Whats your speaker Journey??

Kef coda 8
Dynaudio 1.3mk 2
Dynaudio 53se
Kef coda 7
Naim sbl
Epos es 11
Mk2 Linn kan + Rel strata 5 subwoofer
Tannoy DMT 10"

 

AR 18s 1982-86 Grrrrrreat! Let's see how loud these will go....

Rogers LS 7s 1986-98 BBC-style standmount domestic monitor-type thing. Smooth & very nice midrange, but one-note bass, and limited LF extension. Lost interest in hi-fi early 90s as two sons appeared, rather rapidly, on the scene.

EPOS ES 22s 1998-2002 Great floorstanding speakers, with excellent midrange and much better bass than the Rogers. Worked well with NAP 250 & 135s.

ATC SCM 100A SL 2002-2007 Picked these up s/h, old-style tweeters and baffles, but SL, so not too shabby. Sublime and justly famous midrange. Bass wonderful. Buzzing sound from one amp pack led to total overhaul courtesy of ATC in 2007, with amp pack problem sorted out, all electronics checked over (piffling cost), and upgrade (£1200 for the new tweeters & baffles, IIRC) to current-spec :

ATC SCM 100A SL Pro 2007- Awesome speakers, the ATCs still by far the best I've heard, and the same goes for the 50s and 150s. They play everything brilliantly, very neutral & transparent with no obvious "sonic signature". Flawless, IMO. Will play very loud without distortion or compression if that's your idea of fun. My favourite hi-fi component.

 

KEF Concerto 1's - very polite elegant floorstander, not a bass monster, very nice mid range. Cheap as chips. My Musical Fidelity kit days...

JBL Ti2k's A Ferrari red stand mount with dedicated stands, curved MDF boat hull shapes. Bit of a thug really, very punchy bass and treble that would frighten a bat. Got a lot of complaints off the neighbours, which oddly I haven't had with successive floorstanders. Bit speakery in sound rather than just music.

Horning Agathons
These were believed to be one of Tommy's prototypes. Weighed an absolute ton, heaved these up four flights of stairs with the girlfriend. Glorious lowther DX3 and DX4 mid and lotus treble, but bass (for me) had to be augmented with a sub woofer. The final Horning designs feature Beyma rear firing woofers. Got the quirky speaker bug...

Quad ESL57's and Townshend supertweeters, a match made in heaven, but about the same time I switched my amplification from pre and monoblocs to SET 300b's which coughed and wheezed at this load. Grrr - Wish I'd kept my old amps rather than trying a downsize/financial re-group.

Horning Ones: I got these off a mate in the trade, but again these were made as a bit of a test by Tommy to someone elses design for REL studio's in France. Someone had messed about with the crossovers. So after a 50% refund off my mate I moved them on for the other half of what I paid. Used PM2C Lowthers and Lotus tweeters. They were probably worth a grand in drivers alone! Totally cocked up though internally despite lovely cabinets. Still sounded better than most even in poorly form!

Posselt Albatross
Lovely slender tapered piano black quarter pipe things with bass reflex and very high quality drivers from Morel and SEAS stood on integrated marble bases. Just lacked the last amount of integration between drivers in my opinion, and lacked lower bass. Utterly superb on voice and piano though. Great wide imaging. Lovely looking too.

Tannoy Chatsworth 12" monitor golds from 1974!. I think the journey ends, these love my weedy 300b amp! Very good, don't even need the treble upgrading, terrific midrange and old school looks. Imagine the Queen Mum with a gin in her hand with a pair of these listening to Led Zep. Not too bassy so suits my small flat.

 

Yamaha Started off when I left home with some Yamaha standmounts in student flats. Can't recall the exact model, but I've still got the Atacama stands! They had a quick and detailed sound, and were quite well suited to micro-accommodation.

Castle Chester Around the time of my first job, I got rid of the Yamahas and got Castle Chester floorstanders. Generally competent in all areas, outstanding in none.

Avantgarde Duo When I sold my first house, I used a chunk of the equity to get these babies. They're still with me many years on and I've absolutely no intention of getting rid. Best I've ever heard, bar the Trios, in any setting.

 

Meridian M3's M2's M10's kept the M10's for twenty years then made the fatal mistake of just putting my head around the door of a hi-fi shop! B&W 802's 800d's then I heard the Cessaro Alphas and the B&W's had to go. I have a pair of the smaller Affascinate horns and a pair of Alpha's, I may just be able to fit the Cessaro Beta's into my room!

 

I started off with a pair of Pioneer bookshelf 'speakers my parents were no longer using (along with the rest of the Pioneer system they'd got before I was born). I eventually replaced these with a pair of B&W 602s2. Much more refined than the Pio's and really came to life when I stuck a Rega Cursa/Maia combo up them.

The B&W's were relegated by Klipsch Heresy IIs - a little unruly but huge fun with explosive dynamics. I later added a Velodyne DD15 to properly fill out the lower end. Subtlety was added to their repertoire when the Rega amps were replaced by a Manley Stingray last year.

Last month I scratched an itch with a pair of Tannoy DMT 15 II. Brilliant! Still surprised each time I listen at how coherent, dynamic, tonally accurate and generally excellent they are. Not sure that I'll need to move on from here. Just got to work out what to do with the B&Ws in the wardrobe and Klipsch' in the spare room.

Stuart.

 

As a boy I built a mono corner enclosure with a Wharfedale 8 RS DD (Not the Super 8 RS DD - that had a bigger magnet which I could not afford.)

