Whats your speaker Journey??

My journey started back then with a pair of Mission bookshelf for one lazy summer. Can't even remember what was its name but must have a cute sound as my friend like it so much he bought it from me. Unattached I played the field and found her.

Ruark Templer (Mk1). What a sultry fox. 11 years later still can't think of anything more seductive to listen to every morning. Not for sale.

Good as the Ruarks are they can't really recreate that fullness of a live symphony like the RSNO concerts in the evening. So I bought in all probability the last pair of Linn Tukan still available in Glasgow. Intention was to turn then into active monitors later. Nonetheless, they got put them back in the box within a few weeks as perfect time capsule. Reason....

AVI Pronines + Rel sub. These are something else.

I feel blissfully contented 5 years on, apart from the occasional upgraditis itch. Maybe will consider a better sub or the Quad ESL in the future.

 

I started with Kef Carina 2s as a student.
Got nicked, so onto a pair of Gale 301, then upgraded to Gale 401s..
They got nicked, so in came a pair of Kef 104/2s.
Which got nicked, and replaced by a pair of Richard Allen RA1s with bass amp sub consisting of a Marshall 2x300w bass head into EV 2x15" cab.
The RA1s were replaced with an aged pair of Kef Chorales, and a pair of Kef Cadenzas in a Hafler network, plus the Marshall "sub" (scary bass, not right for a 1st floor flat in London!).
Then came a pair of Ditton 66/2s - haven't found anything to replace them with yet, they'll have to be darned good if they're to better the big Dittons!

 

Started with wharfedale linton?
since run main and 2nd systems with lots of swopping around, variety of stands etc.
AR 18
TDL RTL1
Mission 760i
Castle Severn
KEF Ref (2nd)
AE Aegis Compact (sneaked into boudoir)
Audionote AN E Lx (main)
very happy with Es maybe get them silver wired in the far distant future

 

OK .. let me see:

Sony ?s which came with Sony turntable/amp
Wharfdale teesdales
Wharfdale dovedales - pretty good considering..
Some JBLs - I don't recall the model - good, punchy bass
Castle pembroke
Mission 751
Castle Severn 2s
Quad ESL 57s
Dynaudio Foccus - Kimber wired, Hovland Musicaps

Next - RA Quaves I think

Neil

 

epos ES11
Heybrook HB1
Tannoy 611
Acoustic Energy AE1
Ruark Talisman II
Spendor something or others
Cadence Diva
Living Voice Avatar
Lowther Acoustas (on temporary loan)
Altec Valencia (current)

memories

 

Started with Mordaunt short satndmounts in 1978, can't recall the model. These were nice but a bit bland, so I swapped them for
Proac Studio 100 (I think), also standmounts and far more lively and precise.
After a while I was increasingly getting into valves, and ended up with
Impulse H2 horn speakers. These were serial nomber 004, very early release, but really involving and big in sound. Bass was a little wooly however.
Then I got into AV coutesy of the wife, and kept the Impulses, whilst buying Mission floorstanders (752?) and standmounts for rear.
A move into London necessitated combining the two systems and losing the Impulses, which are simply too large.
For a number of years I listened to far less music. It just sounded flat through the Missions.
Then bought a pair of Living Voice Auditoriums. Much much better, with good tonal balance, and an engaging sound. Also much tighter bass. However the Arcam 10/Dave still robbed the sound of immediacy.
When I upgraded that to a Proceed, music came back into my life in a big way.
This prompted me to my recent upgrade to Living Voice Avatar IBX, similar to OBX, but with internal crossover. This has taken things to a new level, with great detail, soundstage and better bottom end.
Happy?
I think so for the moment.
I never believed I would get an integrtated hi-fi/AV setup to work so well

 

Started with Celestion Ditton 100, foolishly I beleived the man in the shop when he said they were better than AR18's
Replaced with Monitor Audio R100s (I think) these were a vast improvement until they were replaced with
Kef K120s, a big bigger did better bass and stayed for a good few years having been temporarily replaced by some Meridian active thingymebubs which I had for a couple of months but were deemed domestically unacceptable, so back came the KEFS until they were replaced by
Rega Elas which did service during my flat earth phase, on returning from the DarkSide in came
TLC Classic 1's big brutish floorstanders from Poland which were very nice and performed superbly until a house move; meant they produced too much bass for the room. So now I have
Celestion Kingstons which currently seem to suit me to a T, they still look the mutts even though they're 10 years old, image superbly and do bass well enough for type of music I listen to.

 

First proper hifi speakers were Wharfedale Diamond 8.2's. Not bad i thought, but not my cup of tea... still compared with the minisystem speakers I'd heard in the past, they obviously rated quite well. However for my tastes, too laid back in the mids and treble when played quiet, and too shouty when loud. Bass was thuddy and boxy sounding.

