Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

I have a set of AR-3a's I bought in 1969 and still have the invoices. In my opinion, speakers should be "transparent." These always have been and continue to be. I have located a set of AR-9Ls in pristine condition. It will be interesting to add these to our "family".

Note this from Wikipedia website on AR.

"In the early 1960s, AR conducted a series of over 75 live vs. recorded demonstrations throughout the U.S. in which the sound of a live string quartet was alternated with echo-free recorded music played through a pair of AR-3s. In this “ultimate” subjective test of audio quality, the listeners were largely unable to detect the switch from live to recorded, a strong testament to Acoustic Research's audio quality.

These "old" acoustic suspension speakers are "life time." And if they'll still do this...and they will...what else would you want a speaker to do?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Research

Thomas Edison used to invite people to presentations where he had a singer and orchestra. At some point they would walk off stage while the music continued. People would be shocked that it was not a real concert. People cannot hear.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

"In the early 1960s, AR conducted a series of over 75 live vs. recorded demonstrations throughout the U.S. in which the sound of a live string quartet was alternated with echo-free recorded music played through a pair of AR-3s. In this “ultimate” subjective test of audio quality, the listeners were largely unable to detect the switch from live to recorded, a strong testament to Acoustic Research's audio quality."

Or to the power of suggestion and visual cues. Same reason why I do not understand sinking megabucks into the audio portion of HT, if you are planning on watching movies. We are very visual animals.

I have a pair of Avalon Avatars in my system now.
Other speakers have come & gone. I can't justify selling these. I paid $1750.00 at my Wilson dealer for these around 6 or 7 years ago. There is nothing I've heard at this price that can touch them.
I did sell my Apogee Mini Grands, but I have a very clean pair of Stages in my hallway, in boxes, waiting to go into a dedicated system. I'll pair these with James EMB-1200 subs. I know these will beat the Mini Grands, the James subs blend seamlessly with any speaker I've tried.