Anything more resolving than 65 year-old speakers?


As I’m listening to some Raal headphones - the most resolving cans I’ve ever heard - I can’t help but be reminded of Quad ESL 57’s. More than any other speaker I’ve heard at shows or in homes, they had resolution without harshness. Maybe the Sanders 10e comes close, but is much more expensive. Maybe Bohlender Rd75’s come close for transparency, but are still not quite there.

Am I missing something or have we really not progressed in terms of resolution in 65 years, at least from the greats? If you’ve got something super-resolving (but not harsh) that you prefer to Quads with a sub, please speak up!

angaria2

Brings to mind the fact that sand amps and push-pull tube amps suffer from odd order harmonics. I have totally eliminated that from my life for a couple of years now and if I ever hear any TV or stereo of that degraded nature, I immediately notice how unnatural it sounds, which, of course for classical music is an absolute disaster. 

I have a pair of Altec Lansing 604Cs. 
The serial number dates them at 1956, two years younger than me. 

To paraphrase a famous Beatles song:

604Cs are good to me, you know
They make me happy as can be, you know
I say so
I'm in love with them and I feel fine.

 

Honest to gosh, I have tried to find something better than my ancient Quad ESL-57s but have failed. The Quads aren’t perfect, but all other speakers are less so. After running them for years with Quad electronics, finally upgraded with an Audio Note Cobra. I listen only to CDs on a Jolida JD100 and use the onboard Cobra DAC. All this for less than $10K. have never heard a finer sounding system, no matter what the cost.