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Best speaker by year? (or audio)


Andythiing

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Being a bit lazy I know but does anyone know of a list or webste that provides details of "best" or "good" speakers and the year they where released for each yeear ie years from say 1960 on which provides the better speakers released for the first time in that year - a timeline of speaker releases and the "quality" ones.

Playing with my Beovox tonight from 1971 made me think what other speakers where released in that year - and therefore what about a list by each year?

Anyone know of one - could easily be for audio more broadly.

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Hi Andy, I actually have a set of Celestion 66's here from 1974. I am in the process of refurbishing them and building a matching TL sub. I was initially amazed at how well these things are designed and specced, and will post up a thread on the refurb as time permits.

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None that I know of, Andy. I recall 1971 pretty well, though. I purchased a set of speakers from a new player in town - Bose :D The original Bose 501 ($400) was released in 1971, and as rock and roll speakers (what else would any 17 year old listen to..?) - I loved 'em. Other speakers I recall being on the market in 1971, but not necessarily released that year were:

KEF Concerto

JBL L100

Marantz Imperial 7

AR 3a

JBL Paragon ($4000)

There is a summary of reviews for various magazines back to 1952 here. Makes for interesting reading...:D

cheers

2sheds

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Yes I can see myself with a long list in my own shed which I tick off as i build the collection - or is it all just part of a fantasy???

A little surprised actually as it seems quite a basic bit of information to list - timelines for invetions/technologies not uncommon.

I suspect a magazine or something would have doen this at some stage.

Maybe a longer term sticker thread that people could add to - lets see what i come across.

I guess in soem respects it would be a massive taask and list - but if you focused lets say on the top 10 or say even top 3 released each year it could be a little more managable.

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G'day Andy, Maybe you could send an email of to Hi-Fi World Magazine (UK), they seem to know a lot about past audio goodies'

Here's a thought! get in touch with one of our Moderators and see if we can make this an official SNA question to that Magazines 'mail' pages.

The E 'Mail' address is

letters@hi-fiworld.co.uk. You never know we (SNA) might get some international exposure and we-you could win the monthly letter prize.:D

Don't think too many Aussie speakers would get a mention though.

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Hi Andy, I actually have a set of Celestion 66's here from 1974. I am in the process of refurbishing them and building a matching TL sub. I was initially amazed at how well these things are designed and specced, and will post up a thread on the refurb as time permits.

I used to own a pair of those Celestions......great speakers til I blew them up with my first Krell amp after prompting from fellow audio nuts to "let's see what the Krell can do":mad:

I miss them.....and the big room I had them in,they were smooth and driver to driver coherence was/is brilliant for a tower speaker....not an easy thing to get right,as ASLAN would know.

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As Bono once said/sang "And I still cant find what Im looking for"

But came across this and its got lots of nice pictures.

http://www.higherfi.com/library/

Some interesting stuff there Andy :eek:

Take this, for example. listed under "World's Best (sic) Aesthetic Speaker Designs" :

EverythingButTheBox-Terra-I.jpg

Is it just me? or does that speaker look like it swallowed a pig....? :)

And ....these....'aeshethic'...? Pleease....:)

Gamper-Martino_Corner.jpg

Al least these ones will be alroight with a bit of Viagra...:confused:

normal_gershmanacoustics_gap828.jpg

cheers

2sheds

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surely the R1's in 2008 would get a listing!

And I should damn well hope so too :)

Tweaky, These old Celestions certainly have all the right bits. I fired them up last night and was reasonably impressed. Slight reservations regarding midrange harshness, but all in all, for their era, sublime.

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2sheds Speaker of the Year - 1957

[ATTACH]4213[/ATTACH]

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JBL Paragon

Originally designed as a centre channel for a home theatre system. :) The Paragon continued in production until 1983. No accurate numbers survive for total sales, but these babies are rare. Perhaps no more than 1000 were ever built.

cheers

2sheds

Edited by 2sheds
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2sheds Speaker of the Year - 1953

autograph.jpg200109261643273.jpg

Tannoy Autograph

Long before the Westminster, this was the speaker to own and which cemented Tannoy's reputation as a maker of audiophile speakers (they had long cemented their reputation for PA and studio speakers). Made before the stereo standard (1958) had been finalised, these were generally sold in single units, and made to sit on the corner of the average UK living room. What else did you need for mono...? The horn loading continued on till this day and can be seen in today's Westminsters and GRFs (named after Guy R Fountain - the founder of Tannoy)

cheers

2sheds

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2sheds Speaker of the Year - 1944 (No. I wasn't there for the launch :))

Original604.jpg

urei-813.jpg

Altec 604 Duplex (Cabinets were generally made separately and varied)

Developed by Jim Lansing, who went on to form JBL. The 604 (in many versions) was one of the most successful speakers of all time and remained in production until 1998, when the owners Telex Communications, closed down the factory. Originally developed as a studio monitor, it quickly became popular for public address systems and home use. The 604 was the standard for main studio monitors in the US well into the 1980's.

cheers

2sheds

Edited by 2sheds
history of 604 added
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