Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

CLS IIz's with Vandersteen 2wq subs

I always think it's a boring drag when everybody recommends the equipment they own as if it's the be all and end all of the audio world. Having said that, I can tell you that i've been very happy with my ML CLSIIz's with vandersteen subs for many years. My upgrade dollars always seem to be directed elsewhere.

Talon Raven-C picked up used here on A'gon from a fine gentleman. Been through more speakers than I care to admit. In my setup they absolutely smoke. They'll be with me a long time.

Polk Monitor 10s I bought new in 1979, and could barely afford them then - I think they cost about $250 each back then. Replaced the tweeters with then-current ones about 10-12 years ago. Next week they will be replaced in my main system (by Sonus Faber Cremoras), but I won't be selling them... they'll move to the office now.

I hadn't done any serious audio shopping in a long time, and was surprised that I did not find a Polk speaker of any size or price that sounded at all good to me.

Sentimental speakers like my Father's 1959 JBL D-36's and my own 1977 Klipsch. I now have more modern speakers but could never part with speakers that have emotional ties. I still listen to them on a separate system. The sound could be better but never the same.

Lots of very nice speakers listed here and I wish I had some of them, but the question is, what speakers have I had for a while that I would still want to keep. Here's a point of view from a ratty young dirty ragamuffin who wandered into an oddball high end shop just outside of town at 15 years old, he'd scraped up a few hundred bucks and was looking for his first pair of "real" speakers ;)

I've had my humble $350 Clements 107di's for about seven and a half years now. They've followed me through high school and college, through four houses, two dorm rooms and an apartment. They've followed me through systems costing $600 (107s included!) up to my current ~$9K system, have been auditioned in other systems costing $13K and more and they manage to keep up, to their very limit at any rate.

No they're not the, biggest, cleanest, most revealing speakers ever and no they don't perform like mega-buck speakers but I have to say they do much, much better than any sub-$400 speaker ever should, and are able to handle a variety of sounds and gear. I was recently offered a pair of Maggie MMGs for a good price but felt absolutely no need for them. A different flavor perhaps, but I'm not looking for that right now. When I upgrade, I want it to be a really shocking improvement.

My current system really does deserve better, but I'm finding that I would need to spend over $3-4grand to get any really notable, justifiable improvement. I don't honestly have any regrets on keeping the 107s in until I have that kind of cake for a solid upgrade. I'm a college student ferchrissake! :p)

When I finally plop down for some really serious speakers, the 107s will stay for a "B" system.