Good stereo speaker brands?

BackstagePlus · #1 01-28-2012, 03:30 PM

Well, my speakers suffered from a terminal case of angry brother syndrome. My brother got pissed that I listened to music loud so when I went to a friends house he slashed the foam off of 3 woofers and completely ripped the paper, foam and cone off of the 4th. the tweeters are jabbed with a (knife?) and now the cabs are only good as small tables

. They are EPI M180 speakers, each cab (had) 2 8inch woofers and 2 ( I never measured them but they appear to be an inch) inverted dome tweeters. they are awesome vintage speakers that I'd rather re-speaker than get rid of... Just wondering if there are any suggestions on good replacement woofer brands.

tekdiver500ft · #2 01-28-2012, 03:36 PM

It depends on what type of sound you like. If you like a more British approach to sound, I'm a huge fan of KEF speakers. If you like tight American sound, then I'd go with Polk. If you like a looser, rock and roll type American sound, then I'd suggest Klipsch.

BackstagePlus · #3 01-28-2012, 03:58 PM

Looking for something that can handle many genres because I listen from Led Zeppelin, to AC/DC, to Method of Destruction, to 40s Doowop. The only thing I would change is that even though the stock speakers were good, they couldn't handle bass very good, (I had to roll off the bass to turn volume past half), but I don't want subs, they annoy me. I was always confused that my Marantz 2215B would rattle 100 watt speakers...

tekdiver500ft · #4 01-28-2012, 05:34 PM

Then I would definitely go with KEF or Polk. They are both pretty tight in the bottom end, with the KEF being a little tighter, and very well balanced, and a "truer" voice - exactly what the recording engineer intended. The Polk have a little more bottom end, and aren't balanced quite as well. The Polk will give a more American sound, a little more rock and roll, scooped sound.

cableguy · #5 01-28-2012, 05:47 PM

First thing is to kick you brothers ass. Then it depends on your budget. Like tekdiver said the Polks are great speakers. They offer budget to holy crap how much? If you go middle ground I'm sure you will be happy.

BackstagePlus · #6 01-28-2012, 06:19 PM

To kick my bros butt I'd have to go though my parents first, as they know that I'm a loose cannon. Well, my Birthday is in a month and I'm still young enough that I still get 20 per card and 100 from parents when I don't ask for anything. I can wait, as the speakers are real troopers, as they don't sound like puke at low volumes, though it is audible that the left speaker is really hurting, as only one speaker acually makes sound, the other speaker in that cab is just a magnet and the metal case, the paper and foam ripped off like I said above. I'm still debating on weather I should respeaker or just update everything (The m180s are from the 70s) by getting a whole new cab. The polks seemed nice, way outa my range, I heard Pyle makes good replacement speakers, but I have that input from a friend who also thinks the using a pa for a stereo will sound better...

tekdiver500ft · #7 01-28-2012, 06:23 PM

I've done that, and it sounds terrible. Live sound reinforcement (PA) is not made to the standards of home stereo, and (while amazingly loud) will be full of distortion.

BackstagePlus · #8 01-28-2012, 06:35 PM

I have too, and found the same results months ago, before I had the M180s, that's why I mentioned that, to show that he was a little tone deaf.

Morning Beer · #9 01-28-2012, 06:41 PM

I love my boston's

gp4Jesus · #10 01-28-2012, 06:53 PM

If you're at all handy with tools & you're considering parts replacement, goto Parts Express: the #1 source for audio, video & speaker building components. I hope someone chimes-in w/ other site for same.

Cheers tony

4001 · #11 01-28-2012, 06:56 PM

Crewin Vega speakers aren't bad. I'd like to get a pair.

Philonius · #12 01-28-2012, 06:58 PM

Where are you located? I've got some KEFs collecting dust in my basement.

1958Bassman · #13 01-28-2012, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BackstagePlus

Well, my speakers suffered from a terminal case of angry brother syndrome. My brother got pissed that I listened to music loud so when I went to a friends house he slashed the foam off of 3 woofers and completely ripped the paper, foam and cone off of the 4th. the tweeters are jabbed with a (knife?) and now the cabs are only good as small tables

. They are EPI M180 speakers, each cab (had) 2 8inch woofers and 2 ( I never measured them but they appear to be an inch) inverted dome tweeters. they are awesome vintage speakers that I'd rather re-speaker than get rid of... Just wondering if there are any suggestions on good replacement woofer brands.

How old is this pinhead? I would have kicked his ass and grabbed his wallet.

How much do you want to spend, what is the rest of the system and how big is the room?

Some of the new speakers present a more difficult load than older speakers did, so it's possible that you'll need to pay attention to that so your amp/receiver will live a long, fruitful life.

BackstagePlus · #14 01-28-2012, 07:43 PM

That pinhead is 14, and flatout broke, so nothing much i can do there. As for the reciever living long, it's already 35+ years old, and drives almost anything, so as long as it's an 8 ohm total load it works. As for how much I want to spend, I'd say less than 200 combined, because I just need something that can handle my receiver's 15 blistering watts (per channel) of fury, as I've yet to find something that can tame it. I've even borrowed my dad's 250 watt Klipsch speakers and they can't handle it. At first I thought I was under powering, but I realized that my receiver beats my dads 200 watt sony receiver (I belive he payed $600 about 12 years ago for it) in a loudness and overall sound quality competition. Wow, went a little sidetracked there, anyways, the room is very small, about 10x7 with a slant roof, and to Philonius, I live far from there...

