Recommendations for Vintage Speakers


I’m currently looking to put together a vintage system and am wondering what a good pair of full range, floor standing speakers would be. They would be powered by a Pioneer SX-1250. I listen to a very wide range of music, a lot of live Grateful Dead, Classic Rock, Metal, But also enjoy Jazz and even a little Big Band music once in a while. Thanks for your help!
128x128bigjohn9095
From your listening tastes, it appears you want a combination of "Punch" and delicacy.  RnR bass, with clean extended treble.   Not an easy accomplishment using vintage speakers.

A budget was not mentioned.

I would recommend:

Larger floorstanding ADS
JBL L110, L112. L150, L220, L300
Polk 10B
AR 11, AR12, AR91, AR92, AR58s ("s" has a dome midrange, other versions do not).   I would stay away from AR3/3/5 series as you will likely burn out the tweeter when listening at realistic levels.

Altec VOT or derivative (if you have the space)
   Hi , my .02 . Hi currently have Klipsch Heresy II’s and JBL 4312a’s . Both are between Lousy and Mediocre. I bought them on a Vintage kick , like you’re doing . The Jbl ‘s Sound pretty decent with about a hundred tube watts per Chanel . One member suggest the Klipsch KLF’s , nice speakers if you brace the cabinets and improve the crossovers . A pair of Tannoys would be fabulous, but expensive. My suggestion would be Bob Crites Cornscalla’s . Large ported cabinet , 15” woofer , and a retro design with a makeover. You could have them in a dark walnut stain with dark blue grill covers . Or do them in a light maple with tan retro tweed cloth grills , or no grills . They would match up well with your amp . BTW , I tried a Sansui 7070, 9090, and a Modwright KWI 200 with both the Heresy’s and the JBL ‘s . My little Klipsch KG 1.5’a sounded sweeter than both ! I recently gave my Marantz 2223 and the KG’s along with a Schiit Bifrost to my son . And the Sansui 7070 and the Heresy’s go  to my daughter next month for her new condo . They’re happy , I’m happy . Now I just need to part with the 4312’s and the 26” Sound Anchor stands I had built . Cheers , Mike .

jtgofish..

I wish I could have  spent more time with them or had a rep drop them by our store to listen to them a few days.. The other speaker I was curious about listening to was the Linn Isobarik.

Haven't read the whole thread, so sorry if this has been suggested already, but how about being inspired by the recommendations of Jeff Day:

I should mention that while you can go balls-out-crazy building exotic versions of high-performance Altec's, you can also get great results at affordable prices too. 

Take for example the Altec A7 Voice of the Theatre loudspeakers, which you can get a beautifully restored pair for around $3500 USD from Gary Fischer, and then have Pete Riggle build a pair of his inexpensive Hiraga-style crossovers for them (around $1000 USD if I remember correctly).

The combination will crush any of the current "high-end" speakers I've heard anywhere near the price, or double the price for that matter, in terms of musicality and the sheer fun factor of their live-like presence, not to mention the personal satisfaction of owning a classic pair of loudspeakers.


https://jeffsplace.positive-feedback.com/altec-dreams-and-what-sweet-dreams-they-are/
I second the snell type A recommendation. Effortless sound that just fills the room in a way I haven’t heard from many speakers. Need a large room.