Speakers to hang on for life

[nightflier]

I've had dozens of speakers go through my home, some of them odd-ball brands. I have rich friends who buy stuff, don't know how to use of it, tire of it, and then let me try it out to see if I can get it to sound better. So I've had the good fortune to audition and learn from gear that I could never afford or that I would never be willing to pay for myself. It costs as much as a car, you say? Well then why didn't you get the car? Lots of it (e.g. B&O, Chord, Gallo) was bought because it looked trendy with little regard for how it sounded and more often than not, I also didn't know how to pair it with the right gear, so sometimes I missed out on good opportunities too.

Anyhow, these are some of the speakers that made an impact on me:

Polk 600i Towers
I know these are cheapo outdated speakers, but they were the first speakers that I purchased with my own money and made me realize that with good electronics, there's more to the music. I didn't have friends with expensive gear that I could compare it to back then, but I'm pretty sure that under some circumstances these speakers would have pulled their own weight - they were not complete duds. I eventually blew the drivers, so they were followed up by the 2000i speakers because I wanted more bass. This lasted until I discovered there were such things as subwoofers. I thought the 2000s were high-end speakers until I bought web-only speakers on practically a whim (see below). They were sold these shortly after that.

SVS subs
I've owned three different types of cylinder subs, two from SVS, one from Hsu. The 16-46Pci with upgraded 500W amp is my current fav. There is simply nothing else out there that can do what this monster can do for under a grand. I used to play the organ in church and swore I would never listen to another organ when I left home - ironically, I now own more organ and organ-based music that anyone I know - funny how that works. My life changed after I discovered SVS (and I stopped blowing speakers out).

Axiom Audio M80
True story: I bought these unheard for two reasons - a single positive review and because they were called M80's (hearkening back to my anarchist rebellious past). When I compared them to the Polks, I was floored. I ended up re-building my whole HT around Axiom speakers; at one time or another I owned every model Axiom had. I very much enjoyed these, blew the midbass drivers (as well as on a pair of QLS4s), and Axiom support / exchange was top notch. I eventually sold and upgraded these with Viennas (see below) but it was hard to see them go.

Quad M22
At almost $2K delivered, these were my first pairs of "expensive" speakers, that looked even more expensive from what I thought was a top-of-the-line manufacturer, LOL. Great speakers, but not much of an improvement over the Axioms. I was sorely disillusioned by the reality of diminishing returns as I moved up in price. I thought I had bought British hi-fi, only to realize that to get good sound I had to go much higher in price. The speakers had great air and unbelievable bass, but lacked in the mids. I sold them shortly after having burned them in.

MB Quart QLS830
Imaged like a laser, awesome sound-stage, and super-tight bass. I unfortunately sold these without using them with better electronics and probably would have been able to cull more performance out of them if I had. They were my first 4 ohm speaker that brought my amps to their knees - I learned a lot from them (even more after I sold them). These were the one speaker that "got away." Sound-wise, they are about as German as the stereotype suggests - perhaps a bit too analytical, but everyone should have one pair of analytical speakers around for reference and these are at the top of the value-vs-performance chart. Had I not sold them, I'd still be listening to them.

Dynaudio 72
Funny story: bought them to try and disprove to myself that I needed to spend $5K+ for a good pair of speakers. I had had a couple of much more expensive speakers in my home such as Vandersteen 3 series and B&O's pyramid speakers, which aside from sounding good don't score high on the WAF/practicality scale. The Dyns sounded like crap until I bought a Pass amp. That's when I realized that a speaker "system" involved a correct pairing with an amp. The Dyns need oodles of amperage to sound right. Now that the MBQs were gone I realized my error. Although they are great speakers, I didn't keep them, I gave them to my father who is using them with NAD ref. gear - great match, but not my cup o' tea. My brother who is into trance, rave and techno loves them, too. They are a true jack of all trades and inexpensive for the performance level, too.

