I have some S7R speakers on the way and would appreciate opinions and ideas on how to use/upgrade them. The cabinets can't easily be restored to original condition (they have been painted and banged around a bit), so I am open to non-period or even modern component upgrades.
On the "traditional" side, I have identified the following possible paths.
1. Have the original components checked out/repaired (e.g., caps in xover) but leave the component inventory as is: LE15A; PR15; LE85; HL91; LX5
2. Use original components except upgrade HL91 short horn to H92/2312 long horn
3. Upgrade to S8R: LE15A; PR15; 375; HL93; 075; LX5; N7000
Here are a couple non-traditional paths.
4. Use original boxes and woofers but upgrade LE85/HL91 to a completely different driver/horn combination to handle 500Hz on up. Thinking broadly, this could include a wood horn with or without a ribbon tweeter, or something like a Great Plains Audio 902 compression driver with a 511B or Mantaray horn.
5. This is probably heresy on this forum, but I could even see using the boxes and woofers as the low end in a Dick Olsher Basszilla set up with a Lowther midrange (and ribbon tweeter if desired). I have a pair of Lowther PM5A's sitting around and the Basszilla uses them in open baffles on top of the woofer cabinet.
I am a hobbyist with a number of different vintage and modern speakers (e.g., Quad, Bozak, Alon, Altec, Lowther back horns), so I am not averse to a classic 60's JBL sound if that is the best use of these speakers. That is probably comparable to the kind of sound I get from my Altec Flamencos, though hopefully I can improve upon the bottom end with the S7R's.
If I had really nice original cabinets I would just go ahead and upgrade to the S8R configuration because it would be better sound while retaining authenticity.
But as I indicate above, a full cabinet restoration doesn't really make economic sense here, so what I am really out to do is have fun with the big cabinets.
I am a mostly tube (including triode), and classic amp kind of listener, though I do use Audio Research solid state and modern McIntosh 275 Mk. IV's on my Bozak Concert Grands, for example. I like vinyl a lot, but I also use an Apple Macbook and Wavelength Audio Cosecant DAC as a digital source. I listen to rock, folk, jazz and classical music, so the demands on the speakers are pretty varied.
I know that this is a pretty shy group, so please screw up your courage and give me your honest opinions.
Regards, James