Altec Seven pictures.

I just recapped the crossovers, and they sound fantastic!

Specs here.

I have a camera again. Pictures to follow.

Quick Update

  This is my first post in May, and I apologize. Stuff has been happening, I just haven't been able to tell you about it, or even show you pictures.
  The Altec Sevens have been refinished, and recapped, and I'm (still) evaluating, the (so far positive) changes.
  I refoamed a pair of The Advent Loudspeakers this week, and after not hearing a pair for probably 3 years, was bowled over (again) by their inherent musicality.

Just arrived! Ariston RD11s turntable with Mayware Formula 4 tonearm.

California.

 After what feels like months (happy ones) of (mostly british) 2 way monitor speakers, they're an ear opening experience. Many may wonder why, but for me, this is what makes vintage audio so much fun. These are the biggest Altecs yet at Seventies Stereo world headquarters, and I'm excited to have them (I've had Fives before, and another pair is coming soon). 

  Altec was very successful marketing it's big, horn loaded home systems, much less with 'bookshelf' speakers. The brand's image in the marketplace was bland and uncool compared to JBL, but these beautiful speakers rock, and the Marantz 1200 drives them perfectly.  Much more soon.

Infamous Canadian Rega 2 Speakers in Utility Cabinets.

The Rega 2s were finished with the ugliest fake fake fake woodgrain vinyl known to man. This pair has been stripped down to the particle board, which has been sanded, oiled and waxed, for a contemporary, scandinavian modernist look that suits the elegant proportions of these speakers well.

Mission 710s at last.

When I got these the original woofers were long gone (replaced with cheap car audio woofers), and after looking high and low, I determined that they're unobtainable. I tried 'upgrading' with woofers from a pair of 770s, and it didn't work (I thought it did at first, because I wanted it to).The woofers were too much for the cabinet volume, and the bass was disappointingly anemic. Frank Fabian at The Speaker Shop recommended a suitable brand new polypropylene cone replacement, which I just installed, and they sound fantastic; beautifully balanced, full and musical, with that magical Mission presence.

  Things will be changing soon at Seventies Stereo. The Mission Argonauts will be leaving this weekend, as will the Rega Kytes. A couple of pairs of Altec Lansings will be arriving soon, as will a Scottish suspended subchassis turntable. Stay tuned.

This is the Sansui AU-217 that just came back.

Rega Kyte photos.

They're as finished as they're going to get. Listening with a Sansui AU-217 integrated amp (back after a 3 year absence), they sound wonderful. They're not the ideal speaker for getting your Led out, but with jazz quartets, vocalists etc., they're captivating.

One Rega Kyte, almost finished.

Rega Kyte Loudspeakers

  These are the first authorized by head office, made in England, 'real Rega speakers I've ever had, as opposed to the canadian Regas (2s & 3s) that I like so much.

 They won't be red for long!

New Mission Argonaut photos.

A wild pair. Explanation to follow.

  From earlier postings, you know that they were black. I bought them from a shop that had two pairs. Both were in rough shape, and I excitedly bought what appeared (without checking serial numbers) to be the better of the bad. Because it was a vintage specialty audio shop, I assumed I was choosing between two matched pairs. What I didn't realize, because they were black and because I was anxious, was that I got the better speaker of each pair. This is why the side veneers are so different, and why I should've looked more carefully. Mission pairs have identical serial numbers, these don't. I worked very hard on the pair I'm enjoying so much (and they've been my go to speakers since I reinstalled the components).
  I could buy the other pair (which have some smashed corners), strip them, work even harder to restore them, and end up with two beautiful but very different matched pairs, or I can live with this wild pair. The grain of the front veneers is close, the front baffles look great and the drivers are almost perfect (one woofer has an abrasion on the front of the frame, that's all).  I'll let you know when I decide.
Update: The issue was decided for me. I went back to the second shop, and they were gone. I can stop wondering what to do!