Seasoned ears only

I dunno, Quad and VR4 in the same sentence ...... There was nothing Iconic about the VR4 IMO , Quads .. Yes !

regards,

Plato ,

Your Analog setup looks serious ..........

I think the experience you report is fairly typical and fairly understandable, when you think about it. The first time a speaker blows us away (for whatever reason), it's probably a quantum leap over the dreck we were used to listening to. Then, as you stay in the hobby, you get used to listening to better and better gear and the new things you hear are more incremental than monumental improvements, more evolutionary than revolutionary to your ears.

That being said, a speaker like the Vandy 7, properly set up and with good source and amplification, still still make these jaded ears take notice.

And, no, I am not affiliated with Vandersteen, though I do own some of their speakers (though unfortunately not the 7s!).

Weseixas, Albert's VR-4 not an icon?? Where you been man? What else could you buy in 1999 for under 5K that could cover 20khz down to a true rock-solid and FLAT 20hz? No listener fatigue, all hand-made in San Francisco; the only knock on those things is their size and heft, at 150 lbs. each. No Quad ESLs, for sure, but IMHO difinately an icon. The Yammies too; what awesome mids and highs, if a bit bright. Thanks for your thoughts. I think nostalgia is the very daunting problem...

I agree completely on the Yammies. I've got two pair, and still feel they are better than almost everything else I've compared them to over the widest spectrum of music over many years.

Here I am, about to buy a pair of Sonus Faber Guaneri Homages this weekend to replace my B&W 805s that I use as small remotes to match my Yammy mains, and wondering why I'm preparing to spend the money.

Must be the looks of the Guaneris, I suppose.

If the Yammies looked like that, they would probably have dominated the speaker market Microsoft-style for a generation.

I only once heard original Quad ESL's, in a shop. That was the first time I was blown away by speakers after buying my first Yammies many years ago. They completely changed my idea of what audio was "supposed to" sound like. It was as if all of my life I had been inside a room, looking at paintings on the walls, thinking they were windows looking out into the real world. Then one day someone put a photo on the wall, shocking me with detail seen for the first time ever, changing my perception of everything, but the photo was in black-and-white.

Too bad there is no way to fit those ESLs in my odd-shaped ancient house. I'd love to have those in one room and my Yammies in another.