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?
I certainly agree with Miller Carbon. He has forgotten more than most of us know. Why would anyone purchase a old speaker unless it was a demo pair or less than 3 years old. Huge changes even over the past 5 years.
Douglas_Schroeder. I’ll have to defer to your experience with the latest speakers. I favored ribbon speakers 20 years ago for their speed and resulting resolving power. I can tell you that the model F’s I have resolve as well as any of the fastest ribbon drivers of the day…Piega, VMPS, Eminent etc and have heard them in the same room with Apogee full ribbons and Infinity IRS. You hear every voice in a chorus, can count how many chairs are in the sax section of a big band, and can hear what is going on in the back of the stage as easy as the front. That platinum tweeter is as sweet as any I’ve heard (even better with less putty imho). I wanted to try a pair of King Sound after owning Soundlabs and Maggie’s, but wanted something with more punch and snap. I’m certain/assume there are better speakers than the F’s. Can you get a pair of King Sound or Whispers for $2500?
Actually it was about 45 years ago in the 70's, my friends Dad's Klipsch LaScalas and now fast forward to 2000, and I bought myself a new pair of Lascalas. Now 2021 and I still have them.
Close to that long ago I used 3 way cone speakers driven by bi-amped 45 SETs.The crossovers were complicated by notch filters controlling resonant drops in impedance. It was not the simple matter of using more active filters between the 6SN7 drivers of the 45s to try to simplify the speakers by eliminating passive speaker crossovers to sound even as good as the complicated elaborate passive crossovers. I looked at ribbons and quasi-ribbons and preferred the quasi-ribbons to ribbons which often needed adjustment and replacement to fragile pleated aluminum. I imagined an all magnetic planar speaker system. I discovered Magnepan and they had a new 0.7 which is all quasi-ribbon and only two elements with simple first order crossovers and 4 Ohm impedance throughout the frequency range without need for any crossover circuits to make the frequency response consistent. But you can't drive them with a 45 SET. By coincidence I discovered how simple it is to have a 45 drive an 833A and run the 833A at 1 kV on zero grid bias with a Hammond 1642SE output transformer. This was a perfect match for the power demanding Magnepans. I prefer it to cone speakers costing over $50,000 I have heard demonstrated.
Everyone on here has 20 years of degradation and hearing so you’ve lost more and more highs and some of the stuff in the precious mid range so it simply doesn’t sound as good as I did 20 years ago.
16hzlover my Acoustat system is more than 30 years old. Roy Esposito who was one of the tech engineers at Acoustat rebuilds these systems. I've been lucky enough to have my 2 TNT200 Power Amplifiers rebuilt ,upgraded and Monoblocked by Roy. Incredible sound. I'm waiting for my interfaces to be rebuilt and upgraded on my Acoustat Spectra 33's. Keep in mind this system sounded really good before the rebuild after 30+ years. The stuff that's being built today, don't know how they would perform after 30+ years. All in, my 30+ year old system will be around $6k and I would put it up against today's systems costing 5x that amount.
The speakers I wanted close to 20 years ago were the Thiel CS3.7. I had Revel Salon 1 back then and thought the CS3.7 was better. When I was deciding between speakers last year I narrowed it down to a broken down CS3.7 (which needed fixing) or the brand new Yamaha NS5000. I went with the nostalgia factor and got the CS3.7. No regrets on that and plan to keep the CS3.7 as long as the heart is beating.
The funny thing I fell is there are still speakers for sale from 2001 .I bought a pair of Polk lsim707 which where listed at $3,995.i bought them 2 years ago for $1,200.They were returns one had scratch on back the other was missing a speaker screw. Both sound great.
The speakers of my dreams thirty years ago was the Apogee Duetta Sigs. They were the closest thing to sounding like real acoustic instruments and true vocals that I heard. They did then and I have little doubt that a properly restored pair (with an adequate amount of quality power and space) would sound as good as about anything on the market today, regardless of price........Jim
I think you have to challenge old speakers using new technology. When I play Santana's debut album CD through JBL L150As they sound amazing with palpable bass. The effect is not the same when I play the record
(original pressing).
The Rise and Maturation of the Tweeter Waveguid alone makes todays speakers much better...and thats just 1 part. Even all you guys old speakers with old lifespans like Klipsch Heritage, Tannoy, BBC monitors, Maggies,Ohms Quads, and JBL...the newer versions of those speaker are far far better, the parts are far more advanced and better with tighter tolerances. Are their great sounding old speakers sure it is....in the majority do they sound better than the newer speakers Hell Naw....most newer budget speakers will walk all over most older midpriced speakers...time keeps marching on...
What I wanted 30 years ago was Acoustat 3+3s but I could only afford 2+2s. I must be lucky as now I have exactly that speaker in a Sound Labs 645-8, that is an 8 foot tall 645 custom made for me under the direction of Roger West. He will make different sizes for anyone if he can. The speakers are built in sections. I have now question they will last indefinitely. As for the sound all I can say is with a good live recording like Waiting for Columbus, if you close your eyes you are better than at the concert. You would easily call it the best seat in the house. The illusion is broken only by the crowd's clamping. I still have a little work to do in the low bass but everything else is right on.
I heard B&W 801 Matrix speakers around 1990, fell in lust but they were well beyond my reach at the time, I'd just started a family. Many years later when the overtime was good and I saw a pair locally. When I got them wired up I was slightly disappointed, they were just OK, just not what I'd been dreaming of. I pushed against the wall rolled them out once a month or so. Not long after, I rolled KT-88's tubes into my VTL amps, I had been using Wing "C" 6550's and the 88's turned out to be the touchdown. After years of enjoyment, MY perfect system is now collecting dust. I'm retired and early in the Pandemic, I moved to a cabin and the Battery/Solar power system would be stressed using the VTL's. Thinking about the 801 and the years of enjoyment that system gave me leaves me with a warm smile.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
