Speakers you owned

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Music Lover
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Speakers you owned

Post by Music Lover »

The tread for all that love speakers. Please list and give small comments of their merits.
Really looking forward reading your posts!
If non Linn speakers, please add link to a picture.

I start.
My first real HIFI speakers were Cabasse Galion III VTA. (French, huge, heavy, active 3way with a 12" bass and were able to play loud - what else :wink: )
http://www.forumcabasse.org/depot/Encei ... -1-2-e.jpg
Real beauties!!

Was using them with an Ariston turntable&MC cart, a homemade pre and we are in the early 80s and I was studying at the university.
It played quite well (and loud) in my 12m2 room. Floor space was minimal as that was the only room I had!
I later got my hands on a Spatial Coherence pre. Black with many knobs, I was in heaven!


Then one day I found a new shop selling Linn/Naim. Heard LP12 and sold the lot, getting a brand new 12 in Nov -87, used Nait mkI/Kan mkI.
Quite a change!
WOW what musical sound but missed the bass like crazy.
Partly addressed with LK1/LK2/Sara spring -88 and fully with active Isobarik 3*LK280 the year after.

A Kan mkII , Sara 9 and another pair active Isobarik’s (this time black) passed by before I invested in Keltik July-93 (3 then 4 Klouts)
12 years later I got insane and sold them getting active Akurate 212's (C4200s) with Artikulate 345sub.
A year later I spotted an exdem pair Komri.
Ahhhhh slam, power and live feeling back in the living room. Three years on and still love them. :D

Best speakers are (no contest) active Isobarik, Keltik and Komri. They have same relaxed way reproducing music. Loud or quite...still music and not reproduction.
(active DBL is also quite nice)

But it should be nice hearing my old Cabasse's behind KDS/KK!!!
It's all about musical understanding!
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Post by Charlie1 »

Nice thread ML.

Those Cabasse Galion look like your kind of speaker :D Having never owned speakers with much slam I don't really know what I'm missing - maybe that's a good thing for my bank balance. I heard the little 109s the other day and with the volume turned up they were very unconvincing compared to my Ninkas. Great sound and very musical, but too 'unbelievable' for me now. Maybe you'd feel the same about Ninkas after living with Komris.

I don't have experience of living with many speaker models having owned Kan IIs for over 15 years. M&H did a great little post on the Linn forum about the way Kans sound and differ to Linn's modern speakers which is better than I could express http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=2817
I recall the first time I heard them and how the music was so well conveyed - very immediate and great fun.

Now have Ninkas. I've never felt as keen on them as I did the Kans, but respect them more and more as the rest of my system improves. They're quite laid back, but still have great timing and never get tiring - unlike the Kans were at times.

I tend to like the look of most speakers, whether big box ATCs or stylish Klimax 350s as long as they are not too fussy or cheap and plastic.
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Post by vicdiaz »

1976 - 1982: Akai SW-155 - I was in High School and having the 'biggest speakers' meant you were the hi-fi guru!!! I was wrong...

1984 - 1985: Wharfedale Diamond Plus - These were the ones that opened a whole world for me. Quite tuneful when connected to a Creek CAS4040 integrated amp.

1985 - 2003: Linn Kans MKI - Don't have words to explain the feeling of listening to these babies. Sorry I could not find parts to fix them and sold them as parts to a guy in Hong Kong...

2003 - Present: Linn Katans - Many bookshelf speakers would love to produce the kind of tune these ones produce!!!

