Recommendation for Vintage 3 Way Speaker??

[Primalsea]

I am toying with the idea of getting hold of an older model 3 way speakers with some nice 8” or 10” bass units and putting in some active crossovers and amps in order to make them a set of active monitors.

I see quite a few old 80s 3 ways that would fit the bill but I don’t know they are particularly any good. Anything anyone can suggest I have a look at?

[walpurgis]

The only vintage three way speakers with ten inch drivers that spring to mind are the B&O 5702. Or with eight inch units, the Wharfedale Triton.

I personally can't see a real reason for a using an eight inch bass driver in a three way design.

If you looked at speakers with 12" units you'd have more success. Anything from the Wharfedale Dovedale III and Celestion Ditton 44, to the Celestion Ditton 66 or Yamaha NS-1000, etc.

Any particular reason you want to do this? It's very tricky to get active speakers right and the hardware would possibly cost you more than the speakers are worth. And, I can't think of any real benefit in the end result

[shane]

Heybrook HB3? 10” bass in a big IB cabinet. Later ones had the crossover mounted on a removable panel designed to be replaced with active electronics.

[Macca]

There was one in the C series range from KEF I think, the early Eighties C series. Maybe not vintage enough though.

Lots of potential benefits from going active of you use a digital crossover. Like getting phase integration bob on. No nasty inductors and so on. I've got some IMF TLS 50 and I'm toying with the idea. 4 drivers per side though so 8 channels of amplification required. Some say active speakers are less fussy about the amplifier used, though. And he amp must have an easier time of it, with only one driver per side.

I'd avoid the Celestion 44 though. Has pretty low power handling abilities, one of the things that bothers me about doing it with the IMFs too.

[Primalsea]

Thanks for the ideas. I just believe that you cant beat a nice big bass driver that moves plenty of air. It doesn’t need to go loud, just shift air. I don’t know if anyone remembers my DIY 3 way active speakers. These were awesome and my only gripe with them was was that the polyprop mid range cones gave vocals a slight nasally character. The 3 way active XO took a bit of work but really the biggest issue was lowering the noise floor on the HP sections, there was quite a pronounced hiss to start with. I powered them with 3 small Chinese Yarland EL84 amps that cost around £150 each at the time. Anyway I had to store these in the garage for a while and despite my best efforts in wrapping them up dampness got in and ruined them :steam: My idea is to make some active XO and amp modules that can be attached to the back of a speaker cabinet and to try out a few 3 way speakers as and when I can pick them up cheap.

[occasionalthinker]

I picked up a pair of Revox Plenum B mkII speakers a while ago. The bass drivers have been replaced with non-Revox ones, but I'm very happy with the sound of them.

[spm]

I have a pair of MB Quart 390's which I like - again from 80's so maybe not old enough and maybe not that common. They only cost me £30-£40 on Gumtree.

http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/mb-quart-390-422.html

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Some 3 way classic vintage speakers are the Gale GS401a, http://0339436.netsolhost.com/WordPress/gs401-speaker/
arguably one of the best looking and sounding speakers of this era, its midrange quality only surpassed by the Quad ESL57

,or the AR3a http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/acoustic_research/original_models_1954-1974/original_models_schematicss/restoring_the_ar-3a/restoring_the_ar-3a_full_pd.pdf

Each will likely need restoration. Hope this helps

[shane]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F 132393847634

[Steve 12]

Hi

Might be worth waiting to see what the Dutch firm Hypex launch in spring next year. The new active speaker modules are called 'Fusion'.

I would also highly recommend reading through the articles on the Troels Gravesen website about vintage speakers.

[Primalsea]

Cheers, this idea is still swimming about in my head. Problem is that I love the look of some 80s speakers but the missus just looked at me with scorn in her eyes when I showed here a picture of a fine looking pair. I think if I bought a set home at the moment it would be like a scene from the Exorcist!

[walpurgis]

Have you looked at the AR-5 and AR-2ax speakers?

[Primalsea]

I saw some ARs on ebay, but not sure if they were these models. They did look like possible candidates...

The other problem is that I recently re-foamed some old AE 1s for a friend as he wanted to part ex them. I tested them out and they sounded just fantastic, really suited my room well. So now I wonder if I should get a pair of AE1s...

It just goes round and round...

[walpurgis]

I don't actually like AE1's much. They are impressive on first aquaintance, but I find them a bit wearing after a while. The bass may be tight and punchy for their size, but it has no real depth and beefy amps are required to get the best from them.

I'll throw you a curveball. If you fancy high quality compact speakers that sound excellent and don't cost the earth, try and get a listen to some Monitor Audio R852md's.

[Qwin]

I don't think you should bother, especially if going active, just use modern drivers, which are very good performers, not out of spec. and easily replaceable should the worst happen.

I have been the classic rout, with Tannoy Cheviots, Cellestion 66 and Yamaha NS-1000M, I won't be going that rout again, as modern drivers are so good, both in performance and manufacturing quality.

If your going active, the originality of the build/sound is not what your aiming for, so why go there?

All the classics I have owned have been seriously flawed in their design. They initially sound interesting, but that wears off and measurements of what is actually coming out of them just spoils the party.

Its up to you, if its to scratch an itch and just enjoy the project then go for it.