Anything more resolving than 65 year-old speakers?


As I’m listening to some Raal headphones - the most resolving cans I’ve ever heard - I can’t help but be reminded of Quad ESL 57’s. More than any other speaker I’ve heard at shows or in homes, they had resolution without harshness. Maybe the Sanders 10e comes close, but is much more expensive. Maybe Bohlender Rd75’s come close for transparency, but are still not quite there.

Am I missing something or have we really not progressed in terms of resolution in 65 years, at least from the greats? If you’ve got something super-resolving (but not harsh) that you prefer to Quads with a sub, please speak up!

angaria2

Great as the AR3 was at the time, at the same time AR featured in its Grand Central demo room and alongside one of the subway tunnels leading from the station to the bus station, a system featuring the AR1W woofer, the Janzen 130 midrange electrostatic (130 dispersion), and the Ionic "charged air" horn tweeter.  These, with the AR's on end, woofer next to the floor, created pillars that essentially were transparent from 30hz up into the 20-30,000hz range.  If I recall correctly, they were driven by HK Citation components.   They created an absolutely three dimensional soundstage with the best sonic holography I have ever heard.

A note on Klipschorns, Altecs, etc. and other horn speakers.  At the time the Klipschorns came out, James B Lansing (JBL) had a front loaded horn speaker that was even a bit bigger that sounded even better, although it's bass didn't go quite as low.  It featured a tapered, curved 3' wide by 4' high horn driven by two15" woofers, and for the midrange-treble the first appearance of the famed JBL "Potato Masher" horn.  My dad had one in the living room driven by a Newcomb 25w power amp (with preamp umbelical). We never had the Klipsch home, but I did get to hear it in the same corner spot in the store as the JBL, and to my then 12yr old ears the Klipsch sounded peakier and not as refined.  A year later I "officially" became an audiophile as I built my own system....so unless you started your audiophile journey before 1953, I lay claim to the "oldest" audiophile here in the forum. 😏

Yeah great vintage class. Tonal characteristics of real wood and brass instruments are more realistic. You can make a drum skin out of plastic but it sounds like plastic.