Gentle reader,If you've followed my posts at all, and thank you if you have, it's often about stereo equipment.
I've found some real bargains in speakers lately in my favorite thrift stores. I found and passed on some Danish speakers: Tangent HTD-50. They had a very nice sound and great sound-stage. They even matched my furniture. However, at the time, I had no speaker stands and to sound their best, they have to be out in the room. Here's a picture:
The woofers while small, are woven fiberglass and produce amazing bass. The tweeters are silk-domes. I'm sure the new owner is happy with them.Then I found some English-made Wharfedale speakers. They are Diamond 7.1 and about the same size as the Tangents. I have not taken individual photos of them yet, here they are along with the OTHER bargain priced speakers I found:
The Wharfedales are the small black ones in the back on stands. The stands I lent to my youngest son to use with some speakers I'd gotten for him. He returned them to me at my request and included the Yamaha speakers: 
Covered above and uncovered below: 
Here are the DCM KX-12s that I've been raving about waiting forlornly in the back of the room. The things on top are the grilles for the naked four speakers in front. 
Why? Well, frankly, when I played music through the tiny Wharfedale speakers, I was blown away by their sound-stage and clarity. Suddenly, the DCMs didn't sound as good as I thought. So, I decided to move the Lyric/Optimus/Polk-Eosone speakers from this room into the listening room and give them a try. They sound much better than the DCMs. But then, the Polk-Eosone drivers were made for vastly more expensive speakers than the DCMs. SO, the DCMs will be for sale once the holiday business is over. SO, what about those four speakers in front, and why do none of the speakers have grilles on them?
I'll answer the last part first. Speakers usually sound better without fabric in front of them. Even though it is supposed to be "acoustically transparent". So, I leave them off.
The four in front are very vintage (mid-1960's) speakers are KLH Model Twentys. I got all four of them for $25.
These speakers were part of the KLH System Twenty. It was a Garrard record changer/radio/amplifier in one unit and a pair of these speakers. They had a single
RCA plug on the back. The system sold for $395 in 1965. That's over $2,700 today.
For a long time in the early stereo days, inexpensive equipment used RCA plugs for speaker connections. I guess that's why KLH used them: To simplify connections.
The KLH System Twenty could be compared to what today is called: "Home Theater in a box".
I have removed those RCA terminals and replaced them with three-way binding posts so that regular speaker wires can be attached. I like double banana plugs, so installed them in the standard 3/4" spacing. Here are some three-way binding posts I installed in the B.I.C speakers I snagged from an antiques store for $50:
Here's the B.I.C Venturi Formula Six speakers from the front:
I'd desired those speakers since they came out in 1975. I enjoyed their brief stay here. I passed them on to another collector.Back to the KLH Twentys. I found that of the four, only one tweeter worked. Research indicated that the capacitors that block low frequencies from the tweeters were at fault. This proved true, but one tweeter was also bad. I believe that is why the person had four of them. Because the tweeters stopped working. So, he bought two more speakers.
I replaced the tweeter, thanks to Cy Bean in Washington state. And all the 8 micro-farad non-polarized capacitors.
I also restored the finish on all four as well as cleaned the fabric grilles.
I've moved a pair in here and will pass on the other pair to a fellow collector in the near future.
I hope to find (and have mentally kicked myself for selling the one I had) a Dynaco surround sound adapter:
Here's the back:
Of COURSE now, I can't find even ONE for sale! But when I do, I will move the Wharfedale speakers to the back of the room so that I can enjoy old Quadraphonic LPs and modern SACD Surround discs in the listening room.That's it for now. Thanks for looking and reading!
Scott in Virginia.
