Snell Acoustics Type C/IV, Landmark Tower Speakers

Snell Acoustics made truly great speakers right down the road from us in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Snell was founded in 1976 by Peter Snell to develop a speaker that "disappeared" sonically; providing the listener with uncolored and pure music.  Snell's approach combined excellent quality drivers sourced from Europe, and hand-built, hand-matched crossovers to ensure those drivers were performing at Peter's highest possible standards.  Peter Snell personally matched each pair of speakers to a "Reference" pair in his listening room, at a time before computer simulation and analysis!

The Snell Type C/IV loudspeakers embody the classic balance of refinement, musicality, and authority that made Snell one of the most respected American high-end loudspeaker manufacturers. Designed in the early 1990s by Peter Snell’s successor, Kevin Voecks, the Type C/IV was created as a full-range tower speaker capable of delivering both power and nuance, making it the anchor of a high-performance home audio system.

The C/IV (also referred to sometimes as CiV) is a three-way, ported design featuring a 10" woofer, 5" midrange, and 1" metal-dome tweeter in front.  In addition, there is a rear-firing ¾" dome tweeter (switchable) to help restore high-frequency “air” and smooth the off-axis response as dispersion narrows in the treble.  The speaker was engineered with steep, fourth-order crossover slopes (24 dB/octave) to minimize driver interaction and lobing artifacts. Snell’s design emphasis was on flat response.

The cabinet is tall and fairly deep (approx. 46" tall, 14½" wide) yet visually restrained, with oak wood veneer and a baffle geometry intended to reduce diffraction (“Zero Diffraction baffle” as it was called).

The end result is a speaker that projects a broad, stable soundstage, with controlled yet full bass, transparent midrange, and a clean, extended treble. As with most Snell designs, if the drivers and crossover are in optimal condition, you can still get a vivid, involving presentation many modern speakers struggle to match.

This set are in outstanding condition all around.  We mounted new grille fabric to ensure that every corner looks beautiful from every angle. 

These speakers could also be shipped, as we have the original cartons to complete the package. 

Demos are encouraged in Andover, MA.

$899/pair (plus applicable sales tax and/or shipping)