Accurate vs Musical

What do these words mean....   The same piece played by the same orchestra sounds different in different spaces.   There is no "right"

hobbyjaybo -

You mention Hales in your list of well designed speakers. I'd second your endorsement, as I have owned a pair of C-5's for 18 years. I use them for both home theatre and standalone music appreciation sessions. I have been curious as to where I can go from Hales. I prefer a transparent loudspeaker with well balanced dynamics (aka, I like quality bass). I believe I'm looking for what could best be described as a holographic soundstage. I want to feel immersed in the presentation and not confined to a minuscule sweet spot. Do you have any suggestions on where I can go from Hales?

Sorry in advance for hijacking the thread, but perhaps this tangent will benefit the original poster.

@dawgbyte

I might be able to help a bit.

I’m a huge fan of Hales speakers, in particular the Transcendence line.I had the T-5 floor standing speakers for quite a while and later, when I switched my room around for home theater duty and didn’t have the room for a floor stander, I purchased second hand Transcendent 1 monitors (same tweeter mids in a stand mounted speaker design). I also found a rare Hales Transcendence Center Channel speaker (they are huge). They carried forth so much of the Hales magic that I sought out "back ups" and ended up purchasing Paul Hale’s own last remaining pair of T1s, as well as tracking down some more center channels.


So...yeah...I’m a fan :-)

That said, I moved on from the Hales Transcendence 5s many years ago.I never heard the previous Concept 5 model, but I can say what I love about the Hales T-line is the utterly grain-free sound, and the warm, clear, rich and accurate timbre with instruments and voices. They still are rarely bettered IMO. And of course they disappear and soundstage like beasts.

That said, I moved on to various other speakers mostly because I found the Hales ultimately a little lacking in texture and palpability. Ultimately I’ve been quite happy moving to Thiel speakers which disappear and soundstage like the Hales, but with denser more palpable imaging, but also with excellent neutral tone. The Thiel CS 2.7 and 3.7 are particularly coherent and portray much the same tone in a wide seating area.

But those are no longer made and have to be found in the second hand market.

But inferring from your liking your Hales, and your desire for transparency, dynamics and holographic imaging, without a narrow sweet spot, the speakers that come immediately to mind are Joseph Audio speakers.

They actually use similar SEAS drivers (for the mids anyway) to the Hales Transcendence line, and I find they have a similar character. But the Joseph Speakers, perhaps because of their proprietary crossover design, have an even more grain-free, pure character for incredible timbral realism, but also with greater focus and precision in the tweeter zone for drum cymbals, plucked guitar transients and that sort of thing.They sound even more "alive" than the Hales. Also punchier and more palpable, with great bass for their size.

Plus, they have a well earned reputation for an incredible "disappearing act" where they image with a big, deep soundstage with great imaging precision within it. Their design means they have a wider sweet spot than most speakers so you get great sound off-axis, plus they remain coherent at close range if you really want to immerse yourself in the sound.

I myself am probably purchasing a pair of Joseph Audio Perspectives FWIW. If you end up pursuing Joseph Audio speakers at all, start with the stand mounted Pulsars. Their bass is so rich and their sound so big for their size, you may find yourself not needing to spend more on a floor standing speaker.

In case it’s of interest, I have a long thread detailing many speakers I’ve auditioned, with my impressions (including JA speakers):

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/contemplating-devore-speakers-and-others-long-audition-report...


Back to the accurate vs musical talk....

Prof - Thank you for your response. I misspoke, I have T-5's, not C-5's.

JA speakers have a great reputation, they're also a bit pricey. Salk Signature Sound's Veracity HT3 is a somewhat similar design that also uses a SEAS midrange driver and us under $7K. The ELAC AF-61 has also peaked my interest. Not sure if you've test driven any ELAC speakers.