Four Fabulous Retro Speakers (Music Notes)

Okay, just one more off-topic post about vintage speakers, and then I promise we'll move on. I've been spending more and more time photographing lately, and I couldn't be happier about it, but there's a reason you tend to hear very little from working photographers...they're working. My work is writing, and photographing distracts me from that.

Back to speakers. Lately I've been exploring/enjoying the beautiful Complete Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster Sessions (1960), which is marvelous "cool jazz," and also marvelous to listen to on a desktop system, because Gerry is on the left channel and Ben on the right, making it even easier to distinguish what each is contributing to the conversation. It's not hard anyway, because Gerry plays baritone and Ben plays tenor, and they have such different "voices." The music is also great to listen to because it showcases the superb sonic qualities of a small group recorded faithfully and without frills—even just listening to the YouTube versions, which is what the link above goes to. American jazz from the period 1955–1960 is my favorite of all music, even topping 1960–1980 and 1990s rock. Take a listen to the first cut, "In a Mellow Tone," even if jazz is not your bag and you don't want to explore further. "Who's Got Rhythm?" also makes a nice sample. Here's the record itself.

Continue to my discussion about the gear if you're interested.

Retro only
None of these are actual vintage speakers—they're brand new, vintage-themed retro speakers. Several of them have come down the pike relatively recently.

My late brother's speakers were German three-ways (three drivers per side, woofer, midrange, and tweeter) in a medium-size box, and I can't believe I can't remember the brand. It's there in the old brain somewhere, but, as I age, my brain becomes more like a messy attic. [UPDATE: Actually they were Dahlquist DQM-9's, the "German" memory being attached to the Magnat drivers Dahlquist used. Oh well, so much for memory. Jon Dahlquist was later tragically incapacitated in an accident.] Scott was a fan of the classic three-way, which has been in decline for years—companies these days more often make do with stand-mount "bookshelf" speakers on the one hand and floorstanding towers on the other.

Anyway, there has been a mini-Renaissance just recently of retro-themed medium-box three-ways, and, to quote Billy Crystal, it's maaah-velous. 

First up is the gorgeous KLH Model Five, which is attracting glowing reviews from all over everyplace like a powerful magnet. Not only does it have a 10-inch woofer (woo-hoo—to the manner born!), it's a rarity in that it's an acoustic suspension design—no ports. AS designs tend to have bass that doesn't go quite as deep as the same size drivers might in a ported box, but the bass is more tuneful and better differentiated. In jazz particularly, the standing bass is difficult to record and doesn't come across with the same magic it has in a bar or small club. Recordings of it tend to sound better with AS designs. "Sealed boxes" are a rarity in today's world, and, as you might expect (since my connoisseurship seems to often champion the minority solution, smiley face), I love sealed box speakers. I even started to compile a website on the available ones years ago.

Best of all is the midcentury modern grille cloth, which really harkens back to the look of the 1950s and '60s. There are three real-wood veneers: English Walnut, West African Mahogany, and "Nordic Noir" (also known by the less recherché name "black"). The speakers come complete with well-made steel floor stands, which the company calls risers. The speaker without the risers is 26" high. The grilles are available in three shades.

I haven't figured out who designed these yet, but I have a call in to the CEO of KLH and I'll get back to you if he gets back to me. KLH Audio, now owned by Kelley Global Brands, was originally founded by Henry Kloss, Malcolm S. Low, and Josef Anton Hofmann in 1957. Henry Kloss (pronounced close as in the opposite of far), who was later the co-founder of Acoustic Research [CORRECTION below in the Featured Comments, from kevin willoughby —Ed.], was instrumental in developing the acoustic suspension idea. By the time KLH was sold to Singer in 1964, it employed 500 workers and was selling 30,000 speakers a year. Interestingly, it was owned for a spell by the Japanese conglomerate Kyocera, which also owned Yashica, the maker of Contax cameras. Kelley Global Brands has revitalized the venerated old name with a bang.

I'd love to hear the Model Fives. The Achilles' heel of the audio hobby (and industry) is that there are no longer places where you can go listen to a broad range of speakers; audio salons and emporiums have dried up and withered away just like old-line camera stores have, and the ones that remain usually feature only a few brands. If you can find a place within driving distance to go audition one model of speaker you're interested in, chances are they won't have all (or any) of the others you'd like to hear. Second best option is that Amazon gives you a 30-day return privileges. That's a very involved way to audition speakers, but at least you won't get stuck with something you don't like.

