Personal speaker evolution


OK, so here is a thread I haven't ever seen here: What speakers have you owned? starting with the earliest, price paid, new/used, and perhaps the models that really impressed you (for the price) in CAPS.

Rat Shack Something or others, $120, new
Fisher Something or others, $280, new
ADS L710's, $550, new
Snell A2i's, $1100, used
BEVERIDGE SYSTEM 3'S, $1000, used
Martin Logan CLS, $1400, used
MARTIN LOGAN SL3'S, $2300, used
pmwoodward
1. Panasonic single-driver units that came with a mini- receiver (1973-1974)
2. BIC Venturi Formula 1 (1974-1976)($70/pr.-line demo)
3. Yamaha NS5 (1976-1978)($170/pr.)
4. A/D/S 200 + M&K passive sub (1978-1980)($200+$200)
5. A/D/S 300 + M&K sub (1980-1982)(satellites $300/pr)
6. VANDERSTEEN 2C (1982-1987)($960/pr)
7. MARTIN LOGAN CLS (1987-1989)($1,800/pr.-line demo)
8. M-L CLSII (1989-1990)($1,000/pr for new boxes and panels!)
9. M-L CLSIIa + AudioPro B2-250 powered subwoofer (1990-1994)(M-L mod $0, sub purchased used for $250)
10. M-L CLSIIa + KINERGETICS SW200 powered subs (1994-2002)(subs purchased used for $700/pr).
11. WILSON WATT/PUPPY 7 (2002-present)($$$$$$)

All of these systems provided pure, unalloyed pleasure. Although, of course some, more than others.
My parents RCA mono console.IF memory serves in chronological order.
1967...Dynaco A-25[still own]
1969...AR-3a
1972...Quad 57's
1975...Dayton Wright X-10's
1976...Dalquist dq-10's
1978...Acoustat X[servo amps still in use]
1982...Acoustat 2+2[still use with the servo amps]
1985???Proac response 3's
1999...Soundlab A-1's,
2000...Tannoy Westminster.
Throughout my college years, I owned a disc jockey service and used stacked advents, Klipsch Lascallas,Altec A-7 voice of the theater's and JBL 300's.Even tried stacking 2 pair of Dayton Wright X-10 Electrostatics....They were truly astounding in the right hall [read large] with the finest bass I have ever heard to date.Unfortunately... My amps at the time[brystons and phase linear]blew up regularly!
I would love to hear them again today in my studio system with some modern day amplification.
Hmmmm...

First a pair of 3-way "Magna" speakers - at least I think that was the line - purchased in some store after a flood damage. Circa 1982 or so...

Second was a used pair of Bang&Olufsen 3-ways for around $50, with a replaced tweeter. Guess they were early-mid 70's vintage. I gave them to a relative at next speaker purchase.

Bought a pair of DCM TimeFrame TF2500's or -something or others shortly after college, at JC Penney or GFox or something. Circa 1987. Actually, they were pretty good - at one time I think DCM were considered audiophile material - at least their upper-end Time Frame stuff.

The DCM TFS lasted for many years - paired with the original "Magnas" until I got some Mirage OM-7s about 2 years ago. (DCMs are now relegated to basement duty for work-out music). Was meant to get some Mirage OM-6 Demos when Tweeter were closing them out, but the salesperson sold the pair I had put on layway. Gave me the OM-7s for the same price (about $1400 I think). And yes - I do like the Mirages - even they are positioned less than ideally due to WAF. I guess the bi-polar/omnipolar sound is a very personal preference though. I fell for it when auditioning the OM-6's, and no regrets.

Bought Mirage center to augment the mains about 1 year ago. Sounds good for movies.

Bought some Wharfedale Diamond 8.2 70 Anniversaries a few weeks ago, for under $200. Haven't listened to them for 2-channel (serving as my HT rears, and I've only pulled them out for for movie viewing - again WAF). Still - after listening to the Diamond 8.1s and 8.3s at a friend's house, I think Wharfedale is great value for the moolah. The 8.2 Anniversaries are actually upgrades over the other Diamond 8's, with 40Hz-24Khz range (if I could actually hear all that), with a nice wood veneer finish, kevlar-polypro tweeter, and gold-plated bi-wirable terminals. For under $200, a steal.
Any speakers are good speakers if you know what your doing, or even if you're just lucky, most lower end brand names can be underrated,and if they are bad enough to have overrated power handling, then you don't have to worry about throwing away good speakers after they blow up.
the system setup I have is pretty messy, with a 4 channel Technics SA-250 running (on the low end and main channel):two 8' surplus 6 ohm sony mystery speakers in a sealed...sideways drawer from a dresser and two old wooden single filing cabinets sporting more surplus speakers, this time of unknown make,10' and 7 ohms impedance.
On the higher frequencies, a set of Candle "concerto" speakers from the late 70's with another set of the 10' mystery speakers and 5' tweeters (peaking in volume at around 1khz*shudder*), these however are balanced out by the mostly Realistic home made 3 way boxes {2'x3' horn tweeters,6' midranges and 10' woofers}, the oddest and most recent addition to the overworked amplifier's payload is a single well sealed home-made box measuring 5' deep and 11'x11' which holds two SURPLUS!..computer subwoofers with two 3/4' AC-Delco tweeters.
it's surprising that the sound only distorts just after ear-splitting and nothing stays on top of the speaker boxes for long at half of that, just goes to prove what $15 here and there can buy!
spanning the time period from 1973 to present

TDC1 (transducer development corp)
Bose 301
Bose 501
KEF Q15 (I still have and use a s studio monitors)
Paradigm 100
Thiel 7
Dynaudio 3.0
Thiel 6