of Ohm F’s which were a whole different can of worms!

Collector Jason will let us know if they actually hold up.

Some day.

If he hasn't been tainted by memory.

I managed an Audio store in 1980 and we carried the Snell Line. I ordered the Snell crossover designed for the type A and bi-amped them with a Threshold Stasis ll on bass and the Stasis 3 for the upper midrange and high frequencies. Dialing in that cross over. Wow. I kick myself for not buying a pair of those and as a retailer you had an employee purchase program which enabled you to buy them at half of retail. Wish I made more money back then.

In Boston we had a radio show called Shop Talk on WBUR that was the model for the much more widely known Car Talk. It featured a psychiatrist audiophile and a physicist playing the romantic music lover vs the hard-headed objectivist. The shrink had double KLH 9s and Marantz 9s at home but the objectivist had Snell As and Apt Holman amps in vertical biamp in his home. I was present for a listening session with a mutual friend who recorded local orchestras with a Revox A77 and DBX NR, live feed to 2 channel with no compression (beside the compander).

Memorable. The source material was far superior to LPs and the speakers sounded magnificent, full bodied and tonally true. 

Modern A3?  http://szemis.nazwa.pl/type_a/index.html

I owned the A- III’s & really enjoyed them. I had a VPI turntable, Souther Linear Arm, Adcom Cross Coil cartridge, PS Audio preamp & then an Audible Illusions pre amp, Amber power amps& then a Conrad Johnson Premier Four power amp.

Then one day my brother brought over his Proac  EBS speakers ( their top of the line at that time & about the same price as the Snells) & I learned what midrange  clarity, top end extension & detailed imaging was all about!  They were the next level in those areas, just as dynamic but “faster” although did sacrifice the last half or so octave of bass to the Snells. They had the still famous & excellent today, ATC dome midrange, a new back then & very good Scanspeak tweeter & and ATC 10” woofer in a ported cabinet. Both speakers were very good & a bit different. Good times!! 

I heard the A II’s playing in a distant listenening room at a hi- fi shop many years ago and swore it was a Pianist playing a grand piano in one of the rooms.....As I walked back to the room , down the hallway , to experience the "live" performance" ...there were the Snells playing a Bruce Hornsby album on vinyl.....Wow. I couldn’t believe it. Never heard a piano sound like a real piano coming thru a speaker. Went back to the store a week later to purchase them and was told that they were sold. I couldn’t get those speakers out of my mind for the next 2 years....Was reading the classifieds in the local paper and saw an ad . Someone was selling a pair of A II’s....I called him and told him my story. He said the pair he has is the pair that I heard. He’s the guy that bought them....That’s how I got the Snells......Then moved to FL. and took those Big Bad Boys with me......Met a Doctor who also loved Hi-Fi...he just moved to the US. and had him over to listen to them......He called me two days later and said that he just ordered a pair for himself he liked them so much....I went to hear them when they came in and I was surprised he had hardly no furniture in his new place ...but the Snell’s were set up and playing beautiful music. That seemed more important to him than furniture. That's how good they are.....

this is a great thread…. @crustycoot that must have been the coolest radio show… !

As a very young audiophile, these speakers did bring out problems I'd be challenged with for the rest of my life, which is having the money, space and amplifiers to do them justice.

These were big speakers, and the bass was truly amplifier sensitive.  Affording the speakers, amp and living room at the same time would take me a very long time.

Something to be said for affordable, small footprint speakers which are amp friendly.

The III's  look just like the II's....what's the difference....

Space was never a problem for me with the Snells, as they went against the back wall ( think Roy Allison ). Unfortunately, they lacked dynamics, with every amplifier I tried them with. I was / am a dynamics freak, and also owned a pair of Lascalas at the time ( used with a pair of Janis W3s ). Pick your poison / trade offs. The 801 III were, imo, a better suited speaker for me, and loved them with Levinson amplification. However, the As were wonderful just the same. If I recall, my Leak 2075s were superior to both, again, to my ears ( after some modifications ). Enjoy, and my best ! MrD.

Space was never a problem for me with the Snells, as they went against the back wall

@mrdecibel 

Wasn't there a version of these with a rear tweeter??

Unfortunately, they lacked dynamics,

Well I don't like extra jump factor, but I will say these speakers taught me the value of good amps.  The Tandbergs were pretty famous at the time, and while not the last word in sweetness they absolutely transformed the Snells in the bass.

Eric, I had the A111s, and I remember them having the rear tweeter, which were on / off switchable. Never did care one way or the other about the rear tweeter. Away from the wall, the bass would suffer....ime.  I knew the Tandberg rep, and had some of their gear. Yes I agree with you, amazing sounding gear for the time. I actually have a Tandberg integrated amp somewhere in a closet. Last time I used it, which was ages ago, was in my bedroom as a headphone amp. Anyway, great thread ! My best, Always, MrD.

I believe the original Type A used a Becker 10" bass driver and possibly in the Type A ll as well but the Type A lll used a 12 inch bass driver in a taller cabinet. I know Peter Snell used room boundary principles gaining a 3-db. boost from the rear wall   also some gain from a down firing woofer to get the speaker to a flat response. I know when i sold them they did sound better against a back wall. Very cohesive sounding speaker but not a forward sounding. The stage seemed to be more behind the speaker than in front of them. Depends on your choice of music but i do think a lack dynamics is from sound pressure. 

@willieva 

Absolutely true that they were at least "close to the wall" speakers.

At some point Snell starts adding significant amounts of mass to the drivers as well. I'm not sure which model this came into being, but an early pre-cursor to the small Carver subs with high mass, high amp power drivers.

May have been a design change after Peter Snell passed away, i forget his name I want to say Kevin, but he is the gentleman that went to head up Revel was designing the later iterations of the Snell line of speakers. I remember a Snell model that had like a rubber flap that sat on the floor and I believe the tweeter was mounted right above where the flap attached to the loudspeaker. Strange look but they did sound pretty good. I never carried that model. Type ?  Does anyone recall that model?, it would have been a pre 80's floor standing speaker. Interesting design