After 9 years with my Proac Response 3s, I recently decided to change speakers. As you can tell, I'm not an upgrade fever patient. I want something I can live with for years & I think the best advice I'm gonna get will be from those who have & are still living with their speakers for an extended period of time. Please tell me why too. Thanks.Bob.
VSA VR-7SEs - Just got a 2nd VAC Phi 300.1 amp to drive them. With 300w into each speaker, performance jumped amazingly - these will never leave now........
If physical space is not a concern, I would stay with big speakers in a typical American fashion (the bigger the better, what else). I have had Magnepans, Martin Logans, JBLs, Infinity, and recently Sonus Fabers and I swear, for my taste nothing of the above can be compared to a double stack of Dahlquist DQ10 with Entec subwoofers and Spectrals electronics. To me that is the sound of music.
* KEF 104/2: Owned these for over 15 years and still love them (well the memory of them). Smooth highs, detailed midrange, unique port loaded bass. Image like 2 ways, solid sound staging, and most importantly: they play MUSIC.
* Gallo Ref 3.1: To soon to tell as I've only owned these for a few months. They share many of the same qualities of the KEFs with a larger sweet spot and even better imaging. I think these will last me another 15 years but I don't want to make any rash judgments. I'll post again in 10 years and let you know if they measure up :)
Speakers to hang onto for life is impossible...but a couple that got away or will get away soon:
1. Mission 70's mkII 2. ProAc Studio 1 (orig. version) 3. Tannoy D90 4. Omega Grande 8
No matter how good they are, you have to try different things - that's what makes this hobby fun as the list of "I should have never sold that" gets longer and longer.
gentlemen, i have owned and/or listened to many of the great speakers over the last 30 years or so. after a fair amount of research, i recently purchased a pair of montana KAS speakers from an agon member. these are, without question, the finest speakers i have ever heard. i cannot go into everything they do correctly-- if you can find a pair and have the $$, go for it!!
I have a pair of B&W 801 matrix 2 speakers since 1997. Unfortunately, I'm moving to a place that is too small for these speakers. What price should I ask for? I judge them a 10.
for longevity it must be a pair of Gale 401A's bought in 1976,have since been repaired/refoamed etc over the years but still sound great as do a pair 402's owned for a short 20 years.
Right now Spica TC 60's, TC 50's and I really enjoyed the Alon 1 Mk II's. Right now the TC 60's I own have given me more joy than I ever expected. I have had $5000 speakers in my listening room and didn't last. Just in the past year I have auditioned over 2 dozen different models and still the Spicas remain. They amaze many of my friends too in my 13' x 14' room. Set up properly they disappear and give you that PYFQ that I love. "PAT YOUR FOOT QUOTIENT" You know it's right when you pat your feet, play air guitar, air drums and sing along.
My speakers for life are not doing well. Have had a pair of Genesis II from Genesis Physics Corporation since 1977. They are warm, sweet and room-filling. The last couple years they "crackle" when I change volumes and make some other odd noises. Would it be worth it to try to rebuild them or are they bound for the dump? Would they even sound the same rebuilt? Any new speakers (moderate price range) that could give me a similar sound?
I've been using Kharma 3.2 FE Reference for a long time and only today I've decided the technology is going on and I should upgrade...with what? I have no ideea. Probably somethig expesive so I will change them in 10 years.
After a 15 year journey into this wonderful world of Audio, and a least 10 different pairs of speakers, I have settled on a pair of Magenpan MMGs with Peter Gunn cross-over, revere panels, and oak rear frame. Floor spikes with 20 lb. of lead shot on the cross-over. Sound to die for IF you have the room, and the POWER!!
