Your greatest high end audio purchase!!!

I bought two components in the early 1980s with sonic signatures that matched quite well my listening biases/preferences:

- a pair of Spica TC-50 speakers

- a counterpoint sa-7 preamp

These two components, combined with various front ends and amps, made me happy for 15 years or so. Then the upgrade bug bit and lots of speakers and pres have come and gone. Interestingly, I’ve tended over the years toward designs and sonics similar to those of these two early “audiophile” purchases. Was I lucky or conditioned? Does it matter?

In 2006 I got a chance to visit Siegfried Linkwitz at his home to hear his Orion loudspeakers and fell in love. Because I lived in a Craftsman bungalow at the time, I had a local cabinet maker do a custom build of the Orions in a Mission style, instead of the stock Danish Modern look. A couple years later I upgraded the build from version 3.1 to 3.3 with the addition of rear firing SEAS Millennium tweeters.

I’ve heard the LX521, which is a wonderful loudspeaker. Were I looking to do something new, they would be a serious consideration. But every time I fire up my Orions, I fall in love again. Voices and acoustic instruments just sound glorious to my ear.

Last year we moved to our current home on Hawaii Island, which was more than twice the size of our old bungalow. It has a "great room" which is enormous:

42’ long x 36’ wide x12’ ceilings

It encompasses the living and dining rooms, as well as the kitchen. I love to cook and the stove top faces directly across from the loudspeakers, so I get to do two of my favorite things at the same time. Dinner prep is prime listening time too.

The Orions have enormous dynamic range, and even in this room, are never strained. I recently cranked up Beethoven’s 9th, at full concert level of 109 db and the system was never strained. This is my "forever" loudspeaker system.

...hasn't happened yet?

It’s a tie for me: My PAP Trio15 Horn1 speakers with my Whammerdyne DGA1 amp (4.3 glorious 2A3 watts of sonic beauty).

Nice thread.

I bought some used Shure KSE1500 IEM electrostatics, a few years back.  They have a decent DAC built into the eStat amplifier provided that can be bypassed when listening via the line out (2.5mm single ended) output, if you have a DAC you want to utilize already.  The DAC kicks in when listening via the USB port to your computer, or phone, and the amp can be charged off your computer USB port while in use.  They're in-ears, and provide something like 30dB isolation, I can attest they do a great job isolating outside sound, which helps blacken the background quite a lot when listening.  They're fairly durable, not a delicate hi-fi item, which i value. Also, they're not going to bother anyone in your office, as open-backs or even some close backs would. also great in church or funerals :)

Some users say they lack bass, but they don't (frequency response digs down to ~10Hz), you can clearly hear/feel that sub bass on electronic music with bass information that deep, its all there.  Rather they lack "slam" other headphones/IEMS may have. I would just call the bass quality fast and accurate, and extremely detailed, as are the mids and highs. I listen to everything (acoustic jazz to classical to rock, death metal and rap, some audiophile recordings)... The KSE1500's compliment everything i listen to through them.  I'm sure there are  headphones that sound better, but not at this price range. They reveal everything that was intended by the recording, the most dense mixing/mastering all of a sudden, you just "get it." Doesn't matter if it's heavily produced or the most bare bones audiophile touch . They make everything sound great.

Cons:
Some folks don't like IEMS, or do not like listening through headphones at all.

The amp that comes with the IEMS can be cumbersome when trying to use them in a portable situation.

These (and possibly all Electrostats in general?) sound most engaging at higher volume, past comfortable listening levels. Maybe that just my opinion...

Shure KSE1500's can be had new $3,500, or can be found used around $1,000-$1,500. They also make a KSE1200 that is the same setup, without the onboard DAC. Some prefer those if they already have a high end DAC as part of their existing system.

Highly recommended. Happy New Year all.