Then it was the Mission M51's, which were the winners to my ears out of those, the Diamonds, B&W 602S3, Quad 11L and KEF Q1. The closest to those was the B&W's, but to my ears, they were clearly better than the rest, however, they could not even think about living with my next speakers....

The Rega Ela's. I still think these are AWESOME speakers regardless of price. These completely blew away the Missions, with their fast, detailed and sweet sound, and the kind of openness the Missions could only dream about. Slightly bass light, but overall that suited me because of their excellent speed and rythym in the bass regions. Unfortunately, me moving out from the parents meant they had to go

Their replacements, once I decided I could fit speakers (albeit small ones) in my new room is the Tannoy Profile 631 SE (for sale, BTW ). To be honest, I'd rather refrain from being too judgemental on these since I've never really got them positioned properly, but based on what I have heard, these are quite warm, sweet sounding speakers which have quite a full bodied sound for their price. However, they are not suitable for my room, which leads me to the latest pair of speakers, which I have not received yet.... Rega Kytes! I am hoping that these give me what I miss so dearly in the Ela's....

 

Allright, here's my goal for the world record speaker switching...

Started in 1986/97

Vifa Korrekt 3.0 (DIY)
B&W DM640
Magnepan SMGA
Audiostatic ES200r (Dutch electrostatic)
Acoustic Energy AE1
Mission 760
Mission 780
Translator Jade
Royd A7
Monitor Audio MA1
B&W 302
Lambda Granat
Monitor Audio Studio-2
Sonus Faber Concertino (home)
Linn Kan (mk1)
Linn Kan (mk2)
Diapason Micra MK3

result....lost a lot of money, and ended up buying an appartment about 7 years ago, with a horrible living-room acoustic, so..it still sounds shite.

I love my current Diapasons. Have 'em for about 3,5 years now, which is a personal record :MILD:
It's just that me room acoustics isn't doing them justice.

It's so frustrating that I'm even considering selling my appartment, and move...

regards,
Alco

 

Hum,

Here goes, from 1986<>1999 Kef ref something or other with that awful isobaric driver array, I thought they were the biz, how sad and for 13 years too oh well, than was then.
Coda 7's
Q15's
Q35's
Q55's
Atc active 50's
Tannoy dimension 8's
PMC all upto the IB2's
Neat Acoustic Vito/Petite
Quad 989's
Impulse h2's?
Zingarlia stand mounts (entertaining)
JM Labs 710/905/mini utopia's (yawn mode)
Revel F20's cracking speaker
Monitor Audio Gold Ref 20's
Monitor Audio Gold Ref 60's
Meadowlark Kestral hot rods
Meadowlark Heron i's
Meadowlark Shearwater hot hods
Meadowlark Blue Heron 2's
Meadowlark Ospreys
Meadowlarks Simply the musically coherent speakers I have heard to date.
I'm sure they are more, however the grey matter is flagging this afternoon. Wm

 

1st were a pair of (badged as) marantz 2 way bookshelves. i thought they were great.

temporarily a pair of kef coda 7's. these were destined to be my rear speakers, but i used them for a while as the main pair, waiting for my main system order to come together, which included ...

B&W 603's now residing in my friend's lounge. they were big (to me) with a funky yellow driver, and i thought they sounded brilliant.

next came pmc fb1's. sounded so very flat immediately following the b&w's. maybe they weren't fully run in ? these were great speakers, huge step up in sound quality. much better voiced.

and now, meadowlark hotrod shearwaters. i thought i'd made a terrible mistake picking up this bargain pair. again i suspect not run in, fellow m'lark owners know they take forever. wonderful speakers, the best i've owned.

also owned: mission 731i's, my rear speakers, and indigo monitor 1's, now in my 2nd system.

highest figure paid for a pair of speakers = £725 (if memory serves, and that's not the 'larks).

 

well not TOO many myself...

acoustic research AR20's: started with an old pair of thses that i got off my uncle but the foam surround sound deteriorated and they became useless...

Tangent Monitor 2's i got these for £30 from a local hi-fi store and they were competition for the likes of JPW mini monitors etc.. very small bookshelf speakers but half way respectable sound for £30 i was only 15 at the time though

Tangent monitor 9's.... my first REAL speakers... a nice pair of £150 five star floorstanders... generally well reviewed and with a nice clean bright sound... they had their flaws.. but it was a lot of speaker for £150.

B&W P5's..... well a slight upgrade here... from £150 to £875 speakers... and what a change... more refinement... more bass depth and better control.. but i found the B&W midrange somewhat tiring and bass a little loose.

