Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

LEWM I'm trying to get ahold of you regarding my Soundlab A1-PX I can't find your email address anywhere. If you see this can you email me at vanderdm@shaw.ca Thanks!!

I loved the Heybrook HB1s I had in the U.K. in the mid 80s, then in '91 went to floorstanders that I still have in my home theater, Snell EIIIs, now my two channel system uses the Gallo 3.1s which I love the look and sound of, which will make it hard to part with them... but the call to greater efficiency is making me look around.

10 years. U decided yet?

A Maggie man, here, but your budget was unstated and surely crucial to a decision.

I have found that the better the electronics, the better they sound.

I am not in the next 5 years, going to change my speakers, and if I do I will have to spend over $50K. The speaker I am talking about is the awesome Venture Audio CR-8 Signature.

Infinity IRS. period.

Are you really HP? They don't image very well.

I just acquired a pair of well kept, original owner Altec 846A Valencia's. I hooked them up to my system and, due to their old school binding posts, was limited to using a pair of Monster Cables that were showing green flecks of oxidation from languishing in the closet since my college days back in the early 80's. I was absolutely floored by how great they sound! Large/deep soundstage; I am hearing details in LPs and CDs I've never heard before. It was both exhilarating and slightly depressing in the sense that I was blown away by a speaker that was 45+ years old. I'm running them in a primarily Audio Research tube system, but I hope to pair these efficient speakers with a flea powered SET amp one day. Other than an eventual stripping and refinishing, these speakers are good to go and are keepers!

Closdesducs, about ten years ago I reentered the world of compression drivers and horn speakers for the second time with the first having been in the early '70s. Yes, efficiency and quickness are great!

Yes, SETs are in your future and will be very satisfying. But ultimately you will realize that their is a price to pay. Unless you are willing to add compression drivers at the bottom end, you will have to do without deep bass. Even the top end doesn't extend very high.

But have fun. I remember them fondly.

Fun thread. I have to mention Snell Type A or AII. Owned them once, stupidly sold them, and after many other speakers came and went (B&W, ProAC, Spendor) I finally went back. I am a midrange freak and like a full lower mid without the suckout most speakers have. The Type A's are voiced perfectly for me. The midrange is more realistic than anything I have heard. Best of all you can find them used for $500-800/pair, and they dust anything under $7k to my ears. Peter Snell R.I.P.

Peter Snell R.I.P., indeed. The Voecks-designed Snells were good, too; I still have a pair of Type Qs that I bought in 1990 and have kept in mint condition. I use them with a Velodyne subwoofer. Prior to that, I had Mission 770 Freedoms (with the dome tweeter, not the elliptical horn-loaded model), and before that, I had ADS L730s and ADS L520s. These aren't "audiophile" loudspeakers, but they sounded pretty accurate in my listening room, particularly the Snells.

My all time favourite speakers were the old Futon Premiers. Alhough quite large they managed to put at a "you are there" sound with ultra high imaging and proper tonal balance. Tremndous headroom and and band with this speaker had the amazing ability to reproduce a big sound stage and felt at home is all varieties of music. Few people will ever realize how great these units were.

I've had my Magnepan SMGa's since July of 1990 (almost 22 years). They have been back to Magnepan for re-wiring once. For years I powered them with a Rotel RA820BX3 integrated amp. About 5 years ago, I upgraded to the Rotel RA1062. After all these years, the bass output has actually increased (a guest asked me if I had a subwoofer).

Just picked up a set of SPICA Angelus $600 Wednesday,they are great speakers from what I have read/heard. The seller told me he replaced the woofers and tweeters with Celestion DL6 drivers but I did not care because I have a set of Audax tweeters to pop in if I ever need to.

Thiel CS3. Brazilian rosewood, #23 & #24 off the line. Perfect looking and sounding for there age.

Is this thread really 10 years old? :0

For me, my Epos ES11's -- which they will have to pry out of my cold, dead hands. I have never heard them make a 'mistake.' And I have been listening to them for 7 or 8 years.

Terry

Canuhearthat,
If he changed the woofers, they are no longer the same speakers as they were designed to be. And it appears that you paid way too much.

I'm a working class man, and all of my equipment has been budget hi-fi, as they say. I'm using a NAD Viso 5 for a surround receiver right now. I've used many speakers over the years, but keep coming back to my Image Concept 100s. I've had 'em since 1989, and they just sound better than other budget monitors. They cost $600 per pair in 1989. Now I have two pairs of them. I bought one set used on ebay. Damn they sound fine--the midrange is nearly flawless with a good recording. A bad recording sounds like a bad recording.

