Mapman, are the PSBs that good? They seem to be well priced if they can compete with the others on you list - all good speakers no doubt. |
Yes, a little credibilty gap when there is no disclosure, where statements can be taking with a grain of salt when there is a commercial interest. The Wilson's did sound good though.... |
Pedrillo, have you ever gone to RMAF? Not the same as listening in your home and room, but you might hear 200x as many speakers there than you ever will at home or a dealer, and as good a way as any to get a broad exposure to the "best" speakers (well maybe identify some that might be worthy of further inquiry). There is no beating hearing things with your own ears and RMAF is on of the best and easiest ways to do so. |
At RMAF you will hear "a good number of the top speakers" - if not all - and if not under optimal conditions; that is a given. But life is not perfect and it does provide what is really not available in any other reasonable, exposure to many speakers (and other equipment)that is not available dealer hopping (unless you make it a full time job)and optimal or not, alot better than depending on other people to tell you what speakers are best or right for you. There may be better hypotetical means to evaluating equipment, but in the real world a show like RMAF is hard to beat for what it offers, and it is fun to boot. |
I am not sure that I understand the intent of the OP? It seems to be something different than simply asking, "what is the best speaker you have heard?" It almost reads as if he is asking what is the best speaker according to those that have heard 100 or more, some type of qualification to the recommendations based on the level of "experience" of the individual making the recommendation, and some type of test to determine if the Tidal speaker would somewhow be mentioned. I am a little confused by it. And yes, one should certainly here the Vandersteens at their respective price points ~ not a dealer. |
They did indeed. With DeHavilland, no? |
Can't argue with what you heard, but I never heard Harbeth sound like you describe them, "dry" and "no music" doesn't sound like the Harbeth sound to me. Now, I have always heard them with tubes, but I don't think that explains the discrepancy as most Harbeth users do seem to be using SS and "musical" does seem to be the most common phrase used to describer them - though surely not toe everyone's taste in what they are looking for in a speaker. |
Now that was easy, wasn't it? The Wilson Benesch / deHavilland room at RMAF 2008 was one of the best at the show IMHO. |
That seems to make sense, I would think that metal dome tweeters carry a signature sound different that soft-dome, I just haven't picked up on it (at my age that might make sense:() Similar overservations made by listeners of Theil speakers (which many love).... |
Pani, were the Harbeths you heard broken-in as far as you know? |
That rings true. Yet there does seem to a large contigent of Harbeth lovers and perhaps it is for that very reason - people enjoy them with their "flaws" and perhaps because of them; making them ideal speakers for some, not for others. I certainly liked them (M40s) when I heard them at RMAF with MAC gear. |
Well, it may just be that we have to conclude that Spendor and Harbeths are well worth auditioning and then draw your own conclusions, but I get the sense that it is true that the Harbeths do sound good with many amps, and that does speak to the logic of the resolution argument made by Pani, one ought to hear real differences with highly resolving speakers (but that may not be that important to the enjoyment you get from your speakers). I know there are alot of "militant" Harbeth owners out there, and that must be for some good reason. |
Well there is agreement that the Merlin VSMs are the greatestest speakers ever made:) |
The TAS listing was 12 most "significant" speakers, not necessarily the best, in fact they are clearly not the best 12 speakers of all time, which does not mean the Magico Mini is not a great speaker, it might be, bust just to get the record straight. |
Peterayer, great system and component selection, I bet you are getting the most out of your Magicos. |
The closest you will get is to go to RMAF (for a few years) and decide that for yourself, there simply cannot be that many folks who have had the time, or money, or inclination to have heard it all (and also be good listeners with critical faculties), in their home, with their electronics, etc. And then good luck trying to find any "authoritative" conclusion - it's just not like that. It gets all the more complicated when you take into account that the speaker is a very different creature depending on the amplifier and source driving it, let alone the room. And then, at the end of the day, if all that were possible, you would only know what that one person thought was best for them. |
Not sure about this, but I think if a speaker could do symphonic music right, it will get heavy metal right, you really have to do an awful lot well in a speaker to get symphonic music right, including scale and dynamics. There are certainly speakers that are great for solo acoustic singer type music that can't quite get symphonic music right since so much more is demanded to reproduce a real symphonic presence. If you can do Mahler, I think you can do Metallica IMHO.
Just an observation, I think you can really screw up a great speaker when you try to make it produce real bass below 35hz or so, that insistence on the lowest bass really challenge a speaker, an amp, and a room. A long time ago I decide I was willing to give up that bottom octave to have a speaker that was "the best" for me. But then again, I don't listen to alot of symphonic or heavy metal:) |
