When audiophiles speak of the "Golden Age" of audio components, they almost always are talking about amplifiers and preamplifiers, not loudspeakers. While a very few speaker models have stood the test of time&mdash;among them the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361">BBC LS3/5a</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/914">Vandersteen 2</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/706listening">original Quad electrostatic</A> and the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/416">Quad ESL-63</A>, some of the Magnepans, and the Klipschorn&mdash;almost no one would disagree that, taken en masse, the speakers of today outperform not just those of the 1960s and 1970s but even those of the 1980s and 1990s. The advent of low-cost, computerized test equipment, high-quality, inexpensive measuring microphones, and persuasive research into what measured parameters matter most to listeners who are listening for a neutral-sounding, uncolored loudspeaker (footnote 1), has led to an almost across-the-board improvement in speaker sound quality (footnote 2).

When audiophiles speak of the "Golden Age" of audio components, they almost always are talking about amplifiers and preamplifiers, not loudspeakers. While a very few speaker models have stood the test of time&mdash;among them the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361">BBC LS3/5a</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/914">Vandersteen 2</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/706listening">original Quad electrostatic</A> and the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/416">Quad ESL-63</A>, some of the Magnepans, and the Klipschorn&mdash;almost no one would disagree that, taken en masse, the speakers of today outperform not just those of the 1960s and 1970s but even those of the 1980s and 1990s. The advent of low-cost, computerized test equipment, high-quality, inexpensive measuring microphones, and persuasive research into what measured parameters matter most to listeners who are listening for a neutral-sounding, uncolored loudspeaker (footnote 1), has led to an almost across-the-board improvement in speaker sound quality (footnote 2).

When audiophiles speak of the "Golden Age" of audio components, they almost always are talking about amplifiers and preamplifiers, not loudspeakers. While a very few speaker models have stood the test of time&mdash;among them the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361">BBC LS3/5a</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/914">Vandersteen 2</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/706listening">original Quad electrostatic</A> and the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/416">Quad ESL-63</A>, some of the Magnepans, and the Klipschorn&mdash;almost no one would disagree that, taken en masse, the speakers of today outperform not just those of the 1960s and 1970s but even those of the 1980s and 1990s. The advent of low-cost, computerized test equipment, high-quality, inexpensive measuring microphones, and persuasive research into what measured parameters matter most to listeners who are listening for a neutral-sounding, uncolored loudspeaker (footnote 1), has led to an almost across-the-board improvement in speaker sound quality (footnote 2).

When audiophiles speak of the "Golden Age" of audio components, they almost always are talking about amplifiers and preamplifiers, not loudspeakers. While a very few speaker models have stood the test of time&mdash;among them the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361">BBC LS3/5a</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/914">Vandersteen 2</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/706listening">original Quad electrostatic</A> and the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/416">Quad ESL-63</A>, some of the Magnepans, and the Klipschorn&mdash;almost no one would disagree that, taken en masse, the speakers of today outperform not just those of the 1960s and 1970s but even those of the 1980s and 1990s. The advent of low-cost, computerized test equipment, high-quality, inexpensive measuring microphones, and persuasive research into what measured parameters matter most to listeners who are listening for a neutral-sounding, uncolored loudspeaker (footnote 1), has led to an almost across-the-board improvement in speaker sound quality (footnote 2).

When audiophiles speak of the "Golden Age" of audio components, they almost always are talking about amplifiers and preamplifiers, not loudspeakers. While a very few speaker models have stood the test of time&mdash;among them the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/361">BBC LS3/5a</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/914">Vandersteen 2</A>, the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/artdudleylistening/706listening">original Quad electrostatic</A> and the <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/416">Quad ESL-63</A>, some of the Magnepans, and the Klipschorn&mdash;almost no one would disagree that, taken en masse, the speakers of today outperform not just those of the 1960s and 1970s but even those of the 1980s and 1990s. The advent of low-cost, computerized test equipment, high-quality, inexpensive measuring microphones, and persuasive research into what measured parameters matter most to listeners who are listening for a neutral-sounding, uncolored loudspeaker (footnote 1), has led to an almost across-the-board improvement in speaker sound quality (footnote 2).

The devil's in the details, so here's one detail you should know going in: The El Diablo, a deceptively modest-looking, casket-like, compact, three-way loudspeaker from Danish firm Peak Consult, will cost you a penny less than $65,000/pair. Why? Yes, the dollar's continued slide has alarmingly driven up the price of imported audio gear, but even so...