New speakers for an old receiver

That's a beauty, but only 20 watts.

The good news is that if it is in good condition, it will probably sound better than ever with the right pair of modern speakers.

SO look for high efficiency speakers, 90db+, the more the better, that will enable the most out of those 20 watts. Klipsch, Tekton, Zu, JBL, Triangle, some REf3A, Audiokinesis are a few that come to mind.

I'd love to hear my Triangle Titus XS speakers on that. Triangle has a very fast and clean sound, a nice match to the slightly warmer sound I recall from that old Marantz. Triangle Titus can be had used for under $500, not a bad and inexpensive place to start.

BA A 26 monitors ***** whathifi review UK

I own a couple of vintage receivers/amps and have good luck with both Paradigm and B&W monitors. The paradigms are easier to drive so that would be my first choice.

With the less efficient small speakers/monitors, expect some extended bass response at low to moderate listening volume, but also to run out of gas quickly if/when the volume goes up.

Worth considering if you prefer to go louder and clearer and give up some bass extension (higher efficiency smaller speakers in general) or go for more bass at low to moderate volume (lower efficiency smaller speakers in general).

The other way to go is with larger high efficiency speakers that may or may not also cost more depending. These will in general give you more volume and low bass extension together. Zu and Larger Klipsch models might be good and more affordable options for that. But in general quality speakers that bigger and more efficient and have good bass extension and good sound quality top to bottom will be quite large and cost more. Plus, many of these are really designed to perform best with lower powered tube amps, though a decent SS device like the Marantz would of course still work.

Sorry if too much info maybe. Of course any speaker will work. But if you are looking to max out performance in a certain way, I think this is useful stuff to consider. A 20 watt amp can go a long way in most any case, especially in a smaller room. Its just a matter of how far you want to go and in which direction. That's what makes this stuff interesting (maybe).

get JBL 4812. Not modern, but simply BEST for your setup.

I am using a Marantz 2216B receiver with Omega Super T . The source is a Magnavox 630 cd player, which I owned 20+ years ago and was able to score a NOS one on eBay.

The Omegas are high efficiency and easy to drive. The Omegas strong suit is vocals and acoustic music, but I was also pleasantly surprised with how well classic rock from the 60's and 70's sounds, as well. Check out the Omega forum for more feedback.

Rich

Once owned the 2218B and agree it had a warmer sound. Therefore, I personally would match it up w/an efficient and neutrel sounding loudspeaker. I have a gut feeling the KEF C300 would make a very good pairing. I'd bring the receiver in to an audio store and have them hook it up and see how the different spks. sound. Paradigm would probably make an exc. pairing as well. Not heard their newest series but I would go and cheek them out. Exc. choices posted. You should have a wonderful sounding system in the end! Bill

Paradigm if you listen to rock, as Mapman says Triangles are great on acoustic music as are smaller KEF .

Yea, I guess what I am trying to say about the Triangles is that they are very fast, transparent and neutral sounding and do what they do extremely well. They would certainly allow the inherent sound of the vintage Marantz to shine through. What they (small Titus model specifically) will not do, is much below 50hz or so. A very nice match to any 20 watt SS receiver. I have a spare yamaha 20 watt receiver that I have used them with and gotten very good results. I think the somewhat warmer sounding Marantz would be even better.

BIC America makes some hi efficiency horn loaded speakers at very attractive prices on places like Amazon. Seem to get good reviews from users. Have not heard but would like to in order to assess the value.

I wonder if anyone has heard these and compared to comparable others, like modern Klipsch, JBL or others that use horns for efficiency at lower price points maybe? How bad could they be, really, especially if lots of normal people if not "audiophiles" seem to like them? All these companies have been around in one form or another for a long time and surely have had ample time to design good performing products for very modest cost.

I don't know your budget, but it seems that Tekton Lores ($1K) or Mini-Lores ($650) would be a good match. The Lores' sensitivity is 98dB with bass down into the 30's. That should maximize your available power. The Mini-Lores' sensitivity is a claimed 95 dB, which would also get plenty loud on 20 wpc.

An 8" or 10" ported woofer should be pretty representative of the load your receiver would have driven back in the day.