After months of research I just ordered a Rythmik Audio F12SE Sealed Servo Subwoofer. I will post feedback as soon as I've dialed it in my system.
Last edited by vicdiaz on 2009-06-05 21:27, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by Starman »

Approx 1980-1990 ARC 101' (with bricks )
1990-2008 Linn Kabers bought off a friend so he could get Isobarik's
2009- Aktiv 109's
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Post by ThomasOK »

ImageImage
My first real Hi-Fi had Large Advent speakers (in vinyl finish - I wasn't going to pay the extra $16 each for the real walnut). These were driven by an AR XA turntable and an Eico Integrated amp. This would have been around 1972. Around 1976 I completed the transition to a fully Brit Hi-Fi with Spendor BC-1 speakers driven by a Transcriptors Saturn turntable and Quad 33/303.
ImageImage
This journey was begun by my discovery of the original Quad ELS around 1974 - it was the most musical speaker I had ever heard and lead me to subscribe to Hi-Fi News and Record Review and discover the wonderful world of British stereo equipment. I decided that the Quads were too big for my room but I heard the Spendor BC-1s which were the closest to the Quads I had heard in a box loudspeaker so I bought them and the Quad electronics.

Then in early 1978 I started working for a Hi-Fi store that carried a good mix of British (Linn, Rega), American and Japanese products. This gave me experience of a wide range of products and lead to a number of upgrades and side-grades. I am proud to say that my first upgrade was to purchase an LP12 that same year with the then obligatory Grace 707 tonearm.
Image
My next set of speakers were Dahlquist DQ10s, an unashamed attempt to make a dynamic speaker that would play louder than the Quad ELS (which it did) while sounding at least as good (which it didn't). It was even designed to look like the Quad ESL as Jon Dahlquist owned the Quads and wanted to maintain the same look in his living room! (He ended up keeping the same look in his living room by switching back to Quad ESLs himself!) To go along with this rather power hungry speaker I purchased an APT Holman preamp and Threshold 400A power amp. You will note here that I had transitioned back to US Hi-Fi by purchasing a number of Audiophile Press darlings.
Image
Several months after having now wedged the DQ10s into my living room, it occurred to me that I could just as easily fit my first love - the Quad ESLs. About this time in 1979 a coworker decided he wanted something that would handle more power than his Quads so he foolishly traded them to me along with an Audio Research transistor amp for my Dahlquists and the Threshold 400a. This was definitely a much more musical sound than I had form the DQ10 setup. A couple months later I spotted a Marantz 8B tube amp in excellent shape at another dealer selling cheap - I got it for $95! This was a match made in heaven with the Quads and made for a really engaging system. (The 8B also outperformed every amp we had in the store!) I also upgraded the arm/cartridge to a Mission 774 with Supex SDX1000.
Image
Around this time in early 1980 I started reading more and more about the Linn Isobariks. Our store needed a good top line speaker having tried several different units without much success. I and my manager both felt we should check the Isobarik out. The owners said they had heard them at shows and weren't excited by them but said we could have the distributor send us a pair of samples if we wished. We ordered them in and I took them home the first weekend. I was amazed as, even through my APT Holman and Marantz 8B, the Isobariks clobbered the Quad ELS. They not only went deeper and played louder, they even outperformed the Quads musically in the Quads forte: the midrange! My manager took them home the next weekend and within a month we both owned a pair. They quickly became far and away the most popular top line speaker we ever sold.

Now that we were hip to Isobariks we started to look into Naim, which we didn't carry at the time. We heard about the new Naim NAC 42 and NAP 110 and put in a call to the distributor (who already sold us Linn) to request samples. Wow! The 42/110 outperformed the APT/Marantz combo at least as much as the Marantz had outperformed all the other amps. Within a couple of months both my manager and I owned 42/110 combos to go with our Isobariks and we became a Naim dealer.

In mid-1981 we both went to a Hi-Fi show where we met Ivor Tiefenbrun and Julian Vereker. Meeting Ivor was great but meeting Julian was "interesting". Luckily for me it was my manager, Bill, who introduced himself to Julian first. This is how it went:

Bill: Hello, I'm Bill Clephane and I just wanted to say I own your NAC42 and NAP110 and Linn Isobariks and I really like the way it sounds.
Julian: You own what?!
Bill: A 42/110 and Isobariks and
Julian: A NAP110 can't drive Isobariks.
Bill: But I have them and they sound good.
Julian: A NAP110 cannot drive Isobariks!
Bill: (Trying to recover) Well I was thinking of upgrading and was wondering how much difference there really is between the NAP 160 and the NAP 250?
Julian: It's not a question of "Can you hear this or that better with a 250 vs. a 160?". As far as I'm concerned the NAP250 is the only decent amp in the world. Period!

