[Rclark]

Friend had these sitting around, he's no audiophile, they were his dad's. So he just gave them to me 

Officially an audiophile with several sets of good speakers now 

 Wasn't expecting much, had no idea what these are, plugged them into my Ncores last night and ended up listening till dawn. To say I was impressed is an understatement.

Impressions to follow. The crossover actually has a somewhat complicated use and I have to learn what the special inputs do.

But so far, is it safe to use the word "magic" to describe a vintage speaker? Because these have it. Lovely, lovely things.

[Quiet Earth]

Wow! You are one lucky dude. Those look like they are in very nice condition too. Are the surrounds rubber? I don't remember.

I lusted over a pair of those back in the day... The mid '80s? I nearly convinced a buddy to buy a pair (he had the money, I was broke) purely from my own enthusiasm. But I held on to my MET 7s instead while worked and fed myself. By the time I could afford them I decided to buy a pair of SoundLab dynastats instead. Always like those M&Ks.

Anyway, enjoy those puppies. Four of 'em huh? Wow again. They made a killer sub to go with them. They made quite a few subs I think. Really nice score man. You owe someone a big thank-you card. 

[Rclark]

Yeah they were pretty dusty but I went over them with the vacuum cleaner, swiffer, then a damp sponge. Listening to them right now as I set up my room and they are pretty astonishing. Extremely pleasant and unfatiguing. Very detailed.

Yeah, I know, 4! With grills. And not only that, but the pairs have consecutive serial numbers meaning they were likely hand matched.

Amps might have something to do with it but they're really impressive. I was struggling for nitpicks last night.

[Guy 13]

Yeah they were pretty dusty but I went over them with the vacuum cleaner, swiffer, then a damp sponge. Listening to them right now as I set up my room and they are pretty astonishing. Extremely pleasant and unfatiguing. Very detailed.

Yeah, I know, 4! With grills. And not only that, but the pairs have consecutive serial numbers meaning they were likely hand matched.

Amps might have something to do with it but they're really impressive. I was struggling for nitpicks last night.

Hi Rclark and all Audio Circle members.
About 45 years ago, I had something similar to those.
The brand name was RSC (Radio Speaker of Canada)
long time gone.
The sound was gorgeous, lots of bass for such small enclosure.
As for me, I had to buy them and I was not lucky like you
and got them free.
Enjoy, lucky guy.

Guy 13
I am also lucky in my own way.

[Rclark]

Hey Guy  .

I don't believe these are as old as that. Do you still have those speakers?

These are nothing like that as they are sealed. Definitely not bass heavy speakers, probably their only downfall, easily remedied with a subwoofer. They bass they do produce, however, is generally very high quality. Their strength is in incredibly transparent and coherent midrange and high range that doesn't sound like a small speaker. also just a relaxed presentation. So good.

[Rclark]

Yeah you can just assume my review is going to be chock full of superlatives. these are gorgeous speakers.

[Guy 13]

Hey Guy  .

I don't believe these are as old as that. Do you still have those speakers?

These are nothing like that as they are sealed. Definitely not bass heavy speakers, probably their only downfall, easily remedied with a subwoofer. They bass they do produce, however, is generally very high quality. Their strength is in incredibly transparent and coherent midrange and high range that doesn't sound like a small speaker. also just a relaxed presentation. So good.

Ho Rclark and all Audio Circle members.
Its so long ago, that I am not sure how long I kept them
and what I did with them,
but one thing I am sure,
I should have kept them, they were really nice bookshelves speakers.
For near field listening they had lots of bass.
I drove them with my SOUND Audio (That one also is not around anymore) 35wpc solid state amplifier.
After that I got a pair of DIY horn made by I don't know who ?

Guy 13

[benguin]

Rclark- you are one lucky guy!  That generation of M&K speakers was outstanding at the time.  Being just out of college, I couldn't afford those, but did get an early pair of their little brothers, the SX4 (which I still have, and still sound good.  The Vifa tweeters were excellent.)  The S1B would have been from the mid-80s.

I'll bet I even have some of the original literature on those.  I'll see if I can track it down and get a scan.

He didn't happen to gift you the matching MK sub, did he?
  Ben 

[Rclark]

Nope, no sub, but now I've got to hear one 

Well from the way you describe how these speakers were received when they came out, their price point (apparently $2000/pair, who knows what that translates to today, 4G's? 5?), and my own experience with them I have to say that positively superb speakers existed long ago and can definitely hold their own today.

