*** 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?
Wow what a cool question. I would like to go back and listen to all the speakers that I thought were the best when I bought them but...sigh can't do it. So here goes, I scraped together money from selling anything I could when I was 25 and I bought some M & K speakers with a sub. OMG I was in heaven. Until I got married and my wife said those speakers look kinda weird. She made me sell them She was miss PR so I did whatever she told me....some of you can relate.....she then bought me a pair of 2ce's vandersteens. Those were great but......later on after the divorce..I sold those vandys and bought a pair of Maggie 1.6's . OHHhhhh they were so good that i thought I would never sell them.....but ....actually I didn't sell them I had the 1.6's speakers Gunned. I was in heaven with them until I moved to a Florida House ohhhhh the (the house) was so bad when it comes to room placement. That I finally gave up doing the maggie dance and bought a pair of QLN 3's.
I may never sell these QLN speakers ......but I really miss the magestands in the proper room. BTW I did not sell the Magnestands, I gave him to a friend who also lives in a Florida House and he loves them but.....he likes Klipsch now because he feels the room does not really interact with the klipsch speakers like it does with the magnestands
This is definitely a fun thread. I've owned many pairs off speakers, but the game changer for me was when I spent the ungodly sum of $1,200 per pair for DCM Time Windows in 1980 (the equivalent of $4,500.00 today!) and they opened my ears to spatial, clean and defined sound.
These days I have a few kits in different locations: I love the KEF LS50s in a small space, the Bower & Wilkins 705 Signatures in a medium space and my ultimate babies: The Bowers & Wilkins 702 Signatures for larger spaces--best of I've heard.
I still have the Time Windows--they're in my garage as a reminder of how they started me on the HiFi high-end journey I have enjoyed for nearly 45 years. They're warped, probably not useable, but every time I see them I think of a young man listening to music in a new light and I smile every time.
It looks like everyone on this thread has a similar fee-good story....that's why music is so amazing.
For me, it was the incredible good fortune that a pair of immaculate aDs 910s practically fell into my lap here in S. Arizona. They arrived when the seller delivered them to my house because he worried the stands might be damaged in shipment, and he lived @ 2 hours away. The 910's are everything a music enthusiast could want. Deep, impactful bass and luscious mids/highs from the domes. 93db efficiency. They don't need a lot of power but gulp up all the current I can throw their way.
I am eternally grateful to that very generous man!
Maggies changed my life for about 20 years a few years back then it changed again when I discovered the newer Ohm Walsh speakers which were like Maggies or even Quad ES speakers with better dynamics and that work in most rooms better.
More recently, KEF ls50 metas have made their impression on me and the latest and greatest KEF speaker technology will likely keep their newer products on my radar as well for the foreseeable future. I could probably easily live with a pair of latest and greatest KEF Blades, but those would require a larger investment in speakers than I have currently.
Wouldn’t mind having a pair of very small Maggies around in the future still either, just as an option in certain cases.
Others that come to mind I have heard but not necessarily owned that have influenced me in unique ways: Magico mini (overall sound from a standmount off a really good front end), mbl 111 (most realistic live-like presentation ever, similar to Ohm), Fritz Carerra (sound, value and versatility), Klipsch Legacy line (reasonably affordable higher efficiency designs) , Vanatoo ( overall design and features in a most affordable package, I do own a pair of these....everyone who can afford a high-end system should also own a pair of these just for fun), and the big Harbeths (very clean midrange, lovely articulate vocals). Spatial Audio open-baffle speakers also impress me in general whenever I hear them.
Threads getting old and so am I. Used to dream about big box Infinity, didn’t have the space, equipment, or cash. Things changed, I bought a late model set of IRS Beta thinking they were a statement piece and ahead of their time.. I still do. Fed well and maintained the sound is still relevant in my opinion.
Apogee Calipers! I bought them back in 1986 $1,695.00.
upgraded from JBL-166's $500.00.
Opened up the sound stage in terms of clarity,depth,dynamics. As if a damp cheesecloth veil was lifted off. I can sit back close my eyes and imagine the room of the recordings. The space in between the performers whether a Classical opera house, jazz night club, or rock recording studio. No reservations or regrets to this day.
