Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

I have had problems in the past with most ribbons as most designers don't marry them properly from what I've heard. The Legacy speakers (current) have done a pretty good job. I think I may be sensitive to coherency from top to bottom. I used to love the Apogees back in the day, but I thought they lost their magic when they were mated with their subs. I have never liked the ML speakers either. I do like Maggies, unless they are mated with subs. I'm not a sub guy for the most part. Bass is the most expensive part of the speaker. There are a few companies who make musical and coherent speakers that dip into the mid 30's or lower and they sound awesome.

There is a reason many choose a speaker for life if you would, but WHY?? What are you sensitive to? Do you care about a full range speaker? Can your room handle it? Staging, imaging, pace, rhythm???? Why are you keeping your speakers for life? Thanks.

Any Sonus Faber speaker should be held for life. Buy them for looks, keep them for the sound! When you consider the resale value of most speakers, relative to their new price, it just doesn't make sense to sell them. They will always look great in a second system. I'll never sell my Sonus Faber Electa Amators (bought new in 1992), even when I upgrade in the future.

I would have to say my Rel B-2 subwoofer. I never experienced a subwoofer that integrated and disappears so well as a Rel subwoofer using their hi-level Neutrik SpeakOn connectors to capture the characteristics of the amplifier and transfer that to the subwoofer and speaker. This I feel is what makes this subwoofer disappear very well.

REL is very high on my list for a subwoofer for my Dynaudio Sapphire speakers and I am extremely interested in your experience with your B-2 so far.

I would welcome any additional information you are willing to provide. What loudspeakers are mated with your sub? How low have you set the crossover?

The Sapphires seem to really need a very low crossover so the subwoofer does not bleed much if at all into the mid bass (40-80 IMHO). That's a key thing for me. Thanks. Mark

Hi Mark, I have the crossover set at 38HZ. This seems to be the best for my speakers in my room and system. I have also tried 43HZ and 41HZ for a few months each. But the winner was right at 38HZ.

My subwoofer can be set as low as 22HZ and I find that most of the upper model Rel's all van be set at these levels. Rel subwoofers are made for supplementing the sub-bass range for large speakers that can already go low in the bass.

Take a read of the January 2014 issue of The Absolute Sound. Rel's new R-528 SE just maybe what you are looking for. Its a "Sub Bass System" made for large speakers and can make organ recordings produce room lock in your system. I went out to hear it and the article was exactly was what I experienced. Therefore, if I was to upgrade it would be to this current model. Have fun! I did. Thanks, Joe