Near-Field Listening: Acquired Taste or Proper Paradigm?

[mmannaxx]

Thanks again. I had a pair of large Advents as well while I did one year of law school but then decided to go a different direction and got a Ph. D. after teaching for awhile. No photos of my Advents unfortunately. Regret selling those but maybe they weren't as good as I remember.

Yes, the AR-4x is that size. I have no experience with the KLH 17, but the AR-4x was the first component speaker system I ever bought back when I was about 13 years old and the 4x was then in current production. I bought them again decades later as vintage speakers and used them in my office for over a decade until I retired at the end of 2022. They are good--very, very good, probably the most neutral sounding of all the vintage AR speakers, just with less bass extension but a very pleasing-to-me balance.

For a picture of that office system with the AR-4x speakers, see this link.

For specs and all the original advertising materials, see the Classic Speaker Pages.

Any thoughts on the Genesis 1+ speakers? If they have been refoamed and have a brace installed between the tweeter and woofer to improve bass clarity? They are a bit larger cab than the A60, also heavier, so I may regret that in the future if I need to move them much, but I am not planning on moving anytime soon!

 

[mmannaxx]

I am seeing that the AR6 is also around 20 inches high and might be a possibility for my setup but am also seeing that it might have a more "west coast" bass heavy sound than is typical of East Coast speakers. Also there seems to be some issue as to AR speakers, in general, being power hungry. The amp I will be using is an early 70s KR-6200 from Kenwood with 45 watts max into 8 ohm speakers, so that is another issue perhaps in finding the best speaker match. I am hoping I can find the right vintage speakers to mate with this amp but at this point I am not sure what will work best. The journey continues to set up my near field listening station. This is taking up some time that I might be using to practice dobro or guitar. So maybe that is a good thing (for my wife)!

 

[mmannaxx]

Well I decided for the time being to go with the BA A60s in vertical position but with the tweeters on the bottom which is approximately the right height. Sounds better than the horizontal with woofers on the outside. But I am looking at getting a pair of KLH 32s in the near future since I am not having much luck with the AR 4x that I have been looking for. I do seem some KLH 17s nearby at a good price but they are a bit bigger than I was wanting, but may reconsider if the 32s don't do the trick. To compliment the "all 70s" gear (once I get KLH or AR speakers) I have a Lava lamp situated nearby.