Great old speakers that are as good as new ones

I've owned ESL57's with new treble panels, Esl63's (not as good) Lowther Dx2's and now AR9's and AR3a's. The 57's and the AR9's are along with Avantgarde Trios the most amazing speakers I have ever heard. Anyone who has heard refurbished 57's and AR9's in the right rooms will also know that having 2 rooms working well with those speakers would have two perfect audio views of nirvana. By the way, one of the designers of the new LS35A's told me that the AR9's are one of the most impressive 4 speakers he's ever heard in 30 years in the business.

Most any vintage tannoy... silvers, reds, golds or HPD's.

my 1st really great speakers were the ADS-L-810-2. beautiful walnut veneers, and imaging that nothing else i heard at the time could equal. they were dynamically limited however, and the tweeter fuse would blow if your amp was more than 50W-75W
or you "liked to party alot" (i.e.- Black Sabbath).later i lucked into a pair of ROSEWOOD L-1590-2's that really delivered clean bass and of course played alot louder (while still imaging beautifully). the M-12's and M-15's were even more technologically advanced and ADS never scrimped on the cosmetics or build quality as time went on. what was particularly remarkable was that the store i bought the 810's sold Macintosh speakers (their cost-no-object line), and even though they were louder and more money, they were not in the same league in resolving details or staging, especially for classical music. and to think i gave the 810's away for $300 WITH the stands and extra fuses...

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.

Bozaek B313 large bookshelf speakers circa 1962. Our family pair only recently blew a midrange driver...should be fixable. Led Zeppelin or Shostakovich sounded full, dynamic, clear and very natural! Easy to drive as well:O)