On Apr 21, 9:40�pm, John Stone wrote:
On 4/21/10 5:53 PM, in article
, "Boon"
wrote:
There's a lot of buzz in the audio community about this "modernized"
version of the Dynaco A-25 loudspeaker from Annandale Acoustics. I
know a couple of people who have ordered a pair, and Jeff Dorgay
reviewed a pair and found them to be similar in balance to the Harbeth
Compact 7, saying that they had a "pretty warm sound overall, pleasing
but definitely on the lush side."
The problem with these speakers (other than the fact that they're not
much to look at) is the price. A pair of new A-25s once cost $79, but
these are $2500 a pair! Even taking inflation into account, these
should be well under $1000. But, as the advertisments say, these
speakers will take you places the originals couldn't.
http://annandaleacoustics.com/
I'm still pretty curious. I heard a pair of restored originals about
two years ago, and they weren't half bad even by today's standards.
Correction: the original A25 was $79 ea., not $79/pr. Over 1 million
original A25's were made: cabinets in Denmark, drivers in Norway, assembled
in both places depending on demand.
The cabinet on this new speaker is much fancier and more costly, being made
of baltic birch ply and hand assembled in small quantities. The originals
were mass produced from veneered chipboard. �The drivers are similar to the
originals but much improved. �But the biggest difference is the crossover.
The original A25 consisted of a single capacitor and resistive attenuator on
the tweeter, with the woofer connected directly to the input terminals. The
Annendale has a full blown crossover network like you would find in any
modern speaker. The crossover design was done by a very well known and
respected engineer in the industry.
Yes, the price is high, but it's hard to compare this system with the
original given the very changed nature of the marketplace. The original A25
was designed to be mass produced at minimal cost. Today that business is all
in China. But the Annandale product is still using expensive European
drivers and US produced cabinets, purchased in very small quantities, and
assembled here. They spend �over $200 in driver costs alone, considerably
more than the retail price of a completed pair of speakers in 1970.
I don't know if a rehashed A25 is a good idea given that it will always be a
low volume niche product which will, by necessity, have to be sold for a
very high price. Time will tell.
Thanks for the info.
By the way, I've never been nuts about that layered ply look favored
by some Scandinavian companies (such as Penaudio). The pictures of the
Annandale speaker are not that flattering, either.
Still, it's a very interesting speaker and I'd like to hear it. I'm
intrigued by the comparisons to Harbeth.