Next up is the Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary, which are currently $300 off if you buy them directly from Wharfedale USA with the matching stands. They're considerably smaller than the KLH at 22.2 inches high, and have only an 8" woofer. It's a ported design.

Many trips around the sun ago, it was accepted that different nationalities had their own distinctive cultural tastes in reproduced music, and that this was reflected in the sound of loudspeakers from those countries. I have no idea if this was true then or now, as all speakers sound different to me, and the same speaker sounds different with different electronics or in different rooms. Be all that as it may, British speakers were believed to be warm, rich, and full-sounding compared to Canadian, American, French, and Japanese speakers. I personally tended to like British speakers, with names like B&W, Celestion, Spendor, KEF, Tannoy, Mission, and Wharfedale. Wharfedale (along with Mission) is now part of International Audio Group (IAG) of Shenzhen, China, but the chief designer is a Brit named Peter Comeau. Based on several of his designs that I've heard, I'm always interested in Peter Comeau's work—I think he has a great ear and a real talent for voicing his designs. His taste is probably close to mine. If I were buying, I'd be sure to hear the Linton Heritage.

The Linton Heritage has been very popular and has sold very well from what I understand. One result of this is a version for richer people, the New Dovedale, which resuscitates another venerated old Wharfedale name. Built in Britain for authenticity's sake (and priced accordingly—$7,000 the pair), the larger Dovedale is apparently tuned for big, deep, and rich bass.

But getting back to "photography" for a moment, look what I found on Wharfedale's UK Dovedale page:

Just an advertising photo, right? Methinks not. First of all, the speaker is out of scale. Then, hmm, what exactly are these items on the mantlepiece?

And do the pleats in the leather chair look right?

Not really. (The chair must be a factory second.) How about the books on the bookshelf behind the speaker?

Most tellingingly, take a look at the English craftsmanship on the wooden wall paneling. Something very much amiss there. What was the whitebeard wizard's name in Harry Potter again? Dumbledore? It must be his study we're in!

That's AI or I'm a monkey's uncle. I guess it gets the point across without the expense of taking a real photograph, but I'm not a fan. If you can't afford a proper photograph, an artist's rendering behind the speaker would have been more forthright.

Two that I'm going to skip
Also worthy of mention are two more heritage homages out there now. One is the Mission 770. They're two-way speakers (woofer and tweeter) so they don't quite fit the article heading. The new Mission is also an IAG brand, and the chief designer for these is also Mr. Comeau. The reviews make them out to be rather a special speaker, and I'd love to hear them too. They're being built in the UK as well, in a new factory in Cambridgeshire, so they also feature a nice hefty price for a two-way. One of the advantages you're paying for is that they're designed to be friendly to tube amplification.

The other retro speaker to which I'm giving short shrift is the JBL L100 Classic of 2018. The original came out in 1970, sold massively, and was the epitome of the "West Coast sound" that all the BDR fans liked. (BDR, my own snarky term from back in the day, stood for "big dumb rock.") The West Coast sound, also derogated as "boom and sizzle," was the opposite of the polite, midrangey, warm 'n' friendly British speakers with good imaging such as the B&W DM7's that I admired, the LS3/5a's that I wrote about recently, or the Celestion SL-700's that I owned. Those of you of a certain age will recall the original JBL L100 as the speaker in the famous Maxell ad:

Of course, the original was not a speaker I got to know, and the refresh is probably quite distinctly improved anyway. Not talking this one up is pure bigotry on my part, and not even up-to-date bigotry, but rather the residue of my 1970s self. At least I'm being up front about that! 

The last one we'll consider is Canadian. I could go on and on about Canadian speakers, but I'll spare you. Suffice to say that the home audio loudspeaker industry was almost a Canadian national project for a good while, and might still be. The PSB Passif 50 (here's a review) is the new retro speaker that most interests me (although all of these do, if I'm honest). Designer Paul Barton—PSB is named for him and his wife Sue—has a lifetime of accomplishments, and is a big name in speaker design. What interests me is the very uncommon layout of this speaker. It's not quite a three-way—it's called a "two-and-a-half-way" because it consists of a tweeter, a woofer, and a passive radiator, which is sort of like a controlled, bass-radiating port. Same basic idea as the Ohm H speakers I bought in college as part of a group-owned(!) stereo for a big dorm room*. The Passif 50's cost about $2,500, so about in the middle of the range we've been talking about here. Oh, and did I mention the midwoofer and passive radiator are paper cones? Shades of the old days.

