Canuck Audio Mart

My brother told me about these Telefunken speakers he saw at an antique store, so today we both went and had a closer look. They are Telefunken SB 86 floor standing speakers from 1966. They are solid teak, very heavy, and are like new condition. I wanted to buy them but the store keeper didn't know if they even worked. He was asking $200. So I went home and came back with my tube amp and cd player! My brother and I hooked everything up and listened to how they sounded right in the antique store. We looked at eachother in amazement because they sounded really good. The high's were detailed, bass was clean and tight, and very dynamic. So I took them home! I think I really lucked out. I set them up at home side by side with my Monitor Audio RS-6 speakers just to compare. The MA's had just a little more detail, a little more bass, but the telefunkens had better midrange and the bass seamed a lot less muddy, plus the snare sounded more realistic and the soundstage was more open. I'm thinking how could speakers I found at an antique shop sound better then my speakers I paid over $1,000 for?

Those are beautiful!

Nice find.

Agreed.....very nice find !

telefunken is not a highly regarded name in north america......so you can buy GEMS like those for next to nothing ........

tyr buying them on thye cheap in europe.........see how far you get with $200.

Zeher Gut! Probably all the drivers have Alnico magnets to boot. Nice score. Post some more pictures if you can.

Troy, maybe because back in 66 those speakers were worth a lot more in constant dollars than a pair of $1000 speakers today? Lets say that they sold for $500 a pair back then (not unreasonable IMO), something of equivalent quality today would probably sell in the $4k to $5k range in today's market.

Thanks for all your comments. I actually only paid $149, I negotiated the price down before I listened to them. The store owner jokingly said the price just went up after he listened to them. They are definitly alnico magnets, I took the back cover off, pulled out all the insulation, and took a peek. The enclosure is solid Teak wood (3/4") except for the bottom panel and baffle. The baffle is particle board. There is lots of bracing inside and it is 80% full of insulation. The woofer is 250mm and the high's are enclosed in two separate enclosures about the size of a shoe box. The legs are steel and are fastened with socket head cap screws. The woofer basket has this hair net style protector over it, I pulled a bit of it back and felt to see the condition of the surround. It's good as well.

It's amazing that after 43 years everything works like new. I'm 28 years old and find this fascinating.

Very nice,I have the speakers I took out of a basket-case telefunken console about 10 years ago.
One of these days i will put them in cabinets.
Now you need some NOS telefunken tubes for you amplifier.

I have a chance to buy an old Telefunken system comprised of a Concerto 105 receiver, a STS 1 quartz DD turntable, and bookshelf Klangbox L250 speakers. I wonder if the quality of these speakers matches the quality Troy found in his speakers from the antique shop.

Does anybody know anything about these speakers, where I can find some info and any comments on the rest of the components. Last time I talked to the seller he said he would sell me everything for $50 but I don't even know if anything works.

The speakers seem really solid when you pick them up but they are not particularly attractive when you look at them as the speaker grills seem to be made from a wire mesh screen. Also everything has European connections on them.

Very nice indeed.
The wood work alone is worth the money.
The drivers are worth more.
Tender Loving Care needed.
You probably will not find replacement parts easily.

Cheers!

Very cool

Those Klangboxes, in the right environment. can sound really good. I have a pair of RB45 models that came with a Telefunken AM-FM-SW receiver - all in teak too!
Haven't listened in some time but after I re-tubed the receiver and hooked it all up it sure was a lot of fun to listen to. We be talkin' some old school.

There is an identical set to mine listed in Edmonton (although I don't think his has been re-tubed - hence the very reasonable pricing)
http://edmonton.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sel ... Z163139241

Very nice, you'd be surprised how good some of these vintage speakers sound. Enjoy.

Wow, this is a great forum. On one platic enclosure it has a tiny winding of tan colored wire attached to the platic case. I thought it very strange that one would have it but not the other. Any idea what this must be?

I was playing Johnny Cash last night. The clickity clack of his guitar was very dynamic and the bass rhythm you hear clearly in any room of my house. The next step is to try David Gilmour on Bluray in DTS, oooh, I am going to be comfortably numb! My room has vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, and a large stone fireplace. It's rather large too and requires quite of bit of power to fill the room with sound. The klangboxes are effiecient enough for my tube amp and is loud enough before I start getting dynamic compression from the amp. If I was to describe the sound I would say it's smooth. Female vocals are smoother then the fostex fe206 but not as airy. I think that's because the fostex had a peak at 12k. If anybody is in the Belleville area I'd be happy to audition them.