Vienna Webern, Schonberg
When I had to combine my audio room and HT rooms together I needed to downsize. I auditioned tons of on-wall speakers and never heard one that didn't sound like an on-wall speaker. In-wall was even worse. Then I stumbled on a Magnolia fire sale of 7 Vienna speakers. The Schonbergs were part of the deal, but I sold those right away, and kept the Weberns as a 5.1 setup. I believe the inside of these aluminum airplane-fin-looking speakers are actually lined with wood, and these sound nothing at all like you'd expect. A tad bright, but for movies, esp. dialog, these speakers are awesome. And upgrade from these, if I ever would, might cost me many times more. These are keepers for a long time to come. FYI: they do need lots of clean power to sound right.

Meadowlark Kestrel and Swift
I guess this was my mellow period where I was looking for speakers that sounded pleasant and great at low volumes. I also "thought" that a good speaker needed to be carefully made out of solid wood, not MDF or other composite materials. I still own the Swifts - great little speaker and for what I paid for them, a screaming bargain; definitely giant-killers. The Kestrels I purchased with severe water damage from someone who didn't know what they were - paid next to nothing for them, took them to a cabinet maker who fixed them up and sold them for a handsome profit to boot. But because of this, I never got to audition them at length. Considering how much I like the Swifts, that was probably a mistake.

Magnepan 1.6qr and MMG
Despite all the rave reviews I never got what the Maggie sound was all about. Back when I had the 1.6qrs in my home I probably never set them up properly and used inferior amps. Then just recently I tried the MMGs and really gave them a good workout to no avail. Then I found out that it's likely these speakers were defective. So this is not a jab at Magnepan, but I never got to hear what the magic was all about. This may change one day.

Odyssey Audio Nightingale
I've owned lots of Odyssey gear and the Nightingales sing, well, like nightingales. Awesome air and treble. They also look like no other speaker out there - sort of like the B&O Penta, but made of wood. The cabinets were made by an art-trained woodmaker in Canada, exclusively for Odyssey, and I bought them based on these looks and because of my good experiences with other Odyssey gear. They were, however, a bit bass shy, despite the specs, and in my home that's a no-no. I eventually sold these for a lot less than I paid for them, mostly because not a lot of people know how good these speakers are. In hindsight, I probably should have kept them.

Talon Audio Khouros and Khite
I ended up with these mega-expensive speakers because my friend didn't like the fact that they were ugly. True story, and honestly they are. He eventually took the floorstanders back (when it dawned on him how much he paid for them) but let me keep the Khites for a pittance. These are, bar none, the best speakers that have ever passed through my house. The Khouros I didn't get much time with, but the Khites changed my understanding of what a bookshelf can do. They image great, can handle 500W! of power, are 8 Ohm & fairly sensitive, and have fantastic stage depth and width. I've compared them to SF, Vienna, VS, and Dyn bookshelves in their price range and they outperformed everyone of them in spades. Did I mention the bass? I didn't think that was possible from such a small speaker.

There were lots of others, but these where the ones that in one way or another changed my perspective on speakers. The Talon Khites are now my reference. I'm sure there is better out there, but for a $5K bookshelf (new), there is nothing that compares at even twice the price. If there is, I haven't heard it.

P.S. The engineers from Talon are now at a new company called Escalante Design and they seem to have taken much of the design philosophy with them. The speakers are still uber-expensive, but, in a move that is finally getting some traction in this industry, they are hand-made by fair-labor out of all natural and renewable / plentiful materials, while the internal electronics also meet European green standards for electronics. To top it off, they are an American company. This is a company I can believe in. If I upgrade, I will probably purchase one of their models. There was an auction not too long ago for their top-of-the-line Freemonts, but I was outbid. I'm still on the lookout, for a good deal, though.

[audio amateur]

I've had dozens of speakers go through my home, some of them odd-ball brands.
....

There was an auction not too long ago for their top-of-the-line Freemonts, but I was outbid. I'm still on the lookout, for a good deal, though.[/I]

How do you manage to destroy so many speakers?