Can speakers of a certain high caliber can ....


can be bested by all these new guys saying they had a speaker that better than what's available. It is getting harder to believe. My own could use a good updating, but that's a singular instance. People still shell out money for golden age speaker's like the JBL Hartsfield. Admmitedly There is a collector element that plays a role in that
mechans
"But if you really enjoy the interaction of Paul Chambers and Joe Jones" Yep!Well said Onhwy61.
Mechans, I do like the idea of the Hartsfield system. Of newer vintage, also two-way, I have a pair of JBL 4676a horn speakers,(4550 bottom cabinet) in storage. Some, mainly in the Asian countries, use these in a home application. I am hard pressed to find of any owners accounts and experiences... hello, anyone? :)
Onhwy61, I so do! :)
I have a pair of lowly JBL L5, 8 feet apart and hear point source imaging 8 feet outside the left speaker! Mind you it's when I play Roger Waters' 'Amused To Death'.
That is primarily due to it being recorded in QSound.
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What category would you place a pair of Infinity Kappa 9? My goodness, I have a pair of lowly JBL L5, 8 feet apart and hear point source imaging 8 feet outside the left speaker! Mind you it's when I play Roger Waters' 'Amused To Death'.
It depends upon what you're seeking in music reproduction. As a group vintage loudspeakers won't give as much detail, soundstage/imaging info, air and low frequency impact as better quality modern loudspeakers. What some vintage loudspeakers can do is give an excellent sense of music being performed by musicians. The best modern loudspeakers can give you everything, but many lesser modern loudspeakers are missing the music/musician quality. They get the sound right, but are lacking that it factor. If you're the type of audiophile who measures how far outside the left speaker the soundstage extends, then I suspect vintage won't make you happy. But if you really enjoy the interaction of Paul Chambers and Joe Jones...
I replaced a pair of 8K speakers with a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls that I paid 600.00 for. I will be moving to a pair of Crites Cornscalas next week, but the Cornies were enough to show me what's possible with horns. The newer stuff isn't always better.

Shakey