As far as stand mount speakers I've run, these are the best I've heard, definitely beating the N2x's I had in there. Going back over my review and reading my own gripes on those speakers, I hear none of that with these. Again, I struggled to find anything wrong with them.

First of all, the tweeters are absolutely magic. Very very textured and detailed, tons of color, fast, and don't sound like a flat horizontal source like regular monitors. These are a line source and they have size and space. Clarity is superb, seperation basically flawless. Off axis is great, you can walk all around and not lose any of the above attributes.

I think the seperate tweeter enclosure must have something to do with it. Must have been pretty high tech then, and even now, is a feature seen on only really high end stuff, the seperated tweeter enclosure.

There is no audible transition between highs and lows, from the Vifa tweeter section to the sealed Seas mids below, they are as coherent as could be. Normally I would itch to mod the crossover. Nuh uh. I'm leaving them stock so others can hear what a technological marvel they are. Ear next to speaker? Dead silence. Ncores, yeah, but mid 80's crossover. Dead silent.

The mids are warm and detailed, with punch when called for. Definitley not JBL's though. These are an audiophile speaker for critical listening. However a sub really helps out here.

The speakers are completely transparent, that was the biggest shocker to me. With the n2x I remember hearing an audible transition between neo tweeter and mid, but also being able to localize the box quite easily and get a sense of its dimensions. These? These just melt away..

Overall the sound is intoxicating, dazzlingly musical, and leaves nothing desired when listening to music. I felt no need to drag something else in during my inital listening.  I was mostly smiling in disbelief.

The crossover has multiple settings, from rolled off to full bypass on the tweeters (6 settings), the mids have a setting from low efficiency, strong bass power, to high efficieny, brighter sound (6  settings). Pretty neat.

The cabinets are weighty and very sturdily built. Will post more pictures in a few days.

Would I consider these keepers? Absolutely, a resounding yes. Nothing has replaced my modded MMG' (ultimately still, my best speakers), but these are going to sit here for a long long while before I bring the maggies back in. That's saying a lot. These are spectacular.

When I find a suitable center channel speaker, these will be the basis for a 5.1 theater. My first.

Something to take away from this? Don't shy away from vintage speakers, thinking they won't have performance! For the price I'd guess you could get them for I'd easily take them over a comparably priced completed N2x.

[eclein]

Thats a great find Rclark, I love to hear neat stories like these. The coolest part is you got plenty of them.....4 dusty speakers sitting around and your buddy says check them out and your like screaming inside your head....."yeah baby"" "yeah baby" very cool. Get a sub you may find one on CL cheap so you hear them with the low end.
 I would think the sub would blend in easily, all 8 tweeters and woofers should allow one to sneak in under the full sound they already have....enjoy!!!!!!!

[Rclark]

Hey Ed  . Hope you're doing well.

It wasn't a "yeah baby" moment. These things were sitting in a garage, covered in cobwebs. There was a layer of dirt around the enclosures, and what looked like grass or hay matted on the grills. Never heard of M & K. The switches on the back meant to me some useless,  sound robbing gimmick. I saw the stacked tweeters and just imagined an awful sound. It was more, "hey let me put those on my amps and see if they do anything."

After hearing the first pair  I offered to buy them and he just said, eh, you'll appreciate them more than me, you see how I treated them, you can just have them.

I was like no?!...really? ...no!?

But honestly it's a great outcome. He has no other gear than these speakers, listens to music streamed over his cell phone speaker, not even with headphones, and he thinks that's great, gets tv audio from the built in speakers on his old CRT, and watches movies played over an old xbox, which adds a nice layer of fan noise. He doesn't care. They were wasted on him and really neglected.

But after a deep clean, I even cleaned all the connections with rubbing alcohol, man, they look great! And the important bits, the drivers and crossover, appear to all be in perfect running order, not a dent or dimple, and the surrounds all feel new. Again, it all sounds quite amazing. I would love to throw them head to head with more modern high end speakers and see just how they fare.

[SteveFord]

Congratulations, Mr. Clark!
There's magic in the older stereo gear and it's always such a great surprise.

[Charles Calkins]

Friend had these sitting around, he's no audiophile, they were his dad's. So he just gave them to me 

Officially an audiophile with several sets of good speakers now 

 Wasn't expecting much, had no idea what these are, plugged them into my Ncores last night and ended up listening till dawn. To say I was impressed is an understatement.

