What are the best speakers you have ever heard?

[jaakan]

So, what are the best speakers you have ever heard?

Mine are...

WOW factor: Ohm Walsh 5s

Old school : a Double pair of KLH 9s

Surrond Sound : top is still my Magnepan MG12 x 4

Best of the best So far: Quad 989

Giant Killers: Polk Audio Lsi15s

I have not had time to demo Magnepan 20.1 or SoundLab U1s or Genesis 1.1s.

Yea, I don't like too many cones.

[Danbry39]

For me personally, the sound I liked most came from Vienna Strauss speakers. Very warm with no listening fatigue at all. Less detailed than some, but you could just sit there for hours listening. I also love the Klipschhorns. Entirely different speaker, but just a visceral experience, especially when, as was the case when I listened, matched with tube gear.




Keith

[Burke Strickland]

Without a doubt, the best speakers are Bose.

If you were to take a poll of the general public, that would be the vote of probably 65% of those responding. Another 34% would be split between Radio Shack and "the speakers in my TV set".

On the other hand, any of us who have listened critically to a wide range of high quality speakers (that's the remaining 1%) will have a wide range of opinions and a list of brands that most people in the world have never heard of, much less heard. (There are a lot of really fine speakers out there to choose from.)

However, to answer the question for myself, after listening to a wide range of speakers of various designs and at price levels ranging from "chump change" to "if you have to ask the price, move on". I have heard one set of speakers that "disappears" and most effectively transports me to the performing space where music is being played. They are the Magnepan MG 3.6s.

I marvel every day that my "dream system" including these magnificent speakers is not only available, but in my home and ready to open the window onto the sound the way no other ever have. (I'm especially glad I didn't fall for the speakers I've heard that cost 3 to 5 times as much, to say nothing of 8 to 10 times as much, because, if so, I'd still be dreaming.) :>)

For the very deepest bass they are augmented by a Velodyne FSR-18, but for most music, the Maggies don't even need that reinforcement, having a cohesive and authoritative sound from the upper treble down to about 40 hz (maybe even a tad lower). Their depth and breadth of soundstage, spatial distribution of the instruments within it, clarity, imaging, dynamics, pacing, etcetera, are a joy to experience every time I play music. And they do a sensational job on movie soundtracks as well.

Burke

[Andrew Pratt]

Right now I'd have to say my M8a speakers that I built are exceptional for most aspects of sound..the martin logans are always sweet as well. Of course my old Maggies had phenominal sound as well...esp their mid bass its amazingly tight and real sounding

[JonMarsh]

The best "kick butt" system I've heard in a long time is ThomsW's living room system since we put the RD75's in between the Acoustats and the tweeter array. You've got to hear stuff like Alison Kraus or the new "Carmina Burana" from Telarc to really dig it, but all kinds of stuff just has a really open detailed sound top to bottom (12 Shiva's dancing). Top is almost 40 kHz, bottom is 10 Hz. No kidding.


One of my favorite moderate size systems has been ThomasW's Whisper clones, when powered with the Ayre V5 on top. Really natural and detailed midbass and midrange, and a smooth top end. My X1 klones kick butt more (euphonic on rock and some jazz), but are trickier to setup for smooth in room response. However, they have great "power range" response- more like big maggies than most cone speakers, (due to tall source size in 100 - 200 Hz region) so they're still a lot of fun on classical music.

Used to be my favorite small speaker (below 95 dB SPL) was a tie between the Avalon Eclipse and the old Quad 57 ESL. But the MkIII and MkIV versions of the M8 have hit that performance target pretty well, and don't suffer as much dynamic compression as the Avalon does when you push it a bit with program material like Jacque Lousier "Play Bach" (jazz trio interpretations of Bach, with piano, drums, and stand up bass. Think "transients"). The MkIII is a bit more transparent in the presense range, the MkIV has better midrange to treble integration, and is a bit more "forgiving" of upstream components and sources. I've got a set of Hales tweeters that would make an interesting MkV, I suspect.

Then, there's Soundlab M1's. If I ever do win the lottery.....



-Jon




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[David Meek]

Jon, did Thomas ever post any images of his system after "completion"?




