Always a pleasure and never a chore to watch. The Yoda of vintage hi-fi 🇬🇧

Good practical everyday advice. As usual. These type of cabinets often need a bit of lifting off the floor. Funny how paper cones remain extremely difficult to improve on. Even more strange is how modern it looks.

Hi Kelvin, it's so wonderful that you're back and doing reviews and giving us the value of your opinion. Is there any chance you could attempt to do a vintage wharfedale review. They tend to be the most common of all the vintage speakers on offer, yet their quality isn't exactly uniform. I've owned most of them myself (Dentons, Lintons, Glendales, Dovedales, Teesdales) and several of their permutations. Some are rubbish and some are glorious.. I'd love to hear you go through them. By the way, if you know anyone with a pair of Dovedale SP2 for sale, please let me know lol

Guru of vintage hifi!

Thanks Kelvin.That's a superb pair of speakers considering the price, your review is spot on, I had a pair that I gave to my niece and she's still happy with them.

Loving your new content. Thanks, Kelvin.

Tannoy enclosures were always shallower than they were wide. Meridian were the opposite, their M1, M2 and M3 speakers being very narrow at the front with very deep for their size cabinets, Tannoy baffles helped project the sound into the room, while Meridian stated that the narrow baffles on their speakers helped cut sound reflections and gave a greater 3 Dimensional stereo image. Another great show from Kelvin. Keep 'em coming.

Excellent another Masterclass Lesson, please dont forget the little Digital Amp review

Another lovely review Kelvin. You're knocking it out of the park.

Thats new. You are showing the internals. Well, I love your kind of style reviewing the old gear . Thank you

Lovely old speakers. They made a few versions of these. They were made with a Celestion hf1300 like the spendor bc1 and a version with the KEF T15 tweeter. I had the version with the KEF tweeter. I also can't get my head around modern speakers. I'm currently listening to a pair of Cambridge R40 transmission lines from 1972. Classic KEF line up of b139/b110/t27. Awesome speakers!

I have these, bought 2nd hand many years ago. Had a DIY crossover which I removed and transplanted another from a donor speaker (a Swedish floorstander of similar vintage, can't recall the brand). Paired with a NAD 2030i and a modded Yamaha CDX480 They sound great, to my ear. I called at a high end audio store with my son and he commented that their system was underwhelming 😂 so I guess the old girl is doing something right.

The Best way to end St Patrick’s day ☘️ with another QUALITY UPLOAD FROM THE MAN HIMSELF KELVIN THE HIFI EXPERT AND ENTHUSIAST.. Kelvin this is London Bermondsey calling.. Keep up the continuing GOOD WORK.. Thank you 🙏👍☮️👍

Hi,great to hear from you again.fantastic video.

Like many others who share your passion for vintage audio, really enjoying watching your reviews again after such a long break. I have just acquired an old pair of Linn Kan Mk1s and I'm very impressed with its detail and accuracy in the mids and highs, so would love to hear your views. I tried it with most of my old amps, Sansui, Cyrus etc.. but the best pairing to compensate for the light bass was my Sudden A48 Mk2. I know you have this amp so highly recommend getting it fixed!

Has my TV aspect ratio gone funny 😂😂😂👍

They are some of the best speakers I have heard,they need a good amp with plenty of control driving them though .

Great to have you back Kelvin. You have been missed. Any chance of your thoughts on the Marantz PM7200 amp? Thanks. Matt from Kent

Great your back kelvin have really missed the reviews. Ust to have a pair of m s festival 2 which were a cracking little speaker. Don’t leave as long nxt time 👍

Great information as always Kelvin, last few years I bought a few vintage speakers, from Castle Conway mk1s to Mission 730's there first flagship speaker, I love the sound, The B@W dm14 really need some juice to make them party . I've even found a pair of Kenwood small books that are just crazy good . Anyway looking forward to your next vid mate .

Sorry, a day late. A fun watch! I’m really glad to see you making regular videos again. Please continue.

I have a pair of these still in the box that i also need to review someday. For some reason I was thinking they were mid 70s. I was actually surprised how good they sounded and even more surprised how heavy they were. Thanks for the video.

That dome midrange appears to be the one used in Braun and ADS speakers. It should have a sticky film on it. They’re exceptionally good and revealing also disperse the music all around very well.

