Throwback Thursday: 10 Landmark Speakers

John Strohbeen is an audiophile through and through. In 1964, he founded the legendary Boston-born retailer Tech Hifi and after serving as president for 14 years, went to work for Ohm Acoustics where he has served as president and chief designer since 1978.

Strohbeen has published “Ten Landmark Speakers Worth Collecting,” an annotated list of speakers from such fabled brands as KLH, AR, Quad, and Altec. Each is special for different reasons and all are more than 30 years old.

As he puts it: “Speaker collecting is like car collecting. You can use only one pair of speakers or one car at a time. But, you can enjoy looking at them, fixing them, thinking about them—that is what collecting is all about.”

See Strohbeen’s list here.

Do you own one of these speakers? Would you like to own one or more of these speakers? Share your speaker story!

COMMENTS
olderbutbolder's picture

Have ALWAYS loved the thought of having one of the BIG speakers at home: the BIG Infinities or Magnepan Tympani... but have never had the room..... Bah humbug !

valiant66's picture

I'm listening to my old pair of LS3/5a speakers as I type. After years as my primary pair of speakers (replaced at last by Totem Mani-2s) they now sit proudly on short stands behind the dual monitors on my desk.

The question arises: vintage? Are they vintage if I've owned them since new, or are they just old? Does vintage perforce mean somebody else's old gear that is new to you? i.e. can it be vintage if it has aged-in-place, or does it have to be a new acquisition?

Barry Black's picture

While I do not have the AR-1 or the AR-3, I do still own and use a pair of AR-2ax and AR-4X loudspeakers. They still sound as good as they did when I bought them in 1973. The level pots are a little scratchy but otherwise they are not the worse for wear. You can't beat them for outstanding sound and simplicity of design. They are true calssics and I will never part with them.

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