What are your


What pieces of gear are your “keepers”? I’m talking about the pieces that, while others have come and gone, you’ve held onto for years. It’s the piece that you’ve thought about selling a dozen times but never could bring yourself to part with. Maybe you’ve even posted a For Sale ad on Audiogon but then come to your senses and rushed back to the computer to cancel the ad. Or maybe in a moment of weakness you did in fact did sell it, only to kick yourself up and down the house for letting it go, and then you spend months scouring Audiogon hourly to find an exact replacement. Yes, you know there are other pieces out there that might offer a 1% improvement in performance, but this is the item that continues to give you 99% of what you need. So, while you might be tempted by the latest hottie reviewed in Stereophile, you stay loyal to this amp, this speaker, this DAC, whatever it might be, because, to you, it just sounds right.

I’ll start by nominating these as my keepers:
* McCormack DNA125 power amp – musical with all sorts of speakers, plenty powerful enough, and reliable as the rising sun
* Vienna Acoustics Haydn speakers – I try various speakers now and then but I keep these around because when they sing I forget about evaluating equipment and instead just let the music play
jhold
I can't afford to upgrade for a long time, so my keepers are my ProAc Response 2.5s and my Bel Canto SET40 amp. I guess my entire system is a keeper, but those are the pieces I see myself hanging on to the longest.

The piece I've had the longest is my Blue Circle BC21. I've compared it to many different preamps and even if some of the other ones do something better than the BC, I always come back to it because of the lovely tone it has. I'm thinking of having it modded and tricked out by Gilbert at Blue Circle so that it'll become a SUPER keeper.
Meadowlark Audio Kestrel Hot Rods. I purchased these almost two years ago at a fantastic price because of cosmetic issues. These little speakers get out of the way and just produce beautiful music. I've owned other quality speakers and will upgrade to larger, more full range speakers at some point but won't let these go.
Proton 300 table radio ... in use since August 1991. This radio has seen me through more life than I can even say.

Acoustic Research 302 speakers ... in use since November 2000. Still produce the best bass of any $1500 speaker that I have heard.

SONY SCD 555 ES SACD changer ... in use since November 2001. No problems in almost 5 years ... no reason to replace it. Even though I am itching to buy a Rega Apollo ... just don't know where to put it, without totally replacing an entire system.

I now have a couple of Prima Luna amps ... they should be the next generation keepers.

Regards, Rich
Rar1
I also got the Proton 300 radio with the companion 301 speaker for stereo,YES they are keepers.I bought mines new I believe in 1990.
George