Been through the high end maelstrom for over 30 years and although I have enjoyed the ride, I desperately want to find speakers that exude dynamics, tone and presence. I want to be transported to the Village Vanguard where The John Coltrane Quartet are performing any night I desire. I want to feel the timbre of his sax 🎷. When I close my eyes I want to be enveloped by the atmosphere of the space and awash with the impact and emotion being expressed by the musicians. I don’t want to hear what the engineers hear after they mix a recording...I want to be in the studio when the tracks are being laid down! So far, Tannoy Heritage Arden have come to my attention, Klipsch Cornwall IV’s, JBL S4700’s or perhaps Spatial Audio X3’s? Help
Another + for Magnepan they will definitely take you there. I have 3.7i in a 12x15 room and they sound magnificent. Adding a sub will help the bottom with the smaller models not sure it would be needed with 20's and 30's.
Pure Audio Project, similar to the Spatials, are an open baffle design with a modular construction allowing for some customization. I suspect you'd look at the horn tweeter for a good live reproduction of jazz. Someone else may prefer the voxativ version which really excels in capturing the human voice and orchestral midrange.
Bought my last pair of speakers (AudioStatic ES300R, later upgraded to DCM-4) and my last amp (Mark Levinson no. 333) for driving them 25 years ago. They once made a door caller compliment me the piano playing skills of my non-existent wife...
btw I find it strange that I never read any speaker suggestion here for Sonus Faber here which is supposed to be the ene all be all home theater speaker nirvana
Bought my last pair of speakers (AudioStatic ES300R, later upgraded to DCM-4) and my last amp (Mark Levinson no. 333) for driving them 25 years ago. They once made a door caller compliment me the piano playing skills of my non-existent wife...
Be sure to audition the Golden Ear Reference and the 1R. I have the original Triton 1s and they are pretty good and with the built in powered subwoofers, bass and impact is no problem.
Bache Audio Tribeca's. I love how my jazz LPs come alive through these speakers. They have a full bodied sound that's coherent and natural. Maybe the best piano I have ever heard, including Wilsons. With my all tube system and the lights dim I swear I'm in a nite club.
Disclaimer: I have never heard them and am just going after "I want to be in the studio when the tracks are being laid down!" assuming that company sound may trickle horizontally.
Harbeth 40.3. It’s the flavor of the month but has stood the test of time (lightly updated) so it’s flavor comes around every few years when many of the others mentioned have come and gone.
I’ve decided I want to go back to my youth, when listening to music was fun and involving without worrying about audiophile insanity! Gonna give Cornwall IV’s a try and get a nice integrated with tone controls so I can crank Pink Floyd with the lights out and rattle my walls 🤙
Of your three choices I would drop the Klipsch first. The Spatial has the "No Box Sound" advantage. The Tannoy has the dual concentric design advantage.
I own big Tannoys and will never shop speakers again unless I get the Sound Labs. The sound labs require lots of power which the Tannoys do not.
Ok, so here is my suggestion and they are all good suggestions by the way but each suggestion comes without having heard most or any of the others including mine so here goes. I just sold my B and W 702 s2 speakers and as others have mentioned, B and W are very detailed speakers; they spoiled me, and I had a hard time giving them up, but one of my dream speakers came up at an insane price from a dealer and I could not resist.
Four weeks ago I took delivery of the Legacy Focus XD. Price range is just over 10K to 14K depending on the version and finish. The XD Version includes a 750 watt amp tp power the woofers leaving the rest for a bi-amp configuration (that is what I did) or to run the entire speaker. With 2, 12 inch woofers down to 18hz, 2 midrange drivers and 2 ribbon tweeters......Now, repeat all of that for the second speaker. I mean when I first turned them on and listened to the maiden voyage recording it was like OMG, we were actually laughing; the difference between a really good speaker and moving up to the next level is quite dramatic.
I suggest reading the "over the top" and I do mean "over the top" reviews of this speaker and company. One of the reviews did mention the magnepan speakers and talked about how the surface area of all these drivers in the legacy made the focus xd a very comparative speaker to that experience; which I thought to be very interesting. As to making you feel like you were in the room or hall..... I agree with the earlier comment on that...... nothing is going to TRULY give you that sensation but for the first time ever I was questioning that aspect a bit with these speakers and on one recording in particular, I was saying this exact thing; that I was in the hall. It took a pipe organ piece by e.power biggs to do it but holy crap, I am f’ing amazed. So there you have it.
Is this my final forever speaker? Could be but the next step up in the legacy family is about 20K. Lets see what happens in about 5 years
If you are of the type that can have set of cabinets made, I would suggest the audio nirvana super 15 alnico drivers. I have a par of those in a set of bass loaded ported cabinets and they sound awesome. I've owned b&w, altec, etc.... and these sound better than any that I have heard including wilson audio. Just an opinion, but its worth it to check out.
