Not manufactured any more.


I'm looking at old Pics of speakers that I would love to see come back. 

I'll post two or three. What do you like? Post your DIY or that speaker that got away..

Enjoy the Holidays

oldhvymec

Sonus Faber Electa Amator 2

Arguably the best speaker I’ve ever owned. Isobaric design, perfect highs, mids and deep bass, never bloating. Made all music sound just as it should.

Played them on a Naim 250/252 system with Nordost Frey cables

Sold them after I dismantled my entire system some years ago.

Apogee Accoustics Centaur Majors. I had these, but sold for insurance money after they did face plants in the Loma Prieta earthquake.  I should have replaced them; they were magnificent, and Jason was a true audiophile's audiophile. thumbnail  1 - Apogee Speakers.Centaur Major.Hybrid.Excellent

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@oldhvymec , sure you can (make someone happy)...

At the base of your mind and the sump of your heart, you will still think they're nutz.

*clink*  To all the lost souls.....

"....daydream deceiver, and an _ old closet queen..."

JSE Infinite Slope, Model II (my son has them now)

Image 1 - Pair JSE Infinite Slope Model 2A Speakers - refurbished, teak finish

 

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DBX Soundfield 100; Great for Creating Wide L/C/R Imaging for Home Theater

http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/dbx-soundfield-100-135.html

 

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AR-2Ax, my first decent speakers while in college. Got em with wedding gift money. Anyone remember the AR sound booth at Grand Central Station, NYC? Sam Goodys?

 

I was ransacked once, I still miss them, but I inherited the Fisher President II with the Electrovoice Drivers I still use.

 

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Polk Audio SDA SRS Signature Reference System 

I will never forget the first time I heard these.  

I own a set of the DQ10's.  Picked them up for $375 from the local retirement center about 3 years ago.  Mint! 1 owner, all original except for a refoam.  They still amaze me when I put something on that I haven't heard in years...70's-80's era stuff that I'm very familiar with..Hear things I'd never heard.  And especially 60's-70's Jazz titles.

decooney, nice work.. I like it. My hands got sore just thinking about the work.. :-)

Regards

When Jim Winey brought out Magnepan speakers it made most of these electrostatic and hybrids obsolete.

This is because that, while being more accurate than cones and boxes alone, they are shrill and cause listening fatigue after a short time. They are also prone to blowing out--try an early Phase Linear on them at any volume--and they are expensive and difficult to repair (I did it in my shop--not easy).

For contrast, my 1975 Tympani I-C speakers sound just as good today as they did when new, and I have NEVER had any issues with them at all no matter HOW LOUDLY or softly I play them with very good electronics, which are required for accurate speakers.

They were fun when new, and certainly helped lead the way to Maggies, but they did not make the long haul.  If I am not mistaken, Magnepan is still in business and innovating every year.  Try them IN YOUR ROOM and see for yourself.

Cheers!

A few of the less seen versions pictured here, and a home project version a few years back. Where the Dr. Von Heil Air Motion Transformer (AMT) all started from here in Sacramento California. Fun thread, great memories digging these up. :)

ESS AMT1A (early model)

ESS AMT3 Rock Monitor

ESS AMT6 Professional Series

ESS AMT Monitors (late model) 80s

 

ESS Transar ATD

ESS Transar ATD

 

DEC-AMT28 my own custom version in 2018

1984 guys... Mr Bass himself Brian Cheney of VMPS. I would love to bring back the 3 models I listed and 2 sizes of Bass columns, servo and non-servo.

I have a system that is pretty good direct coupled to 12K class ds. Well controlled bass system for the money.. 20-700hz flat as an arrow, by changing 2 of the 12 driver in the SATs. I'll hunt up some pics.. The short stack in on my Virtual Page.

I use First Watts Active OB XO it has a 40hz step baffle of 3, 6 or +12db (?)..