Lav mic sounds great!

I've got a pair of Mordaunt Short Pageants from circa 1979. They sound superb!

Kelvin. Love it , love it , keep the reviews coming 😂

Great review Kelvin, I like the way how you describe how you can predict the sound of a speaker. I can imagine, some reviewers do not like this kind of knowledge to get out there.

My Dad had these (or very similar) MS speakers when we were growing up. I remember the elliptical bass driver when the grilles were off. I don't remember the super tweeter but maybe they did a 2-way version? In any case I remember a very balanced listenable sound from them. Not bright and fatiguing but quite punchy and smooth. Needed a little bass boost on the amp to sound their best!

Hi, always lovely to watch you and your rev. I want to ask if you know where I can get the drivers for a Monitor Audio MA 14 MK 2 Gold from the 90’s? I can’t find them anywhere. Thank you and keep up the good work! 👍

My 400's came with a Kef T15 tweeter. I bought mine about 6 years ago from eBay. Buyer beware; sometimes the Coles supertweeter can fail, it's very hard to notice because the T15 is doing most of the high frequency work .

go Kelvin!!! wooohooo fav channel about audio

well it's down to the baffle step, if it's narrower you get a generally deeper soundstage and wider but that is not good for lower frequencies below 80 Hz. the wider baffle does reinforce bass so maybe that's why in this situation but the box seems a bit small for the size of driver it probably work great for slotted port. you could glue a one piece of 1-in stock on the back like a picture frame, and extend it with some board MDF half an inch thick three times it's depth in total put the back on that not too difficult to do and is reversible. you can make it into a transmission line

Those EMI speakers weren't bad in their day ... I've seen them used in many applications both in sealed and vented enclosures the Coles STC super tweeter was used on the Cambridge R50 transmission line speaker too

The narrow shape of modern speakers is for wider horizontal dispersion. A wide baffle should theoretically beam the sound in one direction giving you a narrower dispersion.

That large tweeter is richly detailed and one gorgeous sounding driver. Those are surely some of the best drive units it was possible to put in a loudspeaker back then. Yes I used to own a pair of MS 400s. The box is much too small for that huge woofer and as such they suffer a lack of bass extension and they also need a bit of EQing to balance out the sound but once done the refinement and subtlety of the upper mids and highs is remarkable. I only wish I knew who manufactured that big tweeter but there is no label on the driver. Could it be a Son Audax or a Peerless or a Scandinavian unit? I don't know but it is an exceedingly fine and rare tweeter.

What a brilliant analysis!

Thought the still photo was deformed... it is an oval woofer! I like the angle idea, dispersing the sound.

Nice review! Thanks! How about old Grundig Box speakers? Did you ever compare any 80' Grundig boxes with other stuff?

An Oval Bass Speaker... I would love to see a Graphik of the Measurements. When I was young I had a Diy Loudspeaker and used an oval driver, and back then, for me, it sounded OK. But, slowly but surely, oval speakers disappeared from the scene. There must be a reason why the Industry let go of this kind of bass... I am quite sure, we could see some arguments in the SPL curves...But who Knows. Especially in our days now, an oval speaker could have advantages. The Industry prefers small and deep Cabinets today, to have a better soundstage, and the speaker can disappear better. So, an oval driver would be better? Small in diameter when mounted upright, but still has a lot of membrane space... It´s a riddle to me. One argument could be the stiffness. I mean, a round Speaker membrane is always sturdier than an oval one, except the manufacturer makes a thick and sturdy - but also heavy membrane. But here lies the failure: Who wants a heavy membrane? Modern Speakers are kind of a miracle to me anyway. My speakers, at home, and I mean the main set I have, are JBL 4341 Clones, but with a sturdier and better-damped cabinet than the originals. They are the opposite of a modern speaker from 2024...They are wide, deep, high and massive like a small fridge...(And way to big for my room lol)! That all said, it still is always an inspiration to see Kelvin with old vintage Speakers. It keeps me courious why and how the builders did some things in the past. Especially the british gear. British Speakers most of the time were designed to sound good. And the design process included the use of ears, and not only with measurements!

I am unsure when the available technology, and cost crossed over into just profit versus sound. I watched such brands as Sansui be mutated into cheap nonsense. Today as an older person I respect the author's intent. I currently run and maintain some Infinity Kappa 9's paired to some IRS Beta's, these are from the late 80's, all have been refoamed, and are quite large. I even just looking at them more deeply understand their design. I did wonder at their looks. Thanks for the review, if you want great audio, just pick what you like.