At this point Bill decided it was best to stop talking and I introduced myself being careful to make no mention of what my system was. :)

Back in the store the next week it was time for another call to the distributor to order up a sample of a NAP250 for evaluation. I immediately took it home, hooked it up and found out that Julian was 100% right - a NAP110 could not drive Isobariks. The 250 creamed the 110 and really let you hear what the Isos were all about. Once you'd heard the 250 you could tell that the 110 was straining whenever you turned it up past 11 O'Clock and it wasn't doing all that great even below that. But the 110 was so superior to all the other amps we had (Threshold, Bryston, APT, PS Audio, Hafler, CJ) that you couldn't hear the problem until you compared it to the 250. Bill took it home next and came back to the store cussing! He heard the same problem but he didn't have enough money to buy a 250 and now he couldn't listen to his Hi-Fi past 12 O'Clock or he heard the 110 falling apart. Since he was a rock-head this was a major limitation. I, however, did have the cash and immediately bought the NAP250. Bill still has his Isobariks driven by an LP12 into an LK1 and an LK280. He isn't currently in the business but has worked at several stores selling products like Wilson, Krell, Meridian, etc. but has never heard anything he likes as much as his system.

From 1981 when my system consisted of an LP12/Ittok/Asak, NAP42, HI-CAP, NAP250 and Isobariks, I went through a number of system upgrades but Isobariks have been my main speaker until 3 years ago when I bought my ATC SCM100ASLs. Being in the business I traded items around a fair bit so I have owned a fair number of LP12s and a number of Isobariks as well. My last pair of Isos was purchased in 1988 and are still performing admirably in the front of my home theater driven by a LK280/SPARK.

My amps went from 42/HI-CAP/250 to a 12S to a 32 and then to a pair of NAP135s in 1984. Then the Linn LK1/LK2 came out and the Naim gear was sold and replaced by them and further upgraded to an LK280 in 1988. I also upgraded my cartridge to a Karma. Since I went into the computer industry around this time my system remained constant for 10 years - an amazing length of time for me. It was LP12/Valhalla/Ittok/Karma, LK1/LK280 and Isobariks except that my stepdaughter killed my Karma in 1990 (bad Karma for her - good for me) giving me an excuse to replace it with a Troika.

In 1998 I discovered the joys of eBay back when you could still get some screaming deals and started some long overdue upgrades: 1997 LP12 with Cirkus and Ekos II, Lingo, Kairn, Isobarik Aktiv crossover and four LK280/SPARKs were purchased over the next couple of years. I came back in the Hi-Fi business in 2001 and through a series of upgrades came to the point I am right now: LP12/Radikal/Keel/ChrisH Plinth/Ekos SE/Akiva/Urika, Ikemi, Pekin, Klimax Kontrol/1, ATC SCM100ASLs, REL B1.
Image

So where do I go from here? Well if I win the lottery (somewhat difficult since I don't often play) these look promising!
Image
Last edited by ThomasOK on 2010-11-19 17:40, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by rowlandhills »

First "proper" speakers I had were pair of fairly big Wharfedales which I inherited from my parents, aged 16, when they bought a new Sony mini system in 1994. Can't remember the model, but they were a three way standmounter. I drove them from a second hand Harmon Kardon amp and a Discman!

