I picked up a pair of Snell K/IIs in excellent condition on Audiogon and am thrilled with them. I bought them because I'd heard that they perform well close to the back wall, which in my experience is true. (I've since been told that, unlike the Audio Note AN-K which is based on the original Snell Type K, they were in fact intended to be positioned in free space. For me, they work very well 3-4 inches from the wall, with a significant amount of toe-in.)

They're shockingly good. Very well integrated from top to bottom, excellent dispersion, and sound very full for a relatively small monitor (although by today's standards, they're big and oddly proportioned -- 18h x 11w x 9d). They don't do pin-point imaging, but are wonderful at putting the music together without drawing attention to a particular part of the frequency range. The biggest surprise for me is the quality of the bass. They don't go particularly low, but what bass there is is very tight and musical. Drums and bass sound like instruments and not just low tones. They're very easy to drive, and valve amps are often recommended, but I love what they do with my solid state Naim integrated. A big improvement on the Dynaudio Excite X12s they replaced (which is saying something, as the Dyns are excellent monitors, but need more room than I have). For what they cost on the second hand market (I paid $175 for mine and have seen nice looking pairs go for less), they're a steal.

Crystal clear sound Beautiful Walnut finish Biwire-able Available second hand really cheaply

You'll need a subwoofer if you want tons of bass.

I've had the Snell type K/II speakers for over 11 years now, and still love them. When I shopped around for speakers it came down to these or a pair of B&W bookshelves. Both speakers were incredibly clear, but I felt the B&W's were a little lean in the middle. They produced more bass than the Snell's, but I preferred the more even sound of the Snell's. (My brother bought a pair of the B&W's) On top of the beautiful clear sound, the walnut cabinets make these beautiful speakers. You can't say that about stereo equipment very often! Though these are the only Snell speakers I've ever owned, I've heard that they have a solid reputation building their products solidly...I cannot disagree. These beauties are solid as a rock. Classical music sounds so clear you can hear the soft shuffle of the musicians feet! I've also used these speakers as the main speakers in my HT setup. With a Phase Tech center, Polk surrounds, (and a crappy Yamaha sub) they have performed wonderfully. Friends have played back the Dolby Digital logo at the head of DVD's over and over again, because it sounds so cool! (and that's with a really wimpy sub) Though Snell does not produce these speakers any longer, I cannot recommend them higher as a second hand purchase.

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B&W

Impressive dynamic range; very efficient; extremely accurate

Hard to find

After listening to several popular speakers, including some home trials, I came across a dealer who still had a pair of Snell KIIv's in the back room. As soon as I heard them, they were sold.

Compared to the prevalent "boom and hiss" sound of many bookshelf speakers currently available, the Snell's just deliver the music. They sound full and rich, with phenomenal detail and accurate dynamics. If you are lucky enough to find a pair of these - even good used ones - grab them. You will be amazed.

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NHT Super1's, B&W601s2

Great sound and craftsmanship for the price.

Not much except a tad weak on the bass.

I have had the Snell Type K for about 18 years and I still enjoy listening to them. I have never had to replace the drivers, and to this day they are still in good condition. I have recently made the jump to home theater, and have put the Snell Type K into the system as my main front speakers. I am impressed with what I have heard from them so far. I am considering getting an updated Snell speaker from their .5 line.

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Infinity and ADS

overall bandwidth resolution, other assorted audiophile cliches.

don't make 'em no nore.

