2. speakers
  3. 1014007364

getting a little obsessed with my first purchase

alright, I've been into music for a while now, however my budget for audio equipment has always been in the sub 500$ range until now. My GF bless her heart, bought me a DE875 sony for christmas. I want to set up a home theater but my priority is music so I'm gonna start with two loudspeakers. I don't want to spend any more than 700-800$ and I'm looking squarely at used equipment (because I always want better than I can afford). I have been obsessing over the DefTech 2006tl's. However I haven't seen any of these for sale second hand anywhere on the net. I need advice from an old hand here. Is my choice a good one? Can I do better? Keep in mind the low end receiver/amp. Also I have a relatively small living room in an apartment. It's probably around 15-16 feet by 9-10. I have been stressing over this purchase for over a month now and I need to buy something fast for the sake of my girlfriend and my health.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Patrick
elchuppa

Showing 2 responses by audiokinesis

audiokinesis
2,755 posts
 
I browsed the full-range speakers for sale here, and found you an ABSOLUTELY KILLER DEAL on a superb pair of older speakers. This is the Snell Type A. This was one of the finest speakers of its day (which was, admittedly, 20 years or so ago). The Type A was a two-piece per side system with a downward-firing woofer in one wide box, then a midrange & tweeter in a large wide box that sat on top. This upper box was smoothly curved to minimize diffraction, and gave excellent soundstaging even up against the wall. Actually, these speakers were designed to be placed up against the wall. The voicing was very natural, and the bass quite deep and solid. It's been twenty years since I heard a pair, but they were the finest speakers I'd ever heard at the time. Omigod lovely rendition of vocals.

This speaker was sadly discontinued but remains (in my mind at least) one of the most intelligent designs of all time, taking into account so many aspects of sound propagation and psychoacoustics. I don't think anything like it has been built since, probably because it would be so expensive to build. To pick up a pair in fine working condition for six hundred bucks has got to be one of the best deals around.

Here's the link to the ad: http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?spkrfull&1016766537&class&3&4&

If you absolutely can't bring yourself to get a speaker this old, then consider a pair of Vandersteen 2CE Signatures (warm & rich sounding). http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?spkrfull&1018741034&class&3&4&

But frankly the Vandy 2CE's aren't in the same league as the Snell Type A.
audiokinesis
2,755 posts
 
Elchuppa -

I think the Type A's are only moderately efficient, like maybe 86 dB, but I think they are an 8 ohm load which your Sony would have no trouble with. This is my recollection, which is highly fallible - I suggest you contact the seller.

And now that you mention it, they are kinda big for your room! My recollection is they're about four feet tall by two feet wide by one foot deep. If that rules them out, well, I understand - but considering how natural these speakers sound, they are a steal at the asking price.
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