Best vintage Snell for the dollar?

[Oktyabr]

Hi,

I recently got the woofers for my Type J/IVs professionally refoamed and have enjoyed them so much that I've started actively searching for a larger pair that might be capable of filling out the bottom end a bit better (the J/IV roll off at 48Hz). I have a limited budget and prefer "vintage" or at least nothing newer than the J/IV I have now. I've read tons of posts on these forums, and others, and read probably every stereophile review of Snell products available on line but I'm still not sure what speaker I should go after? I'm sure the ones that are much more expensive sound much better but enough to justify double or triple the cost? Does anyone here have A/B experience with any of the larger Snells that might share their experience?

Locally I've found a pair of Type E/III that while not much bigger than my J/IV at least drop another 9Hz lower, at least on paper. I can have these pretty reasonably, right around US$400. I've also found a pair of Type A/II still in factory boxes that are claimed to have been completely restored less than four years ago. These however have a much higher asking price, right around US$1300!

Stereophile seems to think quite highly of the E/III and I must admit I'm leaning heavily towards these but are they enough of an improvement over my J/IV? The A/II sound more like it, size wise at least, but for that much money I'm tempted to hold out for a nice pair of A/III instead. Of course if a pair of B or C were to become available I'd certainly be considering those as well.

So in nutshell, what do you think is the best older, larger Snell for the money? I'm especially interested in first hand listening experiences comparing multiple models?

Thanks in advance!