Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

Wow! I just reviewed several pages of this thread. What is most striking to me is that almost no speaker is named by more than one person as "the best". (I think the OP back in 2001 wanted to hear about the best speaker one has ever heard, not one's own best speaker.) Some brand names do recur, but different products from that manufacturer are cited. I think only Coincident Pure Reference and Quad 57 are named by more than one contributor. This says to me that each of us is in love with his own thoughtfully arrived at opinion, which is cool.

I am a lifelong lover of ESL speakers and have had most of the major brands since the early 1970s. Right now I own a pair of Sound Lab 845PXs that I modified. I enjoy them very much, but they are not perfect. No speaker is. Other "best" speakers I have ever heard: double pair of KLH9 ESLs, double pair of Quad 57, Coincident Pure Reference Extreme, Beveridge 2SW, Rockport (don't recall the model name). Could live happily with any of them.

Lewm, With the exception of the Coincident and Rockports, I have had all the speakers you say you could live with. Additionally, I have had the Infinity Servostatics, Acustats, and Martin Logan electrostatics. As you say, no speaker is perfect. I have also had five sets of horn speakers. They have a speed and dynamics that electrostats lack, IMHO. I have also had omni speakers, open baffle speakers, and many box dynamic speakers, which is where I am now. I have, of course, never said that I can live with what I have, as I never had done so. I figure that I have had 27 different speakers since I was eighteen.

Dahlquist DQ-10s. In my opinion, you can't beat them. I have a pair I bought in the 70s. I have moved on, downsized my life and no longer have room for them. 5 years ago I replaced the cones. Still have great sound. Sooooo, now I am going to sell them. Anyone who is interested, get back to me. I am thinking $1400 for the pair, offers considered. The covers need replacing. Hope I can find a good home for them.

I believe I'm settling in with my PMC IB2i on custom 18-inch Sound Anchors for the duration. After 7 months, I can't find anything I don't like about them, which is a first for me. Coupling them with Bryston 28B-SST2 amps and a VAC Phi Beta preamp, I think I'm done with changes to "the rhythm section" of my system, which is what I call the preamp-amp-speaker backbone. Frontline components (sources) may change but I don't imagine changing these three slots. The 20-year warranties on the PMCs and Brystons also give me piece of mind.

I have been listening to PMCs on custom Sound Anchors for the past three months too. My AML-1 monitors continue to surprise me with detail and musicality.

Homemade bass traps have helped a great deal. Only have a bit of a bump at 300hz left. Maybe hand these down to a relative, but doubt I'll sell them.