We got any audiophiles here? Looking for speaker recommendations

So if I said "Name some great bookshelf speakers that are available fairly cheap on the used market" what comes to mind?

Like $150-200 for the pair cheap. Need a couple sets of secondary speakers but don't want crap, so I figure used might be the way to go. Thanks!

(obligatory rocket content: one pair will be in my workshop and will oversee all my rocket building LOL)

I've always thought the Bose Cube speakers were a great deal.

Alan

Mission, great for the price

https://www.ebay.com/bhp/mission-speakers

here the company link

https://www.mission.co.uk/

NHT....
or Mission

Well, it depends...

What's the max physical size that you would consider a "bookshelf" speaker?
How much power (watts per channel) will you be driving them with?
How big/small of a room will they be in?
Any preference for vintage or modern speakers?

If you'll be driving two pairs of speakers simultaneously from the same receiver/amplifier, you'll want some 8 ohm impedance speakers. If just one pair at a time, you could also look at 4 ohm speakers. For a small bookshelf speaker, you really don't need any more than 40 wpc.

In general, I'd suggest watching your local Craigslist postings for good deals on used speakers. Also, check any local thrift stores for bargains.
Here in Minnesota, you can pick up pairs of vintage DLK 1-1/2 speakers all day long for less than $100. They're great speakers, but definitely larger than bookshelf size.

My current garage system is a Pioneer SX-880 receiver, pair of 1970 vintage Original Large Advent speakers, and a 300-disc Sony cd changer. The speakers tend to change about every 6 months, and the receiver about once a year.

A great audio forum is https://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php

Paradigm

I bought a set of wireless Rocketfish speakers from BestBuy and I'm totally happy with them. Has a remote and bass enhancer feature.

I really like my ascend acoustic speakers in our ht. might be out of your price range, though.

https://www.ascendacoustics.com/

They aren't really known for their looks. but the sound is fantastic.

Klipsch.

Adrian

DIY.

Sandy.

JBL

Merlin

Try B&W bookshelf speakers they are a great buy look them up on EBay

I got an amp https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049P6OTI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

And a pair of Sony bookshelf https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OG88KY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I really like the way they sound and it only cost around $90. There are a bunch of other brands around that price point and some have really good reviews.

chrism said:

JBL

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LOL. My college girlfriend always called them junky but loud (JBL)

Adrian

jd2cylman said:

Klipsch.

Adrian

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Klispch Heresey's can be found for $100 each and they are LOUD. When they were new they retailed for $1000 a pair. Check them close, though. Many of the tweeters are blown but replacement diaphrams are $25.

I have a pair and a pair of La Scalas

I have a set of Wharfedales, and I'm pleased with them. Lots of low end for 5" drivers, good silk tweeter, decent crossovers.

I added a little bit of polyester insulation inside them (had a bit of a hump at 240 Hz) but that's a minor tweak IMHO.

I splurged a few months back on Audio Engine 2's and have no regrets. The fullest sounding speakers I've had short of my full tower Infinities. Expensive but very, very good full balanced sound.
https://audioengineusa.com/

GDJ said:

I have a set of Wharfedales, and I'm pleased with them. Lots of low end for 5" drivers, good silk tweeter, decent crossovers.

I added a little bit of polyester insulation inside them (had a bit of a hump at 240 Hz) but that's a minor tweak IMHO.

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I have an old pair of Wharfedales. They did have what were the first dome mylar tweeters to come on a speaker. When I got them in an estate auction the tweeters had come apart, from the heat of being in storage, I guess. The squawkers(mid range) weren't in much better shape so I ended up replaceing them with top quality components. The crossovers were 1st order Butterworth and only gave 6db of seperation, replaced with 3rd order Butterworth crossovers. The best thing about them is the cast frame 12" woofers. The reason they have lasted where the other speakers didn't is they don't have a foam speaker surround, they're cloth. The magnet isn't very big at all but they're ALNICO. All in all a very nice sounding pair of speakers.

If you are handy with a saw and soldering iron, you can build your own or buy inexpensive speakers from Parts Express. Their web address is :

www.parts-express.com

chrism said:

If you are handy with a saw and soldering iron, you can build your own or buy inexpensive speakers from Parts Express. Their web address is :

www.parts-express.com

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Thank you very much for that. I have a JBL D140 that needs reconed and that's the best price and the turnaround time is amazing. There's a place here that recones speakers...if you're willing to wait YEARS for them to do it

On a similar thread, I picked up a 1964 Magnavox Stereo/Phono console at an Estate sale. The sound was amazing, but after a month it has quit working. It does have a solid state chassis and I am thinking maybe it is some if not all of the capacitors. Any one know of a Tech in the North Ga. area that works on the vintage stuff?

dave carver said:

I have an old pair of Wharfedales. They did have what were the first dome mylar tweeters to come on a speaker. When I got them in an estate auction the tweeters had come apart, from the heat of being in storage, I guess. The squawkers(mid range) weren't in much better shape so I ended up replaceing them with top quality components. The crossovers were 1st order Butterworth and only gave 6db of seperation, replaced with 3rd order Butterworth crossovers. The best thing about them is the cast frame 12" woofers. The reason they have lasted where the other speakers didn't is they don't have a foam speaker surround, they're cloth. The magnet isn't very big at all but they're ALNICO. All in all a very nice sounding pair of speakers.

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Nice, especially the cloth surround alnico drivers.

