Altec Lansing Model 9 Speakers

I have had these speakers on the back burner all summer and finally got around to doing a large re foam job on both the woofers and the mid range drivers.

These first generation Altecs 9's are the top of the consumer range before customers went into the Santana's or even higher up the food chain to the 15's, 18's or 19's that are horn loaded.

These speakers came to me in mint condition and their oak veneer cabinets in perfect shape.

They have a large 12" woofer with a 4" mid range and a 3" tweeter, the efficiency is up there at 93db's, which suits a single ended tube amp.

Once I had the box open a replacement of the tweeter cap was an easy upgrade with a Solen 2.2uf cap and installed proper banana plugs.

These speakers are beast, not as large as the JBL CF150's but pretty darn close, the Altecs are a much better build.

The finished product turned out really well, one last thing I need to do is install the cosmetic foam ring around the woofer, I was excited to listen to them and get some pictures up first.

So the big question is how do they sound, well before I begin I have tried them on my Single Ended 4WPC tube amp and a monster Sony STR-V5 at a whopping 85WPC and they are two very different speakers.

In solid state mode at half volume these speakers rock the house to the point of shaking the wooden structure that is the my place. They are loud, but they loose there coherency, the bass gets muddled and the mid range and highs become shrill. At lower volumes they do a nice job with the solid state gear but to the limits of solid state.

When attached to the Single Ended Tube amp, Wow, pure lusciousness! These speakers are incredibly well matched with really nice full bass, like really full. The mid range images wonderfully with zero chestiness in make vocals, female vocals like Mazzy Star are pure heaven. the tweeter is spot on with crisp crisp highs. You do not miss a thing in detail with these speakers. Luscious, it is the only way to sum up the pairing of a tube amp with these speakers, this is what high fidelity is meant to be.

If you google the Altec Model 9's you will find mediocre to satisfying reviews of these speakers, I would suspect that most have only heard these through solid state gear and I understand that. Through a tube amp these are a speaker that is stunning to listen to, it is too bad that most probably listen to these through the wrong type of amplifier.

The Tannoy Oxford Gold's have always been the reference speaker that all others are measured against in my space and these can easily trump the Oxfords.

These are an absolute wonderful find and a very welcome addition to my ever so eclectic collection of speakers.



 

Noresco NE 561 Speakers

A great find came my way in this pair of Noresco NE 561 speakers, these are Canadian made with a well revered Isophon PH2132E dual concentric Alnico 8"X12" woofer with a 3" tweeter center mounted.

This pair of speakers has a beautiful walnut veneer cabinet that was a little sun bleached but a few nice coats of Circa 1856 Naturoil brought out the best in the cabinets.

I have swapped to this oil versus Minwax as the Minwax off gasses for 48 hours and this product is all natural.

I opted to upgrade the internal speaker wire to 16 gauge and replace the tired caps with Solen Fast Caps and it has completely opened up these speakers.

It looks t me like Noresco built these speakers to Isophon specs according to the data sheet.

So how do they sound, absolutely amazing on the Single Ended tube amp. They need a little bump up in the bass region but the mid range imaging is incredible. The cone tweeter is nice and smooth without any paper harshness, almost horn like. The dual concentric driver really shines in placement of instruments and musicians, the sound from one origin source is a real joy to listen to, no wonder the Isophon PH2132 drivers are well sought after.

The efficiency is pretty high of at least 95db at one watt, which suits the tube amp perfectly.

I have become a real fan of well designed speakers that use natural roll offs and a single capacitor in the crossover, it means that the drivers were designed to work together and they are not off the shelf  drivers.

Speakers that do this the best are EPI 100's, AR 18B's these Isophon drivers, the Tannoy Oxford Gold's and the Sound Dynamic Concert 500's all have a 1st order crossover and they all sound best on a tube amp.

These Noresco'c image incredibly well as if they are a window into the music. If you are a tube aficionado these speakers should be on your list of must hear speakers. 

Paradigm 3SE Mini Speakers

Another pair of Paradigm 3SE Mini speakers came to visit me again. this is about the sixth pair of this wonderful speaker that has graced my aural pleasures.

This pair belongs to a friend of the blog and wanted to hear them on the tube amp. These are by far one of my favorite 6.5" 2 way speakers out there and well worth seeking out if in the market for a decent set of used speakers for a smaller space.

The sound way larger than they actually are and outside of being a bit bass shy they image great with spot on mids and highs.

I did do a quick re cap with a  4.7uf Solen polypropylene cap which improved the performance immediately. 

University RRL-12 Speakers

A friend of the blog arrived this week with a pair of immaculately refurbished pair of University RRL-12 speakers. The RRL-12 speakers feature 12" woofer with Alnico magnets along with a 5 inch midrange with Alnico magnets and a wonderful dome tweeter.

This pair of University RRL-12 were lovingly and painstakingly redone with mint cabinets and crossover that have high quality Erse and Solen capacitors along with audiophile grade resistors.

With a little tweaking with the brilliance control on the back along with a little added bass and treble powered through a push/pull Electrohome Kalmar 120 tube amp and these speakers sound absolutely fantastic.

Once the equalization was figured out the sound was very open and transparent with incredible detail and depth, by depth I mean the 3 dimensional image of where the instruments and vocals have their place in the room. It is as if you are in the same room as the musicians, the clarity can only be realized with a tube amp.

