Love the "old school" speakers of late, updated of course with modern drivers and crossover designs, and the knowledge of how to properly brace a cabinet for little (if any) resonances.
I still don’t understand why Steve Gutenberg didn’t like the KLH Model 5 good enough to do a review of them. Most other reviewers (and owners) have liked them just fine.
My current main speakers are vintage recapped AR-9, but I’m thinking of replacing them with something along the lines of the JBL L-100 Classic which would really be more sized to my listening space in the living room. Are the JBL worth roughly 2X what the Model 5 are? Not sure. A subwoofer is probably required with either one, at least for Electronica/Prog Rock.
I know the general idea these days is that narrow baffle speakers image better, so there is that, but as the old saw goes, "there’s no replacement for displacement", and that can be true even if you don’t listen crazy loud.
While narrow towers and bookies blend in with a room, old school speakers make a statement to anyone visiting that you are "serious" about stereo. LOL.
Are you interested in the new generation of "old school" design loudspeakers?
So is Danny Richie of GR Research. Though known for his open baffle loudspeaker and subwoofer designs, as well as narrow baffle sealed loudspeakers, Danny has received in for analysis and possible upgrades a number of the new "old school" design loudspeakers that have been recently introduced by the likes of KLH. Being a good businessman, he obviously realized he could offer his own version of such a design, free of the "problems" he found in those of others.
In this 30 minute video Danny discusses the design of his newest offering: the "Brute". Even if you’re not interested in this specific topic, you may find the video of value in general loudspeaker terms. He has made many other videos, all addressing either a specific topic, or a specific loudspeaker. There are easy to find: Go onto YouTube and do a search for GR Research.
To dispel any suspicions, no, I am in no way affiliated with Danny Richie and/or GR Research, other than being a very satisfied customer.
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Moonwatcher - The new JBL 100's are better than the originals - I've heard both although not side by side w/ the same sources. They're still well made by a legendary, quality company. That said, if you're looking for big dynamic room filling sound that is also detailed w/ nice imaging, you might try the Volti Audio Razz. Its a modern version of old school technology w/ high quality horn loaded midrange & tweeters, ported 12" woofer in a very well made cabinet w/ a high quality crossover. It's a bit more expensive that the JBL's but better in every way whether you like classical or rocking out. They're sold direct from Volti so going to one of the shows is probably your best bet to hear them but may be worth it. |
@jonwolfpell the Volti Audio Razz are beautiful. Those finishes are amazing. I'd love the Natural Ash. A bit out of my price range so I’d probably settle for the JBL L-100. (Which I think were on sale a while back for $4000/pair). But yes, I’d love an opportunity to hear those Razz and how they compare sonically...how well the horns do and how smooth they are voiced. At 90 lbs. each they must be built like a tank so I bet the cabinets have no resonances at all. |
Sort of off topic, but my perspective here is of a headphone only audiophile. There is virtually no headphone equivalent of this discussion, since the design sophistication of high-end headphones has just recently exploded such that there have been really big improvements in the technology. Also in IEM design. There is not much of any "old school of classic products" in this design area going back more than 10 or 15 years or so. There is the general feeling that the latest technology in planar magnetic headphone designs are in fact drastically better than in the past, and the oldest "old classics" are designs like the Sennheiser HD800 ring driver series. The latest big thing in headphone (and IEM) design is the use of the Heil driver air motion transformer technology, which I think is a true breakthrough. Another big difference is the great difficulty or impossibility in the hobbyist refurbishing beat-up old headphones and IEMs, or in modifying them with new drivers, etc. That just isn't generally practical in this area of audio. So it is unfortunately apparent that headphone audio offers less than loudspeaker audio in the way of direct participation in engineering and modification and refurbishing, in getting intimately involved in the hobby. In my opinion the major advantage of headphone systems is that they can offer sound quality in $10,000 to $15,000 systems better than speaker-based systems up in the $100,000 region, with the important exception of natural imaging and sound staging, where speaker setups always have the advantage. As they say, life is a series of tradeoffs.
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