Mid century modern mini speakers? (2024)

So, my girlfriend has me outfitting her waiting room with a vintage receiver and speakers. She's set the whole waiting room up with a very mid-century modern vibe, and the receiver I've chosen fits in nicely. It's a Pioneer SX-3600. Not anything really spectacular spec-wise, but it gets good reception and it looks the part. I've stripped the vinyl off of the wooden sides (it was peeling and looked terrible), and I've refinished them with oak veneer. I found a stain that comes pretty close to the original color. It looks really sweet so far.

So, the next step are speakers. I'm currently running it with a pair of Koss M80 speakers, which sound great, but don't really look particularly great. Especially since they're also covered in faux wood grain vinyl. I'm looking for something that fits a mid-century modern vibe, but is also rather small. The M80 is about as small as I want to go... but I don't really want a full sized bookshelf speaker either.

Thoughts?

Charles.

Hi ChopperChas how about these?

Bang & Olufsen CX50

Or these

A/D/S L-300

The Harbeth P3ESR is small and has simple styling with excellent quality woodwork in various finishes. And has first rate sound.

At bottom is the considerably cheaper and a little flashier Monitor Audio Radius 90. Very nice woodwork and simple lines, very good clarity and imaging. These went well with our Scandinavian furniture.

ADC 404. Even the logo has a cool mid century vibe:

Or, if she prefers new, Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary Edition from Music Direct:

These are rear ported, so they can't be placed right up against the wall.

Vintage original Dentons, if you can find a pair, are acoustic suspension:

Minigon? Now That's MCM.

NOT MCM, but I have an original pair of Braun L100s/ Output Cs -

cast aluminum cabinets, tiny, and sound surprisingly good (still).

Be sure to let us know what you end up with!

The ADC 404s are moving in the right direction! I have a pair of ADC 303AX speakers I love, I wouldn't mind giving the little 404 a try. But my search is still on.

Those minigons are awesome. I can see building a platform with legs and a top, and using it as a table almost... but the vibration probably wouldn't play well with amps, turntables, and R2R machines

Also, while cool, they're way too big for a waiting room.

Charles.

ChopperChas said:

So, the next step are speakers.

Click to expand...

ChopperChas said:

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

The Biggest Baddest Sansui Speaker Ever!!!
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/the-biggest-baddest-sansui-speaker-ever.746944/

KLH Fourteen B 14x8x8"

AR-7 10x16x6"

ads L210 small, nice sound with decent low end. The size similar to the famed minimus 7, better sound overall

My wife and I have spent the better part of a year changing our decor to the Mid-Mod look and we simply love it. Some things are distinctive, some just subtle. Most anything with clean lines and medium woods should do nicely.

Our living room has a 1965 RCA portable turntable that we use as an end table and love to death. Our surround speakers are Minimus 7Ws and they are a perfect fit we think. They dont draw attention to themselves nor do they fade into the background. The other side of the couch the speaker sits in front of a mid mod style lamp that again it looks nice in front of. Another advantage to the M7Ws is that there are a TON of them out there and easy to find and usually under $80, but the prices has been going up lately. Solid walnut veneer that looks far more expensive than it is and the 30wpc Pioneer will be perfect to drive them at the background levels they will be used for.

If you are looking for vintage MCM, many of the offerings are fairly expensive. Most of them are larger floor models though.

JBL has some of the best offerings in this category, like the Minigon above, or, "The Dale" below, but they are quite collectible and equally rare. The Dale is one of the most MCM looking speakers I have ever seen. This model also included small aluminum legs (which I have in their original packaging, never installed) that really set them apart.

JBL C49 - The Dale

Another option that is more readily available and has a cool look are the Sequerra Metronome 7. These also sound quite good as well.

B&O also has some interesting offerings.

C75

I have had mid century speakers.
Excellent looks but really lame speakers.

For sound, you really want to go much later than mid century.

Good real wood is probably the key for you.
ADS 420 (410?) come to mind.
Ohm L also.
Speakerlab DAS series like 2 or 4.
The Advent 3 are amazing for their size but don’t crank on them, the woofers will bottom out.

I have found some newer speakers in nice rosewood. Polk made some.

I have Missions in a small size with blond wood.

Seeing that this receiver can handle 4ohm speakers I'll recommend a pair of Canton GL-260.
Small speakers that sound great,very good bass for their size (no sub needed but they sound even better w/one) with excellent mids/higs.
The cabinets can be painted to match any decor and the metal grills have a nice MCM sorta vibe like the ADS/Brauns.

Otherwise I'd probably just second the ADS L300 recommendation.

If wood is desired,then I'd maybe look into some of the smaller Canton 3 ways that have wood cabinets,those too have a defacto MCM "look".

JM2¢ ~ FWIW

Bret P.

Check these out. Very hard to poke the speakers. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ol...fff78360|iid:1&_trksid=p2481888.c100651.m4497

I would go with Orb Audio. The ones pictures are MCM all the way.

Nat said:

Too big, but the JBL L88 Nova is about the coolest looking mid century modern speaker ever. Possibly the coolest looking speaker ever, period, no qualifications.
The AR 4x may be the most beautifully proportioned speaker I've ever seen.

Click to expand...

Really? The L88 Nova is the coolest looking speaker ever? OK.

I'll give you that it may have the coolest looking grill ever... but that's about it. The Minigon are my pick for best looking JBL. In fact, even though I'm not that big a JBL fan I think they have made some of the best looking MCM speakers ever... just not tiny.