Vintage Speakers: What To Look For And Another Audio Myth

Are you a fan of classic audio equipment? Whether you call yourself a collector or a fan, it's a nostalgia thing. If you're shopping for vintage speakers look for a few things and don't buy them unless you can follow Andrew's advice.

0:00 Vintage Audio Equipment
1:00 Audio Myths
1:22 Creased Tweeters
2:05 Things That Affect Performance
2:55 Woofer Damage
4:08 Pulling Out Dust Caps
5:05 Exceptions to The Rule

Many times you'll see somebody listing a pair of used speakers or vintage speakers for sale and if they have photos accompanying their ad you might see that some of the woofer or mid-range dust caps are pushed in, or in the case of this poor, sad metal dome tweeter, that it's actually been creased, it's been damaged.

And where the audio myth comes in is that these sellers will often say, "Doesn't affect performance at all. The tweeter dome is pushed in but it doesn't impact performance."

Well, that's complete nonsense.

Now, what they may actually be thinking is that, well, it's still working, that tweeter or that woofer or mid-range or whatever that has damage they may think is just cosmetic damage because the drive unit will probably still be functional. And in that case they jump to the conclusion that, well, it doesn't impact performance.

Well, it does so watch out.

[andrewmcphee]

I got caught out by this, I bought a pair of cheap Wharfedales second-hand and the guy selling them said "the tweeters are still fine" when I saw the dented domes. Stupid me believed him. They (seemed to) work okay for about six months then one day I turned the volume up a bit and suddenly there were nasty static noises then one tweeter died. Couldn't find any good replacements so they went into the rubbish. Lesson learned...

[robertdavis]

1976 1979 Only for me. When solid state electronics were at their Peak with reliability.

[douglasbonner]

Thank you for the correct information I completely agree with you. As with many of your viewers we love vintage gear and wish to collect some of it, I have a 1977 Akai AM-2600 integrated amplifier, I love the knurled knobs and the feel of them, how does it sound?, the line level inputs sound pretty good, but the phono section leaves alot to be desired and is enilelated by either of my modern phono stages which are a Emotiva SP1 which easily beats it, and is crushed into a fine dust by my Canadian made six Acoustic York. The line section is also beat by my Bryston B60r but the old AM-2600 does do a good job trying to. With vintage speakers I have a vintage pair of Genesis V6 which have inverted dome tweeters with some heavy doping on them and thankfully the woofer dust caps are pristine and in the big picture are quite coloured in tonal balance. All this said we all wish we were 19 again and we purchase these things for a trip down memory lane but in the end new gear is better and sounds better. Cheers from Vancouver.

[SdeGat]

Very interesting (as usual). 🙂 Aren’t there other issues to look for in older speakers that may have a significant impact on sound quality? The suspension for example (foam or rubber)? Is reconing an option? How likely it is to get the parts with the exact same characteristics as the original? I’m all for recycling but I don’t think this is worthy of the effort given the probability of restoring the intended sound behavior. What do think? 🤔

[mostirreverent]

Why do some tweeters in midranges have a sticky surface, namely some ADS drivers?

[lamptl]

New loudspeakers tend to be smaller than those old ones. People say that living spaces are expensive and so small loudspeakers emerge.

Are there any other factors that caused the demise of large loudspeakers? In considering the sound quality, is there any myth that small ones
are more capable than large ones? Is it due to modern music cannot be played well in large ones?

I still love those 8-inch woofer bookshelf speakers for their bass. I think they are a kind of vintage speakers. Are there any chances that they will appear in the market like a turntable and black vinyl ? Please give me the correct direction. Thanks.

[jonfoss]

The new stuff assumes your going to use a subwoofer, therefore they lack bass without one

[mr.e]

So ... you are saying they aren't as good busted up as they were when they came from the factory? 😂🤣😂 Isn't a shame you have to say that Buddy? I feel your pain Man. I've seen so many of those "ads" "doesn't affect performance", huh? Well why didn't they come screwed up ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ My car can run on 4 cylinders too, but it came with 8. Anyway, besides letting ya know you're not alone, a lot of those dust caps, I've gotten back to, conservatively, 90% with a plastic bag, some tape, and a straw, if that'd help ya in any way in your efforts. It's basically just turning a bag into a sheet of plastic, getting a tube like a pen tube or a straw through the plastic and creating a seal, I use tape on that too, then taping the plastic to the closest surface to the dust cap, in a perimeter around where you can make a good seal, obviously the closer the better, and then like most things in the world, just suck. That works on every paper or cloth or whatever type one for decades now. Those metal ones like you talked about I think, and the ones that are kind like hard plastic I guess, I've done OK with hot glue and pull, duct tape and pull, even string and super glue. You'll definitely screw a few of those kinds up, but the "normal" type fabric or paper ones, from tweeters to woofers will pop back out, and surprisingly enough, save a barely noticeable crease from time to time, look pretty good. Obviously they've been compromised, but they're a lot closer to all the "sciencey" stuff you talked about, than they are all smooshed in. They've all seemed far more resilient than I'd have imagined prior. As I said, dunno if that'll help ya in any way, but if you're out there rummaging for old tech like me, it may come in handy. Like Bear Claw told Jeremiah ... "Leave some wood down on the Judith, River boat Capt's will leave ya some gold. Might come in handy ... times get hard" 😎 Plus I was compelled to commit a random act of kindness after a clearly intelligent man had to say what ya did, cuz I'm sure someone will and/or has debated that 2+2 w/ya. Anyways, Have a good day/night/life Brother!

Much love!!! ✌
ϻя.ƹ