Vintage vs modern speakers 

The master of shoehorning

BIG VINTAGE SPEAKERS RULE 💯

Yes, redoing crossovers with modern components like high end caps, metal resistors and big air-core inductors is like night and day.

Does speaker re-coning not totally change their character?

Hi Lance. Ever experienced any bozak aluminium cones? I have some B-2000. 3 ways. And let me tell you they are all aliminium. Tweets included. 1960. Crossovers all parralel capacitance I replaced with new film. But ill say one thing. They didn't need it. I'd like this genuinely friendly and smart man to tell us about himself. What you listen to? And what brands and models do you think have been over looked thru history? Radio archives are insane. Theres more patents than the world took to create.

​@@rowgli Re-coning would likely change the character, unless OEM cones are used. I had new surrounds put on my vintage JBL drivers, keeping the original cones. Dust caps were also replaced, but it didn't change the original sound.

@@rowgli yes reconing will change their tonal qualities usually for the better the cones get dry and brittle and the tonal quality sounds the same as the cardboard, so when you put a new one on there you get a much deeper richer sound or better Bass... also a better mid-range and a sweeter tweeter...

I have HD880 , fabulous speakers !

There is one town for no brainers too it's called Aintree... up north !!

@@janinapalmer8368 Wow! Pretty AND smart! I live in Antwerp.

Just Bloody Loud!!

@@joeking1019 If need be!

I think he meant to say Klipsch. I don't recall a JBL "Corner horn"

@@gotham61 I guess he meant the JBL «Hartsfield»

@@mischadickerhof5375 Possibly

Thanks for this comment stream! This is embarrassing, but I'd never heard of the Hartsfield; only the Paragon. I've been listening to my 4343s since around 1980, so I'm a JBL fan. Here's the entrance to the Hartsfield rabbit hole: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MkenklfQsZQ.html

Wholesome? Paul spent half his life in prison for some unspeakably horrific things. But yeah, fun to watch his videos.

They basically did. They replaced almost everything to their own spec.

Do you mean the IRS-V? The RS-5 is a four driver stand mount speaker from the 80s. The Prime from Genesis Advanced Technologies is essentially a modernized IRS-V. genesisloudspeakers.com/products/prime/

...or the RSe.

Hi Michael Can you explain more on the surround/suspension?

@@nbk1943 the surrounds are the foam or rubber at the top of the speaker cone. It fastens the speaker cone to the speaker basket, and they start to deteriorate over time causing the upper end to get out of alignment. The suspension is at the bottom of the cone, and the same can happen. It cost about $30-40 per speaker, but worth every penny if you love the sound they make. If you don't know of a speaker repair shop, ask a general manager at the movie theater, they'll know someone. I hope this helps.

Do your own research...

Still using Linn Isobarik's on my Naim Statement Amp

@@dickluxor My Isobariks still going strong on the end of a Naim 250. I treated them to new custom foam grilles about three years ago and I reckon they'll see me out; I've instructed my wife to remove the drivers and then she can bury me in them - hopefully not for a while yet, though! Thanks for the comment and continue to enjoy ;0)

Pretty much. But I think when you look at the big picture with vintage audio, you’d have to spend a lot more money on contemporary equipment than you would with a few hundred bucks and a few months scouring Facebook marketplace. You can get a genuinely respectable audio system for ~$350 with vintage equipment. Amplification wise, I’d say a decent modern class D is good enough for a start, if your speakers are good and the amp is a decent match. Simply because amps can be a bit annoying with oxidized controls, capacitors going out, that a beginner or even moderate stereo enthusiast typically lacks the experience to deal with, and it can be expensive. Sure, some cheaper klipsch speakers might be a bit more revealing. But they really can’t capture the scope or attack of some old massive powerful loudspeakers.. or how the sound wafts in the air. They also tend to dig lower bass wise than many modern bookshelves. Again all of this in the sense that you’d have to spend quite a bit more to match the vintage tech.

Magneplanars have changed a lot since the 70s.

@@gotham61 maybe, but the sound is very much the same.

They sound great, but I found the sweet spot to be so small!

I have none of these issues with the Martin Logan ESL 9's. (0;

@@donny303 yes, and the image collapses when you turn your head, BUT when it’s right, it’s amazing.

I don't think so, I doubt you have heard That many modern speakers

@@playbackvintagehifihunter9669 I doubt you've heard many decent ESL57's.

@@MitchLambert I've heard enough.

I understand your comment on the 57’s. I first heard a pair of quad 57’s many decades ago in a dealers demo room and the experience has stuck in my memory. I was stunned by the sound that came out of what looked like room heaters. I vividly remember all the details of equipment used and the LP played. I have owned many box speakers over the years but recently decided to splash out on a pair of modern full range floor standing electrostatics. Wow! Good electrostatics are in a different league to any box speaker, regardless of price.

I wish I had a little group like that! I have one friend that was very happy to take my hand me down speakers and took my advice and bought and pioneer AVR as his first piece of stereo gear. My system blows the doors off of all of my friends listening setups but they’re not as crazy as I am about this stuff.

@@graxjpg I know, what you mean. In fact we're musiclovers. But I'm the only "Audiophiliac" in our little group. Sometimes I feel bit misunderstood with all my efforts concerning the sound though ;) But I appreciate very much the HiFi-community here on the web. Hopefully there'll be post-pandemic audioshows to meet eachother! Stay safe!

@@sebastianbachert9528 this online community is the only place I have had access to this kind of information anywhere in my life, and i really appreciate that! I’m trying to get others into preserving high fidelity but I don’t know many other people to start with! Haha

I loved the Harbeth Compact 7es-3 that I had. People who take speakers apart aren't always impressed by the parts used inside by Harbeth but they do sound very nice.

Yep, exposure and, sometimes, associated events tie a little nostalgia to a lot of accidental ear training as we grow and listen - I grew up listening to very cheap stereo gear and the 1st stereo I bought sounded great to me becasue it was in the ball park of what i was used to. I was slowly exposed to better gear and so my taste and analysis became better over time. When I was given a pair of mid 70 AR speakers, (4x I think), in the mid 80s I was blown away again.

M Pi Yes, sounding different doesn’t necessarily means sounding good. And, how one accepts CHANGE depends on individual person. I want to listen to Aretha Franklin on a Garrard 401 and also on a latest cutting edge German innovation. I will get a different flavour of her tone and music. DIFFERENT is the word, not BETTER or WORST. Well, it could be worst😊.

@M Pi I think you nailed it. Good post.

They are available as a set directly through PS Audio web site.

And its not a CD, its SACD. Paul isn't interested in catering to plebs. 😉

He just won’t come and say you HAVE to buy both the book and sacd. Offering them separately is a con.

@@rklmbd2934 I have the SACD there is a CD layer it works fine in my CD transport.

@@rklmbd2934 you are literally a plebeian, and Paul did make it for you too. That’s why there is a CD layer

I've got a pair also. Hadem since 1975. New. Just, just got the woofers swapped out for original from Ohm . Well worth it. How's yours holding up?? Curious to know.thankx. Do you still got them even. Nice to read that someone had a set.

@@peterrichard3706 Sadly not. I loved those Ls but went through a period where I was moving frequently and traveling often and sold them. I later picked up a used pair of self-powered B&O Beolab 3 speakers that I converted to Bluetooth but they don't have the place in my heart if the Ls. I bought the Ohms at their factory in Brooklyn..... I met the company owner, the people who actually build the speakers.... just writing this makes me sentimental.

May I ask your bozak opinion

@@andyhyde4711 90 precent there......

Hi friend, we are visiting Paul's channel. Why he shoud not present his product on his channel? BTW, it is a product related to hi-fi, the same like this channel...

Indeed, but it's just getting a bit OTT.

I think he means not that the loafers can be low quality, but rather that they are all of high quality, but since they are each only carrying a very small part of the load (making the music) they can do so far more linearly and accurately without introducing distortion. A good driver played at a modest volume will always sound better than one played hard. Tekton is good to throw out any driver that would not sonically match the others. Good for them.

I have a pair of Jordan Watts in my office, they sound fantastic through an old 1975 Sansui amp. Very natural sound and fatigue never sets in with these speakers, I love them. It’s hard to believe the technology is from the 1960’s but that’s the genius of Ted Jordan.

Price point, gross margin and WAF. You need it to sell and make money. Not many people will be in the market for a $150k speaker that requires its own 2500 sq ft room.

@@user-od9iz9cv1w That is a big room, that like 3 times the size of where I live😄. It also takes a team of engineers to set the big dinosaurs up.

@@SJMessinwithBoats and then the problems when you decide to downsize or run the estate sale LOL

@@user-od9iz9cv1w The IRS-V's will fit in an 8" ceiling perfectly (they are designed with this in mind), and the PS Audio listening room in not much bigger than my living room, probably about 18'x20'. The folks that could afford this almost certainly have a room they can be used in.

@@joshua43214 IMHO the room is too small. Yes the people that dedicate a room to this hobby and can afford 6 figure speakers can find a room for them. I am in that camp. But also not a big market and lots of suppliers. Based on what I have seen, PS Audio is targeting a price point of sub $30k and a look that could fit into the living room of an understanding spouse. More of those buyers out there.

I thought I was ordering the book and the "CD" as mentioned at 1:13.....but then AFTER I ordered the package, I was confounded that I only ordered the book "version"...I say BAIT and SWITCH...