What makes you consider them to be in excellent condition? Pretty much all speakers of that age will have drifted well out of spec due to crossover components changing value, ageing of driver suspension components, ageing of many forms of internal damping, etc... About 15 years ago I chucked my transmission line speakers from the 70s into a skip when moving home because they were well out of spec, it wasn't cost effective to refurbish them and there would be a small cost to transport them. Ebay has many top of the range speakers from 50 years ago selling for a nominal price that aren't worth the cost of refurbishing.
Refurbished speakers from 50 years can have the crossovers brought back into spec using current components but the drivers are more problematic because direct replacements are very rarely available and modern "equivalents" are usually quite a long way from being actual equivalents. If your speakers are refurbished do you have an idea of how competently it may have been done?
In that case it shouldn't be too difficult to identity from measurements and reproduce using cheap components for someone with a reasonable technical understanding. This doesn't happen much these days but shortly after the audiophile phenomenon kicked off in the late 70s it was not uncommon to reproduced the coloured sound of a very expensive boutique audiophile product using cheaper components. Here is a valve amplifier example from the mid 80s which, like all similar attempts, failed to find any customers. People that value valve amplifiers want the sound of a valve amplifier to come from a valve amplifier not a cheap bit of solid state electronics.
Field coils introducing some unknown/secret/unmeasureable/magic/... improvement to the sound of a speaker is an example of an audiophile marketing story. It can add real value to a very expensive boutique audiophile product for some nontechnical people that know it is true. They can sit down in front of such a product and enjoy the experience of listening to it significantly more than they would a speaker without field coils that radiates the same sound field. Sounding the same in a blind test and sounding the same in normal use is significantly different for those with audiophile beliefs and registerably different for those without.
Audio Note speakers are quite strongly coloured and cannot reasonably be described by terms like clean, tight, balanced in comparison to speakers with a higher technical performance. Liking the sound and finding them non-fatiguing is reasonable and almost certainly more important in use. Most speakers have a reasonably flat low frequency response which creates significant room boom particularly if placed near corners. Audio Note speakers have a strongly falling bass response which lowers the level of the room boom though it will still be uneven and lumpy. In untreated rooms this can be less intrusive and a better compromise. If you want genuinely smooth tight bass in the home that is pretty much only attainable with the use of properly setup distributed subs for the lowest couple of octaves plus some room treatment and hopefully controlling the radiation pattern of the mains for the next few octaves until the room response ceases to dominate the perceived sound.
Speakers labelled high-end are normally significantly coloured like Audio Note speakers but in different ways leading to them sounding different. High technical performance is to be found in only a few expensive home audio speakers but can be found in midfield monitors from the main established studio monitor companies. If you want a subjective reference for sound quality this is a more reliable and consistent one although one still has to separate the room response from the speaker's.
People can neither perceive detail or tonal balance at lower volumes because of how we perceive sound. It's why amplifiers had loudness buttons to help correct for it before the audiophile phenomenon kicked off and marketing shifted reality for many nontechnical home audio enthusiasts. Room boom is less intrusive at lower volumes which is a plus.
Old horns tend to have a narrow radiation pattern, limited frequency passband and a ragged resonant response. It is a recognisable characteristic sound but not one many seek to reproduce in the home though there are a few enthusiasts.
The high price is a requirement. They are a 50 year old budget speaker design and if they were priced and manufactured in volume to compete with modern budget speakers they would not be competive in terms of technical performance. Like many luxury goods offering a poor technical performance for the price they have to be marketing lead rather than engineering lead and to pitch the marketing at those that weight technical performance lightly or not at all. Doesn't make them a bad product just one with a limited appeal.
This is not a binaural recording calibrated for my ears and headphones and so what is perceived will bear little-to-no resemblance to what would be perceived listening in that room.
There are a fair few similar designs around some of which could likely be adapted to reproduce quite closely the radiated sound of a particular Audio Note model. Employing professionals to research, design, manufacture, test and adjust such a clone would of course cost far more than buying a very expensive Audio Note speaker. It is also likely to be difficult to attract amateurs with the technical knowledge to accurately clone because they will see a low value 50 year old budget speaker design that has become obsolete due to technical advances. The only people that are likely to consider Audio Note speakers with features like hemp, silver wires, field coils, etc... to be high value are likely to have roughly the same level of technical knowledge as yourself.
