Personal speaker evolution

Klipsch Forte (1986)New $800.00
Acoustat model Spectra 33 which were used with Kinergetics BSC SW200 Subwoofer system(1988)New $2000.00 and $1265.00
Theil 6(1999)New $8000.00

Pioneer P.O.S.'s Lasted through College
AR 201's My first job after College
Mirage M3si's My first big speaker Purchase
Aerial 8b's My Midlife crisis
ATC 100's My final nirvana....

1966 - AR 4x ($88/pair on sale at Allied)
1971 - QUAD ESL-57 ($520/pair)
1973 - QUAD ESL-57 ($630/pair, QUADs now stacked)
1978 - KEF 105 ($1700/pair)
1999 - Tyler Acoustics Taylo Reference System ($4650/pair with outboard crossovers on an Audiogon auction)

Jan

It was all over for me when I was just old enough(1966) to walk and found my older brothers big plastic "Close-and-Play", don't remember the brand, but it had Kate Smith's "God Bless America" in it. You want to talk about leaving a load in your diaper! This huge voice came out of this plastic contraption that made me freeze in my tracks. Bob ended up forking over the "Close-and-Play" to me just to get me out of his room. God knows how many records I ruined on that thing but it was the start of my musical life and my passion for speakers.

As a young boy I made dozens of homemade speakers with any working drivers I could find. All used in cardboard boxes that my father would provide as make-shift enclosures.

-1st actual pair of speakers, my German neighbors pair of large Telefunken's which were warm and pleasant to listen to not to mention they were Free!

1-DCM Timewindows
2-AR? Towers from Sam Goody's, multiway w/dome mids & tweeters and a couple of woofers, one of which was slot loaded at the bottom.
3-Jr. High & Sr. High Woodshop / years worth of homemade stuff.
4-B.I.C. Venturi/ I forget the model but the sounded nice!
5-ADS L series / 3 way with dome mid & high.
6-Snell EII..$1100
7-Snell CV...$2500
8-Polk SDA-SRS..$1/2 price as a salesman / Drunk days when louder souded better?
9-KEF 104.2...$1/2 price as a salesman
10-KEF 105.3..$1/2 price as a salesman
11-Thiel CS3.6 ..$4200 Still have.
12-Wilson Watt/Puppy 3.2 ..$12,000
13-Wilson WITT.....$8888 I must have lost my wits when I bought these.
14-Martin Logan CLS IIZ $1800(used) could not dial them into my room?
15-B&W 801 SeriesII ..$5500
16-Paragon Regents $1300(used) Still have.
17-Ariel 10T .....$4000 Demo
18-JM Labs Electra 920.1 ...$5000 Still have

I've lost my timeline on some early stuff and misssed a few junkers that disgraced my parents home but I attribute this to my dazed and confused teen and 20's years when I played in a band and lived that life. Somewhere between #3 and #11 I found the Big Bambo inside the Cheech & Chong album and don't recall several years! Houston, The eagle has finally landed.

Of course I started with Spica TC-50 like any college kids who just got into stereo. Here is the long list of my speaker evolution:

Spica TC-50
KEF Reference 3
Sonus Faber Electa Amator I
Merlin VSM III
Genesis V
Sonus Faber Extrema
Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy 5.1
Dynaudio Confidence 5
Acoustic Energy AE1 Signature
Dynaudio Confidence 5
B&W 802 Nautilus
Sonus Faber Cremona
Dynaudio Confidence 5

The reason there are so many Dynaudio Confidence 5 in the list is I kept going back to them. I wanted to try something different, but I could not find anything better sounding, period! Not the big Revel, ProAc, Martin Logan, Dunlavy, or Aerial. Nothing. Not even the Temptation. C5 has that charming midrange I have not heard on any other speakers on earth. So why did I want to sell them? They are hard to drive and I miss tubes. But if you are a solid state guy, you owe it to yourself for not trying the C5.