I'VE HAD MY PARADIGM 9'S AND THE ORIGINAL STUDIO MONITORS SINCE THE EARLY 90'S PLUS A PAIR OF THE 1200 SUBS, I'LL HAVE TO GIVE THEM UP SOON BUT STILL LOVE THEM . I JUST GOT A NICE PAIR OF CARVER AMAZING PLATS ,LOVE THE LOOK BUT I WONT KEEP THEM. NOW MY LEGACY FOCUS ARE NEVER LEAVING MY SIGHT... UNLESS MY FUTURE SON IN LAW IS A TONE HEAD HE CAN HAVE THEM WHEN I DIE.
I've had a pair of Magnepan 2.6R's for 12 years bought second hand from Sound Components in Coral Gables. Although I have had a pair of EPI M-3 towers for almost the same length of time as well as a relatively recently purchased pair of Klipsch Heresy 1's that I occasionally put up for variety, I still go back to the Maggies for genuine relaxed enjoyment.
Snell JII-- easily placed anywhere in a room for outstanding sound at a very fair original price of $670, back in 1987. They are amazing when wired in a vertical bi-amp setup. Absolutely awesome. Beat speakers I've heard costing $5000! (Monitor Audio PL100)
10-31-02: dacspool@yahoo.com I bought my Martin Logan Sequels in 1987. At the time, I auditioned lots of very high quality loudspeakers including Kef 104/2, which I also liked very much, and Magnepans.
Here it is - 2002 and I still have them!! Of course they've been driven with high quality equipment, and I've taken wonderful care of them. I've had to replace the panels about 5 years ago, but other than that, they remain PERFECT! The sound still amazes me and I wouldn't trade them for anything!!! dacspool@yahoo.com
The Sequels were nice, but I sold them and bought a pair of MartinLogan reQuests, which I loved, but they were very large, so after 5 years of the reQuests I now have a pair of MartinLogan Summits. I think I've reached the end of the line.. I like the CLX, but they're too big for my room, so the Summits will be with me until the end.
I fell in love w/the 'Magnepan' sound in about '82 or '83. I kept those MG-1s until just last November. They had been rebuilt at the factory and re-socked.
I'm not an equipment changing guy, but I just could not part with them....at least until I could replace them with some NEW 1.6's.... I'll be buried in the box they came in!
I had them in everything from 900ft3 large closets to rooms that must have gone 6000ft3 and never had any problems with room filling / good imaging / distinctive sound.
Like everyone else hear, I too have been a boarding house for speakers. Many have come and gone over the past 15 years and few remain. KLH Nines Quad 57's Chartwell LS3/5a's The Chartwells Get more exercise than anything else. I walk them with a Fisher 400 and a Dragon in my computer room daily. Listening as to Santana as I type. If my house should catch fire, I'd grab the LS3/5a's. They'll be perfect for the van I will be living in!
My H.H. Scott two-way cat coffins I have owned for 35 years. I have owned many other speakers but I keep coming back to these. Because they sounded so good? No, not at all!! I come back because the highly retro cherry veneer cabinets are so cool looking, because I keep telling myself I can eventually make them sound as good as they look, and because I'm cheap. None of the newer speakers I have owned have exuded the coolness of these - cool sort of like how "Kramer" on Seinfeld was "cool", or something... I will very likely buy new speakers and replace these in my main listening room, but I will hang onto them "for life".
The long saga:
My brother bought these speakers at the Navy PX in Vallejo, CA in 1966 and he gave them to me in about 1973. Back then they had the stock paper drivers bolted on the BACK of the face board and had an oblong port that chuffed like Chris Farley giving a raspberry. The grill cloth was the sparkley burlap stuff glued to the face board that was so popular for speakers in the fifties and sixties. The cabinet was crafted so the face board was recessed with slightly beveled wood trim and the whole thing sort of looked like a well crafted wood and fabric horn. The noises that came out sounded like they were coming from a tunnel. I used these speakers for a while and then put them in the attic and replaced them with some Bose speakers. Over time other speakers came and went.
