You are all VERY kind!
jbhiller and hilde45: I appreciate your empathy!
hilde45 and bhakti-rider: that is simply awesome that you bring your own speakers. One of the NH stores that I'll visit (Spendor, KEF, Klipsch, etc) carries my current speakers so that should give me some sense. I'm glad you mentioned this idea.
gadios: thank you for such a thoughtful response. I didn't mean to suggest that I'm going to do this immediately; I think I'm just excited to start the journey. In fact, I won't be doing anything until after going to the Montreal audio show in March. And I didn't mean to suggest that I was limiting myself to those four speaker companies, nor that I'm determined to buy new. In fact, I've been thinking about starting a thread about buying used speakers, the plusses and minuses. And I'm daily watching a pair of used Pulsars in Ohio and a pair near Toronto; hell, I've already google-mapped the route to both sellers and tried to understand the vagaries of buying something in Canada and bringing it back across the border. But ... I figure that I should at least hear the speakers before I plunk down $4k. Joseph Audio was at the Montreal show last year and I hope they'll be back this year. [Does anyone know a dealer in the Northeast??] And I'm very open to other companies; I'm basing my early preferences on reviews and comments for the kind of sound I want, mostly out here--and a little bit on aesthetics.
kacomess: Great suggestion about "Sound of Silence." What is up with Nashua? They're loaded with promising spots. As for Take 5, at least it wasn't a sad demise; the owner, Ralph Cortigiano, retired after 42 years. I had a nice visit with him just before they closed, and he was in great form. It's still strange for me to think that when I was a teenager/young adult in New Haven, in the 70s and 80s, there were multiple stereo stores, all of course now gone. Sic transit gloria mundi.
jbhiller and hilde45: I appreciate your empathy!
hilde45 and bhakti-rider: that is simply awesome that you bring your own speakers. One of the NH stores that I'll visit (Spendor, KEF, Klipsch, etc) carries my current speakers so that should give me some sense. I'm glad you mentioned this idea.
gadios: thank you for such a thoughtful response. I didn't mean to suggest that I'm going to do this immediately; I think I'm just excited to start the journey. In fact, I won't be doing anything until after going to the Montreal audio show in March. And I didn't mean to suggest that I was limiting myself to those four speaker companies, nor that I'm determined to buy new. In fact, I've been thinking about starting a thread about buying used speakers, the plusses and minuses. And I'm daily watching a pair of used Pulsars in Ohio and a pair near Toronto; hell, I've already google-mapped the route to both sellers and tried to understand the vagaries of buying something in Canada and bringing it back across the border. But ... I figure that I should at least hear the speakers before I plunk down $4k. Joseph Audio was at the Montreal show last year and I hope they'll be back this year. [Does anyone know a dealer in the Northeast??] And I'm very open to other companies; I'm basing my early preferences on reviews and comments for the kind of sound I want, mostly out here--and a little bit on aesthetics.
kacomess: Great suggestion about "Sound of Silence." What is up with Nashua? They're loaded with promising spots. As for Take 5, at least it wasn't a sad demise; the owner, Ralph Cortigiano, retired after 42 years. I had a nice visit with him just before they closed, and he was in great form. It's still strange for me to think that when I was a teenager/young adult in New Haven, in the 70s and 80s, there were multiple stereo stores, all of course now gone. Sic transit gloria mundi.