When I first caught the audio "bug"

[Pure_Brew]

I got my first A/V job and it was as a commission salesman in '95. Soon after hire, I found the company liked to have it's own little version of CES. They would take over a Hotel and have all their vendors come with there best product and really wow us with demonstrations. Then it happened - Snell A/5 driven by 4 PS Audio Delta 250 monoblocks. They played "hotel california" from the Hell Freezes Over CD which was pretty new at the time. I have not since heard anything on this scale of a live recording, and very convincing in every conceivable way. Sure, I've heard some really amazing loudspeakers over the years, but never as convincing in terms of size.



I grabbed these pictures from Audiogon, as it is so rare to see these anywhere for sale. Along with the driver array, there is one of the 2 18" woofers and one of the crossovers. This design requires 4 channels of amplification. $19000 retail, selling for around $5600 here.

 

[Lazarus Short]

Impressive. Sadly, all the Snells I have seen, and there have been just a few, were badly in need of TLC. I never got to hear one. What you mention is far, FAR out of my price range anyway.

 

[Pure_Brew]

Many of the old designs used foam surrounds, and we know what happens there. I have 3 pairs of Snells currently. The CIV 3 way towers did not have foam, but both the EII and the JIV did. I didn't pay much for any of these. $200 for the CIV's and $135 for the EII. But really the only other Snell that I've heard that gets closer to the speakers above were the CV's, which also demand alot of power.

The old school two-way foam types are a decent match for tubes. ( see: Audio Note UK)

 

[speakerman1]

Are there upgrades. I have built and designed about 10 pair of speakers. I have taken rotted out speakers and designed around the cabinet, Had to be a nice box. All 2nd order cross overs. I can look at specs and pretty much get a sound in my head. I have also built the cabinets from my designs.

 

[Pure_Brew]

I've been thinking along those lines. Mainly replacing all the drivers in the EII with the spec'd out replacements with components. But , like with everything else, I haven't pulled the trigger due to costs. I have however poked around for drivers (8") that might drop into a 70L cabinet. But I see most are now rubber surround and use smaller cabs, lower efficiency.

I wouldn't really want to remake the EII's. But the JIV's which also use a similar woofer I would be open to full experimentation. But, i don't have money to toss around right now.