Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

My dad has a 30 year old pair of Heil ESS AMT1 speakers that are still going strong. He had the woofers refoamed about 10 years ago, and I think these speakers will be around for another 10 years at least.

I suspect my Coincident Total Victories may be the last pair of speakers I buy.

After making my rash prediction about the Coincident Total Victories above (a bit over a year ago), they are history. I've replaced them with another high-efficiency dynamic speaker made in Toronto - the Fab Audio Model 1. These are remarkable speakers - a true 97db dynamic, with a much simpler crossover than the TVs, resulting in cleaner sound and an easier load.

If you want the imaging of mini-monitors, the purity and tonality of full-range electrostatics, the dynamics of horns and real bass, all in a room-friendly package that's drivable by 4 watts, these are the babies. I'm playing them with an Audion Silver Night PX25, and they are a serious step up from the big Total Victories.

There's no such thing as a "final speaker" - not for someone who has Stage III audiophilia nervosa...

As I mentioned above, I've changed from Coincident Total Victories to Fab Audio Model 1, now supplemented by a pair of ACI Titan subs. I discovered that there were better speakers out there, but I just hadn't heard them yet. The Fabs are faster, more neutral and efficient, and have better resolution and microdynamics than the Coincidents. I have no doubt that there is an even better speaker for my purposes and tastes out there somewhere waiting to be discovered.

I think a lot of people make the mistake of thinking, "Ah, these XXX are the best there is!" when what they really mean is "These XXX are the best I've heard so far."

Quad ESL-57s, without a doubt. After all, many people have already owned them "for life". Now that I've experienced them, I despair for all the time I've wasted. You mean I could have been listening to THIS for the last twenty years? Why didn't anybody say anything? Why didn't I listen to those who did?