Dare I admit? Low end speaker confusion - help

I have often been impressed by the grace, the relaxed sound of older speakres, especially 3-way speakers that have large woofers (like my old Gale 401c's!). It might be that the goals of speaker designers have changed over the years and what I call grace is now a lower priority of speaker designers.

Modern speakers seem to be built with different goals: precision of reproduction, detail, neutrality, speed, transients, etc. They are also less forgiving, often FAR less forgiving, of harsh sounding electronics.

I use Thiel 04a's (circa 1983) in my home office. I've owned many modern speakers, including newer Thiels, in my main system, and once in a while I'll put the 04a's into my main system for comparison.

The modern Thiels are far more accurate, offer far deeper and tighter bass, even from similar size drivers (1.2, 1.5, 1.6), far faster, far more detailed, far more extended in treble, far more transparent, better leading edge and far better at soundstaging. The modern Thiels are much more finicky with regard to associated equipment, but when you get the setup right, WOW, what a treat!

However the 04a has that relaxed beauty that modern speakers seem to lack. Maybe that's why I keep them around, for the occasional change of pace. And there are times when I think we've "thrown out the baby with the bath-water".

Art

ps: Some folks will probably tell you that you are simply used to the sound of your speakers and that modern "correct" speakers sound wrong to you because of what you are used to. I don't accept this view, it's not consistent with my experience, particularly since I have had the same experience you have had even that I don't own such speakers.

The problem is that all loudspeakers, regardless of price, are in some way flawed.
You've grown used to the flaws in the sound of your speakers, and you like it.
Why do you want to spend money to replace something you like?

BTW, from the language in your post, you do not sound like an "Aragon, California Audio Lab, & Audio Physic" type of listener.
Klipsch speakers would seem better suited to your preference for an immediate, punchy and lively presentation.

What speakers have you heard?

Well, it could be that the old speakers just work well in your room via some coincidence of acoustic synergy. I wonder if the magic would be lost if you took them into a different room or location?

Then again, it just might be that the speakers have a very natural balance or some particular quirk of frequency response that sounds great to you. Who knows?

Recently, I bought a set of old Altec bookshelf speakers from the 70's at a garage sale. Each contains a 10" woofer, a 10" passive radiator, and a conventional dome tweeter -- seemingly nothing special. But when I hooked them up and cranked them, they really sang. Great bass, dynamics, a natural frequency balance, and really good vocal and midrange performance. It made me take a step back and scratch my head. I had to ask myself, "where's all the progress of the last 30 years?"

I've owned a lot of highly respected speakers over those years, and my current Virgo II's and Stax 4040 headphone system are both great at what they do. Still, I can appreciate the fundamental rightness of those old Altecs and I can't say that my other speakers are enough better to justify their cost. But I can say that I enjoy all of them for their particular character traits and the musical experience they provide.

So I can see where you might have trouble justifying the costs to improve upon your speakers. That said, you could still be crazy. :)