Can we hear from those who essentially repurchased previous system?

I’ve done that with the Harbeth P3ESR. After trying more expensive speakers including Harbeth, I went back to the P3ESR. There is something about this little speaker that just does it for me. I am off the speaker merry-go-round for sure!

Thank you for the responses!  I was curious about this and love hearing the anecdotes. 

I should've guessed so about the Quads!  That makes total sense. 

I also love the term "recidivist gear"!

I used to have that same Technics turntable,mated with a little Pioneer receiver and off-brand speakers(paralex).I recently bought the receiver again and am planning on finding the turntable but probably different vintage speakers to put in a guest bedroom.Not high rez by any means but it was a sweet little system.

I think the original Quad ESL is the classic 'recidivist' piece of gear. People love 'em but hate their limitations, often selling them to get a "better" speaker only to regret getting rid of them, to buy them again. I've hung on to mine since 1973 and still use 'em (not my main speaker any more, and recently restored). There is nothing quite like them. ("Despite their limitations," which is a unity phrase; you always find that qualification in any modern discussion of the speaker). 

For years I had a system built around a Technics SL-1700 direct drive turntable. Never sold it, but moving around after college it spent many years in a box. It was during those years that CD’s were introduced. By the time I had money for new gear everyone "knew" CD’s were the way to go. The Technics stayed in the box while I unboxed a succession of upgrades, including a few CD players.

One book I read around this time was Robert Harley’s excellent A Complete Guide to High End Audio. Still to this day an outstanding reference covering everything from components to tweaks to room acoustics. Harley devoted a whole chapter to analog. Odd, for something everyone "knew" was done. But then it occurred to me I had been taking other peoples word for this for years. I never really bothered to check for myself, and the Technics was still just sitting there in the box. So....

Few hours later, revelation. Epiphany. Wife comes home, same thing. Dustbin of history wipes the floor with digital. Of course, get real, mixed metaphor. Its not like its the centerpiece of my system to this day. But there was something about it, and going back to that old turntable was more than any other single thing what got me back on track to building a really engaging and satisfying music system again.