Mordaunt-Short MS55 ti
Mission 732
Mission 733
Mission 752
Naim Credo
Neat Motive SX2
Naim n-SATs/n-SUB in current main system.
Just acquired a pair of mint condition maple Naim Allaes for a second system.
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Here is a short list, as my speakers in the main system were purchased second hand in 1974 and have remained in place in the system to this day, (maybe a record for the Loudspeaker history notes here).
Some explanation here, I built a cheap Wharfedale Unit 3 (found invoice, equivalent to Linton?) kit, two units) and attached to a Leak Stereo 20 (with a Point 1 preamp) which would have been about 1967 or 1968, and I remember the construction work in the kitchen causing big domestic trouble due to mdf dust everywhere - later in the workshop some 30 years later it was a banned substance. The veneer was French Polished.
Over the next few years I listened to other systems, and was impressed with Quad 57 electrostatics, AR something, and some BBC speakers. A opportunity came to buy locally second hand Rogers BBC Studio Monitors in 1974 and they have stayed ever since.
The amplification and sources had changed a few times and by the late 1980’s was settled with the Naim 62/140 purchased in 1988, and the HiCAP a few years later, and this has been my system to this day.
One pair of speakers in place for 49 years, one amplifier for 35 years!
I have however in the last few years, since having a pc based sound in the other room, had some other small desk top speakers, sourced at exceptionally cheap prices locally, namely Cura CA5 and by coincidence also Cura CA10 which use small desktop amplifiers.
Apologies fo the length of this…
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Let me see…
KEF Coda 7 (uni starter pack?)
Rogers LS1 (made in England still)
Celestion 10
Celestion A1 ( first serious speaker - self gift after starting a proper job)
Proac Response 1SC (Naim amplification started here…. Back in 2007)
Proac D25
Currently:
Harbeth SHL5 ….since 2010, regular
Rogers LS3/5A (circa 1985 vintage), spare listening
Let’s hope no one starts a cable history thread! 
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- Bose 901 series IV: I inherited these and drove these with an old JVR receiver, then an A60, and finally for many years with a Linn Majik. Universally hated by audiophiles, I loved the 901s. Nothing did sale that came close (until many years later). And their “Acoustimass” tech was just a fancy word for transmission line loading. They did bass in a way no other speaker I’d head for many years could match. I had these all the time I was working in hifi retail and I remember my boss telling me to never mention I had 901s to customer or they won’t take the shop seriously ever again. I got maximum value from these. My dad bought them in the 70s and I inherited them when he passed in '82 and used them constantly until the gaskets perished in 2000. I doubt there were many people with Linn source and amps matching them with 901s.
- Mission 731LE: My first office/uni system comprised of these with my A60.
- Linn Keilidh: I had, oddly enough two systems and two Linn Majik amps. They Keilidhs were great. They were everything they 901s weren’t: precise, subtle, nuanced. I took these with me to uni one year for use in the shared flat living room. But eventually I sold them around the same time as the 901s died of natural causes.
- Mission 73: These tiny plastic shielded speakers intended as surround rears (they were only GBP75 new!), I used heavily un uni on the end of a Linn Mimik II CD player and Majik amp (the year that I wasn’t using the Keilidhs) and were the only bit of hifi I took with me (other than some HD600 headphones) when I emigrated to Japan. Ran them for 15 years mostly on then end of rubbish Onkyo micro receiver.
- Bose AM10 series IV: These were not hifi even by my standards. There were the surround package I bought for my cinema room in 2005. But they sounded far better than the Mission 73s and my god was I happy to have that bass back from their transmission line active sub. I used these for 15 years constantly.
- Qacoustics 2010i: In 2014 I ended 13 years of hifi wilderness (not having any serious hifi) when I bought a UnitiQute2 and these dinky speakers. I still have them somewhere. This was the office speaker replacing the 73s.
- PMC Twenty.23: First proper “serious” speaker since I let go of the Keilidhs. By far the speaker I felt I had been waiting for all my life. Had superior clarity over the Linn Kabers (the speaker I always wanted when I worked in the trade) and had that transmission line scale I loved from the 901s. There was no going back after this.
- Qacoustics 3010: For the office upgrade. Still in use every single day for nearly 7 years now.
- PMC Twenty5.23: Upgraded on a punt as I could get them on a great price after selling the Twenty.23s, the difference should have been about GBP750. Sadly, a delivery accident and the time spent on the insurance claim make them my most expensive speaker ever. Ran them for about 4 years before putting into storage. But still, an amazing speaker that will see the light of day again this year.
