MOST WANTED VINTAGE SPEAKERS (if you are lucky enough to find them) 

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I bought the HPM100’s when I was in high school. I still have them and they still sound fantastic. Cheers!

There was also the venerable Realistic Mach Ones they were beasts for sure

You can never go wrong with a Large Advent. They are incredibly repairable: I think I am fondest of the Vinyl Clad versions from about 1972 - 1978. And the Smaller Advent wasn't bad nor the earliest of their descendants such as the Advent /1. Henry Kloss said, it's hard enough trying to "voice" a 2-way let alone anything more complex.

Fun video! Keep doing them. I remember those 901s. I listened and shrugged. I didn’t understand why everyone thought they were great. 50 years later it seems I was right. When it comes to vintage speakers, I’m all about the NE US. ADS is my fav. Boston Acoustics, Advent, Audio Analyst. Had them all and they sounded great.

Klipsch La Scala, a masterpiece.

BOZAK - almost any of them. Rudy was a genius, and with his pal Emory Cook, they knocked out the audiophiles in their time, and Bozaks still sound awesome today.

Altec Lansing Model 19 , love that speaker .

I have ESS tempest speakers that I bought in 1977 I’ve replaced the woofers and rear passive radiator they have a heil air motion transformer tweeter that was a great tweeter technology still used today by many manufacturers

I've always like the sound and build quality if the vintage Infinities.

My first set of speakers in the 70's were the Pioneer HPM-100's along with a pioneer SX-1010. A powerhouse of sound! Today I have the HPM-100's with a set of JBL Decades. Both are awesome sounding speakers.

Always on the lookout for old ADS or Braun speakers.

the Dynaco A25 - smooth, accurate, decent bass in a small nice looking 2way @ low price (paid $160/pr in '72). lasted through the loud (college) years & beyond.

I have a set of AR-16 speakers that I bought 47 years ago. I just the upgrades the CAPS and they still sound great. I did re-foam them years ago and I just made new grills.

I havent heard any of the speakers you mentioned, sadly. But from those I have heared the ESS AMT Monitor were one of those which impressed me the most. Their special ribbon tweeter (Air Motion Transformer) not only directs to the listener but also in the opposite direction, where it reflects. All in all it sounds everywhere in the room like if you are in the stereo sweet spot.

You are sharing some great history with your style of videos. Thanks for doing these. How is the CerwinVega! Video coming, are we getting close? 😃

When I first heard the Pioneer HPM 100s in music store I was simply blown away by the way the speaker was able to detail the instruments & voices much greater than the others that were demoed. It definitely was a step up from the L100s imo.

Forgot 2 inexpensive legends - the Advent loudspeaker (2 different versions, both set new performance levels for their price) and the beloved radio shack Optimus 7. Neither one worth much to a vintage resale shop like you guys, but both very much in demand.

I have a pair of 1981 Mission 770s. I'm very impressed with how good they sound for 43 year old speakers. They're also worth more than I paid for them.

Even though I own a rather high-end 2-channel system of Rotel separates and Martin Logan SL3's... I also have a set of 901's that have a cool factor that I will always love. Sure, they are a tonal wreck and do a million things wrong. But who cares? They are awesome to crank, look cool as ever and are truly a piece of audio history.

RTR 280DR bi-amp purple woofers model are my all time favorite vintage speaker. I've owned a few sets over the years and would like to get another to keep forever, lol. But they are very hard to find. Great video!

I have the Mach 2 Realistic Speakers! I have reformed them the surrounds, recapped the cross over they sound fantastic!

