Great old speakers that are as good as new ones

I have a pair of Mirage M5si's from 1996, about the same year as the PSB Stratus Gold's heyday. These Mirages still anchor the L-R speakers in my HT system. They like lots of power and good cables, but they are very natural sounding, very timbre-correct, fill a space well, and have fast yet deep bass (into the 20's).

These days a pair will go for $550 or less, and if you can put up with the size and power requirements, they're a tremendous all-around speaker that works well on anything from solo voice to orchestra or big band.

07-13-09: Flyin2jz
you know whats tough? auditioning older speakers. there is no way to listen to any of this old gear anymore.

I guess I'm lucky where I live, close to this store. Scroll down to their used speakers. At their store they'll take any pair listed (e.g., the ADS M12 or L1290, Dynaco A35, KEF 103/4, Linn Kelidh, etc.), hook it up to an appropriate system, and give you a private audition.

It's a shame ADS couldn't have kept going. I bought a pair of L1090's in 1987. Soon they came out with their M series. I auditioned the M-12s powered by Meitner monoblocks and the Brahms Requiem brought tears to my eyes. I didn't move up to the M-12s (I'd just bought my 1090s after all), but several years later I picked up a pair of like new 810's for $100. The seller had gotten them from his parents, but he had just gotten a Bose Acoustimass system and couldn't WAIT to get rid of the ADS's. I used those as my rear channel speakers for awhile; they were a great timbral match for the L-1090s. I wish I could have hung onto them, but after awhile I have too many big speakers and not enough systems to hook them to. I sold the 810's for a tidy profit (but well below market) to someone who could appreciate them.

The L-1590's were Telarc's monitors of choice until B&W came out with the 801 Matrix.

Check out this store, which has a great list of classic speakers, including ADS 810's, L1590's, and M-12s. For my money the M-12s would be the way to go at $789. They had some M-15s previously.