David - HTGuide flunky
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[JonMarsh]

I don't think he has. The intent is to integrate the tweeter and RD on a common baffle, but I'm not sure what his "timeline" is for that.

To the best of my knowledge, they still look like this.



Not much WAF, but they sure do sing purty.... :B

-Jon




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[Lex]

I will say, the best pair I've never heard, Sonus faber Amati Hommage. I can only dream.

More down to earth? Got my sights set on the Sonus faber Cremona someday far off in the future. lol.

Lex




Cable Guy DVD Collection

[Pat]

WooHoo!

One of my favorite moderate size systems has been ThomasW's Whisper clones

Makes me proud to be the new owner of these





Pat's Page

[David Meek]

Pat, dude, you've got some Whisper clones! :-y




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[RedStep]

Burke said it best, we are the psycotic 1% and the best I've heard wuz the old Cerwin Vegas with the 18" woooofer or Radio Shacks Optimus, and oh yea can't forget Bose. :B




RedStep
We are truly a product of the decisions we make

[craigdcan]

For completely different reasons....B&W 801's with Krell gear....Revel Ultima Studio's with Levinson gear.....and Martin Logan Odyssey's with SimAudio gear.

[David Meek]

I know there are better out there, but the best I've ever heard are a pair of Hales Transcedance 8's driven by a Balanced Audio Technology VK-1000. Woof! It was pretty awesome.
8)




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[Kevin P]

I haven't listened to a lot of high-end speakers, but the best sounding I've heard were the Platinum Audio Listening Room series. The Studio Series I bought are a step below the LR series and sound wonderful too. It's too bad the company went out of business. Their factory was only a couple miles from my house!

I suppose the upside was I got my speakers at a huge discount.

KJP




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[Greg Stone]

The speakers my friend Pat has, the Whisper clones, are the best I have heard so far. I have yet to hear them at his house though, but I did get a nice listen at ThomasW's house! 8)

[sattothestars]

In order of preference.Lumen Whitelites,Kharma 3.2,Verity Nightingales,Audio Physics Avanti III,Von Schweikert VR7 HSE




JLF sattothestars

[David Meek]

Hi John, welcome to The Guide!

I must say, you have heard some pretty impressive speakers. And after peeking at your profile, you HAVE some pretty impressive speakers and componentry to go with them.
:T




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[sfdoddsy]

Best heard properly are Audio Artistry Beethovens. Best owned are now something DIY but similar.

Steve




Steve's DIY Dipoles

[JonMarsh]

Hi David,


Funny you should mention the Hales Transcendenc 8's. I've been roughing out the ideas for another "Klone" project; it started after some discussion on the forum with Trond-Eirik and some private mail between us. He's interested in doing some Avalon Klones, which would be a natural for me, given my "history" and some of the parts I have on hands. But some thought and work, plus some "happenstance" has modified that direction, and what's on the boards (digital) right now is looking a lot more like this:



In fact, I now even have a set of Hales tweeters as used in the Transendence 8. I'm planning to digress a bit in other areas... Instead of the Seas 5" midrange, I'll be using an Accuton C44, and for the woofers, if I'm feeling frugal, it will be dual M8a's; dual Seas 10's would be closer to the original design, but entail a large cabinet than I want for this system. Plus, the Qtc of the Seas is all wrong for a sealed system with low end extension. And I'm having trouble finding another driver that is pistonic high enough...

So, it will be more like a baby brother to the 8's if all goes well, which is more desirable, since they will probably become my bedroom speakers when finished.

I mourn the passing of the Hales operation more than I did Genesis or Dunlavy. YMMV.

Regards,

Jon




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[David Meek]

Jon, that is going to be an awesome project! :T

When bulding the cabinet will you be appoximating the angled front/rear surfaces and the rounded front baffle or do you have detailed plans showing the angles and such?

I'm just in awe of a bedroom system that will have Hales T8 clones (even Jr. ones) as the speakers. Can I be you when I grow up?
:B




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[sfdoddsy]

Jon,

There is a guy selling the 10inch drivers that were used in the top of the range Hales Alexandra on eBay. They are the Focal 10L6411 that I have been using in my dipoles.

I got mine for $42 each. I have the spec sheets if you are interested.

Steve




Steve's DIY Dipoles

[JonMarsh]

Interesting, Steve! I remember hearing about those, but a quick search at eBay didn't turn up anything.

Do you have soft copy's of the spec sheet you could email to me? I've looked at some of the current Focal offerings, but with mixed results- the 10W6411 has it's first serious cone mode just above 1 kHz, which is too low. The 6412 is even worse, with the first mode at 800 Hz. The Xmax of the 8W5411 is half of the M8a, and it's first mode is at about 1500 Hz- probably OK, but not as high as I would like.

So, it still looks like M8a's will be my best bet. Seas L21's would be another alternative, as would W22's, but I don't see enough benefit from the added cost to justify it.




David,

You know, some of the past women in my life would probably say I've never grown up myself! :LOL: I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to be when I grow up! My daughter thinks I'm fairly grown up, in a mellow sort of way, but then she's only 18...

I haven't made a "firm" decision about the front panel- whether it will be more "Hales-like" or "Avalon-like". It may be that I'll have to build a couple of front panel samples and test them for diffraction effects. I suspect the Hales version may work better, but is a lot more work unless you use molded composites. If the Hales version only has a slight edge in performance, then I'd be inclined to go with the Avalon style, for "ease of construction" and esthetics. I'm undecided about the enclosure tuning; with the M8a drivers, I can go either way, and will probably go with a sealed Q of 0.5.

BTW, here's a gander at what the Hales tweeter looks like:







Response is very wide band, due to the underhung voice coil/copper clad pole/gap combo, rear chamber, and low resonant frequency-




Best regards,

Jon




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[sfdoddsy]

Jon,

I've emailed you the specs and meaurements I got from Andre at E-Speakers.

The seller at eBay doesn't currently have any auctions going, but here is a link to one of his completed ones.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1950550917&category=3275

He has a couple of negative feedbacks though.

I got mine through QSC Audio (the amp makers), as they apparently bought a bunch of Hales leftovers.

Cheers

Steve




Steve's DIY Dipoles

[JonMarsh]

If I remember correctly, Paul Hales joined QSC in December 2000. He's head of their loudspeaker development group now.

At one time Madisound was going to be carrying some Hales components, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside.

Thanks for sending the spec sheet. The driver would be good for a ported system, but would require a fairly highly tuning frequency sealed, to hit a Q of 0.5. (small box). The Fs would be fairly high.

Best regards,

Jon




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[LarryB]

The best I've ever heard is the Alon Exotica Grand Reference




The next best are the LumenWhites

[Ricky]

John,

Hhhmm, Lumen Whites! I might have to make another trip to the Hamptons this summer to listen to them That's if they are still around in July...LOL!

[dsmith]

My own of course: Digital Phase.

dsmith

[sfdoddsy]

Jon,

Here's a shot of the Hales Alexandria:



Klone away!

Steve




Steve's DIY Dipoles

[JonMarsh]

Looks pretty cool! Those look like they must have cost a few sheckels to build! But I think the Transcendence is closer to what I'll be realistically able to do, and fit into the listening environment I have for them. I still think it's a shame Hales went by the wayside.

Just finished "rebuilding" my laptop setup to fix a corrupted registry problem, and getting LspCAD reinstalled. Now I've got to move my data files over to it, and I can start working on the "T-Junior" design. I'm going to have a bit of time at home after my back surgery next week... Hopefully by April I can be back into the heavy lifting mode to work on cabinets. 8)

-Jon




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[MannyE]

My favorite HT speakers are DefTechs. I just think they sound fantastic for movies (I have BP2002's, but would be happiest with the 3000tl setup in front, and the 2002s in the rear...would be too cool)

For music I like Ed's Horns, which are based on the German rear-loaded horn called the Buschhorn (I THINK). Whatever the basic design is called, these handmade beauties absolutely sing!




http://home.bellsouth.net/personalpages/scripts/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=23441&ck=&userid=16579 006&userpw=ytxCz9&uh=16579006,2,Manuel&uzip=33140& ver=3.0