Something modest to start with, Chartwell LS3/5A's in the late 70's. Such performance out of tiny boxes! Then Magnepan, a lust for which had been unfulfilled until about five years ago, when I lashed out on a pair of MG3.7i's to replace some Ambience ribbon hybrids. Still enjoying the Maggies
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?
228 responses Add your response
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Gale GS401A, I bought a pair instead of a second hand car and got my first taste of real high end audio. More open midrange than Spendor and they could Rock ! Took them round to an ESL57 owner and it was immediately apparent what had been used to voice them. Fantastic speakers, wish I had kept them… |
Infinity Modulus 90 Sub/Sat system. 1992. Followed closely by B&O Beolab 8000 as my theater fronts.Fosgate Model 3 processor. 3 Adcom 545 Mark II amps ordered in all white to match the white high gloss backside of the B&O TV built with largest RCA Pro tube in existence. KEF Center, B&O TV, rotating remote control B&O stand and matching all white B&O S-VHS VCR with built in Faroudja line doubler. The combo was chosen by MOMA as a permanent fixture for the Museum of Modern Art. I used the Infinity with the Krell KSA-100S for the digital 2 channel side, other wise, they were the back speakers in the Fosgate THX system. I went from trying to buy a Bose speaker set one at Circuit City (they laughed and got me to repeat it to other salesman so they could also laugh as well) to audio Nirvana in the blink of an eye. Even had my ‘58 Chevy done with a competition sound system (JL audio, 3 Punch amps on a custom vertical amp rack and a stealth 30 CD changing system. Had the best of both worlds there for awhile. Of course, I added to it and still am.
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EPI 180's When I was 16, around 1980, I saved my minimum wage dollars ($2.85 and hour- remember that?!?) and marched into a stereo store. At the time, the fashion was huge 15"woofers and multiple midrange and tweeters jammed into a box. The salesman showed me these EPI speakers. They seemed so unimpressive to my uneducated eye. A pair of 6" woofers coupled with a pair of ferrofluid inverted dome tweeters. The salesman explained to be that two 6" driver's were the " same" as a 12 woofer but faster. It made sense to me and being 16, I wasn't about to argue with a " grown-up " 20-something salesman. I bought them along with a Pioneer integrated amp and a Technics turntable. Well, seems the sales guy steered me right. I enjoyed those EPI speakers for a good 10 years before throwing them in the burn pile (nothing wrong with them, I just replaced them with something way more expensive. Can't believe how stupid I was when I was young!). I wish that 35 years later, I could, just for maybe an hour, hear them again. They were so much better than I ever realized. Anyway, when other boys my age were saving for a car, I was saving for my first system. Some things never change 🙂 |
http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/lmco/shearer.htm Made me realize that we haven’t made much progress in overall sound quality since its invention. It’s still a world-class sounding loudspeaker and it’s over 83 years old. I’ve had anti-horn jaded audio designers and studio professionals over who had to rethink their work and opinions on vintage and horns after hearing a proper Shearer. |
The first was a pair of Infinity RSIIb’s I purchased in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Fantastic speakers, running a Phase Linear amp on the low end and a McIntosh MC2120 on the mids/top end. Sadly, they were damaged badly in a move. For the next 29 years I had the Infinity Modulus satellites and servo-controlled subwoofer. Last fall, I replaced them with Fyne Audio F702 speakers, which are fantastic. Great clarity, imaging, three-dimensional soundstage, and what I suspect are the harmonics produced by different instruments, etc. they are driven by a Rogue Audio RP-1 preamp and a Benchmark AHB2 power amp I recently purchased. This combo provides the best sound I have heard in anywhere near this price range. My wife and I can sit and listen for hours w/o listening fatigue. |
Game changer for me was the Bose 901’s. They were a true eye opener into the power of marketing and hype. Any manufacture who can commit time, money, and a Theory into a concept can start people talking and turn a turd into a filet mignon. Even when their sound was garbage people had to have them as in the day Bose was a status symbol that people would listen to music and instead of getting enjoyment you would spend all your time telling your self they have to sound good they are Bose 901’s and I have been told they sound good. Then the day comes you hear a real speaker and you wake up to the fact you have been lied to through the power of marketing and lies. |
When I was a teenager in the 70's, the first time I heard Klipsch LaScalas I was floored, finally got a pair in 2001. I've owned Khorns and Hersey II's in 93 but always wanted a pair if LaScalas. Now being older, my horn fetish has expired and own a pair of Monitor Audio Platinum PL300ii for 2 channel and couldn't be happier!! |
I was at a social gathering at a colleague's house back in the early 90's, and he had some music playing through a pair of B&W bookshelf speakers. I don't even know what model they were. They just caught my attention. The midrange sounded so sweet and it just left an impression on me for many years. I finally got my first pair of B&W in the late 2000's. They were the CM-7's. I upgraded to the 804 D3 a couple of years ago and have been pretty happy with them so far. They are a little bit tricky to pair and can sound bright so I have to choose my equipments carefully. |
Finally made a speaker change after 20 years. I really thought the Monitor Audio Gold Ref 20 was still relevant Found a pre owned pair of Focal Kanta 2 s and was blown away at the information i had been totally missing for 20 years Changed my life and listening habits Never going back Good luck Willy-T
