Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

My Polk Audio LSi-9's (say wah??!)

Why? Simple.. sentimental value. The fact that they don't sound bad is merely a bonus.

May I vote for Volti Audio VoltiScalas again? If not, then thank you.

I agree with Muralman1. Certainly improvements in loudspeaker performance can/does occur over time. The appreciation and accumulation of audio components is relative and individual. I have heard the Apogee Scintilla and WOW they are as Muralman1 says. I could not afford them so I bought Thiel CS 2's in 1986 for a sum even then which seemed an amount I could live with: $1500. The Thiels will eventually be passed on to one of my son's, never sold while I live. The relativity of all this is if one has the discretionary income, one can upgrade at will like anything else.

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.