Owning the speakers you dreamed of 20 years ago


Does speaker technology really change that much?  As I'm listening to my Klipsch Heresy's in a bedroom setup, I decided to look up to see what $3k or so could buy me today used and was shocked to see the speakers I used to drool over, when I was done looking at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition ;), were available for a quarter or less of the money.

Revel Ultima
Sonus Faber
JM Lab Mezzo 

And more, are all available to buy used.

Seriously these were speakers I would daydream about.  How do they sound today compared to a speaker that you would spend $3k on new or even a few years old?  How could these $10k speakers from a time I can still remember, really sound like a $3k speaker?  My Klipsch's remind me that speakers even older and cheaper are irreplaceable to me, so why wouldn't I spend $3k for one of my old heroes?

What am I missing here?



blkwrxwgn

Showing 7 responses by blkwrxwgn

Thought about the Heresy IV but the room I would put new speakers in is too big for them, they need to be off the floor more.  Thinking of upgrading these Heresy though with new cross overs but one thing at a time.
Not to pick on Tekton, which seems to be the punching bag around here ;) but would you spend $3k on DI's from the or $3k for a pair of JM Lab Mezzo's? 

My Klipsch Heresy sound better than any other $500 speaker I've heard, and these are quite a bit older than 20 years.
Haha okay, sorry Douglas but was in the business for years, have owned plenty of speakers over the years and sorry but technology hasn’t changed a lot for speakers in relation to every other piece of audio equipment. 
secretguy, in which way are they better?

Computer measurements?  

I kind of like the days of getting a designer's "taste" coming thru in their speakers, the only thing that made sense to me on how speakers varied in sound.

Has driver technology gotten better?

Back to the Klipsch's, a few years ago I found some Cornwalls I with the vertical horn and rebuilt the crossovers and the horn gaskets and WOW did that speaker perform, liked them better than my Spatial M3 Triode Masters I have now BUT the wife factor of the cornwalls.........yikes. ;)

Steve59

i like that comparison and that might prove the point of other in that the salon 2’s should sound much better than the originals. Never had a chance to compare but if speaker tech does get better than that would be a way to tell. 
I guess the point I was trying to make is that compare electrical equipment and things advance in this day and age almost every year but speakers don’t have components that advance as quickly. 

russbutton
262 posts
10-01-2021 8:08am
If you've got $3k to spend, get into some Theil loudspeakers. True hi-end for their day.

It's on my short list, I used to sell Thiel back in the day and loved dealing with them.  Used to have a full Thiel 5.1 setup with CS6, MCS1 and powerpoint surrounds.  LOVED those CS6's.