Sound Dynamics 300ti, and other high value speakers.

[Steve Lefkowicz]

I guess it was just time to set the old Sound Dynamics 300ti speakers up in the system. It's been a while since I've used them. Like the Tekton Lores I usually use and the Elac F5 I'll be writing up soon, the 300ti was another speaker that played way above it price range. I've had these since 1997, bought on a closeout deal for $499 including the stands. Remarkable how good they are.

[MylesBAstor]

I'm with you on the Sound Dynamics. My friend still has a pair and pulls them out from time to time. With proper ancillary gear (I wouldn't put anything too lean on them but then again that goes for most speakers), the Sound Dynamics are excellent performers and way above their pay grade. I think my audiobuddy also like to put some weight on top of the speaker to get a little better sound out of them too.

Besides the Elacs and Tektons, what are some other inexpensive speakers that people might recommend for someone just starting out or on a budget?

[Steve Lefkowicz]

It'll be interested to see what other people suggest. My issue with most budget oriented speakers simply put is lack of bass response. I've rarely been impressed by all the small stand mounted speakers that most people recommend, as their lack of bottom end really limits the musical choices you can use them for. All the midrange purity and great imaging they might produce just doesn't make up for lack of a usable bottom end. And adding a subwoofer adds expense that kind of negates the initial "budget" price.

[Rust]

Aside from Tekton, Tyler Acoustics, built in Owensboro, Kentucky. They have an extensive line of speakers including a new value based line which is full range. I've heard good things about them.

[Steve Lefkowicz]

Always used to spend a good amount of time in Tyler's room at CES. Excellent speakers and Ty Lashbrook is a really cool and mellow guy. Haven't heard any of his stuff recently. Wish he'd exhibit in Newport.

Regarding the 300ti, I've always kind of looked at them as a poor man's BC-1 (a long time favorite on mine). And surprisingly in spite of their rather common specs (about 87 or 88 dB and a 4 ohm load) they mate up really well with moderate to low power tube amps. I've run them for years with my 15 watt Antique Sound Labs amp (as in the photo above). Got the idea to try it from Art Dudley, who was running Spendor SP100 with a 3 watt SET amp at the time.

One thing that really helps them is to not spike them to the stands. I used to use four Bright Star IsoNodes between the speaker and stand, but right now I'm trying three Audioquest Q-Feet (without the plastic cover). It really frees up the soundstage, gives a much more open and natural sound to the bass, and deals with a little of the recessed midrange these speakers are known for. I actually find floating most stand mount speakers on either isoNodes or the Q-Feet to be a big improvement over spikes or other rigid coupling methods.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Due to some difficulties I left audio for about 10 years, put my vinyl and some gear in storage and was purely focused on getting back on my feet. In or about 2005/06 I started to slowly try and jump back in and released some vinyl from storage and also my Revolver Red turntable. I decided to go the MCH route as I was becoming very much interested in DVD (and Blu-ray shortly thereafter) Concert videos. My first major purchase was a 5.1CH Yamaha HTR-6190 surround receiver, but I need speakers too, so I started looking around and auditioned a variety of floor-standers and monitors/bookshelf ones. I narrowed my search down to Focal and Totem. Since I couldn't quite afford floor-standers I ended up with small monitors that would eventually be used as rears.

The speaker I chose was the Totem Mite micro monitor. A diminutive 6"x10.8"x8.4" with bass that will surprise you, excellent dynamics and killer mid-range abilities. They surprised the heck out of me and performed admirably as main speakers for the next year. I added the Mite-T centre-channel and Totem Sttaf floorstanders a year later and enjoyed that setup for several years.

I would recommend these little critters for a small office system any day. For something more appropriate on a larger scale, one could consider the Totem Rainmakers, which I really liked, but couldn't afford at the time.

[Rust]

I've listened to a pair of Rainmakers. Very impressive in their ability to "float" the sound into a room and sound very natural. I found them more impressive than some much more expensive small two ways.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Yeah! And the build quality is also very substantial.

[MylesBAstor]

Due to some difficulties I left audio for about 10 years, put my vinyl and some gear in storage and was purely focused on getting back on my feet. In or about 2005/06 I started to slowly try and jump back in and released some vinyl from storage and also my Revolver Red turntable. I decided to go the MCH route as I was becoming very much interested in DVD (and Blu-ray shortly thereafter) Concert videos. My first major purchase was a 5.1CH Yamaha HTR-6190 surround receiver, but I need speakers too, so I started looking around and auditioned a variety of floor-standers and monitors/bookshelf ones. I narrowed my search down to Focal and Totem. Since I couldn't quite afford floor-standers I ended up with small monitors that would eventually be used as rears.

