4 Best Vintage Bookshelf Speakers

The best vintage bookshelf speakers can be found among the most good-looking and universal ones: they are suitable for your turntable as well as for a modern stereo system, and their laconic design will fit into the usual interior or retro decor. The best vintage bookshelf speakers reviews are aimed to help you choose the most suitable speakers for your home, powered or passive – it depends on your personal preferences. We will take into account the performance, features, pros & cons, price and overall quality of each suggested vintage speaker. After reading the following reviews, the question “what is the best vintage bookshelf speaker for me” will be not as hard to answer as it seems to be for the first sight.

Powered Vintage Speakers

The powered speakers, also known as the active speakers, have a built-in amplifier and they are available with passive or active crossovers built into them. They can offer you accessibility, portability, and simplicity. Despite modern conveniences, the powered speakers are still staying one of the best vintage bookshelf speakers and correspond our quality audio needs.

Edifier S1000DB – Hi-Fi Sound For a Budget Price

If you hide the logo and show these speakers to any specialist, he or she would certainly recognize them as representatives of the expensive Hi-Fi acoustics. These Edifier speakers, with their elegant retro design, will completely go for the high-enders: the combination of side panels decorated with wood and a translucent nylon grid looks simple and neat. A speaker with an aluminum membrane with a diameter of 5.5 inches is used for low and medium frequencies. High frequencies are reproduced by the tweeter with a titanium membrane, protected from above by a special grid. Moreover, these speakers have four separate audio amplifiers which provide 25W of power per tweeter and 35W per subwoofer. In reality, these D-class amplifiers are capable of producing to 80 “real” watts of total power. The cable stranded with DIN connectors is used for transmitting the amplified signal to the left speaker.

In addition to high-quality amplifiers, another advantage of this acoustics is a built-in digital-to-analog converter. The less popular S/PDIF is used instead of the USB port for some reason. Volume controls, bass, and treble are on the back of the right speaker system, as well as the connectors of the digital and analog inputs. The regulator is uncomfortably located on the rear panel. In addition to playing music from digital and analog inputs, this speaker system allows you to connect any gadget via Bluetooth. Thus, the Edifier S1000DB speakers are good acoustics that, to my mind, will be the best choice for anyone who wants a Hi-Fi sound for less than 400$.

Micca ON3 – Tiny, Cheap & Universal

Vintage powered bookshelf speakers with a remote control under 100$ price range, covered in a dark walnut veneer, are among the most aesthetically pleasing retro bookshelf speakers. They have quite an impressive low-end for their 3-inch size, so they will be suitable for you if you are into lower level listening and you are searching for some small classy-looking set of speakers for the most affordable price available, where you can enhance low-end. It has a volume knob on the side, RC inputs in the back, and a standard 3.5 mm input in the front. They claim that it can go to 50Hz that is impressive considering how small the speakers are. Its compact size will be suitable for using it with your TV or for playing music from a smartphone.

One smart feature about them is a magnetic grill and a magnetic remote, so that’s kind of cool that you have no excuse for losing the remote – you can just place it right on the side of the speaker. These will also work well as computer speakers. The ON3 has a 24Wx2 built-in amplifier with DSP processing circuitry and has front and rear inputs to allow connections with any analog audio source. If they are surprising for their look, size and price, they most likely won’t be impressive for their technical characteristics if you are pro-audiophile. I think these speakers are perfect when pairing it with an echo dot. Its full and rich sound signature will be good with all music types, from modern pop songs to classic vinyl records.

Passive Vintage Speakers

Passive speakers don’t come with a built-in amplifier and you need to connect them to the amplifier through speaker wire. In contrast to the powered speaker, passive speakers stand out for passive crossover components.

Monitor Audio Bronze 2 – Compact but Powerful

Can bookshelf speakers produce a good, detailed, and powerful sound? Audiophiles will skeptically answer “no”. With the release of the Bronze series of the British brand Monitor Audio – BRONZE 2, even the most demanding music lovers will agree: the bookshelf speakers can be of high quality. The first thing that should be noted about the speakers is its excellent, detailed sound throughout the frequency spectrum. It becomes clear that this is a completely new level of audio playback when listening to the BRONZE 2. Such sound quality is caused by several factors. First of all, is power: from 30 to 100W. Secondly, it is the device sensitivity: 90 dB. The final touch is the elaboration of frequencies in each of the segments of the spectrum since the width of the range, in this case, is 42-30000Hz. With all these parameters, which would be great even for the devices of a higher class, the BRONZE 2 is very compact.

The creators managed to place all the components necessary for excellent sound into a small product with dimensions 13.8 x 10.1 x 7.3 in and weighing less than 9 lbs. The Monitor Audio speakers are known for their flawless edges and sophisticated finishes, and the company has surpassed itself when creating the Bronze 2, with a vinyl finish in one of four colors (dyed oak, walnut, rosewood, or white ash). With its modest size, these speakers will impress with their depth of sound even pro-audiophiles. Such a combination with a price under 500$ makes them a good acquisition for any music lover.

Monitor Audio Silver 100 – Luxury Speakers for Demanding Listeners

The Silver line is one of the best-selling among the other Monitor Audio productions. Compact Silver 100 speakers are designed for music lovers, demanding for the sound quality and need easy-to-place acoustics to listen to music of various genres, under quite expensive 1000$ price range. The classic two-way Silver 100 system is equipped with two speakers: a 25-mm tweeter and a 203-mm driver. Both diffusers are made of the C-CAM brand material (aluminum-magnesium alloy coated with ceramics). The tweeter, also made by the C-CAM technology, is covered with gold dust – a tribute to the traditions and brand feature.

Although the Silver 100 is equipped with a large 8-inch deep bass, their dimensions don’t go beyond the usual. The speakers are 14.8 inches tall, and also quite a normal width of 9.2 inches – a small “trick” with the bass located quite close to the edges of the front panel. As a result, the Silver 100 is suitable for placement on any usual stand. There are six available finishes in the Silver line: four options of natural veneer (black oak, walnut, rosewood, and light oak) and two lacquered ones– black and white matte varnish. The big deal for these speakers is a very nice bass due to the 8-inch woofer at the 40Hz range that you won’t get with many costly speakers.