Speakers to hang on to for LIFE

Ohm Walsh 2. Try others but never ever give them up!

Man, I've been switching out my Thiel CS 3.5's, Totem Hawks, and a pair of Magnepan MG3a that I just picked up for $600. I keep returning to the Thiels because they attack like the Maggies...with more bass. The Maggies...well, they DO need power to show what they have but at those listening levels I can't say I will keep em. Plus they're almost taller than I am. The Thiels also need some juice behind them to strut their stuff, but are better at the levels I listen to most frequently. I have a Pass Labs X150.5 amp so I have the power to drive them both well. The Hawks? Hmmm. Brand new but...compared to the aforementioned VERY colored overall. Not necessarily bad but...different. I have decided to release my DAHLQUIST Dq10's - they're just not in good company here imho.

Totem Hawks revised....
Man, these are good speakers with my new set up - I just purchased a pair of Musical Fidelity M1 PWR amps which I'm bi-amping through an Audio Research LS2 pre. The earlier issues I had with the Hawks was their "coloring" compared to the Thiels (which I've donated away) or the Maggies. (Which I'm hanging onto. With each Hawk having its own amp the sound truly filled out, and I'm just about breaking them in. The Hawks are still colored IMHO, but a lot more has come out of them under this setup. The M1 amps put out about 100 watts in Mono into 8 ohms, which the Hawks are. Nice having some additional space back into my living room as well...

COUNTERPOINT CLEARFIELD METROPOLITANS
Just picked up a thoroughly operational, albeit mildly cosmetically challenged pair of these from a fellow A'gon and "other" site member for $1050. Getting them out of his house and into my house was something of an adventure since they weigh 150 pounds apiece. During this transit the base of one speaker popped off without any damage to be concerned about, so I simply elected to remove the other one as well. I measured how high the bases supported the columns and simply replaced them with isolation blocks. "Nuff said...
As reviewed and as discussed on various inter-web sites, these are truly a remarkable pair of loudspeakers. (25hz - 25khz response and 90db efficient.) Currently I am driving them with a pair of Musical Fidelity M1 PWR amps through an Audio Research LS preamp, and I have been impressed every time I listen. (The MF M1 PWRs are 200 into 4 ohms) I also have a Pass Labs X150.5 which I will be swapping in this weekend.
My fave speakers through the years, and still to this day, have been Thiels and Magnepans. Now these. These are similar in many respects to either, but with better resolution at low listening levels. If you come across them anywhere, buy them.