University in 1997 meant that I could borrow some money from the bank, and I went into a HiFi shop planning to buy a pair of Kef Coda 8s or B&W DM602s. Came out with a pair of second hand Kan Mk1s and haven't looked back since! :)

After Uni I found a set of badly advertised linn speakers on eBay, and for just over £200 became the owner of a pair of Keilidhs, a 5120 and some on-wall Sekrits (weird speaker, that one!). The Sekrits were sold for £150 leaving me with the best bargain of my HiFi life! Kept this setup for a while with the Kans as rears, while I upgraded the electronic to Linn, initially Classik Movie DI then 5103 and 5125. Changed the 5120 and Kans for a Centrik (mk1) and Tukans, so that all of my speakers were in Rosewood finish, which my wife prefers!

Took the Keilidhs aktiv in 2005 which transformed them, but then had the chance to move up to aktiv Kabers last year, which are a much faster, leaner sound than the Keilidhs, but way more musical. Currently looking for an appropriate sub, but intend to keep the rest of the setup for a good few years, probably until I can afford second hand Artikulate/Klinaxes....
KRDSM, Tundra to 242s
Silvers, K400, Hutter rack
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Post by lejonklou »

Nice thread! It's a joy to read your posts.

The problem is that I think I've had more speakers than my memory can hold... If we exclude the ones I built myself (with just about any drive units I could lay my hands on and passive filters made by trial and error out of parts from broken radios :)), it all started with a pair of DUX. They were not unlike mini Isobariks in appearance, with dual bass drivers, one mid and dual treble units, one of them mounted on the upper surface of the box. Bought them from my bigger brother, who introduced me to the world of HiFi. He had a lot of different speakers over the years and as far back as I can remember, I sat on the floor between them while he played me through the history of rock and roll. Thanks, Thomas!

Had the DUX:es a number of years until I went through a number of bookshelf speakers (Boston A40, KEF's? and some more) and for a while I tried an Audio Pro B2-50 subwoofer. That was the kind of sub that you liked when it was first switched on - and some weeks later you loved when it was switched off! At this point, in the late 80's, I went into my first Linn shop. Heard a pair of Sara's and my whole perception of what HiFi was about changed forever.

A series of Linn speakers followed: Index Plus, Helix 1, Kan II (2 pairs), Keilidh (2 pairs), Tukan and Katan (2 pairs). As I worked in a Linn shop for 5 years, I borrowed some other models but didn't buy them.

Just moved away from aktiv Katans that I've been extremely pleased with for the last few years. Will post future plans in the thread about my system.
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Post by vicdiaz »

lejonklou wrote:As I worked in a Linn shop for 5 years, I borrowed some other models but didn't buy them.
Those ones don't count, it's like experimenting with drugs, some you like, some you don't, without the cash investment! :mrgreen:
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Post by lejonklou »

:lol:

True, they don't count. Won't mention them again! :)
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Post by Komri »

Hi there.... This is not a long story but a short list of owned speakers over time....

History
  • KEF 103
    Audio Tronic CM3
    Quad ESL 63
    Linn Isobarik (active)
    Linn Index
    Linn Keltik (active - of course... )
    Linn Kan IV
    Linn AV 5120
    Quad ESL-2905
Present
  • Linn K110, K106 and K104 driven by Movie 05 (Movie system)
    Linn Tukan (active) driven by 2 Klout and supported by a Melodik (Old school system - and great fun to listen to)
    Komri driven by 2 Klimax Solo (Main system)
And by the way... Linn K110 sounds fantastic driven by Klimax Solo... they sound great without Solos to!
Last edited by Komri on 2010-11-01 09:28, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by ThomasOK »

Komri wrote:And by the way... Linn K110 sounds fantastic driven by Klimax Solo...
Pretty much anything decent, including Fredrik's early boston A40s, sound fantastic when driven by Solos and a matching Source/Pre!
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My speaker history

Post by mjuon »

In the very early days (around 14 years old) I have started with a pair of german "Summit" Speakers (on my Telefunken Receiver and Technics Turntable).
About 6 years later I switched to Celestion 5s and soon after to Celestion 7s, and then in 1992 the passive Keilidh for 10 years then in 2002 to passive Kabers,
And now since 3 months: AVI ADM9.1 and I must admit: A truly fine solution, probably the biggest bargain ever in High End audio.
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Post by SaltyDog »

In 1980 I purchased my first LP12 and a pair of DCM Time Windows from British American Sound in Charleston, S.C. USA. They went with the Nakamichi System 1 (complete 600 series) I had at the time.

