Snell AIIIi's?? How good are they??

they were ok speakers when they were 1st sold, presenting a larger soundstage than many of their price-point competitors. i came close to buying a pair but found them after several long auditions to be somewhat boomy on the bottom and too forward for my taste. plus, they couldn't touch the imaging quality of the british monitors i eventually purchased instead (this was 3 systems ago). i've heard some later model snells more recently. they retain the characteristics i remembered on the aiii's. i wouldn't pay >$500 for a used mint pair.

Aardvark, you are confusing them with the A's or AII's or AIII's. The A3i's are a totally different design, and was Kevin Voecks (now at Revel) pride and joy. To maximize performance use the DB Systems electronic crossover and biamp. Your room has to big enough (they are big and weigh about 160lbs each). There is a reason why you never see a pr for sale. They are awesome and have owned them for 5yrs now. Previously had the B&W Matrix 800s but sold them after I had the Snells in my house for 4 months. The Snells need the right setup and plenty of current. Tremendous bass and smooth mids and highs. Fills the room like you are at a live concert. Now price, Ardvark said $500??? Don't be mislead by this guy. A good price to pay is about $2500. That's if you ever find a pair. I haven't seen a used pair of A3i's in years. I wonder why??? Talking with Snell before they were purchased by Boston Acoustics and are taking the home theater route, if they were to make the Snells today, you are talking a $20K price tag. I've talked with Kevin Voecks a number of times, and he even said these Snells were the perfect design in a box type speaker. With ARdvark talking about recent Snell speakers and trying to compare with these A3i's shows his ignorance and lack of knowledge. Today's Snells are for the home theater market. Call up Kevin Voecks at Revel and he'll be honest to tell you that the A3i's are a master piece of sound and design. To copy it today would just be that a ...copy. British monitors, well don't know much about them but did have the B&W Matrix 800s which were $15K, and I'm sure the British monitors couldn't hold a cup to the B&W's. So Ardvark, if you find a pair of A3i's for $500, the moon is made of cheese too.

rev_joe: you wanna believe your originally-priced-but-always-discounted $5k speaks are now worth $20K, go ahead, knock yourself out. why are there few for sale? 'cuz few were sold. could it be that's a major reason snell was absorbed by boston? duh.

Ardvark is ignorant at it's best.....duh?? First of all the A3i's were very limited in production. Second they were never discounted because they were special order through the dealer and made by Snell to fill the order. There was usually a 6-8 week lead time. I didn't say they were worth 20K, if you can comprehend. I forgot you are an idiot and can't read. Snell was sold for business reasons. Original Snell owners never had to advertise, the product sold on it's own merit. You don't see the A3i's on the resale market because they are that good. Which we can't say for British monitors. Call up Kevin Voecks, one of the best speaker engineers in the world. Learn something, oh I gorgot you are an idiot! duh.......Arvark

Yes, I would say the AIIIi’s are that good. To this day, one of my favorite sounds heard from a dynamic speaker; not that I’ve heard all, but have heard many of the contenders from that era. Ever since hearing a pair driven by VTL monos at the old Sound by Singer I have lusted after a pair. Not the kind of “electrostatic-like....for a box” sound that many more modern dynamic speakers seem to go for these days (with limited success, IMO), but detailed in a natural way, dynamic, beautifully full mids, great bass and image density; and that hard to describe ability to let one sink into the music and not worry about about those very things. Wide and stable imaging, if not the best front to back. Twice I have considered buying a used pair, but both pair would have needed woofer reconing and I got cold feet. Make sure that you inspect the woofer cones before buying. Personally, if in great shape, I would pay up to $2K for a nice pair. Good luck.

They are as good as they were 27 years ago. Speaker design has changed considerably with the aid computers in the last 20 years. Today’s speakers are much quicker ( faster ) than speakers from just 20 years ago. Lighter, stronger materials and like I said computers have all made speakers better than anything from the 90’s.
As for the Snells, I owned almost all the E and C series in the 90’s.
Very flat, un-colored  sounding speakers. They sounded great with the right equipment, but put anything bright or harsh behind them ouch. That means recordings too.