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Owning the speakers you dreamed of 20 years ago

Does speaker technology really change that much?  As I'm listening to my Klipsch Heresy's in a bedroom setup, I decided to look up to see what $3k or so could buy me today used and was shocked to see the speakers I used to drool over, when I was done looking at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition ;), were available for a quarter or less of the money.

Revel Ultima
Sonus Faber
JM Lab Mezzo 

And more, are all available to buy used.

Seriously these were speakers I would daydream about.  How do they sound today compared to a speaker that you would spend $3k on new or even a few years old?  How could these $10k speakers from a time I can still remember, really sound like a $3k speaker?  My Klipsch's remind me that speakers even older and cheaper are irreplaceable to me, so why wouldn't I spend $3k for one of my old heroes?

What am I missing here?



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jerrybj
869 posts
 
I had always wanted Missions.

Especially like the Mission 780, well reviewed in the early 2000s.

Although I didn't need them, did buy a pair for a third system.
And very happy with them.
gumbedamit
109 posts
 
16hzlover my Acoustat system is more than 30 years old. Roy Esposito who was one of the tech engineers at Acoustat rebuilds these systems.  I've been lucky enough to have my 2 TNT200 Power Amplifiers rebuilt ,upgraded and Monoblocked by Roy.  Incredible sound.  I'm waiting for my interfaces to be rebuilt and upgraded on my Acoustat Spectra 33's.  Keep in mind this system sounded really good before the rebuild after 30+ years. The stuff that's being built today,  don't know how they would perform after 30+ years. All in, my 30+ year old system will be around $6k and I would put it up against today's systems costing 5x that amount. 
yyzsantabarbara
4,937 posts
 
The speakers I wanted close to 20 years ago were the Thiel CS3.7. I had Revel Salon 1 back then and thought the CS3.7 was better. When I was deciding between speakers last year I narrowed it down to a broken down CS3.7 (which needed fixing) or the brand new Yamaha NS5000. I went with the nostalgia factor and got the CS3.7. No regrets on that and plan to keep the CS3.7 as long as the heart is beating.

limomangus's avatar
limomangus
1,454 posts
 
The funny thing I fell is there are still speakers for sale from 2001 .I bought a pair of Polk lsim707  which where listed at $3,995.i bought them 2 years ago for $1,200.They were returns one had scratch on back the other was missing a speaker screw. Both sound great.
jhills
618 posts
 
The speakers of my dreams thirty years ago was the Apogee Duetta Sigs. They were the closest thing to sounding like real acoustic instruments and true vocals that I heard. They did then and I have little doubt that a properly restored pair (with an adequate amount of quality power and space) would sound as good as about anything on the market today, regardless of price........Jim
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