• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Has anyone found a pair of speakers and said "I'm done"?

I've said I was done plenty of times. The 250Ti is what I've owned the longest. Spectacular woofer and the whole package is something I can live with. I went down the path of DIY speakers so I wasn't tempted to modify the 250Ti. What I ended up with was something that I never expected. It was revolutionary for me. Tough call for either pair.
 
I have yet to find speakers that would stop me from looking at others.
It's been the last piece of the puzzle. I'm very happy with my preamp and several amps. I have a few speaker sets I really like, but I'm just not quite there yet.
 
I've had several good pairs of British speakers, Heybrook HB1 & HB2, Rogers LS55 & LS2, Celestion SL10, DL6 & DL8 and I really like British hi-fi...BUT my JBL L110s are the best speakers I think I've had and they're going nowhere!
PS, I did put a chair leg through the bass driver last year and I thought of selling the parts off them, I'm so glad I didn't. I finished repairing them a few days ago, new coil, spider, cone etc and I'm in love again.
 
This thread pretty much sums up the enthusiast mentality. I am not in the same league as most of the posters here but, I can appreciate the drive for the next better, or just different thing. I came relatively late to this party since I had neither the time nor the money to indulge. Now I find myself like a kid in a candy store with all the great vintage gear that I could not afford available for bargain prices. Hard to resist for me. The last folly was a pair of AR 90's that came up locally and which dropped to a realistic price after a few weeks. They needed all 6 woofers refoamed so I had to buy without auditioning. That enabled me to negotiate down to a safe price. Luckily all the drivers work and I now have a breathtaking pair of speakers after restoring them as my winter project. I had never heard real high fidelity with 3D soundstage like that before. Pity that I will not be able to keep them for lack of space. I console myself knowing that, at least once, I got to experience that kind of sound. Also, I picked up a pristine pair of the AR 91 which fit my space perfectly and have 95% of the experience of their big brothers. So, yes, I am telling myself that I am done.
 
I have Elac UB5's. They are tough to drive but if your amp has the oomph they sound pretty good. They are probably the end game for me as I had to move into headphones during the pandemic. My wife got tired of telling me to turn it down.
 
I thought I was "done" when a twist of fate brought a pair of JBL 4430's my way.

Fast forward to 2017 when I had a line on a relatively local pair of Tannoy DMT215's.
They have been here ever since and have given me no reason to even ponder an alternative.

IMG_1215.JPG
 
Dudeman7 said:
Certainly not a popular choice, but I think my Cerwin-Vega VS-120s will be with me for the long haul. Hell, I'm already 20 years into owning them. Haha!

They cost me $40.00. I have refoamed them once and replaced the midrange drivers. Other than that, they have been rocking steadily. I really like that they can produce good bass at lower volumes and they totally pound when fed some power.

Currently, I'm pushing them with a Marantz 2275 and don't find myself wishing for anything else.

(I'm still trying to find some Marantz Imperial 6s or KLH Model 5s for another system, though.)
Click to expand...
Been collecting speakers for years, buying and selling, currently have about 40 pairs, 12 sets of CV, would never dream of selling any of them, my favorites for sure.
 
percivilla said:
I've said it enough times that I'm just going to stop saying it :rflmao:

I've been listening to my new DQ-10's plus DQ1W sub for a few weeks now (crossovers rebuilt with film caps and wire wound resistors), and they're the best I've ever heard. I still can't find fault with them and that's a first. That being said are they endgame? Not likely but who knows.
Click to expand...

Quoting myself here, over a year later and I still love these Dahlquists, still can't fault them, still haven't shopped for speakers since. They make more music sound fantastic than any other speaker I've had in my system.

Unless I somehow come into a large amount of disposable income, I have no reason to switch them out. They still make me smile every time I put on the tunes.
 
This has been a very good thread.
If I can contribute the opinion of a 78 year old who has been an audio enthusiast ever since my parents let me touch their Magnavox "hi-fi" (mono - in the middle 1950s) and who has spent several hours on a bandstand and in an orchestra pit (so I know what acoustic instruments sound in their normal enviironment) - here goes.
I believe I have my "forever" speakers. I first heard KLH Model Nine electrostatics about 1968. The shop had a pair of model nines playing a tape of a jazz quintet at a supper club. The tape was on a high end deck (Grundig???). What stood out to me was through the Model Nines I could hear the customers' silverware hitting their plates. In my teens I thought I wanted to be a jazz musician, but found out rather quickly I needed a "day job" if I wanted to eat.
But in the few gigs I tried, I remember that sound of silverware on plates. I have never hear that level of clarity and definition in any other speaker.
I took several years, but I finally bought a pair of Model Nines on line. I had them about five years at my office before I quit going to the office (but my son still does not think I have retired - he still calls a couple of times a week to say "dad, how do we do this" - apparently he thinks in 50+ years in the CPA business I may have learned something).
I now in an independent living retirement center. I brought the Model Nines from the office to my apartments. About a year ago I was running them with McIntosh MC2500s in mono mode (1,000 wpc) and blew out some of the bass panels. I sent them to David Janszen (son of the designer of the Model Nines) and had them totally re-done.
Yes, the Model Nines do not generate 100 db, and the bass rolls off under about 30hz, but the definition and clarity are beyond any other speaker I have heard. I can tell the difference between a soprano sax, an alto sax, a tenor sax, and a baritone sax. I can tell the difference between a violin and a viola, between a grand piano and an upright piano, between a "stand up" acoustic bass and an electric bass.
I prize that level of definition and clarity. My music taste runs to classical and jazz (on acoustic instruments). I can really appreciate the instrumentation and arrangements of the score.
At the office I also had Velodyne F1200 subs. I may bring them to the house to pick up the bottom half dozen notes that roll off on the Model Nines. I am now running McIntosh MC2255s - and they sound fine through the Model Nines.
I have heard about some who have double or triple pairs of Model Nines (to move enough air to get good bass). But my living room now is 12' x14' and one pair of Model Nines is all I have room for.
I am in audio nirvana.
Thanks,
Jim
 
byoungman1 said:
I thought I was "done" when a twist of fate brought a pair of JBL 4430's my way.

Fast forward to 2017 when I had a line on a relatively local pair of Tannoy DMT215's.
They have been here ever since and have given me no reason to even ponder an alternative.

IMG_1215.JPG
Click to expand...

If they sound anything like my Tannoy Ardens did, but with more bass...I can totally understand why! Do these use the HPD-385 driver? I can look it up, you don't need to respond, just making conversation. I'd like to hear a pair of these.
 
jdcarlson said:
This has been a very good thread.
If I can contribute the opinion of a 78 year old who has been an audio enthusiast ever since my parents let me touch their Magnavox "hi-fi" (mono - in the middle 1950s) and who has spent several hours on a bandstand and in an orchestra pit (so I know what acoustic instruments sound in their normal enviironment) - here goes.
I believe I have my "forever" speakers. I first heard KLH Model Nine electrostatics about 1968. The shop had a pair of model nines playing a tape of a jazz quintet at a supper club. The tape was on a high end deck (Grundig???). What stood out to me was through the Model Nines I could hear the customers' silverware hitting their plates. In my teens I thought I wanted to be a jazz musician, but found out rather quickly I needed a "day job" if I wanted to eat.
But in the few gigs I tried, I remember that sound of silverware on plates. I have never hear that level of clarity and definition in any other speaker.
I took several years, but I finally bought a pair of Model Nines on line. I had them about five years at my office before I quit going to the office (but my son still does not think I have retired - he still calls a couple of times a week to say "dad, how do we do this" - apparently he thinks in 50+ years in the CPA business I may have learned something).
I now in an independent living retirement center. I brought the Model Nines from the office to my apartments. About a year ago I was running them with McIntosh MC2500s in mono mode (1,000 wpc) and blew out some of the bass panels. I sent them to David Janszen (son of the designer of the Model Nines) and had them totally re-done.
Yes, the Model Nines do not generate 100 db, and the bass rolls off under about 30hz, but the definition and clarity are beyond any other speaker I have heard. I can tell the difference between a soprano sax, an alto sax, a tenor sax, and a baritone sax. I can tell the difference between a violin and a viola, between a grand piano and an upright piano, between a "stand up" acoustic bass and an electric bass.
I prize that level of definition and clarity. My music taste runs to classical and jazz (on acoustic instruments). I can really appreciate the instrumentation and arrangements of the score.
At the office I also had Velodyne F1200 subs. I may bring them to the house to pick up the bottom half dozen notes that roll off on the Model Nines. I am now running McIntosh MC2255s - and they sound fine through the Model Nines.
I have heard about some who have double or triple pairs of Model Nines (to move enough air to get good bass). But my living room now is 12' x14' and one pair of Model Nines is all I have room for.
I am in audio nirvana.
Thanks,
Jim
Click to expand...

David Janszen is such a nice guy. I had a pair of his Janszen ZA2.1A. Just decided to downsize, but they were REALLY nice. Would love to hear the KLH 9's. did you see they have made sort of a newer version of the 9's? Too rich for my blood, but I'd buy them used someday, or I'd at least like to try to hear them. The ZA2.1A's were probably the CLEAREST speakers I've ever heard. Or at least as clear as anything I've heard.

Here are Janszen's new speakers:
https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/janzen-audio-launches-the-janszen-nine-five/
 
jamiecantar said:
Wondering if through your audio journey, has anyone found the perfect pair of speakers and said "I'm done", no need to look any further.

Which brand and why?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'll start: I listen to mainly Jazz, classical, easy listening and pop, some country

(BEST SO FAR)
To me, so far the best speakers I've owned are the B&W DM6's.
Amazing solid build quality, phase time aligned design, silky smooth high's, nice sound stage, accurate vocal midrange and deep bass...

In the running:
I recently acquired a pair of Dahlquist DQ-10's. and with a subwoofer, these things are amazing, maybe better than the DM6's (haven't yet A + B tested side by side) Wide soundstage, beautiful midrange. Drawback, their big and you need a large room to utilize them proper...
Click to expand...
A 'pair' means without subs or any other 'help'.
 
Inscrutable said:
Over the years I’ve either passed or bought/sold a few speakers that could have been or still be the one, including the Response 3.8 (and Piega C8Ltd, Usher Be-20, VS VR-4Jr, …)

Have what I think is my end-game front end now, and only speakers remain the question. I think the front runner is Maggie 3.7
Click to expand...

Well, the 3.7’s seemed too big for the room, so as my Sig shows trying the 1.7i now. I think the only way I could be “done” is to have one or two other pairs with different characteristics/strengths to put in rotation. Have several pairs of vintage not quite good enough, so probably another pair of dynamic driver boxes, and maybe a set of horns.

Even current “end game” front end is in jeopardy of at least platooning with a tube preamp/amp.

Think I’m just redefining end game as end of life.
 
I have to say my Klipsch RF-7’s with DeanG crossovers and dampened horn really sound incredible. The highs are extremely detailed without being fatiguing and the bass is tight. I think the vintage Yamaha MX-600U amp is a great companion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom