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Dynaco A25 vs KLH17


joany

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Hi,

I'd a lot of "east-coast sound " speakers ( KLH6/17/38/32,ALLISON 5/6 ,AR 4xa ); the best of are KLH6/17 , and my favorite is KLH17 , not for the sound, but it is nice for his volume ( at one stage, you must decide: to be or not to be , my speakers or my wife !):

DYNACO A25 is smaller, and i want to know what is the best for you, A25 or 17 (classical and jazz music ), if you have any experience of that?

Thanks,

Best regards.

:-)

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Hi,

I'd a lot of "east-coast sound " speakers ( KLH6/17/38/32,ALLISON 5/6 ,AR 4xa ); the best of are KLH6/17 , and my favorite is KLH17 , not for the sound, but it is nice for his volume ( at one stage, you must decide: to be or not to be , my speakers or my wife !):

DYNACO A25 is smaller, and i want to know what is the best for you, A25 or 17 (classical and jazz music ), if you have any experience of that?

Thanks,

Best regards.

:-)

Admittedly having had limited experience with Dynaco A25 and despite its rave reviews when it was introduced, I'd opt for KLH model 17, a speaker whose sound I am, or at least was more familiar with. KLH Model 17 is a scaled down version of KLH Model 6. It is smaller than 6 and has what KLH called a 10" woofer. (KLH Model 6 had what KLH called a 12" woofer, the size being defined by the frame (or what passed for a frame in the early versions) but the diameter of the cone which actually is the sound producing element is identical in size to the AR2 family of speakers which AR calls a 10" system. To my ears, KLH Model 17 sounded more accurate reproducing classical music and jazz than Dynaco A25 or AR4x. It was definitely brighter to my ears. However, I must admit that I was astonished at how well AR 4x came off in the live versus recorded demo with the Nickelodeon. It wasn't the equal of AR3 but it cost only one quarter the price. It is also worth considering in that size/price range. I'm not sure if the 10" SEAS driver in Dynaco A25 suffered from foam rot, I know KLH Model 17 didn't and likely AR4x did. Exact replacement woofers for Dynaco A25 are probably still available through Madisound among others. However, A25 was critically tuned individually at the factory during manufacture for just the right amount of damping material. There would be some variations from driver to driver. Although KLH models 6 and 17 didn't have foam rot, their cloth suspensions may no longer be air tight because the flexible sealant used may have dried up and deteriorated. What to do about that without damaging them by using an inappropriate material to reseal them has been the object of much discussion on the KLH forum here. I don't think there are any agreed upon answers. Whatever sealant is used, it must remain completely flexible if it is not to badly compromise the speaker's deep bass.

I had a chance to compare KLH Model 17 one on one with AR3 for quite some time during the 1960s. AR3 had obviously much better deeper bass. But over the rest of its range, KLH Model 17 struck me as being able to play commercially made recordings with considerably greater accuracy as did KLH Model 6 compared to AR3. I've speculated about this for a long time because AR3 and AR3a have considerably wider high frequency dispersion and are very high quality three way models. It seems to have to do with the tonal balance KLH was so careful about and the way recordings were made, the kinds of frequency response distortions that were typically inherent in the recordings. That's only one possible explanation.

KLH Model 17 and AR4x have become cult collectors items among some people for some reason. I don't think Dynaco A25 has to nearly the same degree. Fortunately large numbers of all three were manufactured and are fairly widely available in the market in various states of disrepair. BTW, if you get a KLH Model 17 with an inoperative tweeter, the problem is often a defective capacitor which can easily and cheaply be replaced. The non polarized electrolytic capacitor is available for under $1 each from Parts Express. Repair should take no more than a few minutes each requiring only a screwdriver, wire cutters, a short length of wire, and a low wattage soldering iron.

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Hi, I've had several pairs of Dynaco A-25s pass through here, as well as two or three pairs each of KLH 17s and KLH 6s. Dynaco woofer surrounds are made of rubber and do not rot, but I've read that A-25 woofers weren't as durable as the SEAS tweeters that came in most A-25s.

To my ears a good pair of Dynaco A-25s sounds remarkably neutral and quite good, especially with solo guitar, small scale jazz, and small scale classical works. However, if you treat them like JBL L100s, and blast rock through them at 100dB, they start to sound conjested. I prefer Dynaco A-25s to KLH 17s, which have always sounded too bright to me, but I haven't listened to KLH 17s as much as I have to Dynaco A-25s.

As I write, I'm listening to a pair of KLH 6s I bought for under $100 and then refinished myself. They're perhaps the mellowest and smoothest of all of the vintage classics I've heard. I can see why folks write about their "musicality" and don't worry about the fact that AR2axs and Large Advents may go a bit deeper, while many speakers are more extended in the treble.

I think they're also a bit more dynamic and effortless than the Dynacos.

If space is a consideration, you can't really go wrong with Dynaco A-25s. They're small, have nice real veneer cabinets, sound good, and are easy to work on if something goes wrong. SEAS woofer and tweeters are often available on eBay, and capacitors are also easy to replace if a faulty one silences a tweeter (use 5 or 6 mfd). They also refinish nicely, leading to a high wife-acceptance factor.

But I must say I'm impressed with these KLH 6s as well. They're just really smooth through the midrange, making it wasy to forget about the speakers and listen to the music. In theory, KLH 17s SHOULD sound like KLH 6s with a bit less bass, but I haven't found that to be the case. You can find the schematic for the KLH 6 here on Classic Speaker Pages, but I haven't yet found one for the 17. I wonder if the KLH 17 was balanced a little brighter (maybe to sell better in hi fi stores), if I've heard pairs that had drifting capacitors, or if I was just in a bad mood when the 17s passed through here (I've never owned a pair--just refinished their veneer cabinets for others).

Vintage AR speakers sound nice too, including the AR4x, but AR speakers almost always have potentiometer problems, and SOME had foam surrounds, meaning they might need a refoam.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

I'd a lot of "east-coast sound " speakers ( KLH6/17/38/32,ALLISON 5/6 ,AR 4xa ); the best of are KLH6/17 , and my favorite is KLH17 , not for the sound, but it is nice for his volume ( at one stage, you must decide: to be or not to be , my speakers or my wife !):

DYNACO A25 is smaller, and i want to know what is the best for you, A25 or 17 (classical and jazz music ), if you have any experience of that?

Thanks,

Best regards.

:-)

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