Epos ES22's.... well.... this was only last year.. and WOW.. what a pair of speakers... loved them.. clarity.. timing.. precision.. imaging and punch.. the whole lot... i felt no compulsion to change them whatsoever.. were it not for the next and latest upgrade...

Epos ES30's..... everything the 22's were... but more scale... bass... and slightly warmer midrange balance. Stunning speakers and i love em

 

My Array Of Speakers Through The Ages Are:

Mordent Short - 1987

Musical Fidelity – I don't know which modal they where – Bought around 1988

Mission 780 – 1990 – I was well impressed with these little beauties

Monitor Audio 703 PMC – 1996 – When I first heard these I thought they where the dog's b*****, until I compared them to my next item.

Monitor Audio Studio 20 se – 1999 – First Class sound and a First Class build. I should never have sold them.

Spendor S8 – 2003 – What a load of toss. What the **** I was thinking when I listened to these is beyond me. SHITE SHITE SHITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

B&W 805 Signatures – 2003 – God how I had always loathed B&W speakers, until I heard these. WOW, I was sold after the first track I listened to. I gave them a thrashing @ home and the where fabulous on the end of my Tagmclaren & Belcanto Power amp.

@ The MOment I have no desires to change them as the sound wonderful and I still get a thrill from look @ them. I have the enviable Red Eye finish. :respect: :respect: :respect: :respect:

 

Some old sonab (omni directional) jobbies when i was about ten. Needed re-coning by the time i got them.

Celestion SL6- Never really liked these all that much, probably needed more power than i had a t the time, a bit dull too.

Mission 760I-Used really love these, they are what started it for me.

Acoustic energy AE109-Still have these, sounded much better than b&w 602's to me at the time. Amazing wallop with some finesse. Now used for AV.

Rogers Ls55-bought cheap for a school project, never really took to these.

ProAc Tablette III- Very sweet sounding, loved these too, but the 4 and a half inch driver was just never going to be enough. added MJA pro 50 sub, which improoved matter, but too much fiddling!


Currently;

PMC GB1- Absolutely superb for me, they work well in my small room and good alrounders with surprisingly deep punchy bass. Very musical to me, wont change these anytime soon.

Also; Ditton 44's bought for £15, great for parties etc

and Mission 762i-Good, entertaining sound in my second system

 

long road

I have the same medical condition as some others here of never being happy with a set of speakers and changing them all the time. However I have slowed down a bit as the years have gone on, and at the moment am quite happy with the speakers I have now, which happen to be one of the smallest speakers I have ever owned, Proac tablets, which are excellent.

heres the story......


I can even remember all the ones ive actually owned but off the top of my
head but here goes. I have also done quite well with other hifi bits but the
speakers are the ones I have definitely had the most of. these are not
including the speakers and subs that I have had off various midi systems and
hifis including technics and pioneer etc. the speakers in no particular order:-



Epos es11 ( i had two different sets)
epos els3
Jamo D265
Jamo D3s
Wharfdale CRS9s I think that's the number these were big floorstanders with
big bass driver.
Ruark sceptre
tannoy 631se ( two sets over the years)
tannoy m1
tannoy R1
Monitor Audio PMC700
sony brooklands speakers but the small standmount version cant remember the
number.
B&W P4s
b&w601
B&W 601 s3
kef coda 8s
studio power ls50 I think thats the number (non metal drivers)
acoustic energy AE100s
AE109s
AE1s
Mission 733is
mission 732i
mission 753 orignal version
various warfdale older speakers
Leak Sandwich ( cant remember model number)
mordaunt short ms 10is
studio power mc100
proac tablets
epos es15s
bbcmonitors

info on some of the ones ive had,

goodmans bbc monitors i can remember the model number, ( these were very
good actualy i paid around £40 for them at the time, i though they were good
aswell but i was young, anyway i saw a set of these go on ebay the other day
which were wrecked and had non original tweeters and they sold for £160 they
didnt even look like they would function, i think i sold mine for about £20
they were mint.)

Acoustic Energy AE1s original versions ( i bought them cheap but i sold
these for around £200 with dedicated AE column stands, this was before the
days of ebay) the stands cost about £350 on their own, ive lost some money
over the years. and my mrs is still with me she must love me. Funny enough
they have re release these speakers and a now selling them for £700 maybe
more for the same ones, listened to them in the Bristol hifi show, with naim
equipment which I thought sounded absolutely terrible, it may have been the
CDs mind. Naim equipment can make things sound terrible but then I lisened
to a set of dynaudio with the same equpment in a differnt room which were
amazing. and i was going to buy a set of those dyn40s but they sound rubbish
in the shop small and compressed. put me off Dyn a bit.)

anyway not bad, i may have missed some key ones but thats of the top of my
head.


