Nothing for as long as 20 years, but Audio-Technica and (B&O) IcePower (I hear the shattering of glass) since 2007.
Which Brand Have You Owned for 20 Years?
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
- Start date
Aragon 4004mk2. Aragon18k preamp.
Sold them about a year ago, after using since 1995. Replaced with a Hegel h390.
Sold them about a year ago, after using since 1995. Replaced with a Hegel h390.
Not just the size, it's the shape too. I don't mind big, but they have no lines to break up the visual intrusion. Not my cup of tea either, but i like the sound, just missing a little in the bottom.
I’m also a long time & faithful follower of NAIM. Starting over 25 years ago with some of the olive vintage “Shoe Box types” and especially the then widely acclaimed CD 2 ( the one with this rotating CD-drawer …) and ending with a 555 & 552 System, now also since around 15 years.
Speakers are active LINN 350A , but only for the last 15 years…
Record Players (& Tuners) : REVOX , various models , since about 30 years – and now slowly replaced - or supplemented - by 2 THORENS Vintage players, TD127 & TD520 both with SME 3012R
Headphones: STAX various , mostly the TOTL models, since approx. 30 years…
Regards
Urs
Starting over 25 years ago with some of the olive vintage “Shoe Box types” and especially the then widely acclaimed CD 2 ( the one with this rotating CD-drawer …) and ending with a 555 & 552 System, now also since around 15 years.Speakers are active LINN 350A , but only for the last 15 years…
Record Players (& Tuners) : REVOX , various models , since about 30 years – and now slowly replaced - or supplemented - by 2 THORENS Vintage players, TD127 & TD520 both with SME 3012R
Headphones: STAX various , mostly the TOTL models, since approx. 30 years…
Regards
Urs
Brands I have owned for 20+ years:
1. Quad ESL 57: my pair is 50+ years old, works perfectly, listening to it now. Perfect for morning music with my cappuccino. Like the still cool Bauhaus design.
2. Audio Research: owned their products for 35+ years: latest acquisition, the mighty and terrifying 750SE monoblocks. There are amplifiers you buy and stick on a shelf and forget about it. These are like buying one of those dragons in Game of Thrones. They glower at you even when off. You need to rearrange your life around them as I am discovering the hard way. Don’t buy these unless you have the energy and time to feed them and take care of them. It’s exhilarating and highly stressful.
3. SME turntables and arms: I’ve owned SME arms forever. Currently I have the V12, the best arm I’ve owned ever. On a 20/12, the sound is effortless and composed. SME turntables are not flashy. Some dismiss them as boring. I agree. They are designed not to draw attention to themselves. Excess energy is damped and drained off. Those who like excitement should look elsewhere. These are for those who want vinyl to sound like mastertape.
4. Nordost cables: I was dubious about cables till I heard a pair of SPMs decades ago. TAS reviewed these many years ago and declared all other cables as “tone controls”. Fast and highly revealing, perhaps even ruthless. Very low capacitance. Mine have taken a beating for 25+ years connecting to countless products and still work great. Will eventually replace with Valhallas at some point.
1. Quad ESL 57: my pair is 50+ years old, works perfectly, listening to it now. Perfect for morning music with my cappuccino. Like the still cool Bauhaus design.
2. Audio Research: owned their products for 35+ years: latest acquisition, the mighty and terrifying 750SE monoblocks. There are amplifiers you buy and stick on a shelf and forget about it. These are like buying one of those dragons in Game of Thrones. They glower at you even when off. You need to rearrange your life around them as I am discovering the hard way. Don’t buy these unless you have the energy and time to feed them and take care of them. It’s exhilarating and highly stressful.
3. SME turntables and arms: I’ve owned SME arms forever. Currently I have the V12, the best arm I’ve owned ever. On a 20/12, the sound is effortless and composed. SME turntables are not flashy. Some dismiss them as boring. I agree. They are designed not to draw attention to themselves. Excess energy is damped and drained off. Those who like excitement should look elsewhere. These are for those who want vinyl to sound like mastertape.
4. Nordost cables: I was dubious about cables till I heard a pair of SPMs decades ago. TAS reviewed these many years ago and declared all other cables as “tone controls”. Fast and highly revealing, perhaps even ruthless. Very low capacitance. Mine have taken a beating for 25+ years connecting to countless products and still work great. Will eventually replace with Valhallas at some point.
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Oh, that brings back memories. I had the Audio Physic Avanti, a larger model than the Virgo, way back in the 1990s. They threw a great soundstage. But eventually I got tired of their rather zippy top end. Gerhard, their original designer, was the one who created the logo “no loss of fine detail”. I found it too bright on many recordings with a lack of fullness in the bass. Eventually traded them in to a dealer in Massachusetts. I’m not a fan of speakers with a rising top end, which pretty much rules out 99.9% of audiophile speakers for me. The only dynamic moving coil speakers I can stand listening to are my Harbeth Monitor 40.1s, which are designed to meet BBC standards for neutrality of voice. They sound quite lovely for a non-electrostatic loudspeaker, and for once I can’t pick out the tweeter from all the way back in the room. But only from a distance. As I get closer to hear the tweeter. But that’s ok. I owned a pair of B&W 800 diamonds, which had a tweeter that was so bright I could hear it outside my house! Yikes.
My Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood mm cartridge is 20 years old. Yes, I know that it shouldn't still be on its "A-game," but it still sounds really good when I mount it on my three-year old Clearaudio Tracer tonearm on my three-year old Clearaudio Performance DC AiR table a couple of times each year.
Rather perfect top end here on my Virgo …nothing like the rise on B&W, Klipsch,PMC that really have an aggressive top.
You you should have tried the Virgo, they hav some of the flattest of not flattest 1khz+ Stereophile have ever measured. I have heard every Audio Physic model after Virgo, on none of them were an improvement compared to Virgo II, my subjective opinion of course,
Audio Physic Virgo loudspeaker Measurements
Sidebar 4: Measurements The Audio Physic Virgo is a reasonably hard load for an amplifier to drive, as shown by its plots of impedance magnitude and phase against frequency (fig.1). Not only does the impedance drop below 4 ohms for pretty much the entire midrange, but the phase angle is also...
www.stereophile.com
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I have learned the hard way that loudspeakers that measure flat like this tend to sound too bright on most recordings. What you ideally want is a gently sloping downwards response. Of course what I find bright you may not. It’s a subjective impression.
I’m a long time fan of electrostatic loudspeakers for 35+ years since I heard the Quad-63 in 1990, and I find the discontinuity between drivers in moving coil dynamic speakers a bit too jarring for my tastes. If your ears are not daily tuned to phase true crossoverless electrostatics, you might not be as sensitive. The on-axis measurement doesn’t tell the whole story. You need to look at off axis measurements where the change in directivity between the different drivers can cause response problems.
A lot depends on the size of the room. The Virgos are a small loudspeaker that might work fine in listening rooms in which it can move enough air. In my 6000+ cubic foot room, it would have difficulty.
I’m a long time fan of electrostatic loudspeakers for 35+ years since I heard the Quad-63 in 1990, and I find the discontinuity between drivers in moving coil dynamic speakers a bit too jarring for my tastes. If your ears are not daily tuned to phase true crossoverless electrostatics, you might not be as sensitive. The on-axis measurement doesn’t tell the whole story. You need to look at off axis measurements where the change in directivity between the different drivers can cause response problems.
A lot depends on the size of the room. The Virgos are a small loudspeaker that might work fine in listening rooms in which it can move enough air. In my 6000+ cubic foot room, it would have difficulty.
Harbeths are pretty disjointed vs Quads and i do find SL speakers bright myself , but mostly dislike sound in your face presentation, so a bit different from Quads for sure.
As to Quads, i do enjoy them all and I’m with Peter , Quad 63 over 57 thank you ..
Sound Labs don't have to be bright! They have a brilliance control for one thing.Harbeths are pretty disjointed vs Quads and i do find SL speakers bright myself , but mostly dislike sound in your face presentation, so a bit different from Quads for sure.
As to Quads, i do enjoy them all and I’m with Peter , Quad 63 over 57 thank you ..
I would strongly disagree that Soundlabs are bright. Mine certainly are not. I have at my house three versions of Quads (57s, 2805s, 2905s), and while i like them all, my G9-7c Soundlabs is far superior in every respect. Of course, we are talking about a completely different price point, since my G9s cost 5x more than a new Quad. They are also 5x as large! It’s like comparing a BMW Mini to a Tesla S.
The electronics inside a Quad are a bit of a joke. The backplate on my SL is Rolls Royce in construction quality. It alone weighs more than my 57s. Cheap parts and cheap construction, the newer Quad models made in China are riddled with reliability issues. Talk to any owner of recent Quads. My 2805 and 2905 had both had to be repaired due to faulty panels and poor quality glue. Only my 57s remain original and they take hours to recharge so I leave them permanently plugged in. Quads are a nostalgia trip for me at this point.
Of course, Peter Walker never had the budget nor the desire to make a state of the art assault on electrostatic speakers. He had in mind an average British living room of size that would not fit any large speaker, let alone a Soundlab
The electronics inside a Quad are a bit of a joke. The backplate on my SL is Rolls Royce in construction quality. It alone weighs more than my 57s. Cheap parts and cheap construction, the newer Quad models made in China are riddled with reliability issues. Talk to any owner of recent Quads. My 2805 and 2905 had both had to be repaired due to faulty panels and poor quality glue. Only my 57s remain original and they take hours to recharge so I leave them permanently plugged in. Quads are a nostalgia trip for me at this point.
Of course, Peter Walker never had the budget nor the desire to make a state of the art assault on electrostatic speakers. He had in mind an average British living room of size that would not fit any large speaker, let alone a Soundlab
Magnepan MG-IIIa
ARC SP3a1
Counterpoint SA-220
Eico EL34 based amp (do not remember the model)
AR TT
Hafler DH-220 (forgot about this one)
Various other things I have forgotten...
All stored now, nothing that old in my current system, oldest components now around 14 years old.
ARC SP3a1
Counterpoint SA-220
Eico EL34 based amp (do not remember the model)
AR TT
Hafler DH-220 (forgot about this one)
Various other things I have forgotten...
All stored now, nothing that old in my current system, oldest components now around 14 years old.
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I have used Eton bass units and scanspeak tweeters for over 20 years now .
Never broke down no matter the volume level
Never broke down no matter the volume level
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