The cassette tapes from this system were so good that almost everyone that heard one asked where I got the tape. Source first. The LP12 with Grace 707 and a cartridge I can't remember made some fine recordings.

The Time Windows were replaced with Kabers followed by Keltiks.
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Post by Linntek »

Appart from really lousy and home built speakers:

Cervin Vega D9E (early eighties - don't ask!!!)
JBL L112
Helix 1 (from 1990 to 2006 !!!)
Keilidh's

Just for fun:

Acoustic lab
Paradigm micro
Eltax monitor III (quite good for the money $93)
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Post by Linnie »

Started with Linn Nexus speakers. I know a lot of people are not big fans of these speakers but I had a lot of fun with these. I had a Mission Cyrus + PSX at that time with a Sony 55ES cd player.

Next in 1999 I made an upgrade to the Linn AV 5140 , which was difficult to put right in the room.
In 2002 I upgraded these speakers to Espeks. After some changes in the electronics I went Aktiv with 2 klouts and a AV 5105. This never sound right in my room and I went back to passiv with the 2 Klouts.

Sold the amps and purchased a Akurate 4200 amp to drive the Espeks and this improved the sound a lot.

And now since last week , after selling the Espeks , There is a brand new pair of Linn Akurate 242 in my room.
Still not burned in yet but it is so much better then the Espeks already.
Also quinwiring has to be done soon.
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Post by lejonklou »

Thanks for the story, Linnie!

Depending on how many amps you're driving them with and whether you intend to go aktiv, I would stop at biwiring passive 242's. One pair for the pod (connected to the treble input) and one pair for the basses (connected to the upper bass). When optimally soldered, it seems difficult to beat this wiring scheme.
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Post by anthony »

lejonklou wrote:Thanks for the story, Linnie!

Depending on how many amps you're driving them with and whether you intend to go aktiv, I would stop at biwiring passive 242's. One pair for the pod (connected to the treble input) and one pair for the basses (connected to the upper bass). When optimally soldered, it seems difficult to beat this wiring scheme.
Also agree with Fredrik, have done extensive tests on this.
There are two very strong opposing views on this though!
When I tried Quin wire, it was certainly clearer, and significantly better in hifi terms, but, what is to me, the most important factor, at the expense of the musicality and natural rhythm.
Fredrik, just tried single wiring on 350s, still haven't decided whether bi was better, but have been enjoying long music sessions....a good sign!
A couple of people who are convinced quin wire was a transformation, have admitted, the original bi wire was poorly soldered.
Anyway not too expensive to try, would be interested which"camp" you fall in.
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Post by SaltyDog »

Add to my previous post.

ATC 50 Active Towers - far and away the best I have heard.
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Post by Linnie »

anthony wrote:
lejonklou wrote:Thanks for the story, Linnie!

Depending on how many amps you're driving them with and whether you intend to go aktiv, I would stop at biwiring passive 242's. One pair for the pod (connected to the treble input) and one pair for the basses (connected to the upper bass). When optimally soldered, it seems difficult to beat this wiring scheme.
Also agree with Fredrik, have done extensive tests on this.
There are two very strong opposing views on this though!
When I tried Quin wire, it was certainly clearer, and significantly better in hifi terms, but, what is to me, the most important factor, at the expense of the musicality and natural rhythm.
Fredrik, just tried single wiring on 350s, still haven't decided whether bi was better, but have been enjoying long music sessions....a good sign!
A couple of people who are convinced quin wire was a transformation, have admitted, the original bi wire was poorly soldered.
Anyway not too expensive to try, would be interested which"camp" you fall in.