Hi Lenny, I have followed your channel for the last two months and gotten down many rabbit holes. I have spent too much time in the last 25 years listening to podcasts and talk shows. Because of your channel I’ve gotten back into my music again. I replaced my 70s stereo system in the 90s with an Adcom preamp and power amp and Polk audio speakers. While listening and fixing dinner the other night, I felt like I was missing my highs, I couldn’t hear the cymbals. I am 73 and that was the first thing I thought of, but I thought maybe the tweeters were bad in my speakers. After testing with headphones and the stereo in my car, I was definitely missing the Highs. I got a card from an audiologist last Friday. I went in yesterday for a hearing test and discovered my worst nightmare. I have lost my hearing above 5100 Hz which is where my cymbals lived. While he was a very nice man, he really wanted to sell me hearing aids. Although he explained to me that hearing aids are for vocal tones, mostly from 350 Hz to 5000 Hz and that they probably wouldn’t do much for what I was trying to recover. And they were lovely hearing aids at $12,000 a pair I would’ve much rather bought a new pair of LaScalas for $15,000 but it didn’t matter I wasn’t gonna hear either. So now I am on a quest to recover my lost cymbals! All because of you!

I had 2 pairs of BOSE 901 Series IVs. It was hooked with the Pioneer SX-1980. Now some don't like the sound of these but hook the watts to it and it's like nothing you have heard before.

B&W DM-220s. I own two sets. Love them to death. Two 16 ohm 8 inch midbass drivers with die cast zinc frames, and vented magnets. A 1 inch polymide tweeter with an absolutely massive magnet out the back. Their slightly bigger cousin is the DM-330.

Great video man! Thanks for taking me back in time! Up here in BC Canada, our small town had an awesome stereo shop, Quesnel Electronics. They were a pioneer dealer owned by the one and only Johnny Orange Juice(John Wang) and his wife. Just wonderful and cool people that I still see around town. We always talk about the good old days and good times installing our car stereos. I graduated in 1982 so myself and buddies all had HPM100's with the Champagne colored pioneer stereos and the new linear tracking turntables, and in our vehicles we rocked the old tough as nails pioneer component car stereos. What I would add to your list is the Killer... Cerwin Vega 10S and the monsterous 15S, both with the metal tweeters and red foam. With a good amp the 15`s would deliver a great body massage, the bass is amazing. One more outstanding brand of speaker that was made in Vancouver at a furniture factory in the late 60's and 70's, were WEB speakers(Wilsdon Engineering Brothers). Hands down the most beautiful and heavy cabinets I've ever seen. The Highest quality in sound, materials and craftsmanship. One final set of speakers that I have in my shop are a set of vintage Realistic Optimus. Beautiful cabinets and great sound. I also remember back in the 80's, Nikko stereos were coming on strong up here, giving Johnny Orange Juice a run for his money. We always stayed loyal to Johnny. Johnny had the most awesome repair shop, and his deal was always Johnny paid the taxes, even when the G.S.T(Goods and Services Tax) came in. Provincial and GST taxes added up to 13%. He also had a great lay away plan! One hell of a good deal for punks like us.

One of my parent’s friends had the JBL L100 with one of the higher end Pioneer receivers at the time. That got me really hooked on audio.

Shout out from Evansville Indiana, love your videos keep up the good work ❤

I remember seeing and hearing Pioneer HPM-100 speakers in college years in Austin, Texas. The hi-fi dealer had a very unique pair of the HPM-100s on display for listening. The box was plexiglass. It was plexiglass on all sides and it let you see everything inside. Quality sound? I don't remember it being exceptional, just cool to look at. This dealer also had a the JBL Paragon speaker system on display of audition. That sound was overwhelming, but my finances couldn't handle it and there was now way I would ever get the Paragon beast into my dorm room!

Acoustic Research AR18s. Not the most resolving, but the nicest tone of all the speakers in my collection. And my collection includes speakers like the JBL 4429, 4311, ProAc Tablette 10, Avalons, Kef LS50w, Hedd Type 20, and I'm sure I'm missing a few. If you ever come across a pair of AR18s, just grab 'em. They are usually available for throwaway prices.

I don't know if they ever made it across the Pond from England, but I always had a soft spot for the Leak 2075. Unfortunately, they were just too large to fit into my parents' living room & be aesthetically acceptable, so the largest & beautiful sounding Celestion Ditton 66 was my daily listen from late 1976 until I moved out in 1979, into a tiny apartment. For a while after moving in it was headphones only, in the shape of the wonderful Wharfedale ID1 Orthodynamic - Isodynamic Headphones. But that's a completely different listening experience.