This surviving pair of University speakers are a real gem to grace this audiophile blogger.

EPI 100V crossover upgrade

The EPI 100V is a wonderful speaker that has graced this blog an multiple occasions and this latest pair is another example of how a simple internal wiring and capacitor upgrade brings out the best in this speaker.

Once again the latest pair that I picked up got the royal treatment. One thing I did notice is that the woofer had been refoamed already with the distinct signature of Vancouver Audio Speaker Clinic all over it.

The old really thin speaker wire was replaced with proper thick copper wiring along with a Solen Metalized Polyester cap. I also like to add proper binding post to accept banana plugs.

This simple upgrade is a night and day difference and always worth doing.

EPI 100V Speakers

Another wonderful pair of EPI 100V speakers arrived yesterday, following the EPI C70 that arrived a few days earlier.

Any reader of this blog knows that I am a fan of the EPI 100V speaker. These speakers are very musical and do just about everything right. Lucky for me both pairs have been re foamed already, I will open them up and replace the 10uf capacitor with a Solen metal polyester type along with adding banana plug terminals and upgrading the internal wiring..

I spent time with the EPI A70 and the EPI 100V stacked last night and all I can say is WOW!, not often does one get a chance to listen to these speakers in this configuration. One can not put it into words.

I have been powering it through the wonderful Noresco 2570 receiver which I find it to be an absolute gem of a receiver. I have a new agenda to keep my eyes open for more Noresco receivers or Rotel receivers of this vintage, these are worth picking up, believe me.

Braun L830 Speakers

Another fine example of Deiter Rams iconic Braun L830 speakers, if you ever get a chance to audition a pair of these wonderful speakers do so. The detail and depth of sound is like the finest set of headphones on your ears.

This pair was full re capped with Solen polyester caps and new speaker terminals added.

The clarity of the mid range dome is unreal and the dome tweeter sparkles while the 10" woofer takes care of the bottom end with plenty of oomph..

Tannoy C-10 Speakers

Another set of speakers showed up this week, Canadian made Tannoy C-10, manufactured under license by API, the same makers of Energy, Mirage, Sound Dynamics, ESM, Image, DB Plus, and probably a few more.

These Tannoy's use a 10 inch woofer pair up with a Vifa dome tweeter, the crossover is a simple first cross on the woofer and a second cross to the tweeter. This pair needed a new 6.8uf Solen cap installed as no signal was getting through to the tweeter. New foam surrounds were also installed as the old set had sen their day.

This is my second pair of Canadian made Tannoy's, I had a pair of Tannoy C-6's a few years back.

I am impressed with this Tannoy offering from API, the bottom end is full and with any Vifa tweeter the upper mid range and high end is crisp and clean.

At 92db sensitivity these Tannoy's run well with a tube amp and sound right at home with the rest of my speaker collection. They are non fatiguing with a great open sound stage. the imaging, although not as precise ad the Tannoy Oxford Gold's is pretty good, API really do make good consumer orientated speakers.

Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitor

These speakers followed me home today, Sound Dynamics 500 Concert Monitors. I am happy to have another pair of these wonderful speakers that match up very well with my tube amp.

I sold off my Sound Dynamics 10S a while back and kind of regretted it since. I am happy to have an updated pair of the same speakers fall back into the rotation.

Of course this pair will get re foamed with black foams instead of the orange originals as I like the look of the black foams. Also new Solen caps will be put in place along with new speaker terminals.

These 500 Concert Monitors are the later version of the 10S, they still have the 10" woofer and horn loaded tweeter, they come in a mirror image set and the cabinet is just a bit smaller.

I really look forward to listening to these speaker again.

Current vintage audio stuff for sale in Vancouver

My collection is pretty good and deep right now and I need to sell a few gems.

Speakers for sale from  my collection:

EPI 100V, Classic old school speaker fully refurbished with Solen caps, how they should have made it originally.
Absolute pristine condition. $150.00. Stands not included.

SOLD

Celestion Ditton DM110, Great British loudspeaker, made even better with new Solen Caps. Excellent sound stage made even better post upgrade. Stands not included $120.00. Grills in perfect condition.

Camber 2.5 Speakers, A well made Canadian classic that can rival an Energy 22. Super deep bass for a 7 inch woofer and a perfect sound stage image. Mirror imaged and an exceptional build quality. $120.00 stand not included. Grill in perfect condition.

SOLD

Well matched Rotel RX-830 receiver with a pair re capped Mission 700 Leading Edge speakers with Solen caps. I can not say enough about these two pieces together, you would swear the musicians are right in front of you. $200.00 gets you on the road to great vintage sound.

Aurex SA-5000, Same as the Toshiba SA-5000. 50 watts per channel of Direct Coupled goodness. Seriously well built amp from when Toshiba was at their best in home audio/visual. Toshiba is not as well known but made exceptional products in the 80's. $120.00

JVC R-S33 Receiver, second from the top of the line, this JVC receiver is a strong 40 watts per channel that runs "Class A" amp with "Class B", like a hybrid. The best in design and aesthetics from JVC in the 80's. $120.00

Local cash sales in Vancouver only.

Contact me through the Blog at psdave@gmail.com