Speakers 10 years old or older that can compete with todays best,


I attend High End Audio Shows whenever I get a chance.  I also regularly visit several of my local High End Audio parlors, so I get to hear quite a few different speaker brands all the time.  And these speakers are also at various price points. Of course, the new speakers with their current technology sound totally incredible. However, I strongly feel that my beloved Revel Salon 2 speakers, which have been around for over ten years, still sound just as good or even better than the vast majority of the newer speakers that I get a chance to hear or audition in todays market.  And that goes for speakers at, or well above the Salon 2s price point. I feel that my Revel Salon 2 speakers (especially for the money) are so incredibly outstanding compared to the current speaker offerings of today, that I will probably never part with them. Are there others who feel that your beloved older speakers compare favorably with todays, newfangled, shinny-penny, obscenely expensive models?

kennymacc

My 32 year old Apogee Duetta Signature ribbons still blow me away every day.

I used to own Apogee. They were exceptionally great sounding speakers for the money… very worthy of much higher quality inputs than many speakers. While I don’t regret getting rid of them, they were exceptional. The baby grand and grand… even more so.

I have Revel Studio 2‘s with a pair of Rythmik subwoofers as my 2-channel and it’s hard to part with them. I had a recent situation that caused me to realize that money matters in sound, but at a certain point, for me it doesn’t matter enough to pay substantially more.
 

I was at our local high end audio store recently and he loaded up what he said was the best system he had at the moment, in slightly used equipment.. The speakers were Spendor Classic 200Tis, amp: darTZeel NHB-108 Model 2, preamp:darTZeel NHB-18NS, and a suite of Merging Technologies +NADAC,clock u, plus,Merging Technologies +NADAC /+POWER MkII…cables etc.

it was extraordinary. I felt lucky to listen and enjoy it all. When I got home and listened to the same material on my system it was very enjoyable, certainly a bit less detailed soundstage and imaging.  However, I felt like the Revels and rythmik subwoofers were hard to argue as comparable quality, not same quality, but a heck of a value set up, for a used price of roughly $11k.

A well set up pair of Altec Valencia's.....with Great Plains Audio crossovers.... not to shaby even by today's comparable offerings.