Sad to say, the Image brand is a thing of the past. But these little wonders live on in my living room.

Polk Lsi15. I have had the urge to 'upgrade' for 9 years. But there is nothing out there that would be an 'upgrade'. Sometimes we have to accept the fact that we did it right the first time. Which is what the OP's post implies.

When I was a kid I hung out at a place called The Stereo Studio here in the Chicago area. My first pair of brand new loudspeakers were purchased there one night at a "Midnight Madness" sale. I bought a pair of AVID 102a bookshelf speakers for $119.00 ea. plus tax. Today those little gems are in my garage where they serve me well while cooking out or just sitting outside with my wife and son. Not hardly the BEST sounding speakers I've ever heard but very decent little bookshelf speakers never the less. I was just a kid at the time and couldn't afford the high end listening room. But I zoned in on a pair of KEF 105/2 Reference Speakers that just sounded so great powered by a pair of big Audio Research Power Amps and eventually I took them home. They are still with me 33 years later, crossovers freshly rebuilt, woofers re-coned and they sound and still look terrific. A few years later I managed to score a pair of KEF 104/2 Reference speakers as well and I still have those too. There's just something about these loudspeakers... they are truly special to me. These will be with me until the very end.

I'll have to agree with the KEF 104.2. They should be "old and in the way" but I have mine powered with a VAC Avatar in triode mode, and there is something about the midrange that gives pleasure, and can sound spooky real. I have an itch for the Aerial Acoustic 7T, but it's like replacing a pet that is still living at the house.

I would nominate two - the bookshelf ProAc Response 1 SC and the floorstanding Tannoy D-700. After almost 20 years with both, I still find them thoroughly enjoyable.

I just upgraded the stat panels on my Innnersound Eros Mk II's to Roger Sanders new stat panels.

Broken in for past month and they are the most revealing, dynamic, resolving and uncolored speaker I have ever not heard.

I am super happy with a pair of Green Mountain Audio speakers. Not planning to sell them anytime soon - definitely a candidate "for life". Very realistic and dynamic. An absolute pleasure to listen to for hours and hours and days and days.... and years and years.
The model I own are the EOS HD with integrated speaker cables (very rare). They are currently being "upgraded" to HX. It is wonderful to communicate directly with the designer and manufacturer and know you can trust.
They really had to twist my arm to disconnect my speakers and ship them for the upgrade. I do not want to live without them for the weeks it takes to upgrade them and I can't imagine that the upgrade will be of any significance. But I trust GMA and was ensured that there will be a significant improvement. Looking forward to it! A keeper.
I am using the speakers in my "listening room", which is ~11'x17'. But they would also work well in bigger rooms.
For large rooms (>20'x20' with very high or open ceiling), there are other GMA models that I am sure would work very well. I have no listening experience with GMA floor standers.
After listening to many many speakers (large and small, more and less expensive) over the last 25 years, I have come to especially appreciate good monitors on stands. The imaging of good monitors - always making sure to match with room size and acoustics - is generally better and more accurate and dynamic and live-like vs "floor standers".
I also have a larger family room with floor standers (Waveform Mach 17), which are also keepers and I have been very happy with them for years and years.

For me with no questions asked it is Apogee speakers (and always will be)! It was my dream to own them once I had heard them back some years ago and I had at the time a georgous pair of Infinity Kappa 8s. I made a deal and have a set of Apogee Slant 6s that have been with me ever since. I've changed the front end electronics a number of times and cables but the Apogees have always been the focal point of a system that continues to grow and refine and thier performance has never disappointed me even as I've adutioned other speakers.

Apogee Centaur Majors in mahogany for me as well. Owned the same pair for approx 16 years and while I have enjoyed others, I always come back to them. I have owned a pair of Centaurs before that and also played around with the Mini Grands.

I've had Spendor SP100's for almost a decade,love them. If I were shopping today, I would start with the Harbeth 30.1 or the Harbeth Compact 7ES-3 depending on the size of my room. The "classic" British speakers do not have the sizzle of some other high end speakers, but I've noticed that many of the speakers listed on this thread can be found for sale on eBay, et al., but if you search for Harbeth, or Spendor, etc., there are few, if any. Which suggest people keep them.

Auditorium-23 Solovox Hommage.