Haven't heard them, but based on reviews (and their models that I have heard) I suggest giving the Dynaudio Heritage Specials a listen. I've read more than one review calling them "final speakers." Steve Huff has a glowing review.
I can have 60 days to try the Cornwall IV’s...that’s key! I will no longer buy speakers without an in home trial or a return option. High end audio has gone down the path of dissection and analysis... which inevitably causes paralysis. Listen to a live concert, any concert, with your eyes closed. You cannot pick out the exact placement of any instrument. In fact, soundstaging is mostly non existent as well. What you can hear, is the venue, the presence and the dynamics of the instruments, along with their respective tone colors as heard in that particular space. Hi Fi is mostly a joke! We need to stop supporting the overpriced analytical instruments of disappointment. Music should be fun and enjoyable, emotional and deeply moving...it should not be analyzed. Let the music wash over you and reach into your soul. That is what our goal should be and can be again, by supporting companies that allow music to engage our senses in a realistic manner....not in an analytical or sterile way.
Dear @dave_b : "" Listen to a live concert, any concert, with your eyes closed. You cannot pick out the exact placement of any instrument. ""
I respect your statement by disagree totally with. Not now by the pandemic but normally I attended each single week at least one time to live event to enjoy live MUSIC and normally I choosed a seat at around the center of the hall and not far away from the scenario from the orchestra and with open eyes or closed eyes I can tell you always where the instruments/source are. If you can’t do it that’s only unique for you and nto for every one, at least not to me.
""" What you can hear, is the venue, the presence and the dynamics of the instruments, along with their respective tone colors as heard in that particular space. Hi Fi is mostly a joke! """
I almost agree with these statements, yes what we listen in a live MUSIC event is the presence/power/transients and fast harmonics developed and dynamics. obviously with those characteristics comes the natural " color " MUSIC has and yes HI FI is a with out doubt a joke a big joke against live MUSIC.
But that " joke " is not because Hi Fi per sé but because one main critical difference between live MUSIC and what we listen at our room/system and that difference is that in live MUSIC even between the MUSIC source and you exist almost only AIR and nothing else and in Hi Fi exist 100+ signal degradation steps before the sound be reproduced through the speakers.
But that reality does not means we don’t have to take some kind of care how to improve what we are listened trhough that room/syste:
"" We need to stop supporting the overpriced analytical instruments of disappointment. Music should be fun and enjoyable, emotional and deeply moving...it should not be analyzed. """
I agree that MUSIC shouild be and always is emotional and deeply moving and if we take care over our system we can help to that " emotional and deeply moving " MUSIC main characteristics at our place.
If we are true MUSIC lovers we can enjoy it in almost any room/system that’s the intrinsical " power " of MUSIC.
You want to change your speakers and any of the speaker advises by other gentlemans could works to enjoy MUSIC but exist some characteristics that could impedes that those speakers you buy will be your last pair, a good example are those touted here Cornwalls that no matters what has a weak characteristic in its design that promotes high IMD and THD distortion levels and that weak characteristic is that the woofer crossover 700hz. Even if you like it when you have testing in your home your 802D3 are better if you do what was my advise in what I posted.
All is up to you and your understanding in that critical issue. Live MUSIC almost has not distortions and between other things what makes the Hi Fi a true joke are all those developed distortions added from the recording process and followed by the whole play process in our room/system.
I think that as any thing exist different enjoyment levels and in my case I want it the top one.
The issue is not how the Cornwall performs ( I like the immediacy of horns sound reproduction but as any speaker drivvers not perfect. Latest horn speakers I listened were the Avantgarde Duo and Acapella and in the past the Klipshorn. ) or like it but the added Cornwall heavy distortions that develops ( other issue is that that woofer goes down only at 34hz that means that can performs in good condition at no lower than 40hz, not enough for MUSIC reproduction. ). Yes, you can live with or with the distortions developed for other speakers because as a fact all speakers develops distortion levels.
Common sense is truly important for music lovers/audiophiles.
@rauliruegas I’ve frequented many venues, such as the BSO(Gold Standard) and PSO, but the exact placement of instruments and to the larger extent, 3D soundstaging is an artifact of your mind. It doesn’t exist! If you have a visual to go along with the music, then your brain will make the connection. Now if you are sitting extremely close to a smal ensemble, then yes...placement is discernable. I love soundstaging myself, but it shouldn’t be laser etched to the degree that it predominantly attracts attention away from the tone, dynamics and atmosphere.
Dear @dave_b : I'm not talking of soundstage and ceratinly when attend to a live event I'm not looking for the placement of instruments, soundstaging or audiophiles characteristics or adjectives people use.
60 days?, this is the first time that read something as that, enjoy it.
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