If you're interested, I highly recommend Jez Ford's article "PSB Speakers: A Brief History." It humanizes Paul Barton, and describes, for one thing, the research that indicates that taste does not exist in loudspeakers—everyone who can hear tends to gravitate to the same ideas of good sound. I'll let you read it for yourself.

The Passif 50 commemorates PSB's 50th anniversary (1973–2022), and harkens back to the company's first big success, the Passif I and II, except with 50 years of experience and technological advances thrown in, which can't be a bad thing. I haven't heard these—I haven't heard any of these—but they almost can't help but be good.

Mike

*I bought the speakers, and my friend Jim Holt, one of three roommates, bought the giant Nikko power amp and matching preamp.

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

hugh crawford: "When Singer owned KLH, didn’t they also own Graflex? I have a lot of Singer Graflex gear around here, mostly film holders. What’s the modern equivalent of an EPI 100 or small Advent?"

Mike replies: Huw Powell makes a speaker that he says is "descended from, and pays homage to, the classic EPI 100" called the Human 81 and 81 DK. The drivers and design are very similar to the old EPIs and Epicures, which Huw also repairs.

Mike Plews: "Omaha is lucky to have two great audio showrooms. Custom Electronics and The Sound Environment both carry extensive lines of high end stereo gear. Check out their websites. So much cool stuff. Custom Electronics is also owned by a very fine large format black and white photographer."

whitemist23: "I totally love the enthusiasm you have for classic speakers! Your point by point bits of knowledge and encounters with them make for such a charming read. It's captivating how these exemplary bits of sound hardware keep on holding their appeal in this day and age of present-day innovation. Anticipating more posts like these."

Jeff: "I listen to that album, and loads of related jazz, using my still-worthy Vandersteen 2Ce speakers, with a front end including a SOTA Sapphire table with Lyra cartridge. My recently refurbished Krell KSA-150 amp, along with its partner KRC-HR preamp, power the setup. Wonderful sounds and experience. Sometimes keeping the good old stuff is plenty good enough; so far for me in five houses over the last 35 years."

Mike replies: Serves you right for spending enough money to buy great stuff in the first place. Me, I've been trying to economize for those same 35 years, and have probably spent three times as much money as you did, while also frustrating myself immensely.

Kent Phelan: "I believe the speakers Scott owned may be ADS Braun [I added an update to the article once it came to me. —MJ]. I owned a pair of their L810 speakers back in the day. I have been listening to Zu speakers since 2000, when the late Don Garber told me to check them out. The Zu's are extremely efficient and can accommodate low power tube amps.

"Acoustic suspension speakers generally require power, lots of it, and along with their introduction came the amplifier power wars. A good solid state amp, as you know, can cost a small fortune (or perhaps a large one). Luckily, today there are new Class D amplifiers available for a wide range of prices. I signed off long ago and am happy with a two-watt tube amp made by an elderly gentleman in Japan. As it happens, it is the amplifier that Sean Casey of Zu used when he 'voiced' the speakers I am currently using. They are a match made in heaven, and allowed me to sidestep all the angst of mixing/matching amplifier to speakers."

Mike replies: When I worked for a hi-fi store, I exhaustively auditioned a large number of amps. I was trying them all on the same Martin-Logan speakers, which are electrostatic panels augmented with a conventional cone woofer. I finally settled on the Counterpoint Solid 2, designed by Michael Elliott, as sounding the best of all the amps I tried. Unfortunately, once I owned it, I never thought it sounded quite as good on any of the speakers I used it with. It wasn't until later that I learned that Michael Elliott had voiced the amp using the very same Martin-Logan speakers that I had used at the store. So it did sound the best—but just with those speakers. Live and learn.

Dan Boney: "It just occurred to me how often speakers have been named after a creator/person (JBL, KLH, Bose, Carver, Polk, etc….) while cameras have not—the closest being Leitz/Leica and perhaps Polaroid 'Land' camera but those are semi-close exceptions. Apparently speaker design is a seemingly much less collaborative effort!"

Mike replies: Interesting thought, but it occurs to me that many small field view camera companies are named for their founders—Wisner, Canham, Philips, Gandolfi, Deardorff, plus many 19th-century makers.