I use now a Akurate 4200 amp with tri-wire with K600 in to the 242.
When I change the wires direct from the lower bass to the upper bass the sound really is chaging , which tells me something is really changing by direct wiring.
If I go direct in uypperbass, I loose a lot of the lower bass.
So my idea , all direct wiring should give me the most balanced sound.
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Post by lejonklou »

That's true, the sound changes noticeably when you change what inputs you're using on the speakers. But the total effect of full multi-wiring versus single- or biwiring isn't quite that easy to figure out. You have to make a direct comparison between the alternatives.

Regarding the 242's, I have still not fully investigated single versus biwiring. There is something homogenic about single wiring that is lost when you add more wires. At the same time, some kind of clarity is added. As I just said, a direct comparison with two recently made optimal speaker wires is necessary to draw the final conclusion.

So far I prefer single wiring to passive 109's, connected to treble input. Musically more satisfying than bi- or triwiring. One reason behind this could be that I find it much easier to make a perfect K400 to Knekt soldered connection when using only one K400. More cables into one connector drains heat and necessitates either higher temperature or much longer soldering time, both of which makes the soldered connection sound worse.

I suspect that if the soldered connections aren't very good to begin with, the multi-wiring options have less to loose. This could tip these comparisons towards multi-wiring sounding better, because then one doesn't have an optimal single wire cable to compare with.
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Post by Tendaberry »

Well, here's my list of speakers (omitting my embarrassing first ones):
Mission 737 (around 1985), Image first powered by a Marantz receiver, later sounding much better with a Naim Nait 1.
The Missions were replaced by a pair of large German Écouton LQL 200's around 1987, The Nait struggled with the 82 dB sensitivity and I had to sell it replacing it with a Musical Fidelity preamp and a Distech LS1 power amp.Image
Had the Écoutons for quite awhile, until they were replaced 2001 by active Ninkas, powered first by a 5125, later by a C6100.
About 2 years ago the Ninkas gave way to my current Akurate 242's, which I love.
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

Tendaberry wrote:Well, here's my list of speakers (omitting my embarrassing first ones):
Mission 737 (around 1985), Image first powered by a Marantz receiver, later sounding much better with a Naim Nait 1.
The Missions were replaced by a pair of large German Écouton LQL 200's around 1987, The Nait struggled with the 82 dB sensitivity and I had to sell it replacing it with a Musical Fidelity preamp and a Distech LS1 power amp.Image
Had the Écoutons for quite awhile, until they were replaced 2001 by active Ninkas, powered first by a 5125, later by a C6100.
About 2 years ago the Ninkas gave way to my current Akurate 242's, which I love.


Nice progression... 8)
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Post by Tony Tune-age »

ThomasOK wrote:ImageImage
My first real Hi-Fi had Large Advent speakers (in vinyl finish - I wasn't going to pay the extra $16 each for the real walnut). These were driven by an AR XA turntable and an Eico Integrated amp. This would have been around 1972. Around 1976 I completed the transition to a fully Brit Hi-Fi with Spendor BC-1 speakers driven by a Transcriptors Saturn turntable and Quad 33/303.
ImageImage
This journey was begun by my discovery of the original Quad ELS around 1974 - it was the most musical speaker I had ever heard and lead me to subscribe to Hi-Fi News and Record Review and discover the wonderful world of British stereo equipment. I decided that the Quads were too big for my room but I heard the Spendor BC-1s which were the closest to the Quads I had heard in a box loudspeaker so I bought them and the Quad electronics.

