Well like most here I haven't heard everything out there, but I've heard a lot (most of the Big Names). The MBL 121 omni monitors which until recently I owned, have the most 3 dimensional sound I've ever heard from a stand mounted or floor standing speaker. And with voices recorded in a natural acoustic space, probably the most convincing sense of reality (in other words, with eyes closed it takes very little effort to 'believe' I'm hearing someone singing.
BBC LS3/5A's in their various iterations: Rogers, Spendors, Chartwells ... For half the price the Jim Rogers JR149 is an outstanding performer (love that cylindrical aluminum enclosure with the Kef B110 and T27 drivers!).
verdantaudio You are doing a heck of a lot of advertising-like posts about your speakers in various threads. Is that allowed? (I appreciate some of the info you have contributed for sure...but it seems you are hyping your own product at every chance).
@prof I am far from the only company on here that hypes their own products. That being said, I loathe doing it and look forward to the day when I don’t need to make direct efforts like these and advertising, PR and reviews will do the work for me. That day is still in the future. My company has been actively selling for five months at this point. Whether it is allowed, as I said above, I am far from the only manufacturer or retailer out here pitching products. I assume it is and if it is not, the moderators will delete the post.
Regarding this thread, I do legitimately think I have one of the best stand-mounts. If you listen to it, I think you would to. It really is special and I do have technical reasons for why they are excellent.
@bsmg Why Carbon Fiber? It does make a difference. The best way to reduce cabinet resonances which act on the driver is to have an ultra strong and rigid cabinet. Carbon Fiber strong and rigid. Additionally, the core has a lot of surface area which helps dampen sound reflecting back into the cabinet. An ultra rigid, well damped cabinet produces no sound and the result is an unbelievable level of clarity from the driver.
Mine is not the only company using CF in cabinets. Wilson Benesch and Marten use CF over different cores in their cabinets. Magico uses CF over aluminum in its M line and other companies like Vivid and Rockport use different composites in their cabinets.
It does make a big difference. You will note that none of the companies I have mentioned are known for producing inexpensive products but they are generally highly regarded.
MDF is also rigid and strong. A lot of speaker manufacturers bleat about "natural wood cabinets" but they never mention that wood rings like a bell. The ideal cabinet would be something like a cinder block or even a rock, but adequate damping in the cabinet is the key to eliminate unwanted resonance. Adequate bracing is also critical, as is the material used in the cabinet to absorb reflections and standing waves. I consider carbon fiber to be just a gimmick, fashionable, impressive to the novice, and of no benefit with regard to sonic character. Your allusion to mfgrs that turn out products that are not inexpensive but highly regarded is noted but ignored. I’d be willing to bet those companies spend a lot more on advertising than they do on acoustic engineering.You also mention surface area; that is nothing to do with carbon fiber; a one cubic foot cabinet has the same internal surface area regardless of what it’s constructed of.
Kaiser Chiara - they are viciously expensive (like $22K) but are the standard by which stand mounts should be measured. One othe best speakers I have ever heard.
@bsmg I was unclear. The incremental surface area is in the sandwich material. Soundwaves travel through solids, the don't just reflect and the surface area in the honeycomb core helps dampen.
That being said, the last thing I want to do is turn this into a thread on cabinet materials. Plenty of those elsewhere. If you want to discuss further, lets move over to a more appropriate thread or PM me.
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