I did build these a few years ago, and they still rock:



A kind of hybrid backloaded horn around a 8" long excursion woofer and N.O.S. JBL mid/tweeter plates. Great bass down to 25 Hz.

Klipsch Synergy Bookshelfs. You cannot touch them for the money, in my opinion.

GDJ said:

Nice, especially the cloth surround alnico drivers.

I did build these a few years ago, and they still rock:

A kind of hybrid backloaded horn around a 8" long excursion woofer and N.O.S. JBL mid/tweeter plates. Great bass down to 25 Hz.

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I have their big brother Pair of JBL scoops with D140 AKA 2440 JBL 300 watt speakers. Did you know that JBL is the only speaker that when power is applied they thrust back into the cabinet? All others thrust outwards. It was this theory that split James B. Lansing and Altec Lansing apart. The JBL loaded JBL scoops frequency responce goes clear up to 5K with the higher frequencys being direct radiating and the lower coming out the horn. Guitars sound so sweet coming out of them I set my Klispch La Scalas on top which form the basis of my PA system. I don't use a crossover to limit the JBL's, I let the natural cutoff on the 15" JBL's work to limit frequency. Besides, there's only the top 2 octaves(5K to 20K) left for the tweeters to cover. Plug them in together for a 4 ohm load into a Pyle Pro 250 RMS amp. I also use a Aphex Aurel Exciter Type "C" with Big Bottom to process the signal, adds so much you wouldn't believe.

dave carver said:

I have their big brother Pair of JBL scoops with D140 AKA 2440 JBL 300 watt speakers. Did you know that JBL is the only speaker that when power is applied they thrust back into the cabinet? All others thrust outwards. It was this theory that split James B. Lansing and Altec Lansing apart. The JBL loaded JBL scoops frequency responce goes clear up to 5K with the higher frequencys being direct radiating and the lower coming out the horn. Guitars sound so sweet coming out of them I set my Klispch La Scalas on top which form the basis of my PA system. I don't use a crossover to limit the JBL's, I let the natural cutoff on the 15" JBL's work to limit frequency. Besides, there's only the top 2 octaves(5K to 20K) left for the tweeters to cover. Plug them in together for a 4 ohm load into a Pyle Pro 250 RMS amp. I also use a Aphex Aurel Exciter Type "C" with Big Bottom to process the signal, adds so much you wouldn't believe.

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I've heard that with JBL, but never seen it (always busy doing something else).

Back loaded horns are a different beast to listen to. The bass is there, but with Acoustic Suspension or simple Tuned Port I always found that the hard kick drum hits at higher volumes always felt like they were coming from my chest then up. These you don't feel the bass much, but you just simply hear it. It sounds odd, but it works well.

The only real drawback is the physical size vs the size of the woofer. Mine are 8" drivers, but the cabinet looks like it could house a 12" easily. It's all air and passages inside the cabinet (3.6 metres of passages all folded up).

GDJ said:

I've heard that with JBL, but never seen it (always busy doing something else).

Back loaded horns are a different beast to listen to. The bass is there, but with Acoustic Suspension or simple Tuned Port I always found that the hard kick drum hits at higher volumes always felt like they were coming from my chest then up. These you don't feel the bass much, but you just simply hear it. It sounds odd, but it works well.

The only real drawback is the physical size vs the size of the woofer. Mine are 8" drivers, but the cabinet looks like it could house a 12" easily. It's all air and passages inside the cabinet (3.6 metres of passages all folded up).

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I hear ya about the physical size, the JBL's are 2 foot by 2 foot by 4 feet. Putting the La Scalas on top raises the tweets to nearly 7 feet in the air so on each side there are 2 15" speakers, a mid horn and a tweet. The La Scalas are the 2nd loudest speakers per watt of input ever. At 1 watt RMS they put out 104 db, nothing else comes close. The loudest ever was a MacIntosh Model 10 at 105 db but at $10,000 a pair 30 years ago not too many were sold. The Klispch on the other hand were $3000 a pair, new. They were the prime choice for disco's back in the day so there are actually a lot of them on the used market. I know where there are two pair sitting in a basement of an old disco. I've been trying for years to buy them off the old guy that owns tthem but he's just too stubborn to sell them

dave carver said:

I hear ya about the physical size, the JBL's are 2 foot by 2 foot by 4 feet. Putting the La Scalas on top raises the tweets to nearly 7 feet in the air so on each side there are 2 15" speakers, a mid horn and a tweet. The La Scalas are the 2nd loudest speakers per watt of input ever. At 1 watt RMS they put out 104 db, nothing else comes close. The loudest ever was a MacIntosh Model 10 at 105 db but at $10,000 a pair 30 years ago not too many were sold. The Klispch on the other hand were $3000 a pair, new. They were the prime choice for disco's back in the day so there are actually a lot of them on the used market. I know where there are two pair sitting in a basement of an old disco. I've been trying for years to buy them off the old guy that owns tthem but he's just too stubborn to sell them

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These are still my favourite speakers. WAY too big for home use......but one can dream!
JBL UREI time aligned monitors. Twin 15" of WOOF!! with a 4" titanium dome compression tweeter.

I have been very happy with Fluance. I have a 5.1 setup from Fluance and it sounds much better than you'd think a $399 + sub would cost---easily better than other speakers that cost 2-3 times more.

Vandersteen Model 7's:eyepop::eyepop::eyepop: