It was first . And that iconic Klipsch proprietary horn design really sets this Synergy Black Label B-200 bookshelf speaker apart from anything else in this range not just because it is so cool looking and so reminiscent of earlier times, but mainly because the Klipsch horns still offer the most detailed, highest efficiency and lowest distortion sound imaginable. They use a complex cabinet design, with two layers of MDF separated by a lossy Gelcore material that reduces cabinet resonances. The Technics SL-1200 demands the right amount of money and is an excellent choice for DJs even today.. It is also superbly made and perfectly designed as much in simple functionality as its striking vintage look. The crossover is quite simple, just a 5 uF capacitor in series with a variable resistor arrangement that feeds the tweeter. The One isnt just all the speaker most people need or want in a small and affordable package but a speaker anybody would fall in love with. These 30+-year-old speakers have no right to do what they do. 7 Best JBL Speakers Ever Made. The two UV meters offer 3 watt and 100-watt adjustable user selection. Buy 100 feet of thick, 14-gauge (or lower/thicker) speaker wire from Amazon or your local . Hence the elaborate tone controls on the AU-9500, while US designers were going the opposite direction. Best Vintage Bluetooth Wireless Speaker . Running them off an Apt-Holman preamp and a Quad 405 amp. The Klipsch The Sixes are a premium pair of speakers that are still quite affordable, and have the most open, clear and detailed sound Ive encountered in this ultra-competitive price level, with sweet musicality and not a touch of edge or harshness their amazing titanium horn-loaded tweeters are, in fact, known for their incredibly low distortion. AI Score. Give them breathing space and you had a musical speaker that was as articulate, transparent and dynamic a floorstander as we had heard at the price. The Dynaco A25 are a two-way loudspeaker with a single 10 woofer and a 2.25 mid-tweeter. In my basement system together with a Thorens TD126 turntable, it drives my very inefficient Magnepan MMGs just fine! 2 db cut switches on the mods and highs, but unlike the JBLs, they are a sealed acoustic suspension design like KLH. Reply. The KEF LS50s were, and remain, blindingly good speakers. I own a pair of 1976 Klipschorns with updated volti audio crossovers. All three were rated at about 50-70 watts RMS/channel into 8 ohms, within about 1.4 dBW of each other. How these two qualities of sound can exist in a single speaker is apparently a well-guarded company secret, because many other companies have tried to copy that nearly ideal sound and failed. And the Beoplay A9 may be the best of them all, with a phenomenal presence, a subtle expressivity and a tonal beauty that makes music sound more alive, more real and more touching than anything else in this admittedly nearly stratospheric price range. Are there any hidden gems worth checking out at the right price? tweeters. They were an all-round delight for anyone who enjoyed an involving and exciting sound. I am agreeing with Ians comment to Jeff that todays speakers are better than vintage stuff. MORE: That Was Then Wharfedale Diamond review. I have discussed the world of vintage audio with a lot of older hi-fi enthusiasts, and when they are asked what the important brands are they respond with Klipsch, McIntosh, Kenwood, Marantz, Dual, Acoustic Research, JBL, on and on. 5. One of the best selling Klipsch speakers of all time was the Forte II. Some sound systems make you want to stand back and say "holy ****.". Easy USB-C charging, Stay fully charged with Qi-wireless charging: Power compatible phones and devices by laying them on top of Beolit 20, thanks to built-in Music to travel with: Robust, light and with a soft and strong leather carrying strap, Beolit 20 is built to fit into your travel plans. In terms of transparency, detail resolution, speed and dynamics, rivals really struggled to match them. Emberton can be quickly charged, ROADWORTHY DESIGN RATED IPX7: Emberton is tough and resilient. I have a pair of ADS L-810 Series II speakers I have owned since 1979. The unusual shape and design of the Ohm Walsh A, Ohm Walsh E, and Ohm Walsh F loudspeakers have made them collectors items and they show up quite frequently in movies and on television; including on the current Amazon Prime series, Bosch. You will need 18-21 stands or risers to get the tweeters up to the proper listening level. Vintage Audio Research tube amplifiers that can deliver 60 watts (8 ohms) and 120 watts (4 ohms) sound amazing with current Magnepan products but were no longer in the budget range here. It offers a fairly open sound with a lovely warming presentation. 3. Value 14. Which Are The Best Vintage Speakers Ever Made From Our Choice Take a look at the following comparison chart of our top 10 best vintage speakers ever made that will win your heart. And the Marshall Stanmore II well, its a Marshall! ProAc's Response D40R were tall speakers that needed a large room to make the most of their potential. As with anything, when it comes to vintage JBL speakers, some are more highly sought after than others. If you liked music to be delivered with a punch, the Contour 1.1s dynamic performance, excellent timing and satisfying bass made them a terrific buy. Total Score 143. Today we'll go over the best Bose speakers of all time and explain what makes them that good. They need to be at least 3 from the wall behind them, and the inside edge needs to be further from your ears than the outside edge. JBL Bar 5.1 - Channel 4K Ultra HD Soundbar with True Wireless Surround Speakers is the No 1 choice for the Best JBL Speakers ever made. They are also extraordinary sounding desktop speakers, with a powerful deep bass subwoofer that would be at home in a big theater system and stereo speakers that have that trademark Klipsch accuracy, openness and sweet, fatigue-free detail. SPECIFICATIONS. So what is the best amplifier? A level of transparency, coherency, and resolution that none of these other loudspeakers can touch when everything is set-up properly. 8 ohms. Available in two finishes (black or simulated walnut veneer) they looked pretty good, especially when the grilles came off. You have to cut a hole in the front panel to add the additional tweeter. There are a lot of basic, very inexpensive tabletop Bluetooth speakers out there, and many have a nice, funky retro vibe, but the Tewell is special. Not all of them were good, but if you do some homework, you can come up with a rather substantial list of good loudspeakers that were manufactured in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia during this time period. Are they vintage sounding? Cerwin-Vega Mobile V465 Vega Series 2-Way Coaxial Speakers (6.5", 400 Watts max) View on Amazon. Surrounds DIY/kit from a magazine. Peavey 5150. One. Loved the "classic speakers" thread. NAD amplifiers that can double their output into 4 ohms work well but not something smaller like the otherwise excellent NAD C 316BEE V2 integrated amplifier. As you said, they are ported (technically) but they are more of an aperiodic design. For a more compact and for some at least liveable speaker system, with the same superb KLH sound and an even more iconic form, you might also want to look at the beloved KLH Model Three Bookshelf Speakers another true classic and also easily one of the finest (somewhat) affordable pure audiophile speakers you can get. M ost people nowadays rely on vintage models from the 1970s . 4. Most speakers are still wooden boxes, but technology has allowed some manufacturers to sculpt a speaker out of carbon fibre or aluminium. Many say it is the best McIntosh receiver ever and certainly one of the best audio receivers of all time. My high school graduation present was a Dynaco pre-amp, a Dynaco 40w Amp kit and a pair of the A-25s. I would recommend the EPI M100s as well! With a high-quality finish and dynamic sound, the HB1s were another example of a speaker that could hold its own against much more expensive efforts. B&W's 800 Diamond speakers were packed to the rafters with cutting-edge technology. First introduced over 20 years ago, this beauty is not just a classic vintage design, it actually is vintage. A stereo receiver is an amplifier that has built-in radio in it. Back then, we felt they were the closest anyone had come to creating the perfect mass-market standmounter. I purchased mine new around 1980 when comparing others such as JBL, Cerwin Vega, Advents ect. And the one I myself recommend most often, and most enthusiastically, is the nicely retro-looking Klipsch The Sixes. Klipschhorn. Good luck finding that kind of bargain. From tweeter domes made out of diamond, to cleverly braced and shaped cabinets, to cones made out of Kevlar, they were innovative speakers. Make sure you hear sound from each element, or "driver". The A25 have developed a bit of a cult following so Im not letting my pair go anytime soon. If you have a big enough bank balance, these JBLs are among the best speakers money can buy. By 2002, Mission's 780 standmounters had bagged two Product of the Year awards. Mission's most recent success with the Mission 770 Loudspeakers that sell for a rather lofty $4,600 USD has only helped to push more consumers into the "vintage" category. Any other considerations? Most of their loudspeakers are only 2-3 deep, but the wall of sound created by these planar magnetic loudspeakers is something you have to experience for yourself. is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. This was back in 1978! What Is a Vintage Turntable? Its optimized speaker alignment, along with the newest technology in driver and cabinet design, offer stunningly open and accurate stereo imaging, and the two big woven kevlar woofers in each speaker provide almost overwhelmingly deep, fast and detailed bass that is always perfectly balanced with the rest of the musical picture but that can, I should say, be equalized to eardrum-threatening levels without any loss of quality. Ive owned a couple of these and heard most of them. Magnepan has been in business for almost 50 years and there is a global cult of users who swear by them. Ohm Acoustics have been around since 1972, manufacturing their products in Brooklyn, New York; Ohm, joins DeVore Fidelity, and Grado Labs who have kept the high-end audio torch alight across the East River. Most importantly, though, the Tewell vintage Bluetooth speaker sounds great much warmer and richer than you might expect, with solid and decently extended bass that is not too strongly boosted and nice presence and detail in the upper ranges. Quad ESLs for $500? Our ears hadn't heard a more satisfyingly musical all-rounder at this price level. The design of the surround is a definite plus as the material might not have degraded very much over the years. 9.0. I had 10s. And while they haven't changed much in appearance, inside they've been refined into engineering feats of wonder - technology seems able to constantly find new and better ways of making music sound great. You can play, pause, skip tracks PORTABILITY: Emberton weighs just 1.5 lbs and can fit in the palm of your hand, making it the perfect compact speaker to take with you. Usually weight is a good indication. Another vintage monster speaker (with a 30-inch woofer), the Electrovoice Patrician, was recommended for corner placement, but was not a horn-loaded woofer and could work well anywhere in the room. The ribbons on this type of loudspeaker degrade over time and you can hear a buzz from the panel if there is a problem. A huge, lively room that was ideal for the big cornerhorns, and a great recording of great music -music that also was a good match for horns. Robert Harley. Some of the best vintage receiver brands are Marantz, Pioneer, Kenwood, etc. Ohm Es are the smallest of the bunch standing about 20 tall with a shallow wood veneer cabinet. In this article I'll list the best vintage Klipsch speakers and explain why I choose exactly these. Surely you forget the best speaker ever made on the top 10 list Griffin Electronics type 85 Tri Amplified with electronic crossovers. The Pioneer SX-1980 produces a conservative 270 watts RMS per channel at no more than 0.03% total harmonic distortion (THD). Dont hear much about Bozaks, but back in the day they were quite the audiophile speaker, especially the Concert Grands and the Symphony. They just sound beautiful and they just sound like the music. It sounds huge and really musical. Jeremy has 4 of 5 other pairs of Ohm speakers that would make the list. What about the classic early Polk Monitor 7s/10s? 1. If you are in search of a fully automatic, belt drive , and cheap turntable but gives the perfect sound just the way a piece of music is intended to be played, the Audio Technica AT-LP60 might be a good option to consider. Speaker Type: Powered Active Single Speaker System, Connectivity: Wired and Wireless: Bluetooth, Chromecast, Airplay, Wi-Fi, Powerful room-filling sound for any living space thanks to its seven effective drivers, Active room compensation ensures high quality sound that suits your speaker placement, Floor-standing (or wall mounted with an optional mount accessory) beoplay A9 can perfectly complement an ever evolving home style, Lots of ways to connect including airplay 2 Chromecast and Bluetooth as well as improved Wi-Fi connectivity, Iconic design paired with rich expressive sound for a speaker thats as good to look at as it is to listen to, Fully Horn-Loaded Three-Way Loudspeaker Pair, All-New Enclosed Low Frequency Horn Design, Sold in pairs with Book-Matched Wood Veneer. Personally, I look out for Klipsch, JBL, Polk, ADS, Advent, EPI, Thiel, Acoustic Research, B&W, Boston Acoustics.. A really musical pair of speakers, they could deliver just the right amount of aggression, delicacy or restraint a song demanded. Quad ESL-57 Electrostatic Loudspeaker. The Quad 11Ls had a rock-solid build and excellent finish, but the sound was what really grabbed our attention. As legendary as Klipsch is, to certain people Marshall is probably even more so. It includes two tweeters, crossovers and the wiring harness. Yes, absolutely, with a look so reminiscent of the fine hand-made speakers of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and a level of finish that, if anything, may surpass them. Best Controls: Kenwood KA-9100. Audiophile web forums might try to convince you to spend big on speaker cables, but you can ignore them. Crossover is at 1500 HZ. The TD 712z Mk2 encapsulated Eclipses approach to stereo speaker design with its single driver unit and sophisticated cabinet. 