That is very dificult to answer! Twice I have speakers for 16 years. The big issue was I got very comfortable with the speakers. Like an old pair of shoes or that old winter coat. Nothing wrong with that OK? But, to do that you take yourself out of the mainstream of speaker development. Thus missing out on the improvements made. Not to say you would jump out and buy. But can really leave the market you worked so hard to figure out? Tough question. Plus as we age we fine tune our ears and what we listen for or even the genre of music listened to. I am so happy to have made my last jump to the new Coincident Pure Reference. Expensive? Yes, but I am so happy that I move to my next life knowing I have had the chance to finally get my ultimate! When your kids are gone, you spoil grand kids and send them home! And sit back in narvana. No more compromises, or at least a lot fewer. After all the biggest deterrent to obtainging the big fancy system is the acknowledgement that everything else come first! But it is worth the wait! So enjoy the growth you won't regret it one bit.

Well I am new here and a bit angry in my old age and I want someone to put a pair of Pinnacle PN5 + up against the new Thiel or ????? They have to be stock!!! and report back . You can get them for less than a. hundred bucks off EBay sometimes. The Pinnacle Ac650 might be another interesting listen. I have PN5+ firing ten feet from me as I lay on the sofa. I like that near field listening. I don't think you can get detail in a big room with big speakers. Granted it isn't row ten at symphony hall.... A self powered sub with good level and crossover is needed to get all music covered but even without the subwoofer. ...I just bask in the music....
I notice old A/D/S have quite a high following and resale on EBay. I always thought they sounded muddy. I have a suspicion a Thiel or Spica might beat Magnepans for me but those designers are close to my heart

Being in my fifth year as an audiophile and having owned 29 different speakers, I think a speaker that one would stick with for life is very unlikely. I will be getting my latest, BMC Arcadias shortly and will expect to spend many months optimizing them. I expect better bass extension and top to bottom linearity with these. I guess at some point any speaker becomes a keeper for the rest of your life.

I have had Quad esl 57's from my student days (1976). I loved them even with their shortcomings. Three years ago I decided that they were unlikely to last me the rest of my life, so I upgraded to the 2805 (I cannot accommodate the 2905): same thing, but clearly better. And still used with the original (but refurbished) Quad 33-303 amplifyer from 1970. I hope they will last me the rest of a long life with fine music. Recently I augmented the 2805's with a nice B&W PV1d sub, that I am still tinkering with to get the best sound (nearly there).
About twenty years ago I also bought a second set of speakers for use in my study, or on my sometimes extended stays abroad: a set of Rogers LS3/5a. They have more limitations, but they are superbly musical for what they have to do as desktop speakers. I hope these will last, but if not, I will get a set of small Harbeth's.

WillemJ- I have had my pair of ESLs since 1974, but they need to be restored. I will continue to use them, and will probably add a second pair to do a stacked array. I still have my Decca ribbon tweeters, which also need to be restored. And a pair of Crosby Quads, which do more and are easier to live with than the original ESL, but there is something just uncanny about the midrange of the original. Also have a vintage pair of Quad II amps which I will deploy at some point. The Quad is special, despite all of its obvious limitations.

Von Schweikert VR5 HSE's. After more than 40 years of this hobby (or mania, as they case may be), these are the most "liveable" speakers I have encountered. They do nothing wrong; nothing is missing or deficient; they are always consistent; and they look great too.

Neal

I've found a pair of speakers to hang on to for life. Daber Audio Monitor 2's. Where shall I begin,,,

The word AMAZING comes to mind. I had been warming them up for a couple of days, just pushing low volume current through them 24/7,getting them a little broken in and getting my new Rega stuff all good and warm (Rega Brio R and Rega Apollo R)

First cut: Adele's "Rolling in the the Deep". Soundstage was first thing i noticed, how the background vox were layered behind her lead Incredible!!!

Then the bass presence: obviously not thunderous but on that particular cut the depth and resonance is there while still being ultra-tight; palpable and fantastic. Hard to believe that kind of bass can come out of a monitor so small!

I've now changed to a small EL34 tube amp and they are even better. Amazing little speaker, and I see myself having them for life.

I believe this speaker is a world beater. They're obviously not for rockers, but they are precise, realistic beyond words, and incredibly articulate. I know of no speaker under $1k that can touch the Monitor 2, and very few under $2k. WOW WOW WOW!!!!"