I should add KEF LS50 Wireless II speakers paired with KC62 subs that show that active speakers with well designed DSP are the likely way of the future.
My first exposure to real hi-fi was my uncle's system with Acoustic Research AR-2a (or 3a) speakers. That started me on this audiophile journey. Then it was my Boston Acoustic A60s. And then many speakers after that. The ones I loved the most in that time, that I actually owned, were my original Von Schweikert VR-4s. They were pretty magical in a large living room in a pre-war building in the Bronx. Perfect room for them. But that was many many years ago. Now the room is smaller and doing my best with various bookshelfs (LS50 Meta, Nola Boxer) and always on the hunt for something new. That's the fun part.
It was summer 1970, best friends older brother invited us to listen to his new stereo. Big Marantz receiver, Dual 701 turntable, and the L100s. Changed my life. I have been chasing the sound ever since.
It was summer 1970, best friends older brother invited us to listen to his new stereo. Big Marantz receiver, Dual 701 turntable, and the L100s. Changed my life. I have been chasing the sound ever since.
For some reason the L100s seem to get a fair bit of criticism and yet they’re also held in the same type of acclaim that some hold vintage Tannoys.
To my ears the original L100s remain a classic loudspeaker.
Every time I hear them I’m slightly taken aback at how they could have made a box speaker this good, this transparent way back then.
I think it’s also telling how no one has compared the originals to the more recent versions released by JBL.
The speaker that changed my life was part of a portable record player system back in the 1970s.
It was playing loud and distorting like hell on some crescendos but... there was something about that sound, that timbre that permanently changed the chemistry in my brain that day.
Like yourself, I think I have been chasing that sound ever since.
Thiel CS 3.7. I have a pair of 3.6, However their stage and sound isn’t as good as the 3.7. Ended up buying a pair of Thiel pcs bookshelf speakers recently and now I am selling my 3.6 and Classe. Any models pre 3.6 were light on bass. 3.6 was a little better but things got way better after 3.6. Soundstage and a more balanced sound throughout the line up. Thiel PCS have more bass than the 3.6 at comfortable listening levels. I had to kind of crank the volume to get the same bass out of the 3.6. After hearing the 3.7 at a friends the 3.6 just do not compare and have sat for a while now, hence now I’m selling them and the amp till I get my hands on a pair of 3.7.
I’ve been a Magnepan owner for over two decades (10’s, 1.6’s and 3.6’s). Then came my YG Acoustics Carmel 2’s mated to two REL 212/SE subs. I now experience much more detail, accuracy, speed and musicality that I’ve never experienced with Magnepans.
I have 2 systems in my house, the upper, I have Dynaudio Confidence20 speakers, and the basement I have Capriccio Continuum ad monitor 311 speakers. Both sets are my end game speakers.
So I am trying to remember back when it all began for me. I have always been a fan of music since I was in 1st grade if I remember correctly, but I believe that the turning point for me into sound quality was around 1992 when someone that I worked for at the time had me go up to his apartment one day and wanted me to listen to his rig. He had a pair of ACOUSTIC RESEARCH HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGING M 4.5 FLOORSTANDING SPEAKERS and started to play the Stevie Wonder tape or cd of Innervisions and kept commenting on "stereo separation". I had no idea at the time because I was completely blind to it (no pun intended). So anyways he told me that he'd sell the M4's for cheap and I ended up buying them from him to go with my Realistic reciever, and that's where my audiophile journey began. So the AR's were the turning point for me and got me intrigued. It was shortly after that when I found a high end stereo shop in my area called Sound II in Dartmouth, Ma. So after a few visits to Sound II, the guys there (Al, Steve and Leo) were very kind and explained a few things to me about entry level to high end audio. Shortly thereafter I was introduced to NAD and left the shop with a second hand Nad integrated amp that was there on consignment. I tend to ramble on so I apologize. A big hello from Fall River, Massachusetts! 🇺🇦🇺🇸🤜
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