Best Speaker for classical music

Classical music is a far more demanding genre - from my point of view.

My desire that a system can reproduce accurate timbre ( not washed out as is all too common) far outweighs its other qualities, such as imaging, or collosal dynamics etc.

This possibly exaggerated desire for tonal colour leads me to believe I might have some form of chromesthesia (sound-color synesthesia). 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromesthesia#:~:text=Chromesthesia%20or%20sound-to-color,associatio....

Classical music especially, without good instrument timbres, is difficult for me to enjoy, whereas with rock I'd be looking for great dynamics or for pop it might be a great midrange.

Classical music with good timbral expression on the other hand becomes a joy. Especially piano and strings.

So I think it's a question of finding a speaker that excels at that quality that's most important to you.

All loudspeakers are not created equal, and few, if any, can do everything right.

Having said that, you wouldn't go far wrong with any of the BBC inspired designs out there. They're not always the first recommendation for rock (JBL/ Cerwin Vega?), but might fit the bill if strict neutrality in the vocal range is especially important.

If it's imagery and hall acoustics that you primarily want, then as was said previously, omni-directional designs might suit better.

So maybe even the distinction between classical and the rest might not be precise enough. It may depend upon just which aspect of classical you enjoy the most.

@atmasphere ,

’Again, what makes a speaker good for one genre makes it good for another.’


If only all loudspeakers were created equal.

Then we could buy the delicate Cerwin Vega CL -15 for those Ashkenazy piano concertos and the bombproof Harbeth SLH5s for those full blast Motorhead live concerts and simply not notice any difference.



’You can’t point to anything about classical music that makes it particularly harder to reproduce.’


How about the following?

The widest variety of instrumental textures and vocal ranges?
String, woodwind, brass and percussion.
Soprano and alto, baritone and tenor.
Often all of them at once!

The greatest dynamic range?
Classical (along with jazz) has probably fared best throughout the loudness wars.

The most meticulous recording quality?
For years and years classical was the ONLY genre that many engineers and producers paid careful attention to.

Even today it’s the classical fans that tend to complain the most about the reduction of digital radio bitrates.

I suspect it’s also the classical fans that are the happiest with their lot musically.

So much choice and variety and a history that goes back centuries.