2. speakers
  3. 1207509444

Snell AIIIi - Replace or keep?

I've got a pair of really good condition Snell AIIIi's that sound awesome. Only problem is they are huge and my apartment is not - getting rid of them would buy me serious points with my significant other. Right now I drive them with a krell ksa 200s, but I also have a 50s I sometimes swap in for a change. Someone is willing to give me $1200 for them, which seems fair. Only problem is once I get rid of them I need a good pair to replace them. Is there any speaker out there in the $1000 range that will sound as good - it's the lifelike quality of the snells I really enjoy - right now I'm listening to Sonny Rollins and it sounds like he's in the room. I think they just may be too big for my apartment. Any advice is much appreciated. thanks
mainer8

Showing 4 responses by vjay00

vjay00
37 posts
 
Mainer8, A suggestion - Snell Type B's. A pair is currently for sale on A'gon for $1200. They are designed to go into the corners, and some preferred them to the Type A's.
vjay00
37 posts
 
Please keep them.

I have owned a pair of Snell AIIIi's since 1989. I now bi-amp them with BAT 6200 amp (400W into 4 ohms), FIM gold speaker cables, and Jena Labs Symphony IC's. They are placed 20" from the wall, with room acoustic material on the back wall. The cables and amp cost me 4 times as much as the speakers, but I would not trade this configuration for speakers costing tens of thousands. Jab and Dave are right. Their wide sound stage and musicality (particularly midrange) would be impossible to match in the sub $2000 price range. You may begin to get closer at around $10K and up.
vjay00
37 posts
 
Snell still repairs every speaker they have made. Last year the rubber rings around both 12 inch woofers dried out and fell apart. I sent the drivers to Snell and they had them re-coned (and doped by the same technician who had assembled them originally - his initials are inside the cabinet). This is the only driver that has to be re-coned. They have a replacement for all others. The replacement price list is on their website.
vjay00
37 posts
 
Mainer8, The AIIIi and AIII have the same woofer driver. The difference is the front tweeter baffle - round vs square, and its crossover. The tweeter is the same, but in AIII it was off center. It is centered on AIIIi. The woofer re-coning costs $432 each, and takes about 3+ months. Perhaps, the guy interested in your AIIIi's may just want to buy your speakers rather than spend $900 in re-coning his drivers. The drivers are re-coned by one company is Massachusetts, and as far as I know, they are re-conable, as long as the original driver is made available. I just did that about a year ago.
More to discover