Can anyone think of others? We need Oren here!

Tristan Tripp: "There appears to be a lot of similarity in writing on speakers and film developers. Rendering of bass/shadows, midtones and highlights.... How fiddly the best ones are to get set up to give the greatest results.... Why this particular combination of developer/amplifier and paper/speaker is the greatest. Even accompanied by the same comments of being glad that everything is digital now and not wanting to go back to that old faff!"

kevin willoughby: "Acoustic Research was founded in 1954, a few years before, not after, KLH. AR's founders were Edgar Vilchur (inventor of the acoustic suspension woofer—a solo effort) and Kloss (who invested his attic loudspeaker shop). Legend is that Kloss didn't like working for someone else, so he left AR to found KLH with Low and Hofmann. KLH was one of the very few speaker companies to pay AR for the right to use the patents for the acoustic suspension speaker."

Comments

[Steve Rosenblum]

These look just like my "Large" Advent Speakers from days of yore, also a Henry Kloss company, though the Advents were a two way with a suspended woofer.

[John Krumm]

You brought back memories of my first decent speakers. I have no memories of where I got them, only that they were used, they were German, and they were sealed 3-ways. Telefunken, I think. They were also 4 ohm, which was probably why I got rid of them when I got some much bigger Canadian made Axiom speakers that I still have (ported, of course).

[Keith B]

Thanks for these hifi posts. A long time friend has LS3/5A loudspeakers since the 1970's and I'm therefore fairly familiar with their sound. You reported accurately on them. Right now I'm digging my Genelec 8030C powered monitors. They reproduce EVERYTHING, including any distortion present, very well.
I like most of the off-topic subjects, but alas cannot feign interest in pool or most sports.

[Tex Andrews]

I'm with you on Jazz from that period, although I actually extend that back to bebop in the late 40's (especially Monk) all the way into the '60's (again Monk, but also a bunch of avant garde people). My mom accidentally gave me my first Monk album when I was about 13, and I was done for. I had far more jazz in my record collection than rock---more country blues and other blues than rock as well.

Monk was my litmus test for friends. Kind of a stern one if you think about it. If they liked Monk, then we could be really good friends. If not, then we'd only ever be acquaintances. My wife passed the test with flying colors in 1974 when we were freshmen in college and I played an album for her for the first time, and she hadn't ever heard much jazz at all. She fell in love with Monk then and there. We're still together.

BTW, just got the new catalog,"Yevonde, Life and Color", the catalog for her exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Kind of great, especially the color separation work.

[Mike Plews]

Omaha is lucky to have two great audio showrooms.
Custom Electronics and The Sound Environment both carry extensive lines of high end stereo gear.
Check out their websites. So much cool stuff.
Custom Electronics is also owned by a very fine large format black and white photographer.

[Peter Wright]

Good music suggestion. I listened on Tidal as I haven’t heard this album before, and will probably get it via Presto as a FLAC download. That doesn’t help you unfortunately, but the Amazon link doesn’t seen to offer that option. Anyway, if you have any more suggestions, by all means let us know.

[Dan Boney]

I’m hoping the return of the JBL L100 makes the list…

[They sorta did! --Mike]

[hugh crawford]

When Singer owned KLH, didn’t they also own Graflex?
I have a lot of Singer Graflex gear around here, mostly film holders.

What’s the modern equivalent of an EPI 100 or small Advent?

[LUIS C ARIBE]

I happen to have a pair of KLH 5s which I bought in the 60s, second-hand (or I should say “preowned”). I see that the new ones are selling for $2K, I doubt that they were that expensive back then, I could not have afforded them even used. For what it’s worth, there are differences with the new model, mine have a 12” woofer and two 3” mid-range speakers, instead of the 10” woofer and 4” midrange in the new model. I’m sure these differences make mine extremely valuable collectors’ items, as you’ll agree.

[ChrisC]

If you are into British speakers, my system has a pair of Royd A7 which I’ve had for a long time. perhaps a bit small for your tastes, but I like the sound.

[Stephen Jenner]

I reckon that speaker choice is "all in the ear of the beholder", aka "subjective". You find something that sounds good as far as you are concerned, and then live with that sound.

I have lived with Linn Saras for well over twenty years, probably near thirty and I am happy, most of the time. In between, I have borrowed/bought Kans/LS35As/Isobariks/Meridian-Lecsons (which my son used and then ruined by fitting new drivers).

