Dare I admit? Low end speaker confusion - help

What speakers have you heard?

Well, it could be that the old speakers just work well in your room via some coincidence of acoustic synergy. I wonder if the magic would be lost if you took them into a different room or location?

Then again, it just might be that the speakers have a very natural balance or some particular quirk of frequency response that sounds great to you. Who knows?

Recently, I bought a set of old Altec bookshelf speakers from the 70's at a garage sale. Each contains a 10" woofer, a 10" passive radiator, and a conventional dome tweeter -- seemingly nothing special. But when I hooked them up and cranked them, they really sang. Great bass, dynamics, a natural frequency balance, and really good vocal and midrange performance. It made me take a step back and scratch my head. I had to ask myself, "where's all the progress of the last 30 years?"

I've owned a lot of highly respected speakers over those years, and my current Virgo II's and Stax 4040 headphone system are both great at what they do. Still, I can appreciate the fundamental rightness of those old Altecs and I can't say that my other speakers are enough better to justify their cost. But I can say that I enjoy all of them for their particular character traits and the musical experience they provide.

So I can see where you might have trouble justifying the costs to improve upon your speakers. That said, you could still be crazy. :)

if you like and are really happy with your speakers, then you're a lot better off than a good deal of posters around here.

i wouldn't mess with it, if i were you.

read: run, RUN from this site and never look back!

:-)

Give the Gallo Reference 3 a listen {list:$3000}.If you like them,I may be able to help on pricing.They use the CDT tweeter that offers 300 degree dispersion,{2} 4" kevlar mids and a 10' woofer.You might be surprised how good they are and no need to string the whole mess together to establish phase coherency.

Kudos to you for admitting what many here would be afraid to say. Others are still so far in denial that they DO think you're crazy.

Listen, with all of the advances that have taken place during the past 20-30 years, the fundamentals remain the same. I find it ironic that there are a few "classics" that even TRUE audiophiles would be proud, or at least unashamed, to own (Quad 57s, McIntosh MC-60, Marantz 8B, etc.). How could it be that these pieces are so great, yet virtually everything else from that era are crap? It's snobbery, pure and simple.

I was in a similar situation about 5 years ago. I had a pair of Boston Acoustics T-1020s that I set out to replace. I loved the speakers, but "knew" that I could do better. I listened to everything that I could find under $3K. I found a LOT of speakers that I didn't like at all...several that I liked as much as my BAs...and only a couple that I liked better. My struggle was whether I liked them $2.5-3K better. I did eventually replace them, but I'm not afraid to admit that even though those speakers are now 15 years old, I know that they'd still sound great today and could easily embarass many expensive modern speakers.

I've always been of the opinion that a good two-way sounds better than a less expensive, "compromised" three-way. But thinking back to those Boston Acoustics, they were a three-way with two 8 inch woofers, a 6.5 inch midrange and a 1 inch soft dome tweeter. It was also a sealed enclosure which I'm sure contributed to the tight tuneful bass response. Maybe there's something to your theory about multiple drivers, at least as it relates to vintage speakers.

Oh well. Sorry for rambling. I would suggest that there's some truth to the theory that you've grown accustomed to the compromised sound of your speakers. That said, the fact that you're unafraid to say that your Optimus 5s sound quite good is evidence that you trust your ears and know what you're listening for.

It's always best to audition components in your own environment, but I'd like to suggest something different in this case. Since you're having a hard time even finding anything that you'd like to bring home for an audition, may I suggest that you find a dealer who would be willing to let you bring your Radio Shack speakers to his store? This way, you can do a direct comparison (eliminating all variables) and get your speakers out of their "comfort zone" (your living room). Maybe you'll hear something that you've never heard before. If you do find that you like something better, then bring them home for a final audition.

Good luck to you and please keep us posted.