Personal speaker evolution


OK, so here is a thread I haven't ever seen here: What speakers have you owned? starting with the earliest, price paid, new/used, and perhaps the models that really impressed you (for the price) in CAPS.

Rat Shack Something or others, $120, new
Fisher Something or others, $280, new
ADS L710's, $550, new
Snell A2i's, $1100, used
BEVERIDGE SYSTEM 3'S, $1000, used
Martin Logan CLS, $1400, used
MARTIN LOGAN SL3'S, $2300, used
pmwoodward
From beginning to present:

78-81 Sound Research
81-84 Smaller Advent Loudspeaker
85-86 Jamo Compact 50's & 70's & Triad Subwoofer
86-88 Mirage 660's.....(excellent)
88-93 ProAc Studio 1.....(top 5 I've owned)
1993 Celestion C7.....(excellent - gave to brother for stealing his Advents & taking them to college)
1993 Chateau Research 1.5.....(top 5 I've owned)
1993 ADS CM6.....(horrible)
1993 Celestion C3
1993 Infinity Qb
1996 Vandersteen 1B
1997 Klipsch KG3.5 (black).....(worked great w/SE amp)
2002 Tannoy D90.....(top 5 I've owned)
2004 Omega Grande 8.....(top 5 I've owned)
2009 Celestion DL-8 II's (very nice)
2009 Mission 70 mkII
2009 RogerSoundLab CG-6
2009 Boston Acoustics A-200
2010 Wharfedale CRS-5
2010 Mission 700 LE
2010 Wharfedale Delta 70
2010 Klipsch KG 3.5 (oiled oak)
2010 Pinnacle AC800 (very underrated speaker)
2010 Linn Helix LS250.....(top 5 I've owned)
2013 Omega Grande 8 (re-acquired)
2014 Canton Plus S
2014 Paisley Reseach AE-500 (top 5 owned)
2016 Fostex P-1000 BH
2017 diy Rega Kyte clones
2018 ads L400's

To the best of my recollection give or take a few months/yrs
Janszen 412 electrostatic 
Philips MFB 532
ADS L810
JBL L100
JBL L46
Infinity RSb
Marantz 940
Vandersteen 2ce 
ADS L620
ADS L880
ADS M12
ADS L980 
ADS L520
ADS L400
ADS L300 (2 Pair)
aDs 400
JBL s38be (free)

Clock radio
Jvc cassette 
Crap Fisher speakers
Yamaha ns10m
Acoustat 2mh
Ads l1230
Silverline sonata
Phil Jones ref1 
Linkwitz Orion
Linkwitz lx521 current
Ascend Sierra 2 current



Epi 120c
Epi 100v x2
Epi 150
Paradigm 9se
Paradigm 90p
Boston a400
Boston A150
Infinity Kappa 8
IMF tls50
AR 9
AR 4x  x2
AR 38
AR 7
Celestion Ditton 33
44 x2
25 x2
66 x3
Yamaha NS 690
Linn Isobarik Brik active
Linn Isobarik Brik Passive
Sansui SP1000 
Meridian M2
Revox Agora B
Audionote AN-K spe
Snell type E
Tannoy Gold 12"

Keepers for me are
Meridian M2 active (rare) 
Revox Agora B active (rare) 
Snell type E
Tannoy's

95 % we're recapped and or refinished. 

From beginning to present:

