All Pre 1970 Vintage speakers suck! Prove me wrong

@lion 

Radio Shack Mach 5.

Game over.

@doyle3433 

"I have an International Projector Corp. 1940's horn and folded cab I rescued from an abandoned adult theater."

They were probably selected for the theater due to ther female voice accuracy and dynamic range.  Extended, passonate female performances probably had many in the audience reaching for the Kleenex box..

@jhnnrrs 

My comment was intended to be a not-so-serious post on a not-so-serious subject.  Sometimes I miss the mark.  I'll try to do better next time.

@mrdecibel 

I stand corrected on the model#.  Thanks for noticing.  As a vintage/modern speaker "mod'r" I am not surprised that you've obtained good results with your internal upgrades.  I found that many vintage drivers can be quite "musical" when components in the single path are removed/upgraded that degrade sound quality.

7 years ago we strolled into a gift shop in Fairhope, AL. We were immediately greeted with a smooth, balanced, engaging sound quite unique in the "gift shop" world of "musical wallpaper". The sound revealed the complexity of the music. Not too bright. Not too boomy. Just right.

I got a glimpse of boxes hanging on the wall, my curiosity got the best of me and moved in closer for inspection. You just can’t blame a compass for pointing north? And, there they were, grilles removed -- AR3as. I noticed a large silver-faced something behind the counter driving them but couldn’t make out the model#. The person on duty that day mentioned the owner was an "audiophile".

We visit the area about once per year now. I always stop in for a "wellness check" on the old ARs. In the world of musical wallpaper, they are a Rembrandt hanging on the wall.

I think we need to define the "term" vintage in a generic sense. Perhaps: "Products that represent good examples of those offered during a prior period of a rapidly expanding culurtal adoption of a product or category?"

Another aspect we need to acknowledge is that speakers were (and still are) referred to as "speaker systems." Raw drivers, dividing networks, cables, cablnets, terminations, etc. make up the system. Technology has evolved in all the above. We can "pop the hood" (or, raise the bonnet for UK members) and observe that we’ve made major strides in the decades following the developmnet of those "vintage" speakers. We may find that the technology/performace of the raw driver(s) in the system may be an "8" out of 10 on current caliper of performance for their driver type. We may find that the "other stuff" inside the box is a "3" out of ten on today’s scale, with the total "speaker system" performing at a "6.2" on the 10 scale. Applying "never thinking" inside the box may get us to a solid "8" without changing the raw drivers or effecting the esthetics of the speaker. The ability to "revert back to stock" is a viable consideration. So, don’t whack away at things indiscretely, and keep those OEM parts around. Who can predict the future value of a highly collectable example of original vintage audio gear?

We’ve performed a good number of "vintage" audio upgrades. I’ve been asked to "improve the performance" of speakers that, to put it mildly, were not in my Top 10 of desirable speakers. After "doing what we do", I’ve found myself setting between a pair of speakers that I wouldn’t have taken as as gift in their stock form, and actually enjoying the music, reaching for "one more demo cut" to listen to during an extended evaluation session.

Conclusion: The overall design and raw drivers of vintage speakers can be quite good, if you’re willing to just open them up and let them play.