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Speakers 10 years old or older that can compete with todays best,

I attend High End Audio Shows whenever I get a chance.  I also regularly visit several of my local High End Audio parlors, so I get to hear quite a few different speaker brands all the time.  And these speakers are also at various price points. Of course, the new speakers with their current technology sound totally incredible. However, I strongly feel that my beloved Revel Salon 2 speakers, which have been around for over ten years, still sound just as good or even better than the vast majority of the newer speakers that I get a chance to hear or audition in todays market.  And that goes for speakers at, or well above the Salon 2s price point. I feel that my Revel Salon 2 speakers (especially for the money) are so incredibly outstanding compared to the current speaker offerings of today, that I will probably never part with them. Are there others who feel that your beloved older speakers compare favorably with todays, newfangled, shinny-penny, obscenely expensive models?

kennymacc

Showing 1 response by 8th-note

8th-note
349 posts
 

I've had a similar experience to the OP. I've been to 3 audio shows in the last few years and I have determined that it would take a huge amount of money to beat my current late 90's system - Thiel CS6 speakers, Krell KRC-2 and KSA 300S. These speaker are about 25 years old and when I come home and play the same tracks I heard at the show I sit there and shake my head in disbelief. Except for a very few speakers (MBL 101E Mk II or Von Schweikert Ultra 11's for example) my Thiels hold up against pretty much anything.

I have listened to rooms where the cabling and power conditioning cost more than my entire system and I wasn't impressed. BTW, I am lucky to have a large listening room but I haven't done any audiophile room treatment. I have lots of absorption and diffusion (book shelves, CD shelves, equipment racks, couch, chair, ottoman, desk, etc) and when I play a good recording the speakers absolutely disappear. I've had non-audiophile friends listen slack jawed and finally ask me, "how does it do that?"

I honestly don't think that the state of the art in playback has progressed much in the last 25 years unless you get into 6 figure components. There are a lot of wealthy people in the world who will pay big bucks for something that they can show off to their friends but an audiophile of modest means can put together a killer system for a reasonable amount of money.

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