78-81 Sound Research
81-84 Smaller Advent Loudspeaker
85-86 Jamo Compact 50's & 70's & Triad Subwoofer
86-88 Mirage 660's.....(excellent)
88-93 ProAc Studio 1 **
1993 Celestion C7.....(excellent - gave to brother for stealing his Advents & taking them to college)
1993 Chateau Research 1.5 **
1993 ADS CM6.....(horrible)
1993 Celestion C3
1993 Infinity Qb
1996 Vandersteen 1B
1997 Klipsch KG3.5 (black).....(worked great w/SE amp)
2002 Tannoy D90 **
2004 Omega Grande 8 **
2009 Celestion DL-8 II's (very nice)
2009 Mission 70 mkII
2009 RogerSoundLab CG-6
2009 Boston Acoustics A-200
2010 Wharfedale CRS-5
2010 Mission 700 LE
2010 Wharfedale Delta 70
2010 Klipsch KG 3.5 (oiled oak)
2010 Pinnacle AC800 (very underrated speaker)
2010 Linn Helix LS250 **
2013 Omega Grande 8 (re-acquired)
2014 Canton Plus S
2014 Paisley Reseach AE-500 **
2016 Fostex P-1000 BH
2017 diy Rega Kyte clones
2018 ads L400's
2018 Rauna Tyr II **
2019 Focal Chorus 807V **

** Favorites

To the best of my recollection give or take a few months/yrs
Atlas PA speakers (awful)
Creative Lab Standard
LARGE ADVENT
M&K Sat1A Volkswoofer A
MAGNEPAN 1-c
Magnepan 2.6R
PROAC RESPONSE 3.8
Sonus faber Cremona Auditor M
VERITY AUDIO PARSIFAL ENCORE
Vandersteen 2 series original
Definitive Tech bookshelf’s Beolab 1s
Sonus Faber Grand Piano
Sonus Faber Concertino’s 
Sonus Faber Concerto’s
Polk Audio LSi9’s
Kef UniQ bookshelf’s 
Mission 745’s(?)
Music Hall bookshelf’s 
Platinum 801 bookshelf’s 
Axiom Millennium’s bookshelf’s 
JVC SX3000 bookshelf’s 
Polk Audio LSi15’s
Polk Audio LSIFX bipolar surrounds 
Spendor 5Se’s 
Legacy Studio H-D’s
Bohlender Graebener Radia X3 floor standers

the current gear:
Rega Planar (original ‘78 w/ AT150MLX cartridge 
Rotel RCD 1072 CD player 
Pioneer Network CD Receiver RC945S
Anthem AVM 20 preamp
Parasound 2250 250wpc amp
driving the Legacy HDs the LSI15’s, and the LSIFX’s
and they crank!!!



Time to update:

From beginning to present:

78-81 Sound Research
81-84 Smaller Advent Loudspeaker
85-86 Jamo Compact 50's & 70's & Triad Subwoofer
86-88 Mirage 660's.....(excellent)
88-93 ProAc Studio 1 **
1993 Celestion C7.....(excellent - gave to brother for stealing his Advents & taking them to college)
1993 Chateau Research 1.5 **
1993 ADS CM6.....(horrible)
1993 Celestion C3
1993 Infinity Qb 
1996 Vandersteen 1B
1997 Klipsch KG3.5 (black).....(worked great w/SE amp)
2002 Tannoy D90 **
2004 Omega Grande 8 **
2009 Celestion DL-8 II's (very nice)
2009 Mission 70 mkII
2009 RogerSoundLab CG-6
2009 Boston Acoustics A-200
2010 Wharfedale CRS-5
2010 Mission 700 LE
2010 Wharfedale Delta 70
2010 Klipsch KG 3.5 (oiled oak)
2010 Pinnacle AC800 (very underrated speaker)
2010 Linn Helix LS250 **
2013 Omega Grande 8 (re-acquired)
2014 Canton Plus S
2014 Paisley Reseach AE-500 **
2016 Fostex P-1000 BH
2017 diy Rega Kyte clones
2018 ads L400's
2018 Rauna Tyr II **
2019 Focal Chorus 807V **
2019 Castle Durham 900
2019 Synergistic S-22
2019 Rauna Tyr II
2020 MarkAudio CHR 70.3 in Pensil cabinets
2020 Fostex FE108 E sigma in back loaded horn
2020 RFT B150 **
2020 ProAc Super Tablettes **
2020 Snell Type E/III **

