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?
my now 11 years old Evolution Acoustics MM7’s certainly still hold up against the other current top level offerings. and i mean any/all of them. https://www.evolutionacoustics.com/loudspeakers/mm-series/mmseven/ they are -3db down at 7hz, and -6db at 3hz. only limited by the room and system. |
not a chance. my room is epic, my set-up and room tuning is epic, any sort of dsp would be wasted and regressive in my particular room and signal path. no matter the acronym. the only advantage to a new set of speakers is the theoretical idea that a new speaker has evolutionary better performance. one of my large concerns is whether i can accomplish as fine a speaker<->room integration again. it took me 9 months before....and that was after i was in my new 'perfect' room for 11 years improving it. |
i did list them for sale on Audiogon for a couple of months, my ad makes it clear i’m good whether they sell or not. honestly i am torn, and all my friends think i’m nuts to sell them. i suppose it would be fun making a change after 11 years. but i still love what i hear. the reason i thought about selling is that Evolution has a new model being introduced. it is very very good. probably an incremental step up. but lots more money and i just retired so that’s an issue. so i am on the fence. |
Honestly, i’m not searching. My speaker builder wants me to buy the new version. Im not really doing anything to make that happen. But if it does, then ok. https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649999847-evolution-acoustics-mm-seven-twin-tower-speakers/ the new version has enough in common with mine they should be relatively plug and play in my room.
no one ever knows if something is the best possible. that is a fools errand. But i have reached my goals (back 8 years ago in 2015) as far as my reference system sound and have no interest, none at all, in digitizing my signal path to find something different. i have invested in ultimate sources with astonishing purity. why would i dumb those down with dsp? i have a separate home theater with Trinnov 9.3.6 Dolby Atmos for my dsp itch to be scratched, it’s not going to be part of my 2 channel room. multi-channel is already mucked up with dsp to begin with so i’m fine with that. if i ever downsize and sell my home, and get a smaller 2 channel room with acoustic issues then who knows. dsp might be one choice if i can somehow hold my nose with my analog. but not in my current room. never going to happen. btw, you and i have already done this same dance before. why do it again? |
we have already kicked this can around completely. nothing more to say about it. look up our last go around and read my responses. i have 8000-9000 Lps pressed prior to the late 70’s. and a couple thousand reissues since then without a digital component. then another 2000-3000 with some sort of digital step. not going to add another conversion. plus my Wadax digital would be negatively affected by another conversion. it’s purity sets it apart. no way any conversion would be transparent. then there is my tape, which is not going to be digitized. not looking for any consensus. and never said my room is perfect, it’s only epic. |
no, i have not done dsp in my 2 channel room. years ago i decided instead to fix the room; building a room without limits. then tune it to work with ultimate speakers. which over the last 20 years i have done. when you write about dsp, replacing passive crossovers, i don’t think you imagine passive crossovers that are inside the top level speakers. what that looks like, or sounds like. and when you write about driving each separate driver with it’s own amp and dsp crossover, you forget what that means in terms of choices of amplification. my darTZeel 468 mono blocks are crazy spendy and the best amps i have heard......how is that going to fit (physically and $$$) into active crossovers for each driver? the answer is that is does not fit at all. i would have to settle for less capable amplification. a compromise. reality is that dsp does make a great deal of sense doing particular things. fixing rooms, powering more modestly priced gear, enabling DIY’s to build interesting projects. integrating subwoofers. doing multichannel such as Dolby Atmos. i have a never opened box unused XILICA XP-2040 upstairs in my storage attic that i bought 3 years ago intending to use it to integrate 3 subwoofers into my Home Theater. i get what dsp can do. turned out my 3 Funk Audio 18.0 subs came with their own dsp engines, so never needed the XILICA. so i’m not anti dsp. |
not doing dsp is not refusing to make things better; you are blind to a different approach. after building the room and taking 11 years refining it, i then put enormous sweat equity for 9 months tuning the room and making my room sound better. you are blinded and maybe offended by my investment in gear, and ignore all the work i’ve done. that is not fair. come listen, then form your opinion. many have. we don't have to agree. i don't question that you have a great room and performance. if you say you do, then why would i question it? |
