My main speaker progression since 2000:
ESL-63 - loved them, my first big boy speakers. If I knew what I know now, I would have kept them and saved tons of money chasing its sound. Alas, I traded them in for a new pair of ESL-988's.
Apogee Stage - Had these at the same time as the ESL-63s. An almost perfect speaker for me (went down to 25hz and could play fairly loud), except it had a small sweet spot that required staying seated. Much better lower bass than the 63's.
ESL-988 - frustrating, as the protection circuit kicked in when the volume reached peaks of 82db. Traded them in to the same dealer for another pair. Same thing, the protection circuit would turn off the speakers right when the music was getting good. I sold them and got a pair of Merlins.
Merlin VSM-MXe - The designer modeled the sound of the VSM's after the 63s. That appealed to me. Not quite as full bodied and tonally saturated as the Quads, but they disappeared better in my smallish room, with improved imaging and soundstaging. Held onto these for 8 years.
ESL-57 - beautiful midrange tone and transparency, especially with my OTL amp. Picked these up locally for a good price and alternated them with the Merlins. A panel went bad and I chose to sell the speakers and move on.
Magnepan IIIa - another nice pair of speakers I had at the same time as the Merlins and 57s. My wife did not like the look of the white grill cloth - she called them the Abominable Snowmen - so off they went.
Von Schweikert db99 - they disappear and do the imaging and soundstaging thing like my Merlins but with more meat on the bones. These go down to 21hz, -3db. Having now gone full range, I am not going back. But I still daydream occasionally about the tonally rich, clear, and transparent sound of the ESL-57s and ESL-63s.
ESL-63 - loved them, my first big boy speakers. If I knew what I know now, I would have kept them and saved tons of money chasing its sound. Alas, I traded them in for a new pair of ESL-988's.
Apogee Stage - Had these at the same time as the ESL-63s. An almost perfect speaker for me (went down to 25hz and could play fairly loud), except it had a small sweet spot that required staying seated. Much better lower bass than the 63's.
ESL-988 - frustrating, as the protection circuit kicked in when the volume reached peaks of 82db. Traded them in to the same dealer for another pair. Same thing, the protection circuit would turn off the speakers right when the music was getting good. I sold them and got a pair of Merlins.
Merlin VSM-MXe - The designer modeled the sound of the VSM's after the 63s. That appealed to me. Not quite as full bodied and tonally saturated as the Quads, but they disappeared better in my smallish room, with improved imaging and soundstaging. Held onto these for 8 years.
ESL-57 - beautiful midrange tone and transparency, especially with my OTL amp. Picked these up locally for a good price and alternated them with the Merlins. A panel went bad and I chose to sell the speakers and move on.
Magnepan IIIa - another nice pair of speakers I had at the same time as the Merlins and 57s. My wife did not like the look of the white grill cloth - she called them the Abominable Snowmen - so off they went.
Von Schweikert db99 - they disappear and do the imaging and soundstaging thing like my Merlins but with more meat on the bones. These go down to 21hz, -3db. Having now gone full range, I am not going back. But I still daydream occasionally about the tonally rich, clear, and transparent sound of the ESL-57s and ESL-63s.