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Epi 100. Showed me how a simple, inexpensive, well-designed speaker can sound so natural, clear, and non-fatiguing that I prefer it over almost all other speakers for home use. Over the years, it has kept my "upgrade-itis" under control because so few speakers actually sound better, to my ears. I recently auditioned speakers up to $7,000 and while I suppose a couple MIGHT have sounded "better," for the most part they just sounded like the Epi or maybe the Epi with a quality modest sub. I did end up with a Heresy IV, but for the reason that they sound DIFFERENT, and I wanted to have an alternative experience with my familiar music, at least for a while. The Epi 100 is not going anywhere, though, and is in another room now, but will be rotated in periodically to the "main room." I updated them with Human Speakers parts, but the basic design and sound remains the same with maybe a bit more heft and tightness to the bass and a bit more dispersiveness and clarity to the highs, but only subtle, since Human parts are designed based on Epi design. Am I open to other speakers? Of course, and over the decades I've searched for an Epi beater, but nothing has been compelling enough to change out; I have changed out, for a while, with various attempts, but over time I keep going back. It's nice not to have to worry about "are my speakers good enough," once you've found your niche for your home. Saves a lot of anxiety, and of course a lot of money. |
You were not wrong about the Epi, except for burning them! The Epi 100 is still around, and can be updated as I describe in my post above... or, get the Human Speakers model 81. Even the 180 is still around, but I find the 100 to be the best all-arounder. The 100 reaches down to about 44hz, so if one adds a small quality sub, think SVS 300micro or something, to handle less than 40 or 38, then that's it: done. The Epi tweeter is still one of the very best; you were right on track. And it is amazing what the 8" woofer can do in a normal home... tight, accurate, and it just reaches in and tickles the eardrums. |
Early on maggies sounded impressive...heard Bose 901s in college that made me nauseous...in grad school listened to lots of speakers but only the Acoustats sounded good enough, so bought the Spectra 22s...still have not run across speakers that I love as much...still listen to the 22s every day but do have some Martin Logan Source in a bedroom system that are decent...anyone make something like Spectra 22s today? Maybe for $20K instead of the <$2K I paid back then? |
Many moons ago, I sold hi-fi and was fortunate enough to be able to audition hundreds of speakers. But only one pair took me away - Quad ESL 57s. I still have a pair and they are now run by an Audio Note Cobra tube integrated. A very simple system that blows me away every time I listen to it. Quads have a reputation for not having a lot of bass. With its Quad own amp and others I have had, that definitely was the case, but with the A/N Cobra, there is plenty. It's heaven. |
By the time KEF released the 104/2, I had been in the audio business for several years and was already acquainted, if not intimately familiar, with many top shelf speakers. But in those days, most speakers were still products arising more from alchemy and the black arts than engineering. This one, however, represented an engineering tour de force. Whether or not all the research and engineering behind them was the reason they sounded so wonderful, was irrelevant for me. That they did was enough. I was immediately stricken by the 104/2’s rock solid imaging, dynamics, and smooth yet detailed sound, so I had to own this new model from Kent. I still have and use them daily, although they are now fitted with Morel MDT29-4 tweeter upgrades from Madisound, and are currently performing their duties in my bedroom system. The 104/2’s represented my introduction to an MTM driver arrangement, which I subsequently discovered produces a dispersion pattern that I favor over those generated by other tweeter-midrange arrangements. In fact, the speakers that replaced the 104/2’s in my main system are also MTM’s, and their sound is very similar. The replacements are visually more attractive, but I still enjoy the presentation from my 104/2’s as much as ever.
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Usher CP-6311 Solved so many of my sound problems. With diligent attention to placement and use/non-use of the gold spikes (depending on the room) for the beefy cast iron stands, I achieved an extremely focused image, excellent depth and height of soundstage (if not the most expansive width - no complaints here) and a remarkable tonal balance. Bass is great. Transients and high frequencies are natural and detailed. Nothing in the frequency range seems to dominate the others. |
No one listens to big Kharma or Lansche or JM Labs ? Duke's choice of SoundLabs is great. I have never owned classy speakers so nothing to brag about. I do like Michael Green Audio Chameleons. This is an unusual free resonance approach and has its strengths and limitations. Wouldn't be anyone's choice for listening to Berlin Philharmonic orchestra and other large scale music, they can't take that much power and reproduce the three dimensional tapestry created by so many instruments. Can't find them anywhere for sale, by the way. |
While the needle had been firmly inserted into my arm for some 15 years, Accoustat 2 + 2s knocked my socks off in my new (to me) home (now here 26 years) with large listening room, terrazzo floors, and 12ft high open beam ceilings. The main issue is the listening area is 21 x 35, but due to the room layout, I have to sit at ~ 15 ft from front wall, so zero back wall reinforcement. But WOW they filled the room with sound. Alas, while the Accoustat tube servo amps sounded way better then the interfaces, they were prone to glowing tubes (in recent years mods available that makes them stable). Lots of really good speakers later, I have had Emerald Physics 3.4s for ~ 2 years, which comes close in wonderful room filling sound with my LSA Voyager GaN 350 amp, Audio Alchemy DDP-1 + PS 5, Audiolab CDT6000, and recently replaced the complete array of really good cables with Ali-Express Nordost Odin 2 knock-offs. Look them up, you won't believe the prices, or how much they CAN improve your enjoyment. I stuck my toe in the water replacing a Pangea Premier XL coax (MSRP $169) with the Odin 2 for less money. Quality is extremely high and the improvement was jaw dropping. I then got a power cord and XLR interconnects, then more power cords and finally speaker cables, which replaced ~ $8000 cables tieing it all together. With quality recordings, the sound is very holographic and I feel transported to the venue hth
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