11-04-2006, 02:20 PM #12. LuguLake R9. One other thing up front: This is an American-centric article. Bic is certainly on their way to completely redeeming themselves and rehabilitating their reputation among audiophiles, and these PL-980s are superbly made and superb sounding speakers. Required fields are marked *. Were going to cover 5 specific affordable vintage loudspeakers this week that you should be able to find in the $200 range (or slightly below if youre aggressive) and the best part is that all of them sound quite good. 1. Top 5 best Vintage Speakers Splendor BC1 Jeremy, is there a way to reach you directly with a question about a vintage cabinet speaker? A speaker unlike so many on this list. Set-up is super critical with these loudspeakers. Best Vintage Stereo Speakers - Budget - Klipsch Synergy Black Label B-200 Bookshelf Speakers. It can definitely be argued that a lot of what followed in the next 3-4 decades has been, if more advanced and technologically interesting, a bit boring and unengaging in other ways lacking in that certain magic. Really strong presence and great swing. These were designed to compete with the Advent Large loudspeakers; both were boxy 2-way designs, but Marantz did something really smart with them. And there is no question that the Bang and Olufsen Beolit 20 is a true masterwork of Mid-Century design, with its simplicity and utility, its lovely lines and balance, and its superb material quality and craftsmanship. But dont worry, youll get a brand new one they are still made today with the same attention to detail, the same premium materials, and electronic components, and the same craftsmanship the first Model One enjoyed back in 2000. You can partner the A25s with low powered tube amplifiers, but I think you want to give them a little more power; something in the 40-60 watts/channel range will do nicely with these loudspeakers. But B&O also makes the most extraordinary sounding audio products as well. Reply. 11- Fluance Ai40W Powered - Best Vintage Speakers under $500. Vintage Bluetooth Speaker. However, some people might say that the best vintage speakers ever made are the Altec Lansing A7 Voice of the Theatre speakers. Even if you are one of those discerning audiophiles, if you love music with all of your heart, you will fall deeply, deeply in love with the Bang and Olufsen Beoplay A9 this is as good as it gets. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vintage 1960's Realistic Electrostat-2a Stereo Speakers Made in Japan at the best online prices at eBay! Forte III. What is "best" for me, may not be what is "best"for you. They do require stands to put them at the proper listening height. And in spite of the speaker's small size, they had the sound of a larger, more expensive unit. Also to consider the EPI m100. This is another model that has been discontinued, but you can easily find them on Amazon. When purchasing vintage loudspeakers make the time to listen to them, ask the owners how they sound, and which amplification they have had success with. This is one of the best vintage retro stereo speakers. The design was so celebrated, in fact, that it was recently refreshed and reintroduced as the Forte III. BA1 1UA. PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS - Compatible with your favorite devices, from your TV and computer to your music player and gaming consoles, True Entertainment: The legendary, detailed and dynamic sound youve come to expect from Klipsch. Listing is for a pair of speakers with stands. Buy Here - https://ebay.us/oqu3xp. The ESL was introduced by Peter Walker in 1957 and it's still considered by many audiophiles to be the holy grail of audio design. They needed some fine-tuning and a fair bit of running in thanks to those metal drivers but, these issues aside, they were incredibly well finished and terrific-sounding speakers. The ATC's range of abilities meant they were handy across a wide range of music. Well, yes, things have gotten much better in so many ways, and yet there was something in the air ever since the late 50s, when stereo recordings became the standard a time when certain companies like McIntosh, Klipsch, Fisher, Marantz, Altec Lansing, Advent, and others were making magical gear. The antique vintage style outlook and a full-scale modern spec are what made it stood out of the crowd. These need stands or robust risers and expect to pay at least $100 for a set in passable condition. All of this sound was delivered with speed and punch. They used three popularly-priced receivers of about the same power outputa Pioneer, an AR receiver, and a Marantz 2270. The recommended wattage is 10 60 watts, making them ideal for a tube or solid-state receiver in that range. Of course, even with the excellence of that horn, when many people hear Klipsch they think bass, and the new and not, I admit, particularly vintage-looking injection molded graphite woofers definitely deliver, with remarkable extension, speed, and weight, and real