Not sure what to suggest. Refurbishing your Snell's may or may not be worthwhile. Not sure you have a basis on which to choose between the various DIY designs with a similar configuration to the Audio Note speakers without hearing them. The parts to DIY Audio Note speakers are available. Price list here. So the price of a copy can be estimated but if you are not going to do the work yourself (and enjoy doing the work) then it is going to be expensive.
BTW this wretched cold seems to be easing off and so I won't be typing at such length in the near future.
BTW-2 Here is part of Audio Notes marketing story for field coils. Enjoy.
Thanks, can you check the magazine issue?
edit: There is a Seas Aphel kit offering, a decent product for a fraction of AN price tag.
That looks a lot like a better version of what Audio Note tries to do. Also not using the resistive vent of the Snell speakers, but a classic reflex like Audio Note. But it's done right as far as i can see on first sight. And it surely will sound a lot better than Audio Note if the measurements are right (With seas it's mostly very close in my experience). So it's a good candidate i think. I only would not use MDF but good quality birch or beach plywood (but the MDF will be good sounding also).
It has been a very long time since I have heard anyone mention that they listen at lower levels. That is a consideration to be taken differently as to what one would want out of a 'loudspeaker'. For most speakers, I find that I have attain a higher level than I like to listen in order to get them to play nice. In my case it is because of my hearing, and also because of it, I often find speakers to have too much bass. Yup, I can still hear bass very well, but the remainder of the audio spectrum is hampered.
I can see where the OP is coming from. What company was it in the past that offered 'soft speakers'? I guess that they didn't sell well.
I can see where the OP is coming from. What company was it in the past that offered 'soft speakers'? I guess that they didn't sell well.
Andy:
There are a fair few similar designs around some of which could likely be adapted to reproduce quite closely the radiated sound of a particular Audio Note model. Employing professionals to research, design, manufacture, test and adjust such a clone would of course cost far more than buying a very expensive Audio Note speaker. It is also likely to be difficult to attract amateurs with the technical knowledge to accurately clone because they will see a low value 50 year old budget speaker design that has become obsolete due to technical advances. The only people that are likely to consider Audio Note speakers with features like hemp, silver wires, field coils, etc... to be high value are likely to have roughly the same level of technical knowledge as yourself.
You’ve convinced me to abandon the project.
I was hoping to connect with someone here who might enjoy taking on a project like this or could point me in the direction of a skilled professional or amateur. It’s become clear that finding an enthusiastic and skilled individual here who might assist me with this endeavor is not a viable option. Without that possibility, I must accept that pursuing this project is beyond my physical capacity.
There are a fair few similar designs around some of which could likely be adapted to reproduce quite closely the radiated sound of a particular Audio Note model. Employing professionals to research, design, manufacture, test and adjust such a clone would of course cost far more than buying a very expensive Audio Note speaker. It is also likely to be difficult to attract amateurs with the technical knowledge to accurately clone because they will see a low value 50 year old budget speaker design that has become obsolete due to technical advances. The only people that are likely to consider Audio Note speakers with features like hemp, silver wires, field coils, etc... to be high value are likely to have roughly the same level of technical knowledge as yourself.
You’ve convinced me to abandon the project.
I was hoping to connect with someone here who might enjoy taking on a project like this or could point me in the direction of a skilled professional or amateur. It’s become clear that finding an enthusiastic and skilled individual here who might assist me with this endeavor is not a viable option. Without that possibility, I must accept that pursuing this project is beyond my physical capacity.
probally at 1500Hz altough until 2kHz is possible with this woofer, the tweeter can also go lower, but i like keep some margin. But you will need a full 2 way crossover, probally mixed 2nd-3th order with this woofer, not only a cap on the tweeter. So measure the drivers in the box and start from there.
Here is a complete project by a respected designer, inspired by the Snell Type E-III (as was the AN-E, by the way): SEAS-22.
Alex
Alex