I'm currently driving these with a mid range Rotel cd (965) into a Bottlehead Foreplay preamp and then a Dynaco stereo 70 (no mods!). I'm listening to Art Pepper meets the Rhythm Section. Art is in my livuing room right now!! I went to a local high end dealer here in the San Fernando valley and just for kicks had them run this cd in some of their more costly rigs (no Snell speakers included). I dig my setup better. Yup- you DON'T need to spend over 2000 dollars to get a REALLY good sounding rig. Whatever you do-don't spend more than 100.00 on speaker cables. It's all a LIE!!!! If you have the cajones, get some 18 awg copper stranded ZIPCORD from the shack and have your sweetie blindfold you and--you know where I'm going with this. Anyhoo-the speakers. WOW!! just an 8" woofer. Regular old Peerless drivers in a generic sealed cabinet. Mine are the II's, which have a potentiometer for the tweet. I leave it set at center, but if the rest of your rig is dark, VOILA!! They are bi wirable and vey unassuming looking. They have incredible punch for their limited bass response (rated by Snell at 70-20.000 hz) but since it's a closed box, you can FEEL the bass!!! Much more satisfying. My room is 19 X 13 X 8, heavy plaster walls with wall to wall and furniture strategically used as diffusers. I've driven them with the Dynaco, a McIntosh integrated and a Zen SET amp. The Snell's let me hear the the different qualities of all three . Is that what they mean by reference? Great imaging soundstage bla bla bla. They make me want to listen to music. If you find em, get em.

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other bookshelfs (shelves)

These are 2-way "monitor" speakers, a little larger than today's favorites -- and a lot cheaper. They were $460 new five years ago. (They are no longer made.) If you can find them at the usual 50% used discount, they're a great deal. I've owned the five years and only now have replaced them with Joseph RM7si signatures. Here's why they're good: (1) unlike most minimonitors, these are 90 dB @ 1 watt efficiency. Most minis are 6 dB less efficient. This means that it takes three times the amplifier power with those speakers that it takes to generate a certain loudness with the Snells. They are, therefore, an excellent match for a modestly powered tube amp, like the Dyna Stereo 70. The cabinets are very solid, finished on 4 sides in walnut veneer, not vinyl (the back and front are painted black). There are connections for bi-wiring. Unlike most minis, they are unvented. This has some drawbacks, but the benefit is the speaker handles bass that is too low for it to reproduce much more gracefully than a vented design. (Vented woofers are essentially unloaded below system resonance -- anywhere from 50 - 60 Hz. Below resonance, the woofer's motion is uncontrolled, which often "clouds" the midrange.) The drawback is the Snell does not reproduce much of the lowest bass octave. The speaker is rated down 2dB at 70 Hz, and I would say its effective low bass limit is about 50 Hz. The sound, however, is very revealing, tight and tuneful. Imaging is excellent. The top end is smooth, not quite as extended as the Joseph or B&W 805, but hardly dull. The speaker reveals the glare of old solid-state amps, but most of that disappered when I bought a Krell integrated. I think the Stereo 70 would complement this speaker in every way. The power would be adequate to play loud in a medium-sized room. The slightly soft top of the of the Stereo 70 would definitely eliminate any hardness in the speaker; the mushy bass of the amp would not be reproduced because of the speaker's bass rolloff and inherent bass tightness. You might try one of Frank Van Alstyne's (avahifi.com)inexpensive 12AX7-based tube preamps. The old Dyna tube amps (PAS-2, PAS 3x) have filters and tone controls, which you probably don't want. Van Alstyne makes his preamps in "real basic" linestage versions as well as versions with the full array of filters, tone controls and a phono (mm) preamp or in between. (Van Alstyne also does a substantial re-work of the Stereo 70, which he claims improves the bass; but we're getting into money here.) With a suitable digital signal source (to avoid the need for a phono preamp), you could have a very musical system for around $1000. If you want the last octave of bass, don't go for an earthquake-maker sub. In order to sound right with these speakers, the sub needs to work up into the 70 Hz range and it needs to be accurate. Skip the big, expensive 2oHz wall-shakers and try one of the ACI subs. I've also heard these speakers sound good with the Mirage BPS-100 sub, which uses two small drivers in a small box and is good down to about 30 Hz. It's available discounted from audioexcellence.com. The Snells have tight, accurate bass; and you don't want to mess that up with a big floppy, woofy Saint Bernard dog of a sub. If you use a sub, be sure to drive it from the preamp, not from the output of the Stereo 70. You'll have better bass. Stars? At a used price of ~$200, compared to what you can get new for those dollars -- 5 stars. Compared to the best of the current monitor speakers that I've heard (Josephs, Totems, Aerials, B&W's, Sonus Faber, ProAc), lets say 3 stars.