Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

Although I'm in the market for a significant speaker upgrade, I've been using a pair of the original Boston Acoustics A200, Andy Petite's first design after leaving Advent c1981 for nearly that long now. I've upgraded the caps in the crossover, bypassed the fuses, spiked the cabinets, and put in new woofers from BA a couple years ago when the old surrounds wore through. I liked them the first time I heard them and they've definitely stood the test of time for me, despite my electronics having improved a couple orders of magnitude.

I find the frequency balance ideal and the detail resolution to be surprisingly good, enough to discern all cables and electronics upstream. Their HF dispersion is near perfect. The biggest deficit is bass, the 10" acoustic suspension woofer not having nearly the articulation of more modern designs, and the fact they were designed to be against a wall for proper bass extension - much is lost when they're centered in the room. With their wide front baffles they also sound 'boxier' than the narrow-profile current spkrs, though this does make for a very stable soundstage, at least laterally.

In my recent quest for my next speaker, I am amazed how well these compare with anything under $3K. Of course, that makes it all that much harder (or pricier) to find a spkr that significantly improves on these in all areas...

Steveallen, I'm with you. Prices are down, technology has progressed, and anyone who comes into the game with the idea of hanging onto *anything* 'for life' is shutting him/herself off from the progress that's happening all the time.

That's not to say that you should not hang on to good stuff for a long time if you can't find anything that will beat it--but you should recognize that eventually something will.

I just recently purchased a pair of Goldmund Dialogues from an Audiogon ad. I had wanted them for many years and will no doubt keep them for many years. This is a timeless design first introduced in 1983 and discontinued sometime around 1990. Very fast, very articulate, accurate and musical.4 ohms and 96db efficiency make it very amp-friendly. Hard to find but well worth the search. I use mine with a Rowland Concentra for incredible results.

The Spendors LS3/5a or any of the LS3/5a variant would be for keeps.

The newer S3/5 or S3 is definitely worth considering as well.

There are some big league speakers in here, so I’m chiming in timidly. But, considering that I do not like stereo equipment which dominates a room, and knowing my listening rooms will always be on the smallish side regardless of where I live, my ProAc (this brand has come up a few times now) 2.5’s are definitely speakers that I know I will keep. In an absolutely stunning cut of yew, I consider these as good as it gets (or I ever care to get) in a two way.