And yet, another speaker query


I was leaving the house one day back perhaps 40 years ago. I liked to leave the receiver on to make it seem that someone was home.
I turned to walk out of the house and was stopped dead in my tracks. Was that a guitarist that snuck in the back door without me being aware?
The plucks of those guitar strings were so amazingly real, it sounded like someone was playing that guitar in my living room....and at the time, I was messing with hobby playing acoustic guitars so I knew the sound.
What were the speakers you ask? A cheap $600 per pair Boston Acoustics floor standers. They did everything else terribly however
I was wondering if anyone else had experiences such as that with old time equipment and have been yearning to produce "actuality" since then but no bananas.
I have Proac Studio 100’s with ARC stuff. Even with this, although pretty good sounding, I’ve yet to match that odd experience I had way back.
I have heard a plethora of speakers, some producing voices magnificently and falling flat with some instruments. The other way around as well.
Have never heard that all arounder even with the big Klipshes, Dahlquists, Maggies and JBL.
I wonder if it was the equipment or my hearing has gone south.

arro222
Old B&W 702s I had. On certain female vocals the sound stage at the time was crazy deep and the vocals had magic 99.9% of the time the speaker was rubbish. Never found another speaker with the magic coloration again. Very grating speaker that really wore me out. 
Again with a pair of focal 1037be. Seemed to have magic once in awhile on certain highs and mids but lost the magic most of the time....

now my system does not dazzle anywhere but is always good. 
Rock out with JBL 99s and the Allman brothers ASAP.Watch out for those funny smokes.Keep on Truckin!!
It's pretty common. Years ago helping a friend learn audio we went to several stores listening to lots of different speakers. I made a point of playing the same few tracks to help him learn listening skills. Like I said years ago yet I still remember pointing out to him notice how good trombone sounds on this one system? But not piano, which sounded better on this other one? And cymbals, this one does cymbals really well. Etc. Etc. 

It is like this with everything. Not just speakers. Not just vintage. Wires. Amps. Cones. Shelves. Rooms. Recordings. Everything. 


Yes and no. Same environment. Guitar being reproduced and being reproduced to actuality are two different things in my mind.
My system "seems" to reproduce guitar but that initial transient that makes or breaks timbres for me is not there.
No surprise here.

The speakers  were in  an environment to make it sound convincing. Guitar to my ears(I'm a player) is easily produced with a minimum level of equipment. Recording of course is paramount.

Rock guitar IMO, is a good test of speaker performance.
The closest I have gotten to something that is a all arounder is Altec A-7 500's (16ohm), hooked to a Decware SE34I.5, with play back coming from a Meridian 506 20 bit cd player.  That said, it is about matching the trinity of these, that makes the sound.  I have listened to these speakers on ultra linear amp and class ab, these didn't "wake" everything up per say.  I also have the 506 24 bit and like the 20 bit slightly better.  This is my ears though and unfortunately we are all different.  You're right, I have heard incredible voice from Linn Kan's, some unbelievable guitar from Maggie 3.5R's.  Incredible dynamic openness from Meridian DSP5000's.  Incredible and almost there is the JBL L-150a's played with a AR amp.  The first speaker that I heard over 40 years ago that got me was an ohm walsh.  We are all on the quest of "the one".  I hate to say "the one", varies with the individual.  I would guess that your hearing is not gone, it has just gotten lots pickier about what curls your toes.