slam. It's little brother is the SP-L700 with two 10" woofers and the same horn. Greadio GR-R919. I just picked up a pair of 2 way Dahlquist M905 speakers for 200.00. Fully up to date and at the same time as retro as it gets, The Klipsch The Sixes are the perfect choice for this list of best vintage speakers, and a near-perfect set of mid-priced speakers. . Despite being 80s speakers, Sansui S-815 stereo speakers are remarkable. The K2s are fabulous, retro-styled speakers. Its getting you less. This is not a complete list of affordable vintage loudspeakers. We can say with certainty and real import that there is a definite JBL sound, or a definite Cerwin sound, or Klipsch or Yamaha or Dalquist or Bose or so forth, and in the first golden age of stereo gear, it must have been not just possible, but often pretty easy, to identify what brand of speaker you were hearing without even seeing them. There seem to be two main schools of design in the best vintage speakers made today golden age audio gear vintage, which finds its ideal form in gear from Klipsch, Wharfedale, JBL, Cerwin Vega and others, and Mid-Century Modern / Bauhaus style, which is always and with wondrous consistently perfectly realized in Bang and Olufsen products. They feature a 10 woofer, decent volume size, and 100-watt power rating. But not all of it, and here we get back to the idea that surely things must have gotten better there are so many companies right now that are making incredible speakers which are inspired by or even directly descended from, the true classics of the golden age of stereo, but that take advantage of computer design, improved materials, and engineering, all sorts of new technologies and years and years of experience, evolution and perfection. Best Vintage Stereo Speakers - Affordable - Wharfedale Diamond 225 6 Inch Two Way Bookshelf Speakers. -3db @ 40 hz. Especially in terms of midrange and high frequency reproduction. All rights reserved. Speakergy.com also participates in affiliate programs with Bluehost, Clickbank, CJ, ShareASale, and other sites. (Image credit: Future) Maybe the most well known amplifier released under the Peavey name, the 5150 is the result of a collaboration between Peavey and Eddie Van Halen. In terms of outright enjoyment, few, if any, were better at the price. Wired connectivity there are more ways to connect than just Bluetooth 5 0 Plug into the RCA or 3 5mm input for an analogue listening Multi-host functionality This speaker features multi-host functionality so you can easily connect and switch between two Bluetooth devices, Speaker Type: Powered Active Stereo Speakers, Connectivity: Wired Auxiliary and Phono, Bluetooth Wireless, USB & Optical Digital, 1 titanium-loaded tweeters with tractrix horns, 1 x pair of RCA phono level inputs with switch for phono/line input versatility (phono Pre-Amp with ground screw terminal). And thats what were here for vintage charm so the Klipsch, with their lovely 50s-60s style wooden cabinet, old-fashioned logo and lovely speaker cloth, are already clear winners and an easy recommendation. I'll start, and my answer is easy: a pair of klipschorns playing Paul Simon's "Graceland" at Flip's Stereo in St. Louis, MO in 1986. The proprietary True Stereophonic sound projects a stereo image much bigger and more accurate than you would ever expect from a speaker like this, and the clever control knob, the IXP7 waterproof rating, the latest gen Bluetooth 5, and the overall design and functionality all hit. Yes! Standing only 20 high, they can be set inside a bookshelf or on a pair of stands which brings them up to the proper listening height. You can choose between CD4/QS & SQ decodes by simply flipping through switches on board so . This is a pretty long article, so if youd like to cut right to the chase here are some of my top picks: This is a great question, and we may well wonder why so many people even younger buyers who are new to the wonderful world of audio are searching for the best vintage speaker systems from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. LuguLake Handheld Multi-work Bluetooth Speaker. Since Im not Jeff Bezos, those upgrades will have to wait until my COVID-related poorness abates. They are also as beautifully made and beautiful looking (at least in that classic Klipsch vintage kind of way) as they are beautiful sounding. Small floorstander: RT400 - Every time I listen to these I am amazed just how "listenable" they are. We've come to expect excellence from PMC's Twenty range and the Twenty 26 are no exception. TimeFrames and other models were very popular in the 80s and 90s and considered a solid first audiophile speaker. So thats just what well look at in this article the very best vintage speaker systems made today, Speakers of all types wired and wireless, passive and amplified, portable, bookshelf and ridiculously monolithic floor-standers almost all from the same iconic