BogeyBass · #15 01-28-2012, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BackstagePlus

I heard Pyle makes good replacement speakers, but I have that input from a friend who also thinks the using a pa for a stereo will sound better...

Pyle is a cheap brand like goldwood and pyramid.
Even the Datons that everyone seems to love at parts express seem ok.

thing is you going to have to add crossovers too, the simple crossover in there are meant for the original speakers.

Alot of more expensive 8" are still more on the bass side and going to need a mid to tie into that 8" not enough clarity in the mids. Cross over a small Tweeter can make it too distorted too.

Too bad about the tweeter damage their is a few people who still might be interested in restoring those old drivers.

Even a low cost GRS 8" would have decent midrange
and then you can tie it into a Dayton Softdome. Supposedly they can cross over lower so they might work good with that low cost 8" crossed around 2000hz

your on your own with crossover and its going to need one.

BackstagePlus · #16 01-29-2012, 06:21 AM

Just looked at the back of one of the speakers, it said OPTIMUS 40-1027 8" dual voice coil subwoofer 4/8 ohm rms power 50w max power 100w. From the looks of what I found out online, they are probably replacement woofers... a real let down, as I wanted to restore the cab to original specs but I don't even have the original speakers...

AREA · #17 01-29-2012, 11:54 AM

If you have a Chance to, try maybe Teufel, or Canton Speakers

1958Bassman · #18 01-29-2012, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BackstagePlus

That pinhead is 14, and flatout broke, so nothing much i can do there. As for the reciever living long, it's already 35+ years old, and drives almost anything, so as long as it's an 8 ohm total load it works. As for how much I want to spend, I'd say less than 200 combined, because I just need something that can handle my receiver's 15 blistering watts (per channel) of fury, as I've yet to find something that can tame it. I've even borrowed my dad's 250 watt Klipsch speakers and they can't handle it. At first I thought I was under powering, but I realized that my receiver beats my dads 200 watt sony receiver (I belive he payed $600 about 12 years ago for it) in a loudness and overall sound quality competition. Wow, went a little sidetracked there, anyways, the room is very small, about 10x7 with a slant roof, and to Philonius, I live far from there...

Well, he needs to learn to respect other peoples' property and now is as good as any time for this to happen. He apparently didn't think he should face some kind of consequence for this but I strongly disagree. How you teach him is up to you but I would recommend not leaving any marks. I have heard that a bag of oranges works well for this.

OK, now for the audio lesson. A 15W/ch receiver CAN'T and WON'T sound louder than a 200W receiver unless the tone controls are set differently or the 200W model has a problem. Voltage, current, impedance, whatever- it can't happen. Assuming the speakers' impedance is a nominal 8 Ohms, at 15W the receiver is putting out just under 11V and at 200W, it's 40V. However, if you turned your receiver up all the way, it's clipping the signal very badly and A) it would sound like crap, B) sound loud and grainy and C) it should have killed your tweeters long ago.

BTW- it's not your dad's Klipsch speakers that can't handle the 15W receiver, the receiver runs out of headroom and distorts. Tow a bus uphill with a VW Bug- it runs out of power with a large load. Also, there's nothing to "tame"- 15W isn't a lot of power but it happens to be what you have, so let's find the best speakers you can afford, OK?

In most speaker spec sheets, they print the speaker's sensitivity. This is the SPL (Sound Pressure Level) achieved with a specific voltage and they should also state the speaker's impedance. Impedance isn't the same as what you may find if you use a multi-meter to measure the resistance- that's DC resistance (a meter sends a low DC voltage and shows this as voltage, on the scale). Impedance is the resistance to AC Voltage, which is what a signal with a pitch is- it has a frequency.

You need to fond some speakers that are sensitive- don't look for the "efficiency" because it's always a low number because speakers aren't really efficient, although a horn-loaded cabinet is. However, you don't need or want horns in a small room.

The Cerwin-Vega speakers mentioned might be a good idea but again, look at the sensitivity spec.

Since you posted that you liked the EPI speakers, you might want to check with Parts Express- they recone damaged speakers and have people who can advise on finding a good replacement tweeter. If you use direct replacement parts, you won't need to change the crossover (usually) but if you change the woofers and tweeters, you will because using the existing crossovers won't be what the new woofers/tweeters need and they could be damaged by using the old crossover.

1958Bassman · #19 01-29-2012, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AREA

If you have a Chance to, try maybe Teufel, or Canton Speakers

Those will be far from his price range. Nice speakers, but....

1958Bassman · #20 01-29-2012, 12:25 PM

I did some audio system upgrades at a bar/restaurant and replaced the woofers in some Koss CM-530 speakers with Goldwood drivers. They held up to one of the bartenders, who liked to crank it really loud. They actually worked very well in that application. If you call Parts Express (that's where I got them) about this, they'll need to know the box dimensions. I used the pre-made two-way crossovers and selected a tweeter that could handle 100W. They never blew the tweeter, either.

It's not really the best way to build speakers, but it works.