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Your loudspeaker history...?

Since 1978:

Headphones turned outwards (no better than a transistor radio of the time) for a few months

A short period with some music centre cast-offs

Mordant Short Pageant 2 (new) for about ten years

Floating Technology Floating 2 (ex-dem) (Dutch company if I remember right) for 15-20 years

Proac Future .5 (2nd hand) for about 10-12 years

New speakers planned for 2020 but no hurry, I just want something that will work nearer the wall.

From the Mordant Shorts on, I have liked the speakers I have had but then I have always taken quite some time to commit to new speakers after quite a lot of listening.
As my experience of the Proac K3 has reminded me, one listen is not necessarily reliable - I was impressed by the K3 at Munich but underwhelmed this week although the amps this week were exactly what I have and much better than the much cheaper integrated from the same brand used at Munich...
 
Mine's a pretty short history compared to many here -- short but eclectic ...

AR18s (my dad bought me these when I was 14; they saw me through my student years)

Musical Technology Kestrel (nice BBC mini-monitor-type sound)

KEF Q5 (horrible mistake: WTF was I thinking?)

*** big gap here basically due to young kids occupying all my time ***

Sonus faber Venere 1.5 (bought them for my study, now used for TV duties -- the last time I bought speakers new)

Sonus faber Cremona Auditor M (my first really good pair of speakers: loved these)

Vivid V1.5 (loved these too, wife was sceptical)

Martin Logan Montis (these eventually got red-carded due to height, so I had to move them on; still think they’re brilliant)

ATC SCM50 ASLT (oddly these monkey-coffins have ushered in a period of hi-fi domestic harmony; I like the tonal purity, but they feel a bit anaemic compared to the MLs and JBLs)

JBL 4429 (when I first tried these they sounded wrong, but on a second attempt I’m finding them huge fun)
 
90s
Mission 760i
TDL RTL 2
B&W DM602
Mission 750LE

00s
Mordant Short MS906i
Mission 780se
Mission 751
Acoustic Energy Aegis 109

Now exploring head-fi
 
Since about 1974
Goodmans Ministers
Marsden Hall Annexe. ...big floorstanders...impressive to look at but not to listen to.
B & W DM2A wish I still had them
AR7? IIRC
Audiomaster Image 2 , superb Robin Marshall design, still have them in 2nd system
Quad 77 10L the ones made by Spendor b4 they all went east. Still with me in 3rd system
B & W XT4, for the last 12 years.
next step might be 804d3
 
First decent Hi-Fi would have been around 1983

Monitor Audio R352
Royd Eden ( had those for around 10 years)
Linn Keilidh
Linn Ninka
Linn Keilidh again (aktive this time as a cheap downgrade)
Naim Allae
Shahinian compass
Shahinian Obelisk
Shahinian Obelisk 2 (2 different pairs, it was me who swapped with Knipester)
Kef LS50 ( at the same time as the Obelisks so I could try out a valve amp)
Graham Audio LS5/9 ( more valve amp but they actually made me decide to move the Shahinians on)
Sonus Faber Olympica 2

Eclipse td308 and now Neat Iota for the PC

Overall, I had Shahinian for around 18 years so I definitely must like them!
 
Circa 1981 Mission 700s
1984 Spendor SP1
Late 80s Origin Live OL2
Add Rel Sub
Tried Jamo Concert 11 and Impulse T'aus
Bought Avantagarde Uno
 
!968 Wharfedale Super Linton
1972 B&W DM3
1976 AR7
1977 Bose 301
1979 ADS L810
1981 Rogers LS3/5a
2001 Harbeth LS5/12a (BIG mistake)
2005 Aerial 5b
2015 Spendor LS3/5a
2018 Harbeth P3ESR

I think I'm done now. I swap out the Aerials, Spendors and Harbeths (P3ESRs) once in a while.
 
1978 Cambridge Audio L30, front ported, still have them
1993 Tannoy 607s, now my 5.1 rears
2000 Tannoy 638s, they were great but not good furniture, sitting doing nothing
2013 Tannoy Precision 6.2. not as good as the 638s for reggae but better for everything else.

Seems like I have not bought enough speakers in my life. Got a set of Stax SR-44 headphones in 1977 and have longed after electrostatic speakers ever since.
 
doubt I can even remember them all but lets try..... i'll put model and some brief notes on how I found them:

-tangent monitor 5 - cheap n cheerfull, cost me £50, were bright and a bit unbalanced
-tangent monitor 9 - much better, decent small floorstanders like gale 4's, still a bit bright
-B&W P5 - huge leap here, huge bass, but slightly dark midband and not the most refined sound around
-Epos ES22 - loved these, musical, great midband and punchy
-Epos ES30 - thought these would give me more of the same, this was a mistake, they were a bit slower, a bit more plodding and lost the magic of the 22's.
-Mission 782 SE - downsized system a bit and good a deal on these, good speakers, surprisingly well balanced and punchy, if limited bass.
-Dynaudio Audience 40 - small, but my first taste of the dynaudio sound. I was quite impressed at resolution, and treble smoothness.
-Mission 780SE - moved house and needed a small speaker to tie me over. Great things, sound lovely for what they were.
-Monitor Audio Silver 6 - a bit boomy, but a decent balanced speaker in a bigger room. I'd later come to own the silver 5's which were a much more balanced and enjoyable speaker.
-Dynaudio Contour 1.8 MkII - I really wanted a pair of focus 220 but couldn't afford them so got these - I liked them, very very similar sounding to the focus 220 but a slightly shoutier midband.
-Focal 1007 be - gorgeous speakers with such an engaging sound, probably shouldn't have sold them when I did
-Tannoy Turberry SE - great at what they did well, but they were in too small a room and I couldn't get the best out of them, I should have kept the focals.
-Rega R3 - again a big downsize - punchy on the end of naim kit, fun sounding but ultimately lacking any real bass and imaging was quite poor.
-Castle Conway 3 - weird speakers, over smooth and shut in. measurements showed the tweeter was sitting about -3db compared to the rest of the drivers, no idea why. I modified crossover and they were much improved.
-Monitor Audio Silver 5 - one of my favourite all round pairs of speakers. Just easy to work with, can be driven by anything, balanced and for an MA speaker, not bright at all. Easy to listen to.
-Monitor Audio Studio 20SE - my most recent pair. Similar sounding to the silver 5's but just more of everything. Almost 10hz more bass, and much more clarity.
 
Blimey this will take me back..

Little Tannoy monitors can’t remember
transmission line TDL -sold
Castle monitors, forgot the name
Shahinian Hawks (for 20 years) -sold
Different room, Wilson Sasha - sold
Then Wilson System 8 (currently) office room, accurate but need careful matching
Sonus Faber Amati Futura (fire room lounge), proper speakers
Divorce Fidelity Audio “The nines” (currently - dining room/kitchen) had these years, lovely sweet sounding things
PMC GB1 (tv room) currently, had these 10years + great in context with RTL sub
 
I bought a pair of Yamaha NS-10 in 1981 and relegated them to workshop radio duties for more than 30 years, in which time they suffered much physical abuse like screws and nails to hold them on various brackets. I sold them 2 years ago for £400 to a sound engineering student. When he came to pick them up I lashed together an amp and source to demonstrate they still worked. I felt so guilty I gave him the amp FOC. Somehow the NS-10 legend lives on.
 
From about 1986:
Celestion SL6s (great, quirky....I used to illustrate their products in Ipswich)
Rogers LS2a2 (I have a lifetime love of Rogers speakers)
Spica TC50 (I used to sit in their waiting room in Santa Fe whilst they changed out the tweeters....easy to break, but fabulous conception altogether, for a small room)
Stirling ls3/5a V2 with bass extenders (Very classy monitors with oodles of subtlety and nuance. However, marginal dynamics for real rock, and bass was never of good enough quantity, even with the extenders)
Linn Kan 1 owned for 5 minutes. Brainfart.
I still own these:
Epos Elan 15. They do everything well. Great everything speakers, excellent quality/quantity bass. Clear highs. Nutty value for money.
MAD 1920s. I can't say enough good about these. Speakers for life with great bass, dynamics, looks, balance, musicality ad nauseam....will never sell. They do all music very well. Easily the 'best' speakers I have owned for a medium size room.
Rogers LS4a. I love them, for no good reason. Will never sell. It's a thing....
 
