Since I am a self proclaimed speaker nut, I was trying to justify to my wife that having 5 pair of speakers is normal for an audiophilic addict. Curious also about what type, Dynamic, Planar, Single Driver etc; If you are member of this sight, you probably have a mania towards some component or other. Mine is Loudspeakers, which I learned early are 70% of your system. To me they may be >> 80%
4 pairs- Dunlavy I, II, IV, V. V are for main soild state system IV are for All tube system II are used (or I should say hooked up- since they are rarely used) for surround channels. I 's are there just in case Another single I is used for center channel. Does Mini Dennon system with bookshelf Mission speakers, Nakamichi micro system, Dennon Garage system and Yamaha with Cerwin Vega AT-15 count? ;-)
3 sets, my babies are my JBL L300's that look like the day they were born. I also own a pair of 100's and a pair of unknown model Marantz im restoring. Keep that vinyl turning!
Quad 988's -bought new - in main system rotation Polk SDA SRS 1.2TL- bought used- in main system rotation Magnepan MG-1 -gift! - storage Minimus 7 wood -bought new -storage Polk SDA-1 bought used -storage Polk Monitor 5- gift - On PC w/NAD amp
Bbchem, The forests are a great speaker, they do some things very well, like vocals. A good friend of mind owns the Hawks, however he lives 500 miles from me so we have not been able yet, to get them in the same room. I have heard his in his home a couple of times and I think the hawks have some magic going on that the forests just can't capture, but the forests are more dynamic. He uses Rogue tubes, I use Classe solid state and we both use Joule tube pre's, the tubes may be the magic. I will be taking the forests to his house soon, then we will know how they truly compare. Thanks for asking, Jim
Update: Added one pair since last post of 2 weeks ago:
vintage Bolivar Model 18s - found in the neighbor's "free takeaway" pile. Missing a one woofer and one grill. Weigh a ton - apparently were well respected in their day. These would be great for a DIYer - if anyone is interested in a trade let me know. I have the manual BTW
4 rooms to listen in, 4 pairs of speakers: Kharma 3.2 main room, Merlin TSM-Mx at work office, Proac Response 1s in Basement with TV for DVDs, etc and Allison 3's in home study.
GARYH, HOW DO YOU LIKE THE ZU TONE? I JUST OPTED FOR THE MARK AND DANIELS RUBIES, BOTH ARE 6 MOON AWARD WINNERS. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE RUBYS, I ALSO OWN A PAIR OF HORN SHOPPE HORNS WHICH I LOVE AND ARE SINGLE DRIVER LIKE THE TONES.
Absolutely love the Tone and I am really enjoy the single driver sound. It took a bit getting used to as the Tone's sound character was a departure from what I'd heard in the past.
While they don't have the pin point imaging of, say, my Focus Audio FS-688 monitors, the quick and natural sound is very addictive. They throw quite a large soundstage as well. Definitely a bit on the warm side, although that is not a bad thing given that the room they're in is a bit "live". The Tones are paired with a REL sub in my work office (see systems link) and two are well suited for each other.
Single driver speakers seem quite popular over here in Asia and Zu, in particular, has quite a following in HK / Singapore / Japan. If you've not heard them or their big brothers, the Druids or Definition Pros, try to. In my opinion, the Definition Pro at around USD 9K is a superb value. Were the FA-888 not the current king of (my) speaker hill, I would seriously consider picking them up and could indeed live happily ever after.
Back to the Tone - my latest purchase of the Kotaro is directly related to my experience with the Tone. While I love my AC V3Ms, With a new office being built in China, this was a good oppurtunity to move them to a bigger space that's better suited to their strengths. Though the Kotaro appears to be two way, it, like the Tone, is a crossoverless wideband single driver with a Murata supertweeter.
The Kotaro has no bass below 70 Hz and, for my tastes, really needs a sub. Aside from that, in many ways it shares much of the Zu appeal with the the upper mid range and highs being the Kotaro's strong suit. It is so clear and effortless (but not etched), that it was frankly startling the first few listening sessions. My hunch is that people whom like single drivers are going to hear a lot more about this speaker.
Never heard horns yet - that's next on my list. Happy listening.
Thanks Garyk! The Mark and Daniels are a cross between a Single Driver and a Electrostatic, they are made in China and cost $1600 which is at the top of my budget. They sound like my Hornshoppe Horns on Steroids. The Horn Shoppe Horns cost $850 for a floorstanding single driver loudspeaker. For their price they are hands down the best value in Loudspeakers at that level and 2 or 3 times the price. I have 4 pair of speakers currently, Mark and Daniel Rubys, Hornshoppe Horns, Usher X719 and Definitive Tech BP6 for home theater. I am most intrigued with the Zu and Gallo and the Kharmas which are completely out of my league.
5 currently in 5 different rooms, soon to add another pair
Dynaudio Contour 1.3 Mk 2 - main system in my 12X12' listening room/office with the best interconnects, wiring, etc.
