Speakers I have owned over the years, what about you?

[Cyndale]

Just wondering what speakers members have had over the years in their various hi-fi's?

Here is a collage of mine!

[hudo]

Some for top of my head
Q Acoustic Concept 500
Scansonic mb2.5b
Magnepan LRS
Focal 1028be
Focal 1007be
Tannoy xt8f
Acoustic Energy Aegis neo 3
B&W 601 s2
Wharfedale Diamond 8.2
Focal Chorus 706
I probably forgot few.
Journey continues:)

Update: forgot home office system:) SoundArtists LS3/5, Audeze LCD2 (technically, headphones are speakers, right?)

[Fran]

mission 760 were my first real speaker


There have been a few in between - things bought, vintage, newer and made myself but the enduring ones are the Quad 57s. Eventually I moved to stacked 57s, and I refurbished them last year. They seem to scratch my audio itch, and of course there are shortcomings, but they seem to balance out on the positive side.

[Diapason]

Let's see if I can get the timeline of the main system right:

Mission 780
Meridian A500
System Audio 1280
PMC OB1
Kharma CRM 3.2FE
Sonus Faber Elipsa SE Red

20230109_102550.jpg (129.69 KiB) Viewed 2840 times

There was a pair of Quad ESL 57 for a while too, during the Kharma era, but they never really floated my boat so didn't see much action.

20230109_103855.jpg (44.89 KiB) Viewed 2840 times

The kitchen still has B&W 685S2

20230109_103049.jpg (94.25 KiB) Viewed 2840 times

and Sonus Faber Signum in the sitting room

20230109_103131.jpg (78.68 KiB) Viewed 2840 times

[Adrian]

Ahh... yes.... going down memory lane now...

First true HiFi speaker was Acoustic Energy AE109, bought in the HiFi store on Aston Quay next to the Virgin Mega Store. For some reason I am never able to remember the name of the store and I have to be reminded every time.

Next up was Acoustic Energy Aegis EVO 1.... very good bookshelf, great value for money (at the time) and are still in use today in a friends kitchen set up.

The AE 109's which I thought were great.... were replaced by B&W 703's.... (via Cloney's). Was there a major improvement in SQ or was there a major improvement.... lets just say there were several orders of magnitude improvement over the AE109's. Coincidently the 109's moved to a friends dining room in the "Kingdom of Cork" where they are still in use today, being looked after and appreciated. Nice to see they went to a good home!

B&W703's gave way to B&W801's (Nautilus).... which were truly a phenomenal speaker in many ways. Yes they were big, but being on rollers were easy to move around.

801's gave way to Russel K Red 100's, for a bookshelf / standmount were exceptionally good. Up next were B&W 802's which were a very accomplished. Finally the 802's gave way to Martin Logan ESL 13A's from Cloney's. There is definitely something about electrostatics.... and ML have done a very good job in meshing a 300W amplifier into the bass unit.

There was also a pair of B&W805's D3's... which were described by Ivan as a bookshelf speaker on "steroids". A most apt description, truly an amazing speaker. I was sorry to let them go... but one cannot keep everything.

Harbeth P3 ESR's also graced my home... phenomenally heavy speaker for the size, and I don't know how the grills were fixed to the front baffle but I never managed to remove the grill. They were in so tight, I never got them off.

I currently have a pair of 706's in the kitchen, which are producing a very nice sound. I also have a pair of KEF Q35.2's with a pearlescent speaker cone in the garage. Bought them cheap + second hand out of nostalgia as I was going to buy them originally instead of the AE109's back in 1996.

Some changes were clear upgrades.... others more a sideways move... change for change purposes. But I enjoyed the variety, I would have liked to try other makes, but one can't try everything! There are some truly great bargains out there and some very interesting makes, such as Sonus Faber, Quadral etc.

But the main thing is one enjoys the ride / experience.

[Cyndale]

Of all the speakers I have had, the Acoustic Energy AE1 surprised me the most because of their size. They were unbelievably fast and dynamic. I still have them (stored away along with their dedicated stands).

The last pair I had were the B&W CM7s, it was just a chance visit to Cloney Audio that I decided to upgrade to the Quadral Chromium Style 8 loudspeakers and I am very happy with them (have them five years now). Hhmmm! Should I be considering an upgrade at this stage!

[peelaaa]

Not owned that many!

Wharfedale diamond 2
Tannoy Mercury
Spendor sp2/2
Quad 63 esl, 3 sets

[Cyndale]

Not owned that many!

Wharfedale diamond 2
Tannoy Mercury
Spendor sp2/2
Quad 63 esl, 3 sets

I loved my Spendor Sp2's as well!

[peelaaa]

Not owned that many!

Wharfedale diamond 2
Tannoy Mercury
Spendor sp2/2
Quad 63 esl, 3 sets

I loved my Spendor Sp2's as well!

Yes, since I replaced the rubber surrounds, they are performing as new, I can assume. Was losing hope with them before as they sounded harsh particularly on dynamic music , now they are smooth as can be.

[Cyndale]

Ahh... yes.... going down memory lane now...

First true HiFi speaker was Acoustic Energy AE109, bought in the HiFi store on Aston Quay next to the Virgin Mega Store. For some reason I am never able to remember the name of the store and I have to be reminded every time.

Next up was Acoustic Energy Aegis EVO 1.... very good bookshelf, great value for money (at the time) and are still in use today in a friends kitchen set up.

The AE 109's which I thought were great.... were replaced by B&W 703's.... (via Cloney's). Was there a major improvement in SQ or was there a major improvement.... lets just say there were several orders of magnitude improvement over the AE109's. Coincidently the 109's moved to a friends dining room in the "Kingdom of Cork" where they are still in use today, being looked after and appreciated. Nice to see they went to a good home!

B&W703's gave way to B&W801's (Nautilus).... which were truly a phenomenal speaker in many ways. Yes they were big, but being on rollers were easy to move around.

801's gave way to Russel K Red 100's, for a bookshelf / standmount were exceptionally good. Up next were B&W 802's which were a very accomplished. Finally the 802's gave way to Martin Logan ESL 13A's from Cloney's. There is definitely something about electrostatics.... and ML have done a very good job in meshing a 300W amplifier into the bass unit.

There was also a pair of B&W805's D3's... which were described by Ivan as a bookshelf speaker on "steroids". A most apt description, truly an amazing speaker. I was sorry to let them go... but one cannot keep everything.

Harbeth P3 ESR's also graced my home... phenomenally heavy speaker for the size, and I don't know how the grills were fixed to the front baffle but I never managed to remove the grill. They were in so tight, I never got them off.

I currently have a pair of 706's in the kitchen, which are producing a very nice sound. I also have a pair of KEF Q35.2's with a pearlescent speaker cone in the garage. Bought them cheap + second hand out of nostalgia as I was going to buy them originally instead of the AE109's back in 1996.

Some changes were clear upgrades.... others more a sideways move... change for change purposes. But I enjoyed the variety, I would have liked to try other makes, but one can't try everything! There are some truly great bargains out there and some very interesting makes, such as Sonus Faber, Quadral etc.

But the main thing is one enjoys the ride / experience.

Thanks for the detailed, enjoyable response!