In my 58 years, I have owned about 20 pairs of speakers. The only ones that were purchased brand new were the Sony SS-CS5 bookshelf and the tower version the SS-CS3. So yeah, nothing to write home about budget speakers. Good for the price and for what they are. As far as used ones, they have all been of a wide variety but always floor standers. A couple years ago I scored an almost mint pair of ESS AMT 1B’s at an estate sale for $60.00. All they needed was a refoam on the woofers and new passive radiators. That Heil tweeter was outstanding. I sold them locally for $700.00. Not long after that, I bought a new pair of Tekton Enzo XL’s. I simply loved them. If I could go back in time I would have bought the Double Impact or even Moab and likely would have been done playing speaker buying and guessing games. BUT WAIT! While walking through my local Salvation Army store, I eyed a unique looking pair of high gloss black speakers in the furniture department. I Googled them and nothing really came up on them (to the best of my recollection). I had never heard of the brand before, but just judging by the cabinet finish and the typical "knuckle wrap" test, I immediately suspected that I stumbled on a really decent, older pair of large speakers. They both had a price tag on them. $250.00 each. I asked the cashier if they were really $250.00 each and not for the pair because nobody is going to just buy one. Nope, they were $500.00 for the pair. I walked around the store for a bit weighing in on the WAF and decided that I was going to do it. That’s a lot of money for a Salvation Army item, but darn it, they had such a nice finish and a serious looking 12 inch woofer. Well to my ears, these speakers ended up sounding every bit as good as the Enzo’s and were a quarter of the cost. I still have them after 3 or so years and I will never sell them. They are Amrita Audio Reference Standard speakers. It turns out that they have a 13 inch woofer with cast aluminum frames, dual 6.5 inch Dynaudio midranges in their own sealed enclosure within the box, and Vifa aluminum dome tweeters. I believe the efficiency is 92db and they are 6ohm. The gorgeous gloss black MDF cabinets are about 49 inches tall, 14 inches wide and 16 inches deep (all approximate). I believe they were manufactured in 1992 and sold for $3500.00. For the pair, not each LOL. I’m not sure what they weigh, but they are stout for sure. The bass is certainly adequate and the midrange is very detailed and forward. Pretty cool that these were not produced in very high volumes. I still don’t see any for sale anywhere and I look fairly often. I would love to be able to A/B compare them to the Double Impact speakers. My inquiring mind is really curious if they are close in sound signature.
Which pair of speakers changed your Hifi life?
*** I am not trying to create a debate or a quarrel with anyone. My discussions are purely having a talks and to express one's experiences. Also to learn fellow audio lovers passion. Please do not disrespect with hurtful words or expressions. Please be more forgiving and understanding in this discussion thread. Thank you." ***
Hopefully one day, someone would say "Mon Acoustic speakers were the turning point in my Hifi life". 😃
My 2ch-audio journey began when my uncle bought his BOSE system at his home (don't even know the model or never really heard it) in early 90s. Bose was rear and expensive in Korea(South) back then. So I started my own system with Bose Cinematics 2.1. Then moved on to Goldenear Triton 3, then to Triton 1. But more utilizing the speakers for AV set ups, not 2 ch stereo.
When I had my first house, I bought a pair of Revel M105 speakers and I think these are the pair that really changed my audio life. My initial paring with M105 was Yamaha receiver. Then I tried goofie set up with center speaker 3.1 to see if it improves vocal in the songs I liked. We went through many combinations of system set up. I ended up with Chord Electronics set up.
I still own them. Always struggle time to time, whether to sell them or not due to the number of pairs I own(out of a guilt). I cannot argue how many pairs of shoes my wife owns. I pair them with NAD M10 (version 1) for my bedroom since my wife likes the warm and well rounded sound, and 80% its white design aspect.
So what are the speakers that have impacted your life?