Hi Pedrillo, I'll have another go. My favorite remains Tidal but here are a few more brands for your next list, worthy of Audiogoners' interest. A wildly varying bunