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I have all the best speakers...

Hawkeye83

Hawkeye83

Super Member
Okay, this title might be a bit clickbait...

But what I mean is this...

I have four pairs of what I consider to be pretty good speakers. Whichever pair I'm currently listening to, I can be absolutely convinced they are the best ones I own. I just can't seem to pick between the four. All of them do something clearly best out of the others. It's kinda crazy. I know it's the whole "trade-offs" thing. Maybe it means I just haven't found that one pair yet that do absolutely everything.

But man, I could live with any of these speakers that I have currently.

KEF 107 - amazing bass, just liquid; best "depth" of any speaker I have...the sound seems to be very layered, front to back; by far the most dynamic and best for home theater
Tannoy Arden - favorite vinyl speakers; supremely clear and warm
RCA LC-1 - very good overall "balance"; can sound convincingly real, although slightly rolled off
Beveridge Model 5 - clearest, fastest, most detailed of any of the speakers I have; "holographic"

And I have sold off some good ones too in the past that could fit in this list.

What I have not yet heard are many/any really high end modern speakers. Maybe one of them would tick all the boxes and I'd leave the vintage stuff behind.

I keep thinking I'd like to get down to two systems - meaning two pairs of speakers - but I think I'm going to have a heck of a time deciding.

Open to hearing about any other experiences of how one has decided which speakers to keep, and how the decision was made. I know it's nothing anyone can decide for me. Just wanting to hear some other "stories" of those in a similar "predicament." And I know there are worse problems to have. This is just a discussion.
 
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There are too many speakers, not enough time or space. :D

I feel your pain. In my office I have 6 pairs stacked up with three amps to drive them. Depending upon my mood and what I am listening to, I switch between them. I like them all. And that is just one of several systems I have between my home and my office. In my workshop I have 18 pair in various stages of repair. Some I am sure I will move on quickly. Others, will likely be keepers.

Being able to compare speakers helps me to weed out those with lesser SQ. Those I get rid of. But I have too many that I like the sound of.

I really should pare my collection down, but . . .
 
I'd like to hear some Tannoy speakers, their reputation is beyond excellent.
I'll have to find some on fleabay. After I get some 20 year old B&W 800 series. Priorities;)
 
This is why I love AK. It's like group therapy. Again, not saying my speakers are better than anyone else's. Just that they all sound equally good to me! They're all "the best!". I realize this is a pointless thread. Unless there is a story about how you picked "the one" (pair).
 
Hawkeye83 said:
This is why I love AK. It's like group therapy. Again, not saying my speakers are better than anyone else's. Just that they all sound equally good to me! They're all "the best!". I realize this is a pointless thread. Unless there is a story about how you picked "the one" (pair).
Click to expand...

It’s not pointless! (But totally clickbait - that I fell for!)
For me it comes down to what works best with my favorite music and with my listening “lifestyle”.
For example - I had a pair of legendary JBL L300’s a while back. I found for my ears, they were absolutely amazing with horns and vocals. Not so great with guitar. I am a guitar player so that’s a deal breaker for me. If my passion was trumpet music I would have kept the L300’s.
I think if you are trying to narrow it down to two pairs you need to be honest with yourself about what excites you most musically. I love dirty instrumental 60’s mono funk - and to my ears my Wharfedale w90’s make it sound just right. Better than the $3000 Spendor SP100’s I used to have and better than the $5000 Devore O93’s too. On paper both of those speakers are miles “better” than my W90’s from 1964. BUT, the w90’s make the music I am most passionate about sound PERFECT to me.

Also, how do you listen? I found my listening fit into two categories - casual/family and serious/nerd. I’m either listening at a lower level in the family room (usually with kids around), or I get a moment to myself to really nerd out and listen intensely and uninterrupted. For the casual, I have the w90’s that sound great at low levels and work well with my favorite genres. Bonus my wife loves the way they look so they get to live prominently in our main living space. For the serious listening, I have my stacked quad 57’s in a separate basement room. They provide an insane amount of big scale detail and tone, which I can fully enjoy and absorb while devoting my attention 100% to the music.

I also have a pair of AR9’s on standby which I intend to use in my home theater. They have a huge blow you away type of sound with earth shaking bass - perfect for movies. OK so that’s three pairs! But, still follows my formula of matching the speaker to best suit the genre/living situation.
 
I have a pair of Kef 105s and a pair of Sony SS-G7s in my critical listening room. Both pairs sound great, and it depends on my mood as to which I listen to. The Kef 107 is on my bucket list. I need to free up a chunk of cash if I want to get a pair. I haven’t, yet.

In my living room, which is more casual low volume listening or jiving and listening to louder, are my Cornwall 1s circa 1981. They are excellent low and medium volume, and depending on the music, high volume. Like when I’m listening to Bachman, Turner, Overdrive “Not Fragile” comes on. One time it came on the radio when I, my wife, and my 26 year old stepdaughter were listening and I cranked it up. My wife and her daughter were grooving to it! Shows that certain music is timeless!

I have another system in my mind that I have all the pieces for now. It includes a pair of Sony SS-G3 or EPI M100s. Whichever works best with the McIntosh MA-6200 that will be driving it. That needs to be assembled in the bedroom in a custom console from 1959. I have all these pieces now. For me, the deciding factor of what sounds best together. I narrowed my parameters by choosing a fixed item, the amplifier, and finding the best synergy I can around it. How I like the amplifiers controls, and does it have the kind of power I expect to need.

My final system is what I have that I want to get to know. It is whatever amp I have that I like, or that I’m curious about, with whatever free speakers I have at the time that I think will match the amp. It normally has a turntable and a CD player or cassette deck connected to it for inputs. This is my playground. And there you have it!

This way of celebrating Audio has its drawbacks though. These things take up a lot of space!
 
I have to agree with pretty much everything said here. I've been doing this awhile now and have been blessed with some very high end pieces in my time. I've had everything from Sony SS-M9's, Altec Model 19's, JBL L200's, Tannoy Arden's, Bentwood Angel Horns, Heathkit Legato's (several (5 cabs), HPM 200's, JBL 250TI, JBL C34, JBL C40, Altec Barcelona's, Altec Model 14, Dynaco A50's, and the list goes on and on and on.

I think for me having all these variations of speakers was much like tasting wine. I really enjoyed some, liked others and some didn't work out at all for me. With all these I have tried to find what suits me and what I enjoy listening too. Some of that has been decided for me (Space concerns) or life determines (misfortune, medical bills). For me I enjoy the history, the craftsmen, the art everything that seems to capture a time and idea of what should work. Some people collect baseball cards or comics, I seem to collect speakers and try various pieces with them.

Right now I've narrowed my field down some and currently have kept

Altec Barcelona's (I also just bought these so...lol)
JBL 250Ti in Brazilian Rosewood and upgraded XO's by Greg Timbers
JBL C34's
Allison Model 3

These can change as time moves on or my taste changes some or something else peaks me interest.

I think you have some great speakers and would love to hear what you have honestly. I agree the Tannoy Arden's are by far some of the best and I sold my pair off to a buddy that really, really missed his pair when he was forced to sell. Sometimes I think it makes me happier to see someone get that one speaker they really want and covet.
 
Galaxie65 said:
I have to agree with pretty much everything said here. I've been doing this awhile now and have been blessed with some very high end pieces in my time. I've had everything from Sony SS-M9's, Altec Model 19's, JBL L200's, Tannoy Arden's, Bentwood Angel Horns, Heathkit Legato's (several (5 cabs), HPM 200's, JBL 250TI, JBL C34, JBL C40, Altec Barcelona's, Altec Model 14, Dynaco A50's, and the list goes on and on and on.

I think for me having all these variations of speakers was much like tasting wine. I really enjoyed some, liked others and some didn't work out at all for me. With all these I have tried to find what suits me and what I enjoy listening too. Some of that has been decided for me (Space concerns) or life determines (misfortune, medical bills). For me I enjoy the history, the craftsmen, the art everything that seems to capture a time and idea of what should work. Some people collect baseball cards or comics, I seem to collect speakers and try various pieces with them.

Right now I've narrowed my field down some and currently have kept

Altec Barcelona's (I also just bought these so...lol)
JBL 250Ti in Brazilian Rosewood and upgraded XO's by Greg Timbers
JBL C34's
Allison Model 3

These can change as time moves on or my taste changes some or something else peaks me interest.

I think you have some great speakers and would love to hear what you have honestly. I agree the Tannoy Arden's are by far some of the best and I sold my pair off to a buddy that really, really missed his pair when he was forced to sell. Sometimes I think it makes me happier to see someone get that one speaker they really want and covet.
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Wow some of them those classics , are the holy grail and we’re inspirations for modern ultra high end speakers , especially for movies And music . I’ve still never heard hardly anything high end.
 
That’s so weird cause I have the three best pairs of speakers ever, huh, strange.
Diatone DS-505’s, these are incredible, it’s like music angels dropping a dump on your chest, AND they have been highly regarded by leaders in all the Russian audiophile circles.
Dynaudio Myrage towers, the best speakers out of the three best speakers, the bass is a·maz·ing. An accurate explanation of a kick drum would be like getting hit with a defibrillator, mids seemingly come from inside your head, the highs remind me of Tinker Belll throwing diamonds at the finest crystal. This and they are white, everyone knows white speakers sound better, I mean some Bose are white.
Super Heresy Decorators, geez where do I start? A Heresy that shakes the floor even at moderate volume, sound like James B Lansing, Paul Klipsch, and David A. Wilson had a three way with the Muses and my Super Heresy’s popped out, you just don’t see these coming. It only took about $1000 to make Heresy’s sound like a great speaker, if that’s not using your head you’re missing it.
So this being said you are really missing out on the BEST speakers ever, haha.
 
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First off, I agree with what people are saying here.

Perhaps you're like me and a lot of other people on this forum; you'll never be completely happy with one set of speakers because part of the enjoyment of the hobby is experimenting and trying new set ups and tinkering a bit, and no particular speaker does everything perfectly (that I've tried, I'm sure they exist?)

Basically for me, I like to try out new set ups, and I don't have the space to have lots of different set ups at once, so I only want to use one set of speakers at a time and maybe a few amps to switch in and out. I also like to have my speakers set up somewhat optimally in a room, which means I can't really have a wall of 10 speakers and expect each one to be in an optimal location and I don't want to move them in and out.

So, I keep on selling stuff (at a loss) and trying more. I've come to realize this is not only about sound, it's enjoying the journey.

Galaxie65 said:
For me I enjoy the history, the craftsmen, the art everything that seems to capture a time and idea of what should work. Some people collect baseball cards or comics, I seem to collect speakers and try various pieces with them.
Click to expand...

I agree with these sentiments, there is a romantic aspect to this for me. I'm not just looking at this from a speaker measurements standpoint and somehow I do prefer the tone of vintage gear, but also the rarity, mystery, and looks too. Seems silly. I'm currently having a project that will be centered around some Western Electric 754a 12 inch speakers I have. I've had 755A speakers and they sounded great to me but didn't have enough bass. So, I have these 754A which have a bit more bass, and I'll pair them with some horns, try out a few crossovers, and then I'll add some subs for music that I listen to that requires more bass. Using subs with WE speakers is probably sacrilege but we'll see. So the tinkering continues. Sorry for my rant!
 
I have the same issue. I want to downsize to three pairs of speakers and three amplifiers (two systems, but with an extra amp for biamping, and an extra set of speakers... well, just because) I have been thinking about it for months and I cannot figure out what to get rid of. Please keep us posted on what you decide to do and why.
 
Audioo said:
Im 6 up on you dont wanna show off my best lol
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Come on man, if you can't show off HERE, where can you show off?!!!! :banana:


BOUXY said:
To each his own!
Mine are the best for me as yours might be the best for you:)
Click to expand...

This is TRUTH

RTally said:
There are too many speakers, not enough time or space. :D

Being able to compare speakers helps me to weed out those with lesser SQ. Those I get rid of. But I have too many that I like the sound of.

I really should pare my collection down, but . . .
Click to expand...

Also TRUTH!
 
Crestwood23 said:
It’s not pointless! (But totally clickbait - that I fell for!)
For me it comes down to what works best with my favorite music and with my listening “lifestyle”.
For example - I had a pair of legendary JBL L300’s a while back. I found for my ears, they were absolutely amazing with horns and vocals. Not so great with guitar. I am a guitar player so that’s a deal breaker for me. If my passion was trumpet music I would have kept the L300’s.
I think if you are trying to narrow it down to two pairs you need to be honest with yourself about what excites you most musically. I love dirty instrumental 60’s mono funk - and to my ears my Wharfedale w90’s make it sound just right. Better than the $3000 Spendor SP100’s I used to have and better than the $5000 Devore O93’s too. On paper both of those speakers are miles “better” than my W90’s from 1964. BUT, the w90’s make the music I am most passionate about sound PERFECT to me.

Also, how do you listen? I found my listening fit into two categories - casual/family and serious/nerd. I’m either listening at a lower level in the family room (usually with kids around), or I get a moment to myself to really nerd out and listen intensely and uninterrupted. For the casual, I have the w90’s that sound great at low levels and work well with my favorite genres. Bonus my wife loves the way they look so they get to live prominently in our main living space. For the serious listening, I have my stacked quad 57’s in a separate basement room. They provide an insane amount of big scale detail and tone, which I can fully enjoy and absorb while devoting my attention 100% to the music.

I also have a pair of AR9’s on standby which I intend to use in my home theater. They have a huge blow you away type of sound with earth shaking bass - perfect for movies. OK so that’s three pairs! But, still follows my formula of matching the speaker to best suit the genre/living situation.
Click to expand...

@Crestwood23 why do you always have to be so logical and well-spoken? ;)

Very good perspective here. I think I likely am going to have to stop thinking at all about how much a speaker costs, or what it's "street cred" is...and just go with my ears, and more importantly, my heart. Just go with what makes you FEEL something!

It sounds like you have a great selection there. Your "feel good" speakers (W90's...which I need to hear a pair yet), Quads (owned those, they are great, I know), and AR9's (basically equivalent to my 107's..."home theater" speakers that can also do music justice...but they provide the BOOM when you need it!).

If I'm going to have 3 "flavors" around, it's going to have to be the Beveridge, KEF, and either Tannoy or RCA for now. The hard part is Tannoy vs RCA. They are both large-boxed, 15" coaxial drivers, so makes sense to get rid of one or the other if I have to get rid of a pair. But I don't HAVE to get rid of either right now, so...I probably won't. But when we move, likely one pair or the other will have to go...if not TWO pair even. Or ALL of it! I guess it depends where we move to!

I try to remember these speakers, and all this gear, are just tools, that can largely be replaced by other tools. Nothing to get attached to...right? Easier said than done though!

One thing is certain too. I need to hear more high end modern speakers. Maybe next year's AXPONA.
 
I have Lafayette SK-300s and a Sony WA-2500 subwoofer I’m redesiging for a more vintage look (because I do love my dark walnut and woven grills). I’ve mentioned these before, as the Lafayette’s have served me well over the years. I know they aren’t super nice, but for $28 I am VERY pleased. 4 woofers and 1 tweeter, which can be a bit of a downside but I’ve always dug heavy bass. Maybe it’s because I’m a millennial ;) either way, whatever speakers make you happy is what’s important I believe. Very nice!
 
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