You already know I'm a complete devotee of the Pioneer HPM-100 speaker's as they both rock my world and blow my hair back. I generally like most speakers if they are well made. Well made speakers can all sound different. I love the big booming unapologetic unsophisticated 1970's frat house raw sound of my 2 sets of Pioneer HPM -100's. Pioneer HPM - 100's are feral party speakers. Just hook up a powerful receiver and Rock on or Disco the night away! Pioneer HPM-100's are not audiophile speakers for those high class folk who want to pick out the delicate sounds of a single oboe in a classical music score. Pioneer HPM -100's celebrate the raw power it takes to play head banging Rock or Soul thumping disco music!

My faves in the speaker world for decades are my Mirage M-1 si which still blow my mind connected to a Nak PA-7 fed by a CA-5. preamp. Draws you into hours of listening every time (good thing I'm retired and have lots of hours to spare!). 6 drivers & 185 lbs of audio heaven!

I bought my first "high end" product in 1972, Empire 598 still have and works, Speaker wise I have 2 "cult" ones, the original Dahlquist DQ-10's with the power they want a great speaker, and the opposite spectrum a pair of Altec 19's. As far as bass and depth nothing I could afford could beat them.

Surprised that the Altec Model 19 was not on your list. It succeeded the Valencia model by increasing the the x-over frequency to 1.2 KHz from 800 Hz. The result was less "honk" and more home listening pleasure.

ADS L1590, L710, L810, L1230, L1530 .... all are collectable and fantastic even today

I've got a set of Sansui SP-X11000 that are a part of my Sansui System. I love the sound this system presents. Would highly recommend anyone who comes across a set of these speakers to get them. Thanks for the video, keep up the good job.

DQ-10's, KEF 104/2's, DCM Timewindow 1a's

I’ve owned my HPM 100s since new in 1978. Replaced both woofers once with aftermarket and recently found 2 original woofers . They sound great!

I still have my HPM-100's. I set them up on on a dedicated two-channel system, with my Pioneer SA-9500II Integrated amp. I always wanted pair of Bose 901'a, but they were just to expensive for me at the time.

I always wanted the L100's, but they quit making them before I could get a pair. I did buy a pair of L112's in 1981 and I still have them to this day in mint condition. You don't hear much about these anymore, but I think that they are outstanding speakers.

I have a pair of the L100s I rescued and completely rebuilt. I'm doing the same with a pair of Cornwalls now. Also looking for a pair of those Pioneers and a pair of ADS. I really like the renovation projects.

I keep my VERY old Wharfedale speakers around (not connected, although they sounded damn good) for the fine solid walnut cabinets. You can't find wood like that anymore. I just use them as beautiful end tables.

You'll love this, Frank Zappa bought me my first pair of home speakers, JBL 4311b's which I still own. My uncle was his manager & we really hit it off. And not over music but deep discussions over geo global politics, as everyone used to crack up at a 17 yr old kid & Frank jabbering on. Frank was brilliant & fairly conservative, which I'm sure may come as a bit of a surprise to many, a truly special guy in which I will never forget those special times. And never part with those 4311's.

This video was in my feed, being I’ve always been into music, I clicked on it. Great video, I enjoyed it. I have Fishers and Realistic from the 70’s I use to this day and sound great.

For me, it's JBL. From my days of studio recordings years ago to hearing their home audio lines. I also had a set of JBL 12" car audio subwoofers back in the late 80s. To this day, those were probably the best sounding subs I ever had.

Bose 802 the ones for church. They had a wood grain cabinet actually particleboard with a veneer deeper base is created with this cabinet versus the plastic These are the most amazing speakers but you do have to have the eq. Running and Adcom 7807 310 W of power seven channel output. This was an amazing set up, especially run Low Jack connections, crystal clear later I added JL Audio DSP talk about a game changer laser optics. This was incredibly clear and amazing Bass all around Music. Haven’t heard anything better.

