Just an amazing assortment of rare gear!View attachment 120447
Some of nice vintage speakers are also on sale.
we 555w system with original 16A, ks6368 horns....
LANSING 287 driver & X-overs, Power supply
westrex a-11 amplifier system
westrex 2080.2090 with horn system
westrex 753A speakers
western electric 757A speakers
neumann vms66 with cutting head, cutting amplifier system, manual, etc.,
TRANSFORMERS : we, peerless, utc, triad transformers
Thus I will try to audition them this weekend.
I will let my impression or video soon.
Modern speakers vs Vintage speakers
- Thread starter thomask
- Start date
I heard a pair of the 757A with Sibltone 300b SET amps at CES many years ago. Still can’t get that sound out of my mind.
That's probably the same system I heard at the 2011 RMAF. For a year or two they were taking the 757a/Silbatone system around the show circuit. Like you, I still have a permanent memory of the sound of the 757a.
See if they have the RCA1428/1443 field coil midrange. Those who have heard them say they are better than the WE counterparts and one of the best midrange ever made.
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The RCA1428/1443 used to be fairly inexpensive - under $5k for a pair - but I haven't seen any on eBay or Hifi Shark for some time.
I have mine in a Bill Woods Conical Horn. Frequency response is flat (+/- 2 dB) in room! from 600-8000Hz - covering the main 4 octaves with one driver.
These drivers are a beast - they weight about 50lbs each. Voice coil is massive. They are literally built like a tank. They are 90 years old and will last way beyond our lifetimes.
To put the accuracy of how these are built into perspective - the temperature of the cases are within 1 degree C! These is with 90 year old wire!
[Trying to attach a photo and it's saying it's too large. It's under 1MB - must be an error!]
I have mine in a Bill Woods Conical Horn. Frequency response is flat (+/- 2 dB) in room! from 600-8000Hz - covering the main 4 octaves with one driver.
These drivers are a beast - they weight about 50lbs each. Voice coil is massive. They are literally built like a tank. They are 90 years old and will last way beyond our lifetimes.
To put the accuracy of how these are built into perspective - the temperature of the cases are within 1 degree C! These is with 90 year old wire!
[Trying to attach a photo and it's saying it's too large. It's under 1MB - must be an error!]
What do people on this thread think of the sound of Classic Audio loudspeakers?
Are they a legitimate alternative to vintage loudspeakers?
Are they a legitimate alternative to vintage loudspeakers?
I have listened to the Classic Audio speakers each year at CAF for at least ten years and I believe I heard them at RMAF before that. Big rooms and small rooms. I have never liked their sound and not only because of the insanely loud volume.
Bass is powerful but loose and lacking in detail. Upper midrange and treble are shrill and irritating. To my ears they sound nothing like live music.
Just one person’s opinion, but I have had the same reaction each time I’ve heard them.
Just one person’s opinion, but I have had the same reaction each time I’ve heard them.
If there is a RWO Fostex LS3 speaker in this shop. please let me know..thanks
Exsample Photo
Back in the 90s, I was fortunate to have heard a pair of Western Electric 753As, 753Cs + a single 757A. All of these classic monitor speakers left a profound imprint in my sonic memory. However, even then, they were already beyond my budget. All I could afford then was a pair of Altec 755As.
I still have the Altec 755As which are now housed in Dr. Bae/Silbatone cabinets.
For greater extension in the frequency extremes, higher SPLs and minimum compromise in the midrange, I built a WE753C inspired pair of speakers using Altec 414A drivers + 32C bent horns = Altec 753C.
WIshing all American members a great Thanksgiving holiday!
WIshing all American members a great Thanksgiving holiday!
I recently setup a pair of Altec 755C for use in a small room (office), near-field.
I love them: lots of detail, very easy and relaxing to listen to.
One of the two speakers is not in very good condition but I found another to replace it (should arrive in a few weeks).
This was taken in my living room.
These types of speakers really need to be experienced live (not through a video) to understand what they offer over modern loudspeakers.
I love them: lots of detail, very easy and relaxing to listen to.
One of the two speakers is not in very good condition but I found another to replace it (should arrive in a few weeks).
This was taken in my living room.
These types of speakers really need to be experienced live (not through a video) to understand what they offer over modern loudspeakers.
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Congrats!
Before I acquired my 755As, I was already listening to 755Cs in G.A. Briggs inspired open baffles.
I'm glad you found a nicer unit! 755Cs and 755Es with original cones and voice coils aren't as affordable nor are they as easy to find nowadays.
Nice!
Very true! I upload videos mainly for the visual aspect.
These speakers, will all their flaws, have something really special that I have never found in modern speakers (or headphones). What they do well is something that I obviously value. It is hard to put in words. "Intimacy" with the music?
It has something to do with the "precision" of the cone movement. I don't understand why they are not replicated, or even improved upon, today - with all the technology at our disposal...
It has something to do with the "precision" of the cone movement. I don't understand why they are not replicated, or even improved upon, today - with all the technology at our disposal...
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IMHO, even if Western Electric (later Altec) engineers from that era had access to the finest test equipment, they used their ears as the final arbiter in sound system design. They were also exposed to/familiar with the sound of acoustic instruments being performed without amplification as evidenced by 1930s Bell Labs stereo recording experiments with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. That's just one example of their aesthetic references!
It is an interesting question. What about the full-range AER drivers? Surely they must be precise?
I understand about the light weight and thus speed of vintage cone driver paper. (This is why some designers, such as Peter Noerbaek, use vintage 15 inch woofers in their new loudspeakers). But I don't understand why this paper doesn't dry out over time?
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Thanks for the interesting article.
Slightly off topic, but in reference to those first stereophonic experiments mentioned in the article, there is a Duke Ellington recording from Feb. 3, 1932, that was made with two microphones on two separate discs and that can now be heard in stereo:
Duke Ellington: Stereo Reflections In Ellington : Duke Ellington : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Tracklist: 1. Mood Indigo (Stereo) 2. Hot & Bothered (Stereo) 3. Creole Love Call (Stereo) 4. East St Louis Toodle-Oo (Stereo) 5. Lots O' Fingers...
archive.org
The sound quality is impressive.
That three song medley recorded on February 3rd (first three tracks of the CD) was issued on the first LPs: http://jimbutterworth.co.uk/4rcagram.htm
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