Entry level Vintage Bookshelf speakers

I'm rearranging the living room and decided to go from an old surround system to an updated soundbar system for my TV viewing. It's a slight step down in overall sound, but not running 40 cables through walls makes up for it.

Anyway, that is going to give me the opportunity to change my music system too. I'm currently running a Sansui SR-929 turntable (the Vader model) through a cheap little preamp so it ties into the cheap old surround system. I'd like to jettison that and get a decent vintage receiver and some respectable bookshelf size speakers.

Assuming I start by finding the speakers, what should I be looking for? What brands and models will complement the turntable sound but not cost a small fortune? Like...Under $200. Gimme some leads and names I can be watching for on the local List of Craig, FB, etc.

I'll snag some speakers soon and drive them off my current head until I find the right vintage receiver at the right price, but I'm ok with that taking a while. I do have a pair of big Sony floor speakers hung in my shop that are bad ass, but I'm pretty sure they're too big to work into the new room layout.

I'm running my dads old EPI's from his college days. I love them. 

What is your definition of vintage?

General brands to watch out for, though they may not be under $200: 

• EPI
• Klipsch
• Acoustic Research (Henry Kloss models, maybe others)
• Advent (Henry Kloss models, at least)
• KLH (Again, Henry Kloss models)
• Missions
• Polk (their vintage stuff is better than their modern stuff IMHO)
• Phase Tech
• B&W

Or you could build a pair to look vintage. Dark stain on a veneer with some grey grill cloth would have these looking awesome: https://www.parts-express.com/overnight-sensations-mt-speaker-kit-pair--300-706

mtn said:

Or you could build a pair to look vintage. Dark stain on a veneer with some grey grill cloth would have these looking awesome: https://www.parts-express.com/overnight-sensations-mt-speaker-kit-pair--300-706

Plus One on the overnight sensations.  I built a pair for my son a few years back and am still impressed by the way they sound.  These are mine:

I'm okay with mtn's list.  But to quibble a bit, most vintage speakers by Klipsch would be bigger than "bookshelf" sized, and more than 200 (as he noted).  Boston Acoustics (descendants of Advent) and Infinity speakers from the 80's were probably a bit more mass market, but very nice-sounding speakers, IMO.  Should be plenty of them around.

I still use a pair of reconditioned Boston A40's that I purchased new in the early 80's.  Mine were the early ones with the paper cone tweeter.  I think this pic is of the A40-II:

How vintage are you looking for? I have a set of Axiom Audio speakers that I bought new ~2001. They were a good value then. 

Oh, just remembered another great budget one: The Realistic Minimus. Tiny, you may want to add a woofer, but pretty damn good for not much money.

If you're on the Book of Faces, join the "KLIPSCH OWNERS" group and look for a guy named Paul Wesley. He has great prices on all kinds of vintage stuff............the whole group does in fact.

I did the C-notes from Parts Express.  Impressed.  The rounded nose wouldn't necessarily look vintage, so the overnights might be a better look.

As an audio guy myself, I know there is a valid reason for wanting vintage stuff, but in general there are some $20 computer speaker systems that sound better than the old stuff.  Old technology can rarely beat a well-sorted modern driver.  Right now I'm listening to a 50s soul/blues channel on Spotify through my C-notes and the ability for them to capture every nuance and artifact of the original really makes it sound like I'm listening to them through old-school tweed covers.

I'm a big fan of the vintage look, but for SQ, you'll be far ahead with something modern made to look vintage.

I have been very happy with my Pioneer SP-BS22 LR's.  For the money they seem very good.  They don't really look vintage though...  I'm looking forward to pairing them with a sub from Parts Express once I get things set up at home. 

For ~$120 for the pair I don't think I would bother with anything "vintage" unless I wanted a project or my budget was a lot bigger.

I prefer vintage stuff made to sound modern. I have a cool pair of vintage bookshelf speakers I put modern drivers in because they came with blown speakers. They sound and look awesome. They were super cheap, too, with the new drivers costing the bulk of it.

