A200 - should I keep?

What brand is A-200?

your dad's old speakers may be classics. Try them out! A200 - an old Advent model? I dunno; there may be some sort of identification somewhere on the back or bottom?
Bear in mind the previous application - which amps & cables were used. Synergy is everything.

KEEP THEM! I bought a pair cheap in '92 and they still sound as good or better than many of today's sub-$3K speakers. They have been my 'reference' speaker through last year's entire system upgrade, resolving differences in cables and electronics (and eventually being replaced by Thiel 2.3). I compared them to Boston Acoustic's current top-of-the-line VR-M90 @ $2700 and they sounded identical and gave a more engaging presentation to boot. (and also to various B&W, Thiel, Paradigm etc and as a minimum they were never embarrassed)

They have a near-ideal frequency balance to me, excellent HF dispersion, a very detailed midrange, very good efficiency (91dB) that can play loud too, and the huge baffle provides something of a 'canvas' for broad and reasonably precise lateral imaging. Negatives are bogus cable connections, thumpy acoustic suspension bass, they don't 'disappear' either sonically or aesthetically the way modern narrow speakers do.

These were Andy Petite's first design after he left Advent to start Boston Acoustics in 1980, and addressed his concerns of room/spkr interface (hence their shape) and weren't limited by Advent's adherence to 2-way. They cost $750/pr in '81 and were later joined by the A400 (dual 8" woofers vs 1 10") and the more popular A150, A100, etc.

They want to be near or against a back wall for best bass response (at some expense of imaging). If you like what you hear, 4 things will improve them markedly. 1) check the woofer cones - if they're the originals the surround will have rotted out by now. Boston still manufactures new woofers for the model at $120/pr and are will restore proper bass; 2) as they're tall and shallow, installing spikes make a big difference in keeping the bass from rocking the speaker back and forth blurring the imaging; 3) upgrade the electrolytic caps in the crossover to wonder caps or the equivalent for overall smoother sound; 4) replace the mid and tweeter 1A fuses with 20A so their wiring isn't bottlenecked by a hair-width wire.

I won't say these give competition to the likes of a Maggie 3.6 (duh), but for free they'll likely surprise you by perhaps sounding better than what you're currently listening to (esp after proper setup). Despite my having become addicted to my Thiels, I can't yet part with these speakers having sold all my other old equipment.

If the foam surrounds haven't been done (as per Sdecker's post), check out http://www.simplyspeakers.com/

They can do them for you, or if you're willing to try it yourself (not for the squeamish), you can buy a kit. The BA "A" series were infamous for surround rot. I've refoamed an old pair of A60s I've had since the mid-80's, and it makes a huge difference.

Then again, I'm not of the opinion these qualify as "classics", just good speakers from the mid 80's that are worth a surround-job.

Keep the A200s! I have gone the way of high end bookshelf speakers(Dynaudio) I ended up keeping the A200s because I found over the long haul with every kind of music they sounded better than the bookshelf Audience 52s(Dynaudio) Less tiring to listen to because overall they are not as detailed. I listen to them through my Tandberg 3009A monoblocks (180 watts per side) and a tandberg 3008A preamp with a Rega table and Shure cartridge. Synergy is everything. I think people should take a closer look at some of the early 80s etc... speaker designs and audio components. The newer stuff is just great, but sometimes not as good over a broad range of music. (Especially analog)

Cheers,
Nocaster.

Another option for refoaming the old woofers is http://www.wooferrepair.com/ They sell repair kits that come with how-to videos.