Regards

1980-90 tech, they had a passive system to cut YOUR mains at 80, 100 up to 250 for PANNEL speakers at the time. WAY ahead of their time. THEN they enclosed the slot on the bottom. (A little history)

 

VMPS Bass system

The Passive Radiator (PR) located in the bottom of the cabinet already has a certain amount of mass attached to the center, by the factory. By adding or subtracting mass from the PR, it is possible to make system tonal balance warmer (higher Q) or tighter (lower Q). This is accomplished by changing an inert mass such as Mortite rope putty, the substance attached to the PR. You can buy additional putty at most hardware stores but your speaker is delivered over-damped (a bit too much putty), so that in almost all cases, you will tune the speakers by removing mass from the PR. Mass is accessible by inserting your hand into the slot formed by the base and the bottom of the cabinet. Removing a very small amount, no more than 1gram of putty, will be sufficient to make the adjustment.

Moving mass of PR is very low. Since a PR is driven equally over its entire surface by the active woofer's backwave, the diaphragm will move pistonically even if it is not rigid. The PR cones are treated paper. Paper is fine as long as you don't have to listen to their high frequency noise and distortion products. Facing the PR down and slot-loading it out the front filters such products out nicely. 

We invented the slot-loaded PR and decided not to patent it, since we would spend our life in court defending against copies. We knew we were on the right track when we saw a Klipsch monitor at the AES in 1984 with a slot-loaded PR.

Fun ay....

*energy 22 pro monitor - the most musical speaker i'd heard up to that point [1986].

*AR "Magic Speaker" - uncanny representation of recorded space - "you were there."

snell type A revised - the most magisterial speaker i'd heard next to the-

*IMF studio monitor - the first transmission line speaker i'd heard, it had an utter ease about it and a bass like granite. 

*celestion sl600- nothing threw a stereo image like those babies, with a surprisingly wide sweet spot. magical.

 

Have a  pair of 5jr's from Habitat...30?ish $ for undamaged black cabs and screens.  Just needed some typical tlc on the drivers, a good wipe-down on the cabs....
Same place I snagged the Utah horn and matching 12" pair in a Ugly ply boxes that couldn't claim beauty from Day One, 20$.

Sometimes one should step back as one proceeds onward, as there is what deserves a 2nd Listen.

It reminds you of Why. ;)

 

"No, 'Bot!  Down, toy, sit Down!" 

@skyscraper 

I have several sets of Chinese Quads. Fit and finish is good, not German, but good. Components are average, beginning to fail at 15 years. Just in case you are still interested.

@ditusa i have a pair of DD-5500 inside the pool house,  along with some Talon Pheonix and Duntech Princess. 

 

Jose 

JBL

 

had L25,L36,L40,L120,L300,AquariusIV(2),S1,4408
have L65,L100,L222,DorianS12,B380

The original Polk Mini Monitors!

I used these in the back of my hatchback 1981 Honda, along with a dbx cassette player and a power amp as my car stereo system... but only for long road trips. They were removable with banana plugs, so the thugs in Boston wouldn't steal them from my car...

Does anyone have info on Perspective speakers (Swiss origin) ?   
Cheers

 

I'm looking for the Zu Audio Omen Center speaker in Sangria Red  if anyone knows where I can buy one to match my Dirty Weekends.??

yogiboy, you beat me to it. The DQ10’s with a couple of Hafler amps bridged mono!

 I did some mods to them, like replacing the tweeters with Decca ribbon tweeters and I replaced most of the caps in the crossovers.

 

Yeah, I do miss them.

JD

Got my DQ 10’s in the mid-70’s and kept them playing for forty+ years. Got them for maybe $800 a pair back then. Finally gave them to a friend a couple of years ago when I replaced them with Magico A3’s. To me they have a similar sound that made them listenable to my DQ 10 immersed ears.

But what I really wanted back in the seventies and couldn’t afford were Quad ESL 57 electrostatics, whose appearance Dahlquist cloned. I joined the Army late 1977 after the Viet Nam War ended and was able to shop at the U.S. Army Audio-Visual stores in Germany. There you could get real bargains on great higher end equipment. Much to my chagrin they had a pair of the ESL 57’s on sale for only $400 (a month’s pay), but I had the new Dahlquist’s, so let the Quad’s pass through my fingers. I might have purchased one of the newer Quads instead of the Magicos were it not for the fact they are manufactured in China.nowadays.

Quad ESL 57
Quad ESL 57