Tír Na HiFi

Diapason wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 11:40 am 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
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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.
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The kitchen still has B&W 685S2
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and Sonus Faber Signum in the sitting room
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Great variety of speakers!

Since we are baring our souls here is my relatively small list.

I had a Pioneer X-Series as my first Hifi.1981 Still have the amplifier!
Speakers were CS454 or similar.

Speed forward to 2009ish and I restarted the hobby.
Avi Positrons. Floor standing 2-way speakers fairly rare seen on these shores.
Spendor A6's
Quad ESL57's (OTA's) with rupert stands
Quad ESL63's a pair initially and because of Fran's constant tinkering with options I have ended up with another set running in parallel :)
also have a pair of Tannoy Legacy Cheviots.

and another pair of non-working 63's as a DIY repair project.....

Like Tony , I also had a Pioneer setup which included amp turntable and speakers, before the coming of CD.
First separate speakers were Wharfedale 10
followed by JPW speakers made in a prison in UK,
Castle Chesters followed,
then TDL RTL 4 or 5 from Cloney which I thought were too boomy, my stupidity it was down to room location.
Next a pair of Triangle Zays from Kronos then in Newmills near Dungannon, I had these from 1996 to 2009.
Bought a pair of Focal 927s which were posted to my parents place in Lisburn from Devon, Focals worked well until 2016 when I accidentally fried a tweeter and Dariusz was able to get it repaired in Poland.
Determined to sell the Focals after repair I bought a pair of PureAudioProject open baffles , from Dariusz, which I had for 6 years.
Recently purchased a pair of Rosso Fiorentino Elba 2 from Audiograffiti in Pandino Italy, currently giving good service.

First pair of proper speakers were Monitor Audio Silver 8i's. They were part of a 5.1 system.
Brilliant for movies but lacked a bit a finesse for music.
I had the MA's for years but after being corrupted by this forum, I chose a pair of B&W804's over some ProAc's. A considerable step up in performance from before and came with a host of system upgrades.

Next up were a pair of Usher Audio CP 8702's. Huge speakers each weighing in at over 80KG's each. Should have stopped here to be honest as they were fine sounding speakers but where is the fun in that.

A pair of modified Kharma CRM 3.2FE came in next. Awful speakers. Too often they were far too lean sounding, lacked weight and presence. I tried them with a variety of sources, amps, even different rooms and houses. Could never 'fix' them.

Moved them on and in came a pair Sonus Faber Cremona. A far more relaxing sound but they sounded too boxy for my liking so they didnt last long.
Next up were a pair of Audioplan Kontrast V's. Beautiful sounding speaker. Looks not to everyone's taste but they served me well.

A pair of Quad ESL 989's turned up next. Sounded fabulous on the end of Devaliate amp but I soon changed that for a Jadis which turned out to be a disappointment. Could never get them to sound as good as they should have and believe me I tried.

Then, in came a another pair of Kharma CRM 3.2FE's. These had a proper driver upgrade and sounded a world away from the old pair I had. Sounded amazing but life's priorities changed and I had to take a break from hifi for a few years and move them on.

In recent times I've gone down the Stax Earspeaker route. A different listening experience to speakers, both with advantages and disadvantages. Still have them and they have been fantastic. Unfortunately over year ago I suffered a brain hemorrhage and was lucky not just to survive it but to come out of it without any cognitive or paralysis problems. A few months afterwards I've developed a persistent ear ringing in my left ear that gets very agitated with loud noise so my listening sessions are on a pause for the last 8 months. Hopefully they can sort it out.

I'm not sure about the sequence of some of these, but here goes!

Some small Sony two way speakers bought from Tony Wall in Grafton Street a long, long time ago.

Wharfedale Dovedale - I don't remember much about these so I can't have been very impressed.

Sony SSG1 - these were made in Germany and allegedly "tuned for the European ear". They kept blowing midrange units so gave way to......

Tangent TM1's - which were very sweet sounding but kept blowing bass/mid units (maybe I was listening to music too loud around then). I became a
regular customer in Peter Dand's for replacement Kef B110 replacement units.

Meridian M2 - lovely speakers, big sound from a small box

Meridian A500 - I never warmed to these, the sound was too laid back for my liking

Gale 401 - I got these from Joe Conway (Conroy?) who used to own Disc Finder on Baggot Street. I used to do some electrical work for him and one
day he produced these and asked if I wanted them or he would throw them out. They were pretty shabby, but after I replaced the bass
surrounds and the Peerless midrange units (one was missing and the second had an open circuit on the coil) with equivalents from
Wilmlow Audio they sounded great. Maybe not the most accurate speaker, but great warmth, crystal clear midrange and solid,
authoritative bass. The crossovers need recapping, so they're out of action at the moment, but I found out that Wilmslow Audio now
sell reconditioned original Peerless units, so there's a project waiting to start.