Every so often, I wonder whether there is something I will like better out there, and I borrow or buy them, and after a while, I end up back with the Saras.

Others will have a different version of "good", and for them, they will be right.

I remember many years ago that Herbert von Karajan was featured in a loudspeaker advert, indeed, until it was realised that he was active in the Nazi party in the 1930's. Suddenly the speakers that he thought were among the best, were right out.

[Chris]

Karajan was a member of the Nazi party, but was classified as the equivalent of a "fellow traveller" after the war. One pretty well had to be a party member to get on in music at that time (unless you were Furtwangler). Millions did the same thing in that generation. The whole state was infected. Karl Bohm, who never get heaped with such opprobium was a devout follower of Hitler even before 1933 and insisted on the Nazi greeting. He never needed to join the party as it was well known he was an enthusiast for the regime. I have always thought that Bohm got off very lightly, it may have been because he was Austrian and therefore, as the post war line went, the first victims of Nazi aggression. Of course Hitler was Austrian by birth, naturalized to the Reich.

[Bryan Geyer]

Mike—You might want to peruse the article "Sealed is Not Acoustic Suspension"; it's here…https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/acoustic-suspension

Sealed ("infinite baffle") loudspeakers are especially desirable if one intends to supplement the bass by adding paired subwoofers—lots easier to coordinate the phase adjustment.

[JH]

Back in the late 60s I bought a pair of Wharfedale 60s from a friend needing $$ and used them with my AR turntable and Macintosh (?) amp. Most of this was used happily the next 30+ years. But that's not the story I want to tell.
In the mid-70s when I was working for Analog Devices (an electronics/semiconductor pioneer in Boston), a lot os us were into audio. One of the engineers I worked with had worked for several Boston area electronics companies that dabbled in audio. He told me a guy he worked with had built a custom house with a listening room in the basement. He decided to use Klipsch's design but pour the speakers housings in concrete in the basement to build his own speakers matched to his own amplifiers and create an audio chamber for listening, Never wrangled an invite to see this unfortunately.

[Justin Ting]

This is to answer jp41, who asked earlier this month if anyone had experience with Ohm Walsh speakers (should have replied to that thread, but I didn't notice until the comments were closed).

In my experience, the Ohm Walsh speakers are very good at sustaining a stereo image that does not change character in a distracting way as you move around a bit. (No financial interest, merely a satisfied customer.)

jp41's original comment:
Left turn: On the subject of "off axis sound", does anyone have listening experience with Ohm designed Walsh speakers? I've always thought this verical cone shaped design would be excellent for listening to off axis as one is moving about inside a living space. Does anyone out there have first hand experience to share on Ohm Walsh speakers?

[Sebastian Broll]

Just wanted to mention Tannoy speakers (from Scotland!), however, they follow a completely different design (concentric drivers, ported). The concentric drivers give a surprisingly detailed directional rendering.

Happy listening, everyone!

[glenn brown]

Hello Mike, I have been wondering if you are migrating your blog to topics other than photography which I miss.

[Howard]

Still have my JBL-L26's, Yamaha YP-D71 TT and Yamaha CA-610II amp from 70's college days. Although the amp needs to have a channel adjusted and I replaced the woofer cones on the JBL's, everything else works perfectly. Still blows my mind when listening to Steely Dan or Jazz LP's.

[The YP-D71 was my favorite turntable. Still have one in the basement. --Mike]

[John Holland]

Back around 1980, my wealthier friend bought a pair of Mission 770s. I could only afford its little brother, the 700. Wonderful speakers, in the right room. Super accurate stereo imaging, good dynamics, a little light on the bass but very tight, and affordable.

They had one fatal flaw, and that was the foam surround on the woofers, which would get brittle and dissolve into dust after a few years. I got mine replaced just under the wire of the 10 year warranty, but they just rotted out again and by 2002 I had to put them out on the curb because Mission no longer serviced them. A shame, but a lot of speakers made at that time fell victim to this. I'd have to get some reassurance that the re-issue has solved the problem, because I'm mighty tempted to dive back in.

[Olybacker]

MJ: " but, as I age, my brain becomes more like a messy attic. "

Oh, I know the feeling! Do I know the feeling!

[Mark O]

I have owned my Mission 727s since 1982. Never heard a reason to change, and now they are famous again! I could easily have gone down a hole with a lot of different speakers, glad I found these when I was much younger.