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
Ok..herer goes first time spilling my guts.
Studiocraft 440's
OHM F's
DCM Time Windows
JBL 100's
Polk 7's/Large Advents
then
Vandersteen 1'c
Vandersteen 2ce
Proac Response 2s
Larry
My speaker history from the eighties to now:
1) self made 2 way, ScanSpeak drivers
2) kit speaker, ScanSpeak
3) Martin Logan Aerius-i, new
4) Merlin VSM-SE + BBAM, new
5) Von Schweikert VR3HSE Gen III, new
6) HGP Lyra SoNova (www.hgpaudio.com), new
7) Tidal Audio Contriva (www.tidal-audio.de), new

3-7) all impressed me for the price, or I would not have bought them :-)

The Tidal Contriva is my current speaker and I don't see any changes coming, as it combines the strenght of the speakers I owned before and outperforms them overall significantly.

I started with 2 way speakers I built myself, ScanSpeak drivers in a very ugly box I put together, no crossover, just a cap for the tweeter. They sounded - well, interesting :-)I then took out the drivers and bought a kit with a crossovers for those drivers, did not convince either, but worked for a student budget. The ML Aerius-i was the first speakers I got when I had a job, so I could afford to listen and choose. They were great for the money in my opinion. The Merlin was very special too, but too small after a move. The von Schweikert were really good for the money, but not in all aspects up to the strong points of the Merlin. The HGP I got for a really good price and hoped to get the bass of the VS and the resolution of the Merlin. It got some of it but not all. Enter the Tidal Contriva, I am still marveling at this speakers performance everytime I listen to music. For me a dream come true!
I'm lucky to remember the speakers, let alone the prices. My speaker history:

1) Epicure (don't know the model-they were double sided about 24-26" high)
2) Audio Project (Bose 901 knockoffs) Hated them
3) B&W DM 1400's
4) B&W 802 Series III
5) B&W 801 Series III
6) Magnepan 3.6's
7) Audio Physic Virgo 3's
8) JM Labs Mini Utopia
9) Theil 3.6
10) Sonus Faber Signum
11) Harbeth 7ES-2
12) Magnepan 1.6
13) Revel Studio
14) B&W N800 Sigs
15) Harbeth Super HL-5

I've had a larger and a smaller system for a while so that explains the disparity in the last few pairs.

Most of these have been very good to exceptional sounding speakers. It's taken me a while to learn that the room makes all the difference in getting the most from your speakers and system.
1986 BSR SPEEAKER FROM THE DAK CATELOG (This should bring back memories to some). I thought DAK was BIG TIME AUDIO back then.

1987 Boston Acoustic T1000 towers, (still one of my favorites) which i still own and sound great.

1987 sold the BSR & got KLIPSCH FORTES (GOOD SPEAKER, BEAUTIFUL CABINET a little harsh sounding though)

1989 traded the KLIPSCH FORTE for VMPS Super Tower/R (good speaker huge cabinet) I still like the Boston T1000 better.

Fast FWD to 2005 and I upgrade everything. After taking a Siesta from audio for about 10 to 15 years someone gave me a pair of Polk Audio RT-55I bookshelf speakers. Now i got the fever again :( To compliment the Polk I got a KLIPSCH RC-35 Center but unfortunaltely I could not be satisfied

Now I make up for lost time (those 15 yrs). The Polk RT55I and KLIPSCH are put aside for some real quality. Thanks to the internet it seems possible to put together a dream system and get the following speakers for multi channel and HT surround. The Onix Ref 2, Onix Ref 100, Onix Ref 1, two Onix Rocket UFW-10s subwoofers, One SVS PC Ultra Subwoofer, and 1 HSU VTF-3 Subwoofer. These speakers were all purchased from net only companies. Wow best sounding sys i have ever had and i never walked into a store (not really possible where i live as no true audio specialty store for 100s of miles). This was truely an evolution as far as i'm concerned. It started with meger BSRs and took me down an interesting road until the sys i have now. A lot of $$ spent and time consumed on this passion.
I like this
1,Micro accoustic something or other.
2,Ohm C2
3,BIC 6's
4,JBL L100 Likedem.
5,mag 1.4
6,mag mg2c's
7,and present Klipsch rf 82