Snell Type A/II or Type E/III - opinions wanted


Hi,

I've recently been bitten by the Snell bug. My first pair was a nice Type J/IV which I sold to "upgrade" to the highly touted Type E/III. I LOVE these speakers and they didn't cost a mint either! However I want to move up the aisle in vintage snell and have located a pair of Type A/II I could buy. Include the electronic crossover, all the original boxes, and receipts for $1800 worth of recent (last couple of years) mechanical overhaul including caps, surrounds and replacement snell drivers, where needed.

This pair of A/II will cost me a premium though, above what is listed here as average "used", and I may not get much opportunity to demo them beyond making sure they work correctly. My question is will the A/IIs be a significant upgrade to my E/III? I'm hoping someone out there will have experience with both models and will be willing to share?

Thanks in advance!
oktyabr
I hear what your saying. I had the D's set up on in a room that was 13" x 19", they were centered about 8-9' apart on the long wall and about 10" from the wall. Snell spikes installed. A low pile area carpet over a hardwood floor, two sofas, two chairs, a few small tables, plaster walls, and four or five windows. They're really not hard to place at all. I didn't fool around with them after this initial setup. The D's were amazing. I didn't (don't) want to hear anything better - I'm quite happy.

For a finished basement, I recently picked up a set of J/IV's. They blew me away. With their published Snell specs (48Hz to 20kHz +/- 2dB anechoic), I wasn't expecting much bass. Well, I'm not sure how they do it. The bass is incredible. I'd call them full range and slightly warm compared to the the very neutral Type D's. I do not believe there are any independent tests of this short-lived speaker model, but I'd say the bass is definitely usable to below 40Hz, maybe the mid 30's. After all, the J/IV cabinet isn't that small. It's a shame Snell didn't include how low a speaker went at -6dB, as many manufactures do today.

In the end, this may be why you're not happy with the EIII's, your J/IV's were very good performers. I wouldn't be surprised if their bass was as good or better than the EIII's. The speakers used similar drivers in similar sized boxes, but the J/IV's had nearly a decade edge on speaker design. Perhaps Snell was conservative with the published specifications to avoid losing Type E/IV and Type D sales - I'm just postulating... (If anyone can find a reveiw, please post a link.)

Also, consider another listen of the D's, I'm not the only one that loves them, see the reviews at audioreview.com -> http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speakers/floorstanding-speakers/snell-acoustics/type-div/PRD_121067_1594crx.aspx
I never said I wasn't happy with my EIIIs, in fact I love them! Only that I'd like to move up the family tree, within reason, if there is some greater height to be achieved in vintage Snell ;)

I have yet to hear a Snell I don't like. There is something special about Snell, even in their relatively simple looking two-way designs (yes, the J/IVs blew me away too!) that has made Snell the brand I just cannot easily shake.

My living room has been home to many good, large speakers over the years but for whatever reason none of them so far (with the possible exception of the Dahlquist DQ-20i) were ones I really missed once they were gone. The Snells I've owned recently have probably been the cause of doubling the amount of time per week that I listen to music. It's like rediscovering my music collection all over again!

I also run a pair of AKG-K701s and a Creek OBH-11 headphone amp for those late night music sessions and E/III and the J/IV that preceded them came closer to my AKGs in detail than any speaker I've owned previously.

Ideally I hope to discover that the A/IIs will keep the lovely mid-bass and upper end detail of my E/IIIs but with better bass extension. I use Copeland's "Farewell to the Common Man" as one of my ultimate speaker survival tracks, played back at something close to "realistic" levels (front hall) and while both the E/IIIs and the J/IVs are beautiful speakers they just can't reproduce the full power of those huge kettle drum hits with much realism... there's only so much an 8" woofer in a two way box can achieve! I hope that the A/IIs might be up to the trick?
Briefly, some time ago. A pair of K was what really spurred my interest in Snell in the first place. Similar to the J/IV that I so much liked but without the same bass extension due in part to being in a smaller cabinet. I wouldn't pass up the chance to own a pair of K's either if they popped up locally. You would of course need stands and maybe a subwoofer to fill the in the bottom.
I've owned a pair of E-III's since 1997 and recently had them re-foamed. They are incredible speakers and always sound great in every room in my home. I also have Vandersteen 3A sigs, Maggie 1.6, DCM Timeframes and the Snells in many repects bring me more pleasure than all of them, although they are all VERY GOOD! I recently put Quicksilver V4 amps and a Counterpoint SA1000 preamp with the Snells and I am blown away. These speakers really show their stuff with tubes!!! The bass is just stunning from such a simple box!!!
Good luck with moving up the Snell line. I've heard the D's and the C's and they are much like the E-III's but of course better the further you go.
Try your E-III's with tubes. Match made in heaven!!!