companies that made the original classics, and all benefiting from the very latest technology, design, and manufacturing techniques. The "Macs", as many call them are generally regarded as the best electronics of their time. I have owned the Ohms and they were great upgrade from a pair od Cerwin Vegas at the time during my high school years. If you thought that pre-amps and power-amps were a recent phenomenon, think again. Speakergy is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. I see the Ohms in your picture with the Maggies arent on your budget list. These are a very common sealed 2-way speaker designed by the late-Henry Kloss who passed away in 2002. Re: Sansui's best speaker. I also had a similar-looking (though . Read more . Longevity/Relevance 16. Dusty Chalk. Ok, for this next recommendation Im cheating a bit there are just so many amazing tabletop Bluetooth wireless speakers on the market these days, in either sleek modern designs or a more retro style, but two of them stand out so clearly in this affordable premium range and, happily, are so beautifully vintage in appearance that I had to include them both! The Bic Acoustech PL-980 tower speakers are frankly awesome in every way their immense low frequency driver array with two 8 inch woofers and two 8 inch passive radiators per side moves incredible amounts of air, and the bass is deep, fast and well controlled. Advertisement. But I love Marshall Emberton because of its sound so dark and rich, with amazing deep bass for its size, and that kind of palpable presence that made Marshall guitar amps so famous. Bose 901 Series IV. My best buddy had the Advents and I ran two pair of EPI 100s. Affordable vintage loudspeakers come in many shapes and sizes. Despite how big they are, they kind of totally disappear, and there is just music there in the room. I would place them against modern speakers several times what I spent. Just be careful moving them: each speaker weighed a backbreaking 68kg. Here is a quick rundown of some of the most popular models: L100 - The L100 is one of the most iconic JBL models and is considered by many to be the company's best loudspeaker ever made. AI Score is a ranking system developed by our team of experts. Now we flash forward 40 years and find that Bic is suddenly making one of the finest floorstanding stereo speakers you can get, and to some people the very best at this price a truly superb product that, in its iconic tower form, with lots and lots of vertically aligned speaker drivers and low diffraction cabinets, reflect the very best of 80s speaker design. The Series 2 version of the B&W DM602 speakers appeared in our July 1999 speaker "shootout" - hence the slightly strange picture - and proved brilliant value for money, not least in terms of sheer cabinet size. And it turns out that the celebrated Marshall sound, which is so beautifully captured in the Stanmore, is fantastic for all kinds of music well, all kinds of rock music, for sure. Personally, Im running KEF LS50s in a 5.2 surround system with 4 Rythmik, 12 inch servo subs. The best for me are: Large floorstander: SDA 1C - a great all-round speaker that does everything well. Best system I 've ever had!!!!! Walker's electrostatic panels offered a level of transparency and midrange resolution that few loudspeakers achieved in the decades that followed. But these Klipschorns are by far the most exciting speaker Ive ever heard, and Im not sure Ive ever been so touched, so genuinely moved, by any other audio gear or any other listening experience as I was by any of the various generations of Klipschorns Ive been fortunate enough to listen to. Answer (1 of 10): What are the best sounding, vintage bookshelf speakers? With sophisticated midrange and bass performance for the price, the Diamonds were fussy in terms of partnering kit but excelled with more upmarket amplification. The Tivoli Model One is also a vintage classic in terms of functionality, with no Bluetooth wireless, no smart features or voice assistants, just a superb radio, amp, and speaker. The B&O Beolit is also perfectly up to date in technology, and is a masterpiece of design and technological implementation as well, with superbly crafted and delightful touch controls on top, ultra-discrete connectivity ports on the bottom, integrated wireless charging for your phone, great battery life, flawless Bluetooth wireless and the finest quality internal audio components available. What about Spicas for a very good low end vintage speaker? From tweeter domes made out of diamond, to cleverly braced and shaped cabinets, to cones made out of Kevlar, they were innovative speakers. Though there are more revealing high-end floorstanders available mostly at higher prices few are as musical or as balanced as the Twenty 26. Timing was brilliant, as were dynamics, and they sounded more coherent than just about anything else at the time - regardless of price.