You want me to pick a winner now, well i couldnt. They all do things
differently some are breathtaking in some ways and then rubish in others,
its a lot to do with what your feeding them too. i can honestly say that i
can find faults in all of them. but i would say thats epos speakers with the
right equipment mind, can be outstanding i think. not the new ones either
these are rubish, the old epos are very highly respected in the hifi world among
serious hifi buffs and alot of knowledgeable dealers even if they dont sell
them, they get better and better the more you spend on amps etc, some people
run them with very expensive amps and CDs and wouldnt change them. the Ruark
sceprtre is another great speaker a really good all rounder, when i had
these i hung on the them for ages maybe the longest ive had a single speaker
in my rooms. b&w P4 were good too especailly linked up to some cyrus
amplification and CD but they needed a lot of room to breathe. I could go on
and on highlighting different speakers but it would be a long read.

The proac tablets I have here now are outstanding speakers, probalby inch for inch about the best in all aspects, You can see this mind by the resale second hand values of these speakers on ebay or from traders, I can see these tablets beng with me for a long time. I have 15watts of valve amp on them and they are magical.

Sorry for the long message but, ive got a lot to say when it comes to
speakers.

plans for the future , hopefully none but i cant see that. Poss a pair of proac floorstanders if I get the room.


love to hear you coments on what you think is the ultimate speakers pound for pound, I might have heared better speakers which cost silly money but im sticking with the proac tablets. they are tiny work great in small rooms, (which most people have) they may not be very cheap but they are excellent sound quality and let you listen to and enjoy the music and sound very realistic with the right amp.

 

A long and tortuous journey
1972 - EMI things and I thought the world of them
1975 Leak 2060 excellent but let down with the amp I had at the time. During the 70s speakers were far better than the amps.
1978 JR 150s - lovely speakers, now a classic but again let down with the amp I chose.
1988 sold out to cheap cd compact and moved to Australia
1995 VAF DC7s a South Australian design - BAss reflex, Vifa tweeter, very slim, floor stander and a lovely sweet sounding speaker. Not great for the volume but quiet bass is very musical. Has a top end to die for.
2002 Back to the UK
2002 Acoustic Energy 103s I think - Big heavy things - sound pathetic - the worst loudspeaker ever
2005 Elac 310's - these are lovely, again with the right amp. ALthough they are very small they need a lot of watts and a big room.
2007 - just got a pair of Quad ESL 63's - One was damaged in transit so when I have one of the panels repaired I hope its another step nearer audio nervana.

 

And 2 years on you're now selling them I believe?

 

Chartwell PM110
Chartwell PM210
Heybrook HB2
Linn Sara
Mission 770
Celestion SL6
Mission/Cyrus 780
Mission 751
Epos ES14
Monitor Audio MA850
TDL Studio 1
Rega Ela
Linn Kan
Naim IBL
Naim SBL
Grave Koronglay (Lowther)
Impulse H2

There are a few more that were quick 'in and out' jobs

 

Leak Sandwich 15 Ohm - big and cheap from a car boot, I liked them.
Celestion F1 - bookshelf - OK for the price (£75-odd at Richer sounds).
Monitor Audio Bronze 3 - floor stander, sounded flat and unexciting to me.
Tannoy Oxford T125 - non-dc, big warm sound, pissed on the MA's and they only cost me £20.
Rogers Studio 1 - lovely, should have kept them as spare, in fact I agonised over keeping them or the Devons for about 9 months.
Tannoy Devons - 'bookshelf' Tannoys with 12" HPD's. You'd need a strong shelf, I put mine on stands!
Tannoy Chatsworth - retro-fitted with 10" Reds, great mids and highs but no bottom end.
Tannoy Little Red Monitors - SRM12b's, nice.
Tannoy Cheviots - Floorstanding 12" HPD's, beautiful, better than the LRM's IMO.
Tannoy Lancasters with 12" Golds - ace, now in DIY cabs, keepers.
Kef 104ab - my first dabble with downsizing, OK but 10 secs told me that they weren't in the same league as the Tannoys.
Rogers ls3/5a - my second dabble with downsizing, really liked them but couldn't live with the lack of bass.
Have a pair of £10 Kef Cadenzas at my workshop.

Also had some of these at some point or other: B&W DM220's, Tannoy Bradleys, Tannoy DC200's, another pair of Tannoy Devons, Kef Chorales, some Richard Allan bookshelf speakers, Wharfedale Rosedales, and probably some more that I've forgotten!

I love buying speakers

 

Holy Thread Revival Batman!

I finally moved on from the Kestrel Hotrods...

Now on a pair of Kestrel 2s.