One of my fave vintage speakers are the RTR Tower 600's. Listening to Ted Nugent at college in 1976 was a hoot!

Still loving my Linear Design K-2500 floor speakers that i bought new in 1996, large tall cabs with twin 12 inch drivers in each plus a 4.75" poly prop mid and 1.25" dome tweeter, non ported enclosures, less than 1000 sets were likely ever made, very rare and still have the original cartons and receipt for $650 from the day i bought them on sale when the company folded, then not long after i boxed and stored them for about 15 years while i travelled for work so the foam suspension has suprisingly not begun to decay yet, cabinets were built in Australia and fitted with imported components possibly sourced from Arista or Jensen but not much other info really exists on them, they have only ever moved once and never had pets so the veneer edges and corners are still all sharp with no peeling after almost 30 years, even the cloth covers appear mint unlike most of the examples sold second hand very occasionally, they sound incredible at louder volume even though i also now have added subs, but totally adequate when running alone just with a 50w amp, having quite high sensitivity at 96db but they can handle up to 200w according to the specs. I dont know what they might be worth today if sold but i do plan to replace capacitors soon and rewire them with some fresh copper internally. Not so common to find big speakers like this anymore however i did see that Cerwin Vega were making some similar large dual woofer configurations a few years back. If you do own a set or have any info please share !

By far the ADS L2030 Loudspeakers.. they are still better than 92% of the speakers made today !

I really love the Samsui LM-330's from the mid 70's. 2 way design with 10" woofers, and rear horn ported tweeters that helped cancel the other channels cross frequencies. Pretty rare, and I have 2 pairs

Any of Heritage Klipsch speakers ! Al are a easily rebuilt at a bargain price ! They will Rock your world !

Superb quality all♥️

I found an incredible score when I picked up some mint HPM100s from goodwill of all places for $50. Cleaned them up and refinished the veneer and damn they still sound amazing with a vintage system.

How would you rank the Altec Lansing model 14's ? I have a set of those matched to a Marantz 2385, 6350Q turntable and an RG pro20 dynanamic processor. All ressurected and flawlessly playing today. Love these speakers. My grandkids will one day be happy, as i am today

I have a pair of 1x1’s that I love. Have had them for 20 years. Simply awesome.

Fun video. What are your thoughts on the "East Coast" sound from Billy Villchur and Henry Kloss: Acoustic Research, KLH, Advent, Boston Acoustic? Also, how about your thoughts on Klipsch? Would love to hear more about those two groups.

An English speaker model called "Celestion Ditton 66"...will easily compete against all your favoured American and Japanese models.

I bought a pair of Altec Lansing Model 15's back in the 90's for $200 from a buddy who bought an old camp house & the entire system was in the building....I ended up selling them to my cousin for $300 a few years later & told him HE CAN NEVER SELL THEM & that I would buy them back for the same price IF he ever wants to get rid of them...he said HE'LL NEVER GET RID OF THEM JEMS. Here it is 25 years later & they sound just as good as they did back when I had them. Glad he uses them.

I am fortunate enough to own a pair of Cerwin Vega 15s 400 watt capability and they are as good today as they were when I purchased them in the early 90s

I just picked up a pair of Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Pianos, one completely missing it’s tweeter and woofer. I have to restore them, but even busted up and playing the intact one in MONO (thank you Beach Boys) it sounded incredible!! Going to use Audax Gold dome tweeter and either a FaitalPro 6” or something more exotic…. Fun stuff.

My first set of speakers were the Infinity SM 125’s. Man I loved those speakers. A lot of good memories from those speakers.

Pioneer, sansui, kenwood, and Bose don't even enter my mind when considering vintage speakers

Altec Lansing Model 14 and Model 19, JBL 4311, Carver Amazing Loudspeaker, in no particular order.

I adore large Advents. I have a set in the master bedroom and a stack in the family room, both driven by vintage Marantz receivers. A 2235 upstairs and a 2270 downstairs. Awesome combination.