Then in early 1978 I started working for a Hi-Fi store that carried a good mix of British (Linn, Rega), American and Japanese products. This gave me experience of a wide range of products and lead to a number of upgrades and side-grades. I am proud to say that my first upgrade was to purchase an LP12 that same year with the then obligatory Grace 707 tonearm.
Image
My next set of speakers were Dahlquist DQ10s, an unashamed attempt to make a dynamic speaker that would play louder than the Quad ELS (which it did) while sounding at least as good (which it didn't). It was even designed to look like the Quad ESL as Jon Dahlquist owned the Quads and wanted to maintain the same look in his living room! (He ended up keeping the same look in his living room by switching back to Quad ESLs himself!) To go along with this rather power hungry speaker I purchased an APT Holman preamp and Threshold 400A power amp. You will note here that I had transitioned back to US Hi-Fi by purchasing a number of Audiophile Press darlings.
Image
Several months after having now wedged the DQ10s into my living room, it occurred to me that I could just as easily fit my first love - the Quad ESLs. About this time in 1979 a coworker decided he wanted something that would handle more power than his Quads so he foolishly traded them to me along with an Audio Research transistor amp for my Dahlquists and the Threshold 400a. This was definitely a much more musical sound than I had form the DQ10 setup. A couple months later I spotted a Marantz 8B tube amp in excellent shape at another dealer selling cheap - I got it for $95! This was a match made in heaven with the Quads and made for a really engaging system. (The 8B also outperformed every amp we had in the store!) I also upgraded the arm/cartridge to a Mission 774 with Supex SDX1000.
Image
Around this time in early 1980 I started reading more and more about the Linn Isobariks. Our store needed a good top line speaker having tried several different units without much success. I and my manager both felt we should check the Isobarik out. The owners said they had heard them at shows and weren't excited by them but said we could have the distributor send us a pair of samples if we wished. We ordered them in and I took them home the first weekend. I was amazed as, even through my APT Holman and Marantz 8B, the Isobariks clobbered the Quad ELS. They not only went deeper and played louder, they even outperformed the Quads musically in the Quads forte: the midrange! My manager took them home the next weekend and within a month we both owned a pair. They quickly became far and away the most popular top line speaker we ever sold.

Now that we were hip to Isobariks we started to look into Naim, which we didn't carry at the time. We heard about the new Naim NAC 42 and NAP 110 and put in a call to the distributor (who already sold us Linn) to request samples. Wow! The 42/110 outperformed the APT/Marantz combo at least as much as the Marantz had outperformed all the other amps. Within a couple of months both my manager and I owned 42/110 combos to go with our Isobariks and we became a Naim dealer.

In mid-1981 we both went to a Hi-Fi show where we met Ivor Tiefenbrun and Julian Vereker. Meeting Ivor was great but meeting Julian was "interesting". Luckily for me it was my manager, Bill, who introduced himself to Julian first. This is how it went:

Bill: Hello, I'm Bill Clephane and I just wanted to say I own your NAC42 and NAP110 and Linn Isobariks and I really like the way it sounds.
Julian: You own what?!
Bill: A 42/110 and Isobariks and
Julian: A NAP110 can't drive Isobariks.
Bill: But I have them and they sound good.
Julian: A NAP110 cannot drive Isobariks!
Bill: (Trying to recover) Well I was thinking of upgrading and was wondering how much difference there really is between the NAP 160 and the NAP 250?
Julian: It's not a question of "Can you hear this or that better with a 250 vs. a 160?". As far as I'm concerned the NAP250 is the only decent amp in the world. Period!