Vintage Realistic speakers in wood cabinets can look really cool and they sound pretty dang good too. I had a pair of Realistics that probably cost me $50 and had walnut cabinets and tweed grill cloth, the whole vintage look. Something like the Realistic MC-1000 or MC-800. I don't remember the exact model. Here's MC-1000s for reference:

My "vintage" stereo rig plays through a set of old Mirage 250's that my friend's dad gave me in the early 90's. They look like this:




I've run them through a variety of receivers, and they continue to sound great. Right now, they are playing through my Kenwood KR-A3060 receiver, and they sound fantastic with both vinyl and CD media. If you stumble upon a set, I fully recommend them.

In reply to Curtis73 and pres589 :

Well, you guys bring up an interesting point. I've been digging around and there are a lot of nicer options these days for powered bookshelf speakers. Would I be better off sound-wise to drop $400 on a good set of those, or split the $400 on an old amp and some vintage bookshelf size speakers? Is the "vintage sound" really that big a deal?

BTW, this will be used in a 700sf +/- open plan LR, dining, kitchen area with a vaulted cieling. SO a decnt sized space.

Not vintage but R-41m at Costco $89.99 a pair 

https://www.costco.com/klipsch-bookshelf-speakers%2c-2-pack.product.100492282.html

I know I'll ruffle feathers here, but to me, "vintage sound" is just "old school tech that can't accurately reproduce audio."  I understand that some people like that sound.  I want equipment that can accurately achieve flat reproduction so I can hear the actual recording of the audio.  I can't get that with dried up paper cones, corroded copper windings, vacuum tubes, and 40-year-old particle board.

As an audio guy, I try to keep everything after the source to be as clean and unaltered as possible so I hear the audio, not what the old, technologically-inferior equipment fails to bring to my ears along the way.  If I wanted to listen to Ben E. King how it would have sounded in the 60s, I'd rather build a time machine than buy 55-year-old equipment.  When I EQ, I EQ the room, not the signal.  That is to say, I use the 13-band EQ immediately before the amplifier to get a flat response in the room.  From there I can tweak up and down at the console.

To me, vintage sound is like trying to recapture the lightning-response handling of a 58 Corvette.  They handled well in 1958, but by today's standards they have been surpassed by so much technology in the geometry.  What I prefer with my audio is equivalent to dropping a 58 Corvette body onto a C6 chassis.  Looks vintage, handles so much better.  I do understand though as a classic car enthusiast that nothing can replace the feeling of driving a classic which is why I understand the vintage audio kick... but it's not a great performance.

I recently sold a late-70s Soundcraft 200 sound console. I had to wait a year and a half to find someone who wanted it.  99% of the people told me to just throw it away, but I knew there would be ONE PERSON who wanted that "vintage Abbey Road" sound.  Sure enough, $200 later....  That warm vintage sound they were seeking was really nothing more than a shortcoming in the electronics.  I can EQ and control a signal on a digital console to make it sound the same as that old soundcraft, but I also have the flexibility to make it NOT suck as well 

ultraclyde said:

In reply to Curtis73 and pres589 :

Well, you guys bring up an interesting point. I've been digging around and there are a lot of nicer options these days for powered bookshelf speakers. Would I be better off sound-wise to drop $400 on a good set of those, or split the $400 on an old amp and some vintage bookshelf size speakers? Is the "vintage sound" really that big a deal?

BTW, this will be used in a 700sf +/- open plan LR, dining, kitchen area with a vaulted cieling. SO a decnt sized space.

Depends how much volume and bass you want. 

Powered bookshelf speakers aren't going to do a whole lot for either considering the amount of space.

Curtis73 said:

To me, vintage sound is like trying to recapture the lightning-response handling of a 58 Corvette.  They handled well in 1958, but by today's standards they have been surpassed by so much technology in the geometry.  What I prefer with my audio is equivalent to dropping a 58 Corvette body onto a C6 chassis.  Looks vintage, handles so much better.  I do understand though as a classic car enthusiast that nothing can replace the feeling of driving a classic which is why I understand the vintage audio kick... but it's not a great performance.

okay, this is what I was trying to frame up, but much better written. Knowing what you do for a living, I respect that opinion.