Used to buy & sell a lot of kit on Ebay back when you could make a bit of money, mainly classic Jap amps but also quite a few speakers, too many to list.
The speakers I've had for my personal use are..
Tannoy Mercury mk2, 21st birthday present off my parents. Due to the fact that I loved these + financial constraints meant that I kept these for 19 years. My 40th birthday present to myself was a pair of Kef Concerto floorstanders, also much loved. Since then I've gone through a lot of speakers in quick succession, some new, some 2nd hand, Celestion 441 (I think that's the model no, 10" woofer, 5" midrange 3/4" dome tweeter, midrange & tweeter both offset, I sold them to a recording studio in the Cheqch Republic for a healthy profit). Kef C6, I believe one of the 1st speakers with a polypropylene driver (I stand to be corrected), then Q Acoustics 3020, some NAD floorstanders I can't remember the model name, B&W 685s2 (part of one of the nicest sounding systems I've owned in combo with a Quad Vena, Yamaha CDN 301 & Rega RP1 performance Pack). After that some Tannoy XT6F floorstanders which were an absolute disaster in my small flat (will never trust What HiFi recommendation again), replaced by Monitor Audio Bronze floorstanders (calmed the bass but were a step backwards in HiFi terms) then Focal Aria 906 (a major step forward but I had a scratch to itch...) huge step into the past with some JR149s, great speakers (still have them, they are going into a 2nd system once I have the space), I suppose a logical progression from the JRs to Harbeth P3 ESRs (it should be written into law that every audiophile should own some BBC style monitors at some point). I love the P3s but recognising their limitations have been casting around for replacements. I currently have on loan from the LittleAudio company in Birmingham some Amphion Argon 3s which are absolutely fabulous, so good that I've ordered a pair. Even better, David at the LittleAudio Co has let me keep hold of the demo pair till mine arrive (thanks Dave). Anyone who has limited space or limitations as to speaker placement (IE close to a wall or boundary) should definitely have these on their radar.
 
My speaker history is short!
1975 to 1995 ish Realistic Optimus 2BF: £39.90 in the sale at Tandy - In reality they were nothing to write home about, but at 15 years old they were big and loud which was good enough at the time.
1995 to 1998 Celestion Ditton 66: Bought second hand for £10 - Where are bargains like that now? I gave them away for nothing (probably the biggest mistake in Hi fi history when I see how much they go for now!!) when I bought....
1998 to now ProAc Tablett 50 on Target R1 stands: - A radical change from the 66s but never felt like changing them - until
recently when I treated myself to....
2019 to now Linn Keilidh: - A retirement present to myself, it was a tickle that needed scratching for quite a long time.

I am switching between the Linns and the ProAcs and although they are quite different I like them both, so I can't see getting rid of either pairs in the foreseeable future.
We are planning on moving house within the next couple of years so will wait to see how they are in the new location.

Regards Andy
 
ESB L100
B&W DM 5/DM 6
Rogers LS3/5a
Harbeth Monitor 30/ Compact 7ES
AR 6 / 3a
Proac Studio 100
Totem Model One/ Mite/ Mani 2
Audiostatic ES 300
Quad ESL 57/63
Magneplanar MMG / MG 1.7
Naim SBL / IBL
Linn Kan
Audio Note AN-J
Reference 3A Dulcet
Klipsch Heresy
Tannoy Eaton / 611
Rega ELA / RS3
Guru Audio QM10
Jim Rogers JR149
PMC DB1
Royd Minstrel / Eden
Neat Motive SX-2
ATC SCM-11
Spendor S3/5
 
I started out with some homemade speakers using Eagle drive units around 1974.

Can't remember what the next speakers were, a friend had made them from a kit and sold them cheap to me, sounded good, cabinet was not so good looking.

Then got a pair of KEF 104ab to go with a quad 33/405, bought with an inheritance.

Then got a pair of RCL small speakers when I moved and couldn't fit in the KEFs which were loaned to a family member.

When I sold the Quads and got a Naim 42/110 I got a pair of Kans.

Then got a pair of Rega Ela's around the time I got a 32.5, 140 and hi-cap. I still have the Ela's on my second system.

Followed by Rega RX3s

Now have a pair of ATC SCM40 passive.

I think that is all, but might have missed a pair out somewhere along the line.
 
KEF Celeste III
Celestion DL8
Celestion SL6s
Harbeth Compact 7 - huge step up from SL6s, when I came to demo them to sell, couldn't believe how muddy they sounded in comparison
Visaton "Bijou" kit - built just for amusement - still have, but never use (string tone in particular vastly inferior to Harbeths - is this a feature of metal cones???)
Harbeth SHL5
Harbeth SHL5+ 40th Anniversary - much more transparent than the SHL5, and no noticeable bass boom (at least in my room)
Harbeth M40.2 40th Anniversary - current speaker - bigger & more effortless sound, more transparent still, perhaps a little less "airy"
 
gerlando said:
ESB L100
B&W DM 5/DM 6
Rogers LS3/5a
Harbeth Monitor 30/ Compact 7ES
AR 6 / 3a
Proac Studio 100
Totem Model One/ Mite/ Mani 2
Audiostatic ES 300
Quad ESL 57/63
Magneplanar MMG / MG 1.7
Naim SBL / IBL
Linn Kan
Audio Note AN-J
Reference 3A Dulcet
Klipsch Heresy
Tannoy Eaton / 611
Rega ELA / RS3
Guru Audio QM10
Jim Rogers JR149
PMC DB1
Royd Minstrel / Eden
Neat Motive SX-2
ATC SCM-11
Spendor S3/5
Click to expand...
And the winner is............
 
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