At this point Bill decided it was best to stop talking and I introduced myself being careful to make no mention of what my system was. :)

Back in the store the next week it was time for another call to the distributor to order up a sample of a NAP250 for evaluation. I immediately took it home, hooked it up and found out that Julian was 100% right - a NAP110 could not drive Isobariks. The 250 creamed the 110 and really let you hear what the Isos were all about. Once you'd heard the 250 you could tell that the 110 was straining whenever you turned it up past 11 O'Clock and it wasn't doing all that great even below that. But the 110 was so superior to all the other amps we had (Threshold, Bryston, APT, PS Audio, Hafler, CJ) that you couldn't hear the problem until you compared it to the 250. Bill took it home next and came back to the store cussing! He heard the same problem but he didn't have enough money to buy a 250 and now he couldn't listen to his Hi-Fi past 12 O'Clock or he heard the 110 falling apart. Since he was a rock-head this was a major limitation. I, however, did have the cash and immediately bought the NAP250. Bill still has his Isobariks driven by an LP12 into an LK1 and an LK280. He isn't currently in the business but has worked at several stores selling products like Wilson, Krell, Meridian, etc. but has never heard anything he likes as much as his system.

From 1981 when my system consisted of an LP12/Ittok/Asak, NAP42, HI-CAP, NAP250 and Isobariks, I went through a number of system upgrades but Isobariks have been my main speaker until 3 years ago when I bought my ATC SCM100ASLs. Being in the business I traded items around a fair bit so I have owned a fair number of LP12s and a number of Isobariks as well. My last pair of Isos was purchased in 1988 and are still performing admirably in the front of my home theater driven by a LK280/SPARK.

My amps went from 42/HI-CAP/250 to a 12S to a 32 and then to a pair of NAP135s in 1984. Then the Linn LK1/LK2 came out and the Naim gear was sold and replaced by them and further upgraded to an LK280 in 1988. I also upgraded my cartridge to a Karma. Since I went into the computer industry around this time my system remained constant for 10 years - an amazing length of time for me. It was LP12/Valhalla/Ittok/Karma, LK1/LK280 and Isobariks except that my stepdaughter killed my Karma in 1990 (bad Karma for her - good for me) giving me an excuse to replace it with a Troika.

In 1998 I discovered the joys of eBay back when you could still get some screaming deals and started some long overdue upgrades: 1997 LP12 with Cirkus and Ekos II, Lingo, Kairn, Isobarik Aktiv crossover and four LK280/SPARKs were purchased over the next couple of years. I came back in the Hi-Fi business in 2001 and through a series of upgrades came to the point I am right now: LP12/Radikal/Keel/ChrisH Plinth/Ekos SE/Akiva/Urika, Ikemi, Pekin, Klimax Kontrol/1, ATC SCM100ASLs, REL B1.
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So where do I go from here? Well if I win the lottery (somewhat difficult since I don't often play) these look promising!
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ThomasOK, you have some very good experiences to support your likes and dislikes within the audio world. And in a world where nothing ever appears to be good enough, this type of information can help guide other audiophiles in a positive direction :!:
Tony Tune-age
anthony
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speakers

Post by anthony »

Leak 2060s
Spendor BC1
Meridian M2 aktiv
Linn Kan
Linn Sara
Isobarik
Kabers
Keltiks
Akurate 242
Klimax 350

For me the most memorable was discovering Linn with the Kan, then the Kabers and 242 all stood out as being my happiest times.
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Tony Tune-age
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Re: speakers

Post by Tony Tune-age »

anthony wrote:Leak 2060s
Spendor BC1
Meridian M2 aktiv
Linn Kan
Linn Sara
Isobarik
Kabers
Keltiks
Akurate 242
Klimax 350

For me the most memorable was discovering Linn with the Kan, then the Kabers and 242 all stood out as being my happiest times.
The best Linn speaker memories for me were the Linn Index (original and Plus), Kans, Sara 9's and all versions of the Isobariks including Keltiks.

The Index sounded very good for a budget speaker, Kans were simply amazing especially for their small size, and the Sara 9 was an affordable and impressive alternative to the Isobariks. But once I heard the Isobarik DMS and PMS speakers, it became quite apparent how important bass frequencies were to recorded music :!:

Of course the Klimax 350 sounds great, but it was the previous speaker models that really took hold in my memory 8) .

Perhaps my interest will eventually turn towards the ACT speaker line in the future...
Tony Tune-age
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