Whats the 2 best pieces of equipment you ever owned ?

That would be my Sonus Faber Olympica 3 left speaker and my Sonus Faber Olympica 3 right speaker

 

Sony TA-4650 VFET Integrated Amplifier
Mitsubishi M-01 Mini Component Separates System
Yamaha B-2 VFET Power Amplifier
Yamaha M-4 Power Amplifier
Yamaha c-4 Control Amplifier

 

The best piece in terms of absolute sonic capabilities would be the Martin Logan CLS. The other one would be the VTL Maximal preamp for I can swap it in for either the main preamp or the phono preamp while these components are out for repair or retubing, without sacrificing the system‘s qualities.

 

Why?

 

Because I'm The Pinhead. A normal poster would have used ¨heaven¨

 

Technics SL 1210M5
various Morrow Audio cables (Speaker & IC's)

 

1) Technics SL-1200GR
2) Sony HAP-Z1ES

 

Marantz AV8805, Dynaudio Special Forty’s and 10 cables from Wireworld that cost as much as the Marantz combined.

 

Quad ESL57, copying my reply from another post. The best midrange I have ever heard in a speaker besides one custom built horn setup. I was even thinking about selling them at one point and my wife asked if I was crazy, and she's right I am hanging onto these for life. As an example (using this recording because many audiophiles know it) listening to Janos Starker's famous JS Bach Cello Suites recordings on Mercury you'd swear up and down that there was a real cellist five feet in front of the speakers.

They are limited in extension on either end and limited dynamically as well, ie there are better speakers out there for full scale symphony music. But what they do in the midrange is pure magic and I am going to recreate it with the horn setup I'm building. Having that reference is invaluable.

My dream headphones are the Sennheiser HE90 which are the only headphones I've heard that match them in the midrange.

 

I was reluctant to post anything to this thread, in part because there have been so many great pieces of equipment over the years, but your response, @hvbias pretty much sums up the original Quad Loudspeaker. I bought my '57s in around 1974? and after a refurbishment a couple years ago by Kent McCollum, they are back in play in my second system. Yes, they have some serious limitations. No, they won't play to thunderous levels, or let you rock out to max dBs with heavy rock. But that all important midrange and the tonal character that is consistent, seamless and utterly coherent, enables them to 'get out of the way' so effectively that there seems to be no reproducing 'machinery' between you and the music.
It is an almost eerie effect for those who have never heard the Quad.
I did have the later, "better" 63, modified by Crosby, and while it was overall a more useable loudspeaker, it did not have the magic of the original.
Given the escalation in pricing of 'aspirational' hi-fi in the last 20 years, the fact that they don't need exotic equipment upstream to run them (just something that won't get killed by the crazy impedance swings) and the fact that there are many pairs out there that can, for reasonable money, be brought back to better than new condition by a good Quad refurbisher, it is a relative bargain in a world where cables cost more than cars.
Mine run from a pair of refurbished Quad II amps, a McIntosh MX 110z, and a vintage Technics SP 10 turntable that I've owned since 1973 or so. That system is as musical and engaging as the main system, which is exponentially more costly, involved and demanding of set up, associated components, wire, mains power and the like.
That this loudspeaker was first introduced more than 60 years ago tells how far we have not come in some ways (accepting their inherent limitations). I could probably make a long list of 'classic' audio components I've owned over more than four decades, but the original Quad Loudspeaker is probably the most enduring, to this day.

IMG_1006 by William Hart, on Flickr

 

Ah. I see. Excellent!

 

Niceeeeeee!

 

Schiit Gungnir MB DAC, sublime in my system
ClearAudio Virtuoso wood, v2

 

Previously owned...Meridian 508-20 cd player for redbook.
Currently owned...Marantz DV12-S1 dvd-a player for dvd-a.

 

Hey Bill, yeah I think for about $4000-5000 used rebuilt by Wayne (unsure what the new price is since his website is down) there is no other speaker I would want to hang onto for life. I listen to loads of solo piano and chamber music and they have no limitations there. I had ESL Solutions rebuilt ESL63 and my thoughts are similar to you here as well, the midrange wasn't as nice as the 57 and they are still limited dynamically so not really a master of all or a truly exceptional specialist speaker either. But these comments on midrange on the ESL63 only in direct comparison to the 57, on their own I still feel the 63's midrange is better than 95% or more of commercial speakers.

The 57 are the only piece of equipment in my profile I'll be keeping, everything else is replaceable.

 

Revel Performa3 F206
Sony CD Walkman D-EJ106CK

 

Technic s SL1210GR, Stirling LS 3/6

 

@Bill Hart Dave Slagle builds an active "direct drive" amp for them that is a high voltage amp that removes the step up transformer in the speakers. I don't know if he offers this amp without selling the speakers along with them, but I imagine he is pretty flexible to work with. I am almost afraid to ask how much they cost (from one old Hifi Heroin post I think he said 80% nickel and with the size of those transformers just the transformers must cost a fortune) which is why I haven't inquired about them.

 

I also want to mention my Pono player; powered by Ayre and still rocks "even" redbook 16/44.1 flac files …

… and pairs up pretty well with my Sennheiser HD-600's in the balanced configuration

 

Yep, aware of them, I'm sure they sound fab, this isn't a system I'm sinking money into. Still wouldn't mind running a stacked set at some point (which of course would mean money). I'll worry about that some other time. For the cost of what I have in this system-- (with the exception of the McI piece) purchased decades ago-- it's pretty special even as it stands (with sympathetic updates to everything).

 

The PonoPlayer is the best portable gear that I've owned.
Try the PonoPlayer with one of the 150 ohm Senns. Like the HD660S or Massdrop HD58X Jubilee. The PonoPlayer is a little bit out of its comfort zone driving the 300 ohm HD600/HD650. It does better with the 150 ohm 660S or 58X Jubilee.

 

I figured you're extremely happy with the system, I'd love to hear the Quad II amps. This is in the grand scheme of things more sensible than $10k+ amps and making the system more complicated/finicky (and removing all protection without the transformer) unless they were your primary system.

 

Wilson Audio Alexia 2 loudspeakers
Audio Research Ref 5 SE line stage

 

Pioneer PL-630 has been a real good stablemate for quite a while.

 

Martin Logan ReQuest speakers and a Mark Levinson (back when it was Mark Levinson!) 380S pre-amp.