PMC FB1 - Currently using these and loving them. Impossible speakers to stress and great bass.

Ruark Sabre - Using these in a second system. Beautifully built cabinets with a sound that difficult to fault with what they do, but bass light.

Some other speakers that have passed through, Mordaunt Short Pageants, B&W 601 S2, JPW Mini Monitors and Elac active mini monitors, but none got enough use to leave an impression.

First step into hifi was a pair of
Videoton Bookshelf speakers. I had never heard of them then but apparently, in hindsight, they were capable, well-regarded and I could have done worse!


Castle Kendall’s were next – bigger speakers than before. My very young toddler totalled them while my very old Mother in law watched Coronation Street.


I took advantage of in-law guilt and rode into Cloney’s on my high horse to buy Tannoy's smallest speaker – the 601.
Punchy and detailed they could go surprisingly loud. Surprised neighbours complained.


The much much bigger Tannoy 609s on their own stands were next - many neighbours moved out.

AE 109s were there for a while... a very underrated speaker. I still get happy emails from the guy I sold them to!


I'm not a fan of B&W speakers and I had a pair of Floor standing 600 yokes for a while.. awful
It didn't really matter as most of my listening in those years then was for writing reviews or selecting radio playlists (almost 100% on CD). If someone said "wow great sound" I took the compliment, smiled, and planned an upgrade anyway...


Over various sources etc I moved house and brought in QUAD ELS 63's - Fantastic speakers if a little erratic!
Then on to Quad 989s - bigger, louder and more bass but also prone to atmospheric pressure! Thankfully a background in IT prepared me to turn them off, wait, and turn them back on again.
A pair of Roger LS3/5a speakers with the usual BBC monitor DNA were an experiment in getting that insightful QUAD ELS sound in a more room friendly size. I really liked them.
The Éist Dubh in bespoke walnut were also around that time, superb speakers and locally grown too.



Harbeth HL5 were next (I think!) and they are still doing sterling service. They are roughly the sum of all the speakers gone before and I can't imagine ever parting with them now


I did have a pair of Audio Physic for a while and loved them. They had a soundstage you could pay property tax on, and they were a very easy speaker to live with. One day I put back in my Harbeths and the difference was subtle enough but very clear. Strangely they were Mikey Framer's reference speaker for quite a while,


Also....
In a cinema set up I had a similar pair of B&Ws employed as fronts - awful for music, fine for explosions!
Castle Severn's as side speakers, it was only when taking them out I tried them with proper hifi and was very impressed. For neat floor standers they were very musical. A System Audio Centre speaker fitted in very well. Three AE Rear speakers let you know if that dragon had flown behind you....
I still have one!
Subs such as REL and Tsunami were in the room too.

Brilliant responses! Great to such a variety of loudspeakers that were used by people over the years!

I seem to remember the Eist Dubh being displayed in a hi-fi shop in Rathmines (or maybe Rathgar), the place was in off the main street???

I saw this in the last edition of Hi-Fi News about the Quad ESL's, thought owners might be interested.

https://i.imgur.com/y0NfolNh.jpg

Like many I started with a full Pioneer system, but the first proper speakers were a pair of Italian Indiana Line Arbour bookshelf of the 80s, with yellow woofer (like B&W but don't know if it was kevlar). Then I tried my first diy attempt with the TNT Audio Munis + Trentino project. Later I had a pair of Italian EMGI Audio Dulciana (the brand disappeared years ago), a sweet and small floorstanding tower. The biggest ever (in dimensions and sound) were the Tannoy Definition D700; wonderful but they reached their best at loud levels so not very neighborhood friendly. Switching to the mini Diapason Micra was a visual shock, but soundwise I couldn't complain too much and they still play with enthusiasm in my second system. I also experienced the strong character of the Klipsch Heresy II before another size (and enjoyment) reduction, the Xavian Primissima bookshelf. The pair who lasted more are my actual Diapason Adamantes III which are stunning even when the system is off. I also had a second diy bookshelf pair with Ciare components where I monted the tweeter outside the cabinet: not perfect but I still remember their transparency and presence. I still have a pair of Kef LS50 that give voice to the system used to listen to the radio (mainly RTE lyric from evening to night) and another small diy speaker pair mounting a Fostex fullrange component. Recently I bought a pair of vintage Celestion Ditton 33 that I hope to restore soon.

Best

P. S. I totally forgot a pair of lovely Rogers LS2 which I restored and kept for few years: voices were great, but overall the Diapason Micra are more dynamic and entertaining.

The range of speakers mentioned in this thread is fascinating.