Impressions to follow. The crossover actually has a somewhat complicated use and I have to learn what the special inputs do.

But so far, is it safe to use the word "magic" to describe a vintage speaker? Because these have it. Lovely, lovely things.

 I bought a 3 piece M&K speaker system brand new in 1977. At the time I was looking for a 3 piece system. Listened to several systems but hands down the M&K's were the best sounding. I think they cost about $1,400 then. I still have them all boxed up. Maybe someday I'll listen to them.

                                                                      Cheers

                                                                       Charlie

[Vulcan00]

I am a owner of a complete 5.1 set of M&K S-150THX. This was my entry inti Home Theater in early 1990s. Ken Kreisel is truly in the audio industry's hall of fame. He is the first to commercially design build and market the Satellite and subwoofer concept     ( there may be some argument here).

He started with Mr. Jonas Miller building in his garage or basement or some small place, but his company became top manufacture of speakers till going out of business in early 2000s. The reason of the company fall is disputed between claims of foreign knockoffs to bad management.

One of the company claims of high quality control that every speaker was  hand matched parts and tested. There was a huge excitement for the company's auction.You can still find a rather good following and selling of products on eBay. You have to be careful in buying on eBay and its good to know what identification clues when buying M&K on the internet.  The intellectual right were bought by an overseas company who now manufactures. Mr. Kreisel now has a new company manufacturing subwoofers which he has always been know for his push - pull 2 woofer design.

You certainly were given a significant gift in terms of worth. You can visit eBay an determine what is the current value for your speakers should you be intersted.

[benguin]

Here's the trifold brochure that includes the S1B.  I've also found the 4 page catalog. let me know if you'd be interested in a scan and I'll get it uploaded.

I do think Ken's designs have held up well over the years.  My original sub isn't quite up to current state of the art in power/response, but it still works pretty well with the satellites.  I recently fired them up with my also ancient Hafler equipment, and it really was impressive.

Over the years, I always found MK to be very customer centric, and often had Ken respond directly.  I also picked up a 5.1 set up shortly before MK closed, and got a very nice set up at a bargain price.  I just wish I'd had the budget for the MPS-2550s he had at the time.






 I'm glad these went to a good and appreciative home!
  Ben

[NIGHTFALL1970]

I used to have a pair of these that I bought new in 1990.
Where is the sub?

[Rclark]

Wow, that's neat  . Yeah the literature is using the exact word I was searching for: holographic.  I can tell by looking at these other designs that they were very advanced speakers. If you can find the 4 page ad, that would be great! Other people would find it useful too, I'm sure.

And man, I'm feeling like Sean Connery right now cause you guys have me wanting to go sub hunting!

[benguin]

These appear to get downsized a bit, but I think they are still legible- if not, let me know and I'll em a copy.

I'll bet you'll be able to track down a V-1B with some hunting.  You could even drop KK a note, he might have some leads, as he's had a pretty good trade in program for people to try out his new line.













  -- Ben

[Rclark]

Ben, thanks for the beautiful scans 

Have them cranked up some today and focusing on the mid and midbass.. still stunned. Still have my brow pleasurably furrowed and head bobbing.. looove the sound of sealed speakers here. Punchy, warm, a nice clean snarl... have to think I am powering them with top tier amps of a capability that perhaps didn't even exist when they came out, not for less than the cost of a house anyway... but the speakers really do disappear and leave you with gooey, dreamy, grab you by the ear music. You're swimming in it.

What keeps getting me is how coherent they are. Vocals are also just woooow. Wow! I have respect for box speakers now. But high end only.

I would LOVE to bring these to compare to a "modern" expensive box speaker. Most certain they would hold their ground or even win. So good.

I'll take some close up and size comparison pics tommorrow, and as I upgrade my system, I will periodically update this thread.

Was expecting these to sound okay and maybe burn them for firewood, not this.

[benguin]

Sorry- the scans are getting compressed and aren't the most readable.  I'd be happy to email the full files to anyone- just IM or EM with your email.

Rclark- you might want to keep an eye out for Vifa drivers "just in case", I've picked up a few new ones on the auction site.  Over 29 years, I think I replaced 2-3 of them.   Of course, that was back when I didn't know any better and used to turn them up to "11".
  - Ben