Went to the local off-brand thrift and they had three pair of speakers.
Some huge tower KLH, newer vintage that had some signs of abuse,
JBL J series that looked like bottom end JBL, and some Technics
SB-L96. Besides the obvious ripoff of the JBL model number, I picked them
up to scrounge the drivers, which are all in excellent condition and included 15" woofers. After hooking them up, I can't abide by tearing them apart.
They sound decent, playing Jeff Beck w/Rod Stewart.

Lots of bass, obviously, but it's not boomy when they are elevated.
Mid is good, and high end is decent. Imaging is even half decent.

The Mennonite gal asked if it was 5.99 each or the pair.
I said speakers are usually sold by the pair, so it was 3 bux each.

They are rated at 200wpc, and sound fine, without much distortion at
12 o'clock on my 150wpc hafler amp. Cabinets are even respectable.

They won't be displacing anything in my upper echelon, and
I'll give them to my son and he can either play them or sell them
in the college town he lives in. They are great party speakers,
and at that price, if he blows em, so be it...

Listened to a range of stuff.
Now listening to Mahler.
Absolutely amazing what you can get for $6.
The richness of the bottom end is envigorating.
(rimshot here)

I think I got the sealed 5-album boxed set of Mahler for $2, too...

i would have never given these a chance. just goes to show that you must first hear a speaker before you can judge it.

Hey, Scott.

As I said, I snagged them just to gut out the components.
However, I am always loath to tear apart something that works well.
I am not saying they compare with my best speakers, but just that
they are respectable, and more than enough for most people.
I think they would probably do really well as the audio
end of a home theater system.

Technics put out some decent speakers, according to the vintage technics website.

They put out doo-doo as well, but did have some good stuff.

A fella with good taste in gear I know swears by a pair of JVC speakers- the Zero Nine models. Seeing pics of 'em, i'll agree they look to be of exceptional build quality.

Nice to hear. I'm sure I would have passed them over also. I usually reserve my speaker finds for "speaker companies" and not the me-too-everything companies. Thanks for the good write-up.

Heya, Scorp.
I operate on the philosophy that each audio company has its
core excellence, but with their buyers tending toward loyalty,
the companies have to be at least respectable at least part
of the time on the full range. In the oldie days, you probably
did well to spend all of your money on Pioneer, because
they got everything right. But there were Sansui buyers,
and I doubt you would have gone into their houses and
said their systems were lacking because they had TOTL
Sansui speakers.

So, Sansui and Technics are known
for amps/receivers and TTs, but they couldn't possibly make
abject crap for speakers. But, because the rep is always with
the "speaker makers," you can find some pretty respectable stuff
for virtually nothing ($6 for 200wpc speakers with 15" woofers?--I spent that much at Wendy's that day).

A big point of my post is that I was pleasantly surprised how good they
sounded. My guess is having full power to them (150wpc) helps a lot.
If I had hooked them up to a 25wpc amp, the sound would have been thin
and I would have concluded, "Technics speakers aren't even worth trying."

The flip side (which we like to play here at ST..)
I'm giving the second listen to these Wharfedales, which cost an
astronomical 5X what the Technics did. 30 whole US$
The sound is exponentially better. I'm listening to Reach the Beach
by the Fixx and hearing all kinds of nuances I had never heard before,
including thru my Polk M-7s. The detail is astounding, as is the range.

So, the original conclusion still sounds: Party speakers with 15" woofers
that can handle 200wpc is pretty nice for 6 dollars.

All depends on what we are looking for, when.

i've never heard a Wharfedale speaker that i didnt like.

These were at the GW, in excellent condition, with genuine wood cabs.
Figured at $30, there was not too much downside, and lots of upside potential,
because your statement pretty much reflects what I had heard about the brand, Scott. I'll give the Technics to my son, and the Wharfedales are keepers, for sure.