I would love it if you would do a vid about classic JBL D44000 Paragon, C45 Metregon and C46 Minigon speakers.

I have a pair of Kef Carina ii's that I purchased around 1984 for $500/pair. They are the fronts of my current 5.1.2 all Kef system. They definitely hold up, especially in 2.1 stereo mode for music.

I have a pair of B&W 801 Matrix II's with NorthCreek crossovers ... all from the '90s. They still perform at a level that's hard to match even for $10K.

The Bose 901's required the listening room to be rectangular in size, with solid rear and side walls. To obtain max. sound quality, they also required the Bose receiver with 100 + 100 Watts. This receiver had a SPATIAL slide control feature which helped immensely with a real concert sound. I still own my 1979 JBL 4311's.

By FAR the best vintage speakers I've come across yet are the Pioneer DSS series. Essentially an updated version of the HPM line with much better drivers, materials and dual-coil woofers, that come in proper mirrored pairs. They're hard to come by with their fragile woofer cones (made of some sort of graphite material that shatters like glass, apparently) intact, but absolutely worth considering if you like the visual and sonic style of the HPMs.

The JBL L200 Studio Masters were incredible!

I heard a set of Altec-Lansing Santana II's and thought they were amazing.

Bose 901s paired with lots of power and the correct positioning sound very very big, what more can you ask of a small speaker.

I love my JBL L-112. I also have 2 sets of Pioneer HPM-100. After an hour or so they get fatiguing. The JBL’s could be played all day long and you never get tired of them. The bass is great in both, but the JBL L112 is superior.

Most of the old Klipsch were not only ground breaking, but are still in high enough demand that they are still in production today. And then there are the Infinity IRS series, not made by Infinity anymore, but at least an IRS Beta knockoff exists (Genesis Speakers). Magnepan, still going strong. Quad is still building an ESL.

I had a Sansui system back in '83, 100wpc receiver with 3-way speakers, turntable, and tape deck. I eventually replaced the cheap tape deck and turntable with a Nakamichi BX-300 and B&O Beogram 5500 (both for sale now) in '85. Not a bad system for an 18 yr-old! Must be a really rare system, I can't find a single picture of it. It was really unique, it had clear acrylic buttons with beveled edges that were lit from behind with a blue light so the edges glowed blue and it looked like they were floating. Looked AWESOME at night with all the lights out and the music down low. Of course, that was back when me and my (then) girlfriend smoked a lot of weed... LOL I kept that system until the mid '90's when the amp and speakers started having issues and I replaced them with a Sony Home Theater amp and Polk RM7500 system (still using the PSW650 sub). I didn't think to keep any of that now vintage gear. Still got the 'Nak and B&O though.

I bought a pair of blue Huntley fabric grilles about 4 years ago to replace my disintegrated blue foam fronts. No qualms at all about not replacing foam with foam. The blue is very close to the JBL blue and they look great and fit perfectly. You can get an attached JBL nameplate as an option. It's surprising how much color, veneer and proportions ID the JBL L-100s even without the cubes. Price is decent and shipped in bulletproof packaging.

Love the video. I have the JBL l100 century and Klipsch heresy. I would get an good Looking pair of Bose 901 . They just look amazing

I've still got a pair of 901's. They don't sound that bad with a sub and extra tweeters.

Love you videos. I had the Bose 900 series growing up but gave them away. They were decent but not my fave. I have had a ton over the years from Kenwood, Sansui, JBL, Yamaha, Bose, and a pair of Ohms (the ones with the cone on top that basically fell apart and this was pre-net and when all of the high-end shops went out of business) so I had to pitch them as NO ONE could fix them. A very sad day. At the moment my fave are my other Ohms and my Dalquist DQM-9s. Both sets have been reconed but they still sound great.

i have a set of klh model six, they’ve been the floor speakers for my set up for 3 years now and their warm sound mixed with the neutral sound of my kenwoods and the punchy tightness of the paradigm and sony satellites, makes a unintentionally oddly well tuned sound. good for movies and music

I still own a set of Sansui SP 2700's, best speakers I've ever owned, 90W RMS but still able to rattle the clock on the wall of a shop which was in No 2 on my street, for context I lived at No 58, 29 houses away! My brother in law who was soooo proud of his Jamo 365's wept when he heard them for the 1st time. Sadly they're in need of some TLC as they've been in my Dads shed for the last 8 years...