- Omega Junior 8 XRS: Bit of a departure from type. This single 8" full range driver speaker with 98db sensitivity was for pairing with a 10w tube amp. Not super expensive but this crossoverless speaker does transparency in a way that is beguiling. They play loud and proud but are, like most wizzer cone speakers (and electrostatics for that matter) suffer from a Jekyll and Hyde sweet spot. If you are in it, they are incredible. If you are not, nothing sounds right. Perfect for a listening room designed for an audience of one. Not really a family room speaker. I’m keeping these to be the new office system in the future. Despite their flaws, they are just amazing in the right situation.
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One of my first real audiophile listening experiences that got me hooked was a Mission 751 and 753 demo by the German Mission distributor - that was when the new 75x line was first introduced! The store also carried Naim but that was way out my student price range then! After many years (and moving to New Mexico) I finally purchased a pair of 751 in 1999. While the 751 are long gone, my pair of Mission 731i have been running for over 21 years now and since 2014 with the right amplifier match: a Cyrus III and slightly later a Cyrus 8.
Cain Abby introduced me to single drivers and SET tubes and still regret selling them - one of the most amazing presentations of Starkers Cello concertos ever.
The Devore O/96 have just passed their 10-year anniversary and have been the most musical and enjoyable speakers. There is a reason this is John Devore’s most successful design! And they have gone through many amplification changes, from Fi to Shindo to Accuphase.
And most recently, going back in time trying to rediscover classic British audio has brought me to Graham and Falcon and of course Naim (52/SC/250) which I always admired but just could not afford 20-years ago.
| Speaker | Model | Year (from) | Year (to) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falcon | LS3/5a | 2022 | |
| Graham | LS5/9 | 2017 | |
| Altec | Valencia | 2015 | 2017 |
| Mission | 760i Black | 2014 | |
| Devore | O/96 | 2012 | |
| Verity | Sarastro II | 2011 | 2012 |
| Devore | Super 8 | 2009 | |
| Cain & Cain | Abby | 2005 | 2012 |
| Mission | 731i Black | 2001 | |
| Mission | 751 Freedom Rosewood | 1999 | 2005 |
| ALR | Number 3 | 1991 | 1997 |
23 Likes
I have had a few since the 80’s if I remember them all more or less in order.
A 2.1 Sony speakers then.
JPW Mini Monitor with JPW passive sub partner.
Rega Kite
Kef Q50
Mission 751
Mission 753
JPW Rubi One
Castle Duram 900
Castle Chester
Castle Harlech
Castle Howard S1 and S2
Monitor Audio Studio 2
Monitor Audio Studio 20
B&W 805 - 1996
B&W 804 - 1997
Paragon Regent - 1999
B&W 804 S2 - 2003
Sold all my systems in 2004 and then restarted in 2015 with a small Harman Kardon GLA55 and an ifi dac, and that made me acquire a new system for cinema and stereo. Roon was a great motivation to build the systems I have today.
Focal Solo 6BE - 2017
Focal Aria 906 and Aria Center channel - 2019
Focal Flax Dome for multichannel - 2020
Focal Sopra N1 - 2021
Had a few more on home cinema setups over the years but nothing special.
My speakers, starting in 2002:
Paradigm Focus
Paradigm Monitor 7
Paradigm Studio 100
Sonus Faber Venere 2.0
Totem Tribe Towers
And my current and quite possibly end game speakers, Harbeth C7 es3-XD.
Wharfedale Dentons - inherited from my dad and opened my ears to the wonderful world of audiphilia. The excitement of bringing a new album back from town and carefully placing it on the Goldring Lenco GL75…. I can still smell that turntable.
Wharfedale Glendales - never has so little bass come from such a large cabinet
B&W DM12 bookshelfs- smooth and sophisticated, but the overload protection kept cutting in (probably because they were being played too loud).
Heybrook HB2s - IIRC they were heavily recommended by HiFi Answers. Great speakers but the tweeters kept blowing (maybe my A&R A60 was clipping).
Active Linn Keilidhs - I had a new job and was feeling flush so spent £4500 on a new active Linn system - Karik CD, Kairn pre, 2xLK100 power into Keilidhs. I absolutely loved this system and kept it for 16 years. The Keilidhs had clarity and punch and really good balance across the frequency range.
Change of circumstances so downsized to a Naimuniti with Spendor A5s based on a What HiFi review and a quick listen at my dealer. Came to find them smooth but uninvolving/boring - they couldn’t really rock.
Bought a pair of Ovator S400s and a 250 to go with them. Plenty of scale, bass slam and went loud without any feeling of strain or compression, Good tonal balance. At parties the 250 would reach 70degC then shut down - I see the NC250 has a fan.
Moved to a smaller house so swapped the S400s to Kudos S60s. Despite doing a demo I quickly realised they were much too bright for me.
Focal Sopra N1s - fantastic speakers - incredible clarity without being bright, superb midrange, seamless driver integration. I use them with my NDS/252/300DR system.
One downside of the Focals is they are a bit big and ugly for my small 4m x 4m room so I’m considering downsizing/sidesizing to some PMC twenty5 23is, their smallest floorstanders which are only 16cm wide. A big worry is what I’m going to lose if I give up the Focals. An occasional post here says the PMCs can be a bit on the cold side of neutral and some say they are bright. I’m going to audition some when I find a Naim dealer who has them in stock.
Totem Arro’s (still pine for them a little sometimes)
Totem Hawks
Proac 30-D
Neat Iota Alpha (2nd system)
Focal Sopra
Dynaudio Evoke 50
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Rega ELA
Naim IBL Mk1 with MK2 drivers
Rega RS1
Naim n-Sat
ATC SCM 11
Spendor D7.2
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Speakers since my Naim journey began, main system.
Miller Kreisel Satellites and Sub
Epos 14
SBLs (Mk1) Black
ProAc 2.5
IBLs + Carver Sunfire Sub
SBLs (MkII) Cherry, purchased new
ATC 50s, Active
NBLs Active with 135s and then passive with 500
DBLs Passive 500
Sonus Faber (can’t remember the model, they didn’t last long)
Ovator S600s
Kudos Titans T88
ProAc K6 Signatures
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Pedropete, it’s interesting to see you did come back few time to SF, curious why? Is it because you have them and move out of corner from time to time? How you compare Auditor and Auditor M? Which SF model/s you like the most? How do you score new lines (after Franco)
Apologies for so many questions.
80’s; Akai cube PB70
90’s: Rank Arena L8.10
since 2007: B&W CM1
Thats all for me… 
Memories
1978 JBL (don’t remember the model)
1979-2015 Phillips 477
1979-today Klipsch Belle
1988-2000 Yamaha (don’t remember the model)
2016-2018 Focals Sopra 3
2018-2022 Focal Maestro Utopias
2020-today Sonus Faber Amati
2022-today Proac k10
I’m pretty sure unless some calamity occurs, I’ve purchased my last speaker. Can’t say that for my last source, or amp or pre.
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Since 1988:
Linn Kan
Linn Katan
ATC SCM7
ProAc Tablette 10 Signature
I still have them all, along with their respective stands. At some point in the future, may pull out the Kans and the ATCs, out of curiosity.
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1975 - ~1978 Can’t remember!
~1978 - present B&W DM4
1992 - 2018 Ruark Talisman II
2007 - 2018 Monitor Audio Silver RS 1
2019 - present ATC SCM 19 (but currently for sale)
2022 - present Graham LS5/9
Since 1974:
Audioscan Gamma Monitor
Bose 301
F 3 Trapez
Quad ESL 63
Epos 14
Naim Credo
Dynaudio Exite 14
Dynaudio Heritage Special
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Hi Chris,
Thanks for sharing your speaker journey, your ownership of Kudos t88s first caught my eye at that time, as I did and currently still use the speaker.
The t88s replaced my passive Linn Isobariks (xover in stand)500, which for me had a lot of the character of the Briks but with greater transparency.
The addition of Townshend Podiums for the t88s was transformational,releasing the sound more from the cabinets,revealing greater micro detail, tighter bass and a better focused soundstage.
If I was to be critical, in my quest for transparency I may have lost some involvement, but I’m not sure, had a lot of things going on in recent years.
May I ask what prompted your transition to the ProAc K6 Signatures and in what way they bettered the t88s, have you been tempted by the Titan 808s?
One last observation, the Dibbles, for some an end game speaker, and do you regret moving on from them?
Thanks for all your posts, I always try to pick up on them and you’ll be in my thoughts when I get an opportunity to listen to a pair of ProAc K6 Signatures.
KR
Russ
Celestion Ditton 22
Royd A7
Linn Kan II
Naim SBL (over 10 years)
Naim NBL (current - the last 19-20 years)
Kudos Titan 808 coming soon 
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