Ohm Model L with Ohm SBA enhancement (see ohmacoustics web site) and custom fitted Morel woofers - connected via in-house wiring in the adjacent 30X18' rec room
vintage Ohm Walsh 2's from 1982 (still cranking no problem) - connected via in-house wiring in 12X12' sunroom
Triangle Titus + M&K sub-woof - separate 2-channel audio/video set-up in 17X17' family room connected to a vintage Tandberg TR2080 receiver (still cranking)
Realistic Minimus 7's, wood housing that have withstood the weather on my deck for about 8 years now
Soon to add another pair of newly upgraded Ohm "Super" Walsh 2's using the latest Ohm Walsh drivers (I'll be comparing these a/b to my old Walsh 2s to see what the difference is).
1. Clements 103D at work. w/Technics 25 wpc receiver (early 1980s vintage), Sony CD/SACD 5 CD changer, Mac laptop w/iTunes. Other than a somewhat aggressive treble that can turn digital cymbals a bit spitty, this is a remarkably musical setup. The very forgiving crossover lets these speakers perform much more than adequately with the current limited receiver. 2. Fried Beta IV signatures with new woofers in my daughter's system. w/50 wpc Harmon/Kardon receiver (late 1980s vintage), iPod. Fried speakers have always been remarkable to me. I sold many pairs of them when I sold equipment long ago and these were bought for my wife. The quasi-transmission line loading of the woofer in this design leads to remarkably full and articulate mid- and upper-bass that you almost never hear in small speakers. Vocals are sublime. The system works insanely well for what it is. 3. Vandersteen 1Bs in my son's system. w/35 wpc NAD integrated amp, Philips CD player. I love Vandersteen's for some of the same reasons I love Frieds, although they have their dissimilarities. The Vandersteen's image very well when setup correctly, and have very good timbral accuracy in the midrange. Their woofers are also transmission line loaded. This yields very good bass extension and pitch definition. The system sounds as good with Tool as it does with Telemann. 4. Vandersteen 1Bs in a bedroom HT system. w/AmFi 50wpc HT receiver, Oppo universal player, Polaroid 24" HD LCD TV. Used almost exclusively for DVD playback but very good for music too. Very good vocal intelligibility and great, rich massed string sound that is ubiquitous in the movies my wife enjoys. 5. 1960s era H. H. Scott 3-way "bookshelf" speakers with 12" woofers in the family HT system. w/ Pioneer 100 wpc HT receiver, Oppo universal player, Panasonic HiFi VCR, Teac cassette deck, ancient 27" RCA direct view TV. These speakers are in their perfect element here. Smooth, extended bass response, rich midrange balance that favors all sorts of "big" music and soundtracks, and very clear upper mid, and high frequencies that assist vocal intelligibility. They image only passably but this, somehow seems less important in this application. 6. Wilson WP7s. w/phono and tube-based big rig in dedicated room. This is my portal to musical valhalla, and my drug of choice.
I was running a 7.1 setup configured for music and home theater plus a bedroom system but had to build another pair which offered performance closer to my main system so I would no longer object to the bedroom system and could move those speakers to my workshop.
Now the main speakers are in my workshop, the bedroom speakers are in a studio apartment, and the rest is all in storage but I need stereo sub-woofers.
4 full home theater setups and 8 pairs in-walls. Theater, Master Den, Family Room are 7.1 systems and Kid's Theater is a 5.1 system with two passive subs.
That is four pairs of L/R and 7 pairs in-walls + one in-wall pair uninstalled + 4 center channels + 4 subs + 8 pairs of rears or sides, if these count.
I have 16 pair and must devise ways to hide them, so my wife always thinks I have only seven or eight. One way to hide 'em is in plain sight: A quad of JBL S109 Aquarius, Ohm 3s and 4s, two pair of Snells both in light oak, etc. Usually, I'll modfy one pair and keep the other restored as stock for comparison. Move 'em around frequently: You're never sure if you last saw 'em in this room or in the basement.
I had four pairs of speakers, sadly, I had to sale two pairs to help fund buiding current system, I have two pairs left, in the next year to two, I will go all out and attempt to find a profound pair of speakers, and keep the two pairs I have now, they are vintage collectors to me, Enjoy the music!
Yesterday I finally refoamed the Boston a40 series 2 speakers I bought 30 years ago that were sitting idle. Got them back up and running again today. Those little oldies surprised the heck out of me. The same very mellow but nicely detailed and dynamic sound I remember. Very nice in my acoustically very lively 12x12 sunroom and off my main system with the bel canto ref1000m class d amps. The $20 repair kit was a good investment.
I love speakers, but they unfortunately take up the most space of all components (especially the planars I prefer), just as drums take up much more space than do guitars. I have a bunch of both drumsets and speakers, the latter being ESS TranStatic I, Quad ESL (original), Magneplanar Tympani T-IV, Eminent Technology LFT-8b, ET LFT-4, NHT SuperZero, Optimus Pro LX5, GR Research 2-12 OB/Dipole subwoofers, and Rythmik DIY F15HP in 4cu.ft. enclosure subs.
B&W 7.1 setup in a dedicated HT room with JL Audio 212 sub. SONOS setup in rest of the house, 7 speakers and 3 subs with different configurations in each room.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