I'm starting to think this is what I'm kind of looking for. I'm also more and more skeptical that I'm going to get the sound I want out of a small pair of speakers, as z31maniac pointed out. Maybe I just need to figure out how to get the big Sonys I have into the room...

For a large space, you can do bookshelf speakers, just EQ them to keep the bass away and send it to a sub instead.

My C-notes are matched to an Image Dynamics 8" sub with a passive radiator.  It will very honestly hit hard down to 20hz.  In my wee little 200sf living room, I can get WAY more volume than I need from 80w per bookshelf and 300w from the sub.  I would say it would be satisfactory in your larger space, but to get the low-end SPL you should likely consider a powered 12" or 15".  Seach CL for an Idol Pro Sub-5 powered sub.  Relatively cheap, but they hammer hard.  They worked in conjunction with EV?  Or Peavey?  I forget.  Anyway, one of those companies started IdolPro as an affordable Karaoke-type set of systems and farmed it out to a Chinese company to build.  It never caught on here very well, but it's big in Asia.  Very nice sound and not that expensive.

Another route could be to snag two of the cheapest Cerwin Vega powered subs you can find and tuck them in the corners for better gain.

If you want some serious boom in that big room, QSC K18 is the way to go.

ultraclyde said:

Curtis73 said:

To me, vintage sound is like trying to recapture the lightning-response handling of a 58 Corvette.  They handled well in 1958, but by today's standards they have been surpassed by so much technology in the geometry.  What I prefer with my audio is equivalent to dropping a 58 Corvette body onto a C6 chassis.  Looks vintage, handles so much better.  I do understand though as a classic car enthusiast that nothing can replace the feeling of driving a classic which is why I understand the vintage audio kick... but it's not a great performance.

okay, this is what I was trying to frame up, but much better written. Knowing what you do for a living, I respect that opinion.

I'm starting to think this is what I'm kind of looking for. I'm also more and more skeptical that I'm going to get the sound I want out of a small pair of speakers, as z31maniac pointed out. Maybe I just need to figure out how to get the big Sonys I have into the room...

I'm all about the enclosure and the drivers matching.  It's a must.  The overnites and the c-notes both use drivers that cost about $14 each.  You're really paying that $100 for the R&D and the CNC work on the panels.  I have also build sub enclosures with $300 drivers that sounded like crap because I didn't put the time into a proper design.

I still have a pair of Acoustic Research bookshelf speakers I bought in college.  They were used then, I think they're originally from the late 1960s.  They still sound great.  Advent is another good choice.

It used to be you could buy good quality speakers at yard sales for pennies; guys bought them when they were young, then got married, and then after a few years their wives made them get rid of "those big ugly speakers that don't fit our living room decor."    That market is mostly tapped out these days, but you can still find them from time to time.

One of my choreographers at the theater snagged some Klipsch RP500s at a yard sale for $50 because they didn't know what they had.  I hate him.

Here are some c-notes that someone built with a Sapele veneer.  Something like this with a tweed cover on it would look ancient but sound great.

Cruise over to parts-express.com.  Tons of DIY speakers.  Sorry about the rabbit hole I just invited you to.

I have had 4 Klipsch .5 bookshelf speakers since they were new back in the early 90's.  Still use them with a Klipsch center channel and a Klipsch powered Sub for home theater system.  The sub is on its second amp and second driver and still rocks the house when asked to.

I've had great luck buying used through thrift shops, fb marketplace, etc. I strongly recommend that you look up any potential purchase on Audiokarma to see reviews before purchasing. Lots of formerly good brands made E36 M3 in the 80s but still some gems out there. I'm partial to Energy and Paradigm but they are probably a lot harder to get outside of Canada. If you are doing DIY the common choices are Overnight Sensations or C-Notes.  You could pick up some Dayton 652 airs cheap if you want to try out small and decent bookshelf speakers with AMT tweeters.