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

@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.

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.

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.

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

@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.