In the North West Speakerlab was the local brand. The Speakerlab 50 was the top of the line and very few were produced. The follow on Delta Hybrid Type 5 only had 91 pair produced. I was fortunate to locate a pair and buy them a few years ago.

Love the videos sir, can you do a review of Kenwoods LS line I have a pair of LS-890’s and I think they crush the HPM-100’s !!!

Dynaco A-25 best bang for the buck! Under the radar speakers

Being a Sonab fan, with a few of the smaller units in my collection. I would love to hear a fully working pair of OA2212

Definitely gonna be a fun one

First i had Wharfedale speakers than the Pioneer HPM-60. Still own them. Woofers replaced due conus foam issue (very well known). Collect vintage audio decvices. Fisher TX55, Pioneers SA-7500,TX-7500, CT-F7070, Sony TC-K6, Pioneer SE-305 and so on . . . Wish i had that speaker from Back to the Future

Fulton FMI 80 best book shelf speakers ever. Have a pair almost 50 years old and still sound exceptional.

Altec 19s are the ones I would want.

Interesting and informative. One minor quibble: you show an image of a website devoted to the L100 Classic, which has nothing in common with the original L100 Century apart from the name and overall appearance. The L100 Classic is a brand new design, larger than the original, and sold by JBL Synthesis dealers. It is a terrific speaker.

My parents have mint condition HPM-150s... I'll be taking them home soon. Always loved them growing up.

I haven't heard any of those speakers apart from maybe at a hifi exibition when I was a school kid. My favourite speakers now and since I first heard them in the early eighties are from Rola Celestion, the Celestion Ditton 662. Big floor standers with a supurb sound, I now have 2 pairs of them and can't imagine I would ever consider changing them for anything else. I haven't heard but know that their predecessors, the Celestion 66 speakers are also highly desirable and sought after. Interesting seeing the speakers I normally only read about.

OF these selections here, hands down, the JBL L100's sounds truly amazing. There isn't many out there that can rival them. But on the flip side of the coin, I LOVE my Sansui's. Sansui's most impressive speaker for the listening room is the SPL-800. That is a speaker set you can "feel" the music right to the bone! The photos, artwork hanging on your house walls and dishes stacked in the cupboard may not appreciate them, but you will fall in love with your music all over again with Sansui SPL-800

I have two pairs of Sansui IIRC SP 29 II or something of the sort. Now i need to go recheck.

Also… Norman Laboratories Model 12 (each stereo speaker had two 12” acoustic suspension woofers in a low console, and 4 1” Philips hard dome Mylar tweeters on a stalk jutting up out of the sub box) they had an amazing way with acoustic symphony and organ music (really anything) I had their Model 8’s - as did All of the Soundwarehouse audio/video stores (for demo speakers in their main and even classical music rooms (10” woofers and 1” Philips tweeters) All the Norman labs original designs were really good - then the ported them, went three-way, coated them in bad vinyl, and even slammed in four ways and piezo tweeters… and went out of business

For 44 years i've been enjoying the sounds of my Sansui G9700 receiver that's always been paired to my Sansui SP X11000 speakers .... magical the only downfall been storing the original boxes for the amp and speakers . They take up considerable room ...

The drivers of the 901v2’s are what I used for 2k-5k freq. They are part of the 4way I built in 1980, the only driver not replaced…901v2

I always laugh at the 901 hate, well, Bose hate in general. But for me, they are extremely obtainable and sound amazing!

My first hifi loudspeaker set was a pair of Bolivar Model 125 2-way bookshelf speakers. Hard to find these days.