** Favorites

To the best of my recollection give or take a few months/yrs 

BIC Venturi $250
Genesis Model 2 $300
ESS Amt-1b $800
Magnepan MG-1 $650
Magnepan MG-2 $800
Arial Model One (different company than current?) $1500
Magneplaner Tympani IV $3800
Duntech Sovereign $14,000
Revel Ultima GEM with Revel Subs $11.000
Revel Studio with center and surrounds $14,000
Revel f30 $4000 *
Revel F50/C50 $8000 *
Totem Mani-2 $4000 *
Magnepan 3.6r $3300
Goldenear Triton 2+ $3500
GR-Research NX-Otica w/triple stack subs $6500 *

My current NX-Oticas are by far my most satisfying speakers that I've owned, but I have fond memories of the Tympani IVs and Revel Gems which did some things better than any speakers I'd spent any significant time listening to at the time. 

The ones with asterisks, I still own. 
I didn't start reading this thread til page 15- 2014. I listed purchase years after the product and having 4 pair at a time isn't uncommon.bought n-new,u-used.
Lloyds dept store quad system 1974n
fischer xp95c 1982n
Realistic 3 way towers 1985n
Kenwood rack system 1986n
Bose 901(I should have stopped there) 1988n
Epicure model 1&3 1989n
ADS L9e 1989n
Kef R105/3 kept 25 years 1989n
Vienna Acoustics Beethoven/ still have 2004n
Kef R107/2 2016u
Revel f52 2017u
Revel Salon 1 2017u
Revel Salon 2 2018u
VA Strauss 2018u
Usher Be20 dmd 2019u
Meridian dsp 8000se/still have 2019u/new se upgrade
Paradigm persona 7f/still have 2020n

Most amazing is STILL MARRIED!!!



UPDATED 8/2022

 
 
 
  • 78-81 Sound Research
  • 81-84 Smaller Advent Loudspeaker
  • 85-86 Jamo Compact 50’s & 70’s & Triad Subwoofer
  • 86-88 Mirage 660’s.....(excellent)
  • 88-93 ProAc Studio 1 **
  • 1993 Celestion C7.....(excellent - gave to brother for stealing his Advents & taking them to college)
  • 1993 Chateau Research 1.5 **
  • 1993 ADS CM6.....(horrible)
  • 1993 Celestion C3
  • 1993 Infinity Qb
  • 1996 Vandersteen 1B
  • 1997 Klipsch KG3.5 (black).....(worked great w/SE amp)
  • 2002 Tannoy D90 **
  • 2004 Omega Grande 8 **
  • 2009 Celestion DL-8 II’s (very nice)
  • 2009 Mission 70 mkII
  • 2009 RogerSoundLab CG-6
  • 2009 Boston Acoustics A-200
  • 2010 Wharfedale CRS-5
  • 2010 Mission 700 LE
  • 2010 Wharfedale Delta 70
  • 2010 Klipsch KG 3.5 (oiled oak)
  • 2010 Pinnacle AC800 (very underrated speaker)
  • 2010 Linn Helix LS250 **
  • 2013 Omega Grande 8 (re-acquired)
  • 2014 Canton Plus S
  • 2014 Paisley Reseach AE-500 **
  • 2016 Fostex P-1000 BH
  • 2017 diy Rega Kyte clones
  • 2018 ads L400’s
  • 2018 Rauna Tyr II **
  • 2019 Focal Chorus 807V **
  • 2019 Castle Durham 900
  • 2019 Synergistic S-22
  • 2019 Rauna Tyr II
  • 2020 MarkAudio CHR 70.3 in Pensil cabinets
  • 2020 Fostex FE108 E sigma in back loaded horn
  • 2020 RFT B150 **
  • 2020 ProAc Super Tablettes **
  • 2020 Snell Type E/III **
  • 2021 Triad System One (3 piece sub/satellite system)
  • 2021 TDL Electronics RFT-2 **
  • 2021 Monitor Audio R700MD **
  •  
  • ** Favorites
  •  
  • To the best of my recollection give or take a few months/yrs