The speaker I chose was the Totem Mite micro monitor. A diminutive 6"x10.8"x8.4" with bass that will surprise you, excellent dynamics and killer mid-range abilities. They surprised the heck out of me and performed admirably as main speakers for the next year. I added the Mite-T centre-channel and Totem Sttaf floorstanders a year later and enjoyed that setup for several years.

I would recommend these little critters for a small office system any day. For something more appropriate on a larger scale, one could consider the Totem Rainmakers, which I really liked, but couldn't afford at the time.

Kind of forget about the Totems. Vince sometimes flies under the radar.

Speaking of Sound Dynamics, anyone still have or know someone with the old Radio Shack/Linaeum tweeters?

[MylesBAstor]

[Steve Lefkowicz]

...

The speaker I chose was the Totem Mite micro monitor. A diminutive 6"x10.8"x8.4" with bass that will surprise you, excellent dynamics and killer mid-range abilities. They surprised the heck out of me and performed admirably as main speakers for the next year. I added the Mite-T centre-channel and Totem Sttaf floorstanders a year later and enjoyed that setup for several years.

I would recommend these little critters for a small office system any day. For something more appropriate on a larger scale, one could consider the Totem Rainmakers, which I really liked, but couldn't afford at the time.

Bruce Kennett and I reviewed a group of small speakers in Listener years ago, one of them being the Mite. Very nice little speaker, with a surprising amount of power and energy. Actually, I really liked a lot Totem's speakers, and at one time figured I would buy a pair of Forests.

[Rust]

Another speaker I liked was the Dahlquist DQ 10. It was when they were mirror imaged. I heard DQ 10s several times and initially was not impressed as they sounded a little dull/dead. Then few years later I heard a properly set up pair, with enough clean and fast power to bring them to life. I remember them being very coherent and producing a very nice soundfield. I also remember the setup being quite complicated for the time.

[MylesBAstor]

Another speaker I liked was the Dahlquist DQ 10. It was when they were mirror imaged. I heard DQ 10s several times and initially was not impressed as they sounded a little dull/dead. Then few years later I heard a properly set up pair, with enough clean and fast power to bring them to life. I remember them being very coherent and producing a very nice soundfield. I also remember the setup being quite complicated for the time.

The DQ10s were a lot of money in their day. I paid $820 for my pair in 1980. That would be $2359 in 2016 dollars. The Dollies were good but one had to be careful with matching to the right amplifier because of that Piezoelectric tweeter. Wrong amp and you could fry eggs with it. The cj MV75A1 worked great with them as did many other tube amps. Besides looking like Quads, the first thing that really hit you about the Dollies was their openness or not sounding closed-in. Not many speakers at that time could do that.

[Rust]

Myles - Since my current speakers ran $2176, the inflation adjusted $2359 would put the Dahlquists in my current wheelhouse. I heard the setup in '80 or '81 in Minnesota so the likely amps (tubed) were Acoustic Research. I remember they sounded as good as anything I'd heard up to that point and better than most.

Another speaker that definitely piqued my interest was the ADS L-810 II, driven by ARC electronics. This in '81. While not quite as open, they sounded exceptionally smooth. The reason this comes to mind is that in 2012 I was looking for some records in a shop in Houston and instead of any of the new speakers, the guys in the shop were listening to an old pair of 810s. Still very smooth and not as bright sounding as the new speakers in the shop. To my mind, there is a very fine line between detail and brightness that is crossed entirely too often.

[Ki Choi]

True gem of monitor speakers are Paradigm Mini-Mk3s. I have had two pairs for years after learning some of the respectable studios used them for console monitors for having such flat responses ~50Hz and beyond. John Dunlavy also commented once how flat they are. Having the rubber surrounds, the drivers should last for a long time as long as one doesn't melt the voice coils.
If you run across a pair, do try them.

The other would be now debunked Platinum Audio 800 series speakers. They require lot more power to sound good but when driven with ample juice, they are very good.

YMMV.

[mep]

Kind of forget about the Totems. Vince sometimes flies under the radar.

Speaking of Sound Dynamics, anyone still have or know someone with the old Radio Shack/Linaeum tweeters?

No, but I have a really old pair of Rat Shack speakers that have Janzen electrostat tweeters.