Excellent review 👍💯👍. Interesting and insightful. 👍

Nice speakers . I wished they made more speakers like this these days

Great to see another vintage speaker review Kelvin! I like the look of these. The soft dome Tweeter looks indeed like a bigger "Peerless DT10 HFC", the one you see on the early Monitor Audio MA1 series 1. Same EMI bass driver that's on the Monitor Audio MA3. Btw I just bought a pair of MA1 series 2 (Yellow Isophon tweeter) and I find them not so cohesive and a tad dry (I have a Quad 606 behind them). The tweeter makes some work that the B&W Midrange should do, in my opinion. I don't know if to attempt a recap or resell them. I can do it myself but caps ain't that cheap and it's a lot of work. Have you ever heard the MA1 series 2? The B139 deserves one of your reviews anyway

Coooool review, thanks👍 I have a question... I own 2 speakers Wharfedale Dovedale 3 (early 70's) and would like to know if it is possible to connect them to modern amplifiers (such as the Musical Fidelity M3Si)? Or maybe it is possible but not recommended? Unfortunately where I live there isn't a shop to do a test and the only option is to buy online... but I would like to avoid spending a lot of money and then discovering that it doesn't work or that the result is terrible.. Sorry for the maybe stupid question, but I'm trying to learn :) Thank you✌

Kelvins videos are great

Vintage 70´s speakers forever ! I tried to adopt "modern" ultraquick small enclosure speakers just to see if im missing out on my usual old speakers , and got disappointed every time. What they gain in pace they lose big time in just every other way compared. They all sound flat and boring to me as well as sometimes too forward and "in you face" kind of sonic presentation. As if they where made to measure good but in reality they dont play well. They dont evoke any emotions at all except amazement for how little has happend in speaker development

Another "from the hip" review.... Kelvin .Wonder if you could find some old Goodmans speakers..the RB 20 springs to mind..three way design..made around 1976...just for old times sake..

cheers, would it be an idea to compare such with....ProAc (e.g. studio 200 from 80s) where there was no big bass driver at all but two mid instead and still bass came huge out of there...how it was made to deliver ???

Interesting review and analysis, thanks. Have you ever encountered the Carver Cube, and have an opinion? Have you ever encountered the Quad ESL57 speakers, and given then a listen? (Not that I have either, as I use a Polk bass and Mirage satelllites ... )

Kelvin! Where the F-- did you get that baffle? 😂 I wish you had one of those for EVERY speaker review!! This video made me wish you could do new equipment too. You describe the sound so well and don’t mince words. If its not good somehow, you say it!

Kel Leak Mini Sandwich... Harold took prototypes home every weekend... Then when he was happy... They sound.....

Would be nice to try this the other way and analyse the speaker before you know how it is built. Can analyse it after as well... but I feel like knowing how the speaker is built is going to make you listen for certain things so you have a preconceived idea of what you're expecting to hear.

I love those mid sized old school speakers. Music I listen to is more detail and not so much thump. Van the man included in the rap, awesome. Keep swinging man.

got a pair of Mondaurt Short MS-737 Decca Kelly London Ribbon tweeters. if you're interested to have a listen I'm in SW London

Is Mordaunt Short still around? Used to be a popular brand but you never hear of them these days.

Great one for the stereo novice , sounds like a good"'un

Nice looking speakers never seen them before , I’m going to buy a lava lamp it’s a nice touch

High kalvin i had a set and just couldn't live with the slow mediocre sound, i paired them with several amps, Sansui 441,551, Creek cas 4040, Denon pma 1080R, even my beloved recapped Sansui AU 505 couldn't bring out the emotion of my best recordings. Dont get me wrong these MS 400's are pretty neat sounding transducers, Front ends used were Ariston Rd11s with infinity black widow plus gold numbered ADC XLM mkii, my modified Lenco l75 with Denon DL103 performed better. To cut a long story short i let the MS 400's go and purchased a set of Canton GLE 70 loudspeakers, much much better. I blame your channel for my vintage hifi addiction.😂😂

Hello

Ok… stop work…time to watch to boss 😂👍🌈

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