I have a pair of Chairo Academy 2 speakers that I will never get rid of.
They are a monitor sized speaker, made of Solid Walnut and not a veneer.
Even tho these are not very big, the sound that they produce is very large with bass extension that would rival floor standing speakers.
They are also gorgeous!
If you ever come across these Italian speakers I would recommend you give them a serious listen.

Tbg,

Hi! Are those new speakers replacing your Tidals?

in my fifth year as an audiophile and having owned 29 different speakers

Wow! 29 speakers in Five years? That's like a different pair every other month, that's a lot of speakers. My wife thinks I am crazy because I changed speakers ever two years or so.

When you flip wives your behavior may be morally questionable but it's okay to get tired of your speakers! Ultimately you must look to music rather than equipment. In 1963 or so I attended one of AR's live versus recorded concerts using AR3 speakers. I could not tell the difference! Now if they had used a concert band instead of a lone guitarist it would have been easier, though AR could duplicate the trick with a string quartet. So get a well-restored pair of AR3s! Nah. Basically you can either go for a speaker that is 'transparent',lacks all the usual distoritions,or a speaker that favors the kind of music you like. No speaker is perfect; everything has a signature. A lot of people find good panel speakers (Quad, Magnepan) enjoyable over the long haul (especially in a long room!) Really good British boxes(Rogers, Spendor, Harbeth, certain KEFs and BWs) can be that way too. Big Infinities or Genesis can be nice if you still have hearing above 10Khz. But looking for a perfect speaker is misguided. The perfect speaker for your ears and your music will not be the perfect speaker for mine, and besides our tastes evolve. If I were a rich man I would have a harem (speakers, not wives!)

I just purchased a pair of Dahlquist D-10 with full upgrades by Regnar and also apair of Watkins. The watkins have trully amazed me. I was planning on selling one or the other and its hard, I believe Ill keep the watkins. Trully a excellent sounding sppeaker, just large in hieght and width.

Magneplanar and Apogee

I just heard a new set of 2Cs yesterday (through a Bryston b135sst) and fell in love.

My next, and final, speaker for sure.

The Gallo 3.5 is a keeper. It's a champion. The 3.1 isn't far off.

A speaker to hang for life is kind of hard if you have the funds to purchase something else, or until you are tired of hearing variations on the same theme. I just purchased a pair of Zu Essence and I am finding them a pleasureable compromise, and that is a pretty good thing to find in a universe of compromises. Of course, this being a universe of compromises, I am also keeping my more traditional speaker, Vienna Acoustics Strauss, for an occasion swap in and out. I think having these two nice 'compromises' will help me let go of the obsession to find more audio stuff. Time will tell the truth about this though:)

I'm absolutely thrilled with my Tyler Acoustics Taylo Reference speakers. I've owned a dozen pairs or more of high-end audiophile speakers, and none have pleased me like these have. I picked them up for $1600 used and couldn't be happier.

For the time being, we're really enjoying the Harbeth C7-ES3's. For life is a ling time, though these C7's are truly remarkable!

Von Schweikert VR-5 HSE. The only VS speaker my wife could live with in our living room. It makes no compromises compared to others on the 10-20k price range that I can think of.

Its really hard to say.. There are many depending on price range. I would go with Wilson Watt/Puppies especially newer versions or Wilson Sasha. Such a wide stage and clean balanced sound in every aspect. Will easily smoke B&W's, focals or any other brands in probably 30K price range when matched with good pre amp and amp.

"The best possible speakers to hang onto life" I believe this falls on the conundrum side of catch 22 situations. However if I were to try and accomplish this..... I think I would start with a custom built setup designed from scratch. Making sure to use all weather build materials and all weather drivers. Today's market has a plethora of those all weather, super high end drivers to chose from. Hey for the right price I might even be interested in building a set for you, now that I see the challenge ahead, it looks kinda interesting.

My little Linn Kans are still with me after literally dozens of different stand mount speakers. They just work in a small room close to the wall like no other speaker I have tried costing ten times the price of the Kans.

Well, it's going on 8 years since I bought a used pair of Dali Helicon 800s from this site, and they play everything I throw at them(from Adele to AC/DC and Metallica) so well, I won't even risk trying to better them. They were the buy of a lifetime for me. So as of now, they're with me till 'they' die or 'I' die. If they die first, I'll probably try to revive the old beauties, or hopefully find another pair. Even the cabinets are too beautiful to get rid of. They're going nowhere. I use my 2nd system to experiment with different speakers. :)