Vintage loudspeakers....Sleeper models....

Bill,

Now that you mention it.....

I seem to recall that mine were the ssm-7 (smaller 3 way), but yep, that's the series. I thought they were quite good in a lot of ways, but I did eventually sell them. (I geuss they weren't quite good enough to keep for the long haul.) I do remember buying them pretty cheaply on closeout somewhere and thinking they were a steal, so when I sold 'em, I pretty much recouped my purchase outlay. My memory of the ownership experience is largely positive.

Marty

Klipsch LaScalla
Thiel CS 2.2
Thiel CS 3.5
Thiel CS 3.7
B& W 801
B&802

I recently gave a listen to my OHm Ls for teh first time since some recent system upgrades. I do not get to play these gems as much as my other speakers in the room they are in (an unfinished portion of the basement), but they never disappoint even in comparison to my other pricier and sexier looking speakers. They sound quite fabulous with the new 500 w/ch Class D amps!

These sold for $500 a pair in 1978. Before dropping big bucks on a pair of modern monitors or other smaller bookshelve type speakers, I would strongly encourage anyone to give OHM a call and see if they might have any refurbished and upgraded Ls available for home trial! They may be unbeatable for $600 a pair these days just as I recall they were way back then!

One caveat is I upgraded my Ls with top of the line Morel woofers and OHMs sub bass activator myself as an experiment. They still run original drivers and crossover otherwise, so they are not equivalent to OHMs complete upgrade package, but I suspect John Strohbeen knows how to tweak his designs a lot better than I do, so I would expect similar or perhaps even superior results with the stock OHM upgrades.

My hybrid 3-way Ls definitely have a distinctive timbre from my other speakers, more presence and warmth in the midrange, less neutral perhaps but quite enticing. Imaging and soundstage is up there with tsome of teh best I have heard.

I've never heard Harbeths and have no idea how the Ls compare, but their timbre is clearly more in that camp from what I have discerned than my other speakers.

These are very hard to find but they are one of the best vintage speakers ever made...Sansui sp-5500 (the only sansui speakers that were made in Japan)

JSE Infinite Slopes. Definitely a serious holy grail search, but well worth the effort should you find a pair in good condition!