1980 - Modification 1. I decided to pull the H.H. Scotts out of storage and upgrade the guts of the cool looking boxes. I replaced the drivers and crossover with components from Speakerlab in Seattle (new tweeter and 8" mid/woofer), and blocked the ports converting them to acoustic suspension speakers. I didn't want to disturb the retro look of the grill cloth so I bolted the drivers on the back of the face board like the stock configuration - sounded like a slightly more dynamic speaker in a tunnel.
1991 - Modification 2. I got my first CD player (Yamaha CDC-715), and thought the H.H. Scott/Speakerlabs needed a tune up for the digital age, so I removed the grill cloth, pulled the drivers out of the cabinet and mounted them on the front of the face board. Now we are talking - they looked a bit more industrial but sounded at least as good as I had intended with the first upgrade. Acoustic musician friends liked the sound, asked who built the speakers!!!
1992 - Modification 3. with little kids and cats in the picture, quickly puncture both dust caps, one woofer cone and collapse both tweeter domes on newly exposed drivers. Speakerlab now 2,500 miles away. Replace all drivers with Radio Shack products. New drivers sound like crap, no time to listen anyway.
2004 - Modification 4. Getting back into audio, buy new integrated amplifier and tuner, no money left for new speakers. Back in Seattle - so pick up new Vifa/Morell drivers, Caps and Kimber wiring at Speakerlab. I brace inside of boxes, line with sound deadening material and seal cabinets. Built natural fabric detachable grill clothes (think AR or Advent style) - about $250 total investment in all parts plus time. At first I can't understand why they sound diffrerent like crap (I didn't fully understand break in concept for speaker drivers and electronics). As drivers loosen up and I correctly dial in positions in the room, I can't believe how good the H.H. Scott/Speakerlab/Vifa/Morell speakers sound.
Now, any new piece of equipment, wire or tweak in the audio chain is immediately noticed. The speakers are fast, nuanced, detailed and warm, and bass is honest and fairly natural to 45Hz. Are they the "best speakers" ever? No. Do they sound as good as current state of the art for sealed speakers? No. They don't image as well and the bass isn't as clean as similarly sized ATC's for example. But I am enjoying listening to music in ways I haven't before, and these multiple retreads compare favorably to currently available speakers that cost many times more than my investment in parts. These old speakers have a history that means something to me, and they look very groovy baby...
Well, back in 2001 I said I'd hang on to my Apogee Stages forever. It's been almost that long, sixteen years. However, I'm going to sell them soon in a quest for more floor space. I'm simplifying and downsizing my system.
I own or have owned 18 pairs of fairly decent speakers , from Spendor, Spica, Snell, Klipsch, JBL, B&W, and a few oddballs, but the two pair that I will never part with are Ohm Walsh 3's and 4's-- both have had their surrounds professionally replaced, and when my electronics exceed them, I will simply upgrade to Series 3 cans. I greatly enjoy the others for their merits, but the Ohms are very easy to live with and look at. Modern classics, indeed.
I am not a rich man so I have to make choices that I have to live with. I had B&W N804 for 7 hears. Just upgraded to 803S. Before that they were Bang & Olufsen M100-2 for maybe around 10 years.
Wilson Benesch ARCs Just lovely, with a little Metronome integrated and CD player
I also have come to "re-love" my nautilus 805s when I heard them with an Ayre AX-7e integrated and Ayre CD player. Completely different from the WBs, and I think that's why I will keep both sets. USed a Proceed amp previously, and it sounded good, and similar to the Classe-BMW mix. I prefer the sound with the Ayre.
I will second Jebsmith73 in saying that the Rushmore's are one of the best speakers in the world. My next upgrade will have to be another 2 pairs for surround sound.
Ran into a pair of Von Schweickert VR-7SE's a few months ago - they do everything right and shouldn't be leaving my system anytime soon. Really great speakers with no artificial built-in subs - everything you hear is produced from the speakers' engineering. Fast, musical, detailed, holographic, 3-dimensional, great bass, mids and treble, etc., etc. - this speaker's got it all.
I have spent the last 15 years with a pair of Martin Logan Aerius. They still amaze me at times. Once I finally figured out how to properly treat the room they really started to shine. Before that I bought a pair of Dhalquist dq10 in 1980 up umtill I got the ML's. They were good. I am having the 15 year itch, so this thread is a good read!
My current speakers are Dynaudio Countour 5.4's. They continue to satisfy and amaze me as my system evolves around them. Good low-end response down to high 20's, great midrange, and same esotar2 tweeter as in many of their most expensive designs. They will probably stay with me for life (I'm 61), I'm even completely renovating my listening room around them. Only speakers I've liked as much (that I've owned), were Tannoy 12" Monitor Golds. Wish I still had them.
As much as I love my Genesis 350's, I doubt if I'll hang onto to them forever. It's tough to find enough room for them. Eventually, I'll have to downsize and downgrade. Hopefully after my hearing is near gone ... and if I continue to play them at 90dB, that won't be long.
I have three pairs of speakers, Vero Research Metornome and soliloqy, and the Acoustat 1+1s. I've owned the 1+1s for an amazing 9 years! I actually picked them up for a song and really had no clue how good they would sound. When i got them home and hooked them up, my ears were delighted. Granted, the lows are lacking with this speaker, but the mids and the highs are fantastic. I've tried a few subs with them and have not kept them. I fear that I will have to pay the piper to get a high-end sub to match these. They are in storage now, but when I moved into a condo from a house, I could not part with them even though I auditioned an array of speakers that I was hoping to replace them with. My second longest speaker which much like the 1+1s I obtained by trading a pair of McIntosh speakers for are the Soundwaves. They were a local Rochester, NY company which, like Acoustat, is no longer in business. These speakers really surprised me for all around depth. I use the two speakers in a Wilson style configueration as the metronomes have a slanted front and the Sols are wedge shaped. Everyone who has heard my set-up thinks that I paid over 5 to 7K for these based on the sound, and when I tell them that I traded for them they have to pick their lower jaw off of the ground! I have owned a slew of speakers in my day, from Bose, Klipsch, Thiel, Merlin, Mirage, Dunlavy, just to name a few. I found that a lot of manufacturers have really good hype surrounding their products and little substance. Ok I've rambeled on too much.
There is always some speaker better than other in some certain field. I have listened to the new Monitor Audio Platinum P300 recently and must say that these paint most holographic 3D soundstage that I have ever heard. It would be interesting to hear others experience with the new platinum line.
Tduffy1.....Terry, I too have a pair of Speaker Art speakers which I enjoy more and more as time goes by. Bob Gross is the gentleman who makes Speaker Art speakers and has been more than helpful with any questions I have had in the past. Excellent speakers that do most things quite well.
Not the "best" speaker I have heard, but for day after day long term listening my Acoustat 2+2 panels are really easy to enjoy. Alas, my wife and her interior designer have recently banned them from the living room. I still do not understand what is wrong with 8 foot panels in the living room?
I use to be a high end dealer. Sold all the classic speakers. I always went back to Rogers. I just like the sound. There is no best speaker. It may take you a long time but keep the pair you like the best. I found a pair of speakers made by a fellow in California that sound a little better and cover the lower midrange and base better than the LS3/5a. They are also more sturdy. They were called Speaker Art when I became a dealer for them. I like these and have a pair today. They cost about $4,000 a pair but well worth it. He makes a speaker today similar looking that has had some good press. If someone is interested I could do some research and find out current info on the company. I sold a lot of expensive speakers in my day as a dealer but always found the best speaker to be the one you keep coming back too. It may not be what others like and may not be all that expensive but if it sounds good to you, stay with it. Terry
After several months with the new Beveridge I understand why so many people have never looked further. I have spoken to many who simply can't change after 25+ years.
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