For Old Timers who experienced the "Golden Age" of Audio of the 60s and 70s.

Yup, I was there in the late 60s and early 70s during my late teen and early 20s years.  For members who hail from the Philly area, there was Music and Sound Limited (M&S) located in the Jenkintown and later the Willow Grove areas.  Remember Mel and Nel, ... the self-proclaimed musicians and inventors?? M&S carried many of the high end brands mentioned above.  In particular, I recall the Maggie Typany panels, the Infinity Servostatics and the Quad ESLs.  Of course, who could forget the early Crown and ARC lines.  

Unfortunately, I was too young and broke to actually buy any of the high-end stuff, but was an M&S groupie.  Was able to pick up some used Crown gear, Infinity 2000a speakers and a Thorens TT.  For what I had, I was in audio heaven.  But compared to my current rig, I think my old set-up sucked air.

@almarg , not sure I understand your comments that the "best of the best" from back then could still meaningfully compete with contemporary very good gear, especially in the speaker space.  I surmise that materials technology alone would put most modern speakers in a place that the old stuff couldn't touch.  

Thanks for the memories. Truly, ... youth is wasted on the young.

BIF

@almarg,  Al, ...  how much stock do you place on some of the high-tech materials used in better speakers such as neodymium magnets, lightweight and stiff cone materials (e.g., beryllium domes, graphene, and so forth).  I assume that the crossovers are also better.  

Just talking out loud, but I wonder how the top-end speakers of yesteryear would compare in an A-B audition.   

@bdp24  -- I drove (or should I say, over drove) my 2000a speakers with a Crown DC 300 amp.  Talk about an electronic IN-compatibility.  I had to run the amp with the protect circuit in "off mode" because the amp thought it was shorting out.  The high-end impedance was probably in the low single digits because of the electrostatic tweets.  I also blew them out on a regular basis.   I also recall that the inductors got so hot, I couldn't touch the mounting screw head that held the x-overboard down.  

The 1001 and 2000a speakers touted a transmission line woofer set-up which used a cardboard tube stuffed with damping material.  Frankly, it looked like a bass reflex system to me.  FWIW, J. Gordon Holt rated the 2000a as Class B speakers in the day, which was pretty impressive.  And yes, I remember when Stereophile was sans advertisement and paid subscription only.

Btw, do you remember Nel's custom made 10 foot high (or thereabouts) downward firing subwoofer tower?  Nel cut the woofer off at 5 or 10 Hz because he was afraid that it could make 2 Hz sound energy that would boil a person's blood or something crazy like that.  :)