As an impecunious student I built a pair of three way floorstanders from a Wharfedale kit. (Goodmans Amp)

In 1977 I had some money and bought Tannoy Cheviots (Dual Concentrics) (Sugden A48 Amp)

In 1988 I bought a pair of MB Quart 980s German Tower loudspeakers. I am listening to them now. (Quad 405-2 completely refurbished by 405man)

I bought them tax free while stationed in Germany - in UK they were trying to sell them for the same price as the (then) new Quad Electrostatics, although I paid half that price. From time to time I listen to current equivalent loudspeakers, and decide to stick with what I have.

There is another member of this forum who has a pair and is of the same opinion.


(In the study, attached to the PC and driven by a spare Quad Amp, I have pair of Goodmans Maxims I bought years ago second hand.)

 

Initially,

Mission 773 they had 5* review in What HiFi - and for that reason I bought them. And they were good.

Then ATC20 passive. Fantastical speakers.

ATC10 Active. Good deatil but not as meaty as the 20 passives.

ATC50 Active. Not going anywhere else soon. Wife hates them, but she knows if it were them or her...

 

Since 1980 to date:
B&O S25
B&O S50
B&W DM110
B&W DM90
B&W V3
B&W DM602
Mission 706iSE
ProAc Tablette 50
Dynaudio Audience 40
Dynaudio Audience 42
Tannoy Mercury M1
Alesis Monitor One MkII (Drum Studio use)
ATC SCM11.

 

Since I started in 1987:

Mission 70s OK as £100 "starter" speakers but could do better

Tannoy 607s Bought these because they sounded good, were biwire-able and looked pretty damn funky too. However, I realised I could do better when I bought a pair of....

Monitor Audio MA202 I've never seen these for sale anywhere else since I bought these back in 1993. For the £300 they cost they offered bags of controlled bass and lots of detail.

Mission 702 Bought these thinking they were better than the MAs. Initially they were - they had a bit more ka-pow but after about 2 weeks, they got replaced with the MAs again.

Neat Petite Mk2 / Gravitas I finally found a better speaker than the MAs. So much detail and oomph but will not take the pattern off the wallpaper like the Missions did.

I really hanker for some Magnaplanars or Martin Logans but SWMBO doesn't want them in the lounge.....

 

Bang and Olufsen some thing
head phones for a while
celestion some thing
castle nice pair in yew wood which I sold on really well
dynaudio 1.3 s in special wenge finish
sonus faber amati anniversarios in graphite
sonus faber cremona M in graphie

 

1979 Awful Sony 2 way floor standers.
1980 Mission 700's - still in garage hifi set up.
2000 Monitor Audio Silver 9i's.
2005 Proac D25's - current.
2008 Tannoy Dorsets (10" dual concentric and 10" passive radiator) - current.
2008 Tannoy HPD 15", currently in Berkeley cabinet but planning a rectangular GRF this winter - current.

 

Speaker history

In order.

CELESTION DITTON 100

PRO-AC SUPER TABLETS MK1

SONUS FABER SIGNUMS

RUARK EQUINOX

REF 3A DULCETE

ANTHONY GALLO REF 3

ANTHONY GALLO REF 3.1



Sorry about the overuse of the smiles but IMHO, the most recent Gallos are for me the best I have ever had in my main room. Bar the Celestion's and the Gallo 3 MK1, I could not bring myself to part with any of my past loves, So I still have them and use them In other set ups.

Regards D Louth 77

 

Here goes:
IMF Super Compacts.
QLN Mk 1's.
Linn Kans.
Rogers LS3/5a's.
Musical Fidelity MC4's.
Castle Harlech Mk1's.
Audio Note ANE's.

The Audio Notes were used with my 300B single ended amplifiers but these days I've settled on Q Acoustics 1020i mini monitors.

 

Journey so far:

1988: A pair of Sony book shelf speakers, no idea on model but am sure that they are from the early seventies. (absolute CR*p)

1989: Mission 716s (love em and would still have a spare pair, if I had the space)

1992: Paradigm Monitor 7s (only 10 yrs old at this time, but loved the bass and emotion these speakers gave)

1996: Gave up on hifi for presonal reasons

2002: Rega Ela Mk1s (replaced bass drivers with modern rega units.)

2008: Rega Ela Mk1s (one off pair made by Roy and Derek, superb, I know I will get abuse for saying this, but they gave a good fight against a pair LS3/5as, hard to beleive, but with a few audiophiles to hand, some old, some young, they were all trully shocked, Roy and Derek must have done something special here)

2008: Rogers LS/4 just on loan at present, but amazing imagery


Still looking forward to getting my hands on a pair of PMC EB1s, but at 6 grand, not for now.

 

Kef C55
Royd Abbot
B & W CDM 9NT
Wilson Benesch ARC
Acoustic Zen Adagio
Living Voice OBX-R2

 

1990 - Monitor Audio 9's

Errr thats it.

 

i) DIY based on Goodmans drivers
ii) Spendor BC1s
iii) Vandersteen 2Ces, current

Not many over nearly 40 years:shame:

 

For me

Tannoy mercury MK1

Rogers Ls7t

Acoustic Energy Ae1 in Rosewood

Mordaunt short ms10i

Snell type J11 +huygens (still in use)

Acoustic Energy Linear 3 (av set up)

 

peerless kit wilmslow audio waste
volt home studio monitor wilmslow audio of
ipl kit ipl acoustics money
farella 400 cabasse just ok very efficient
quad electrostat 57 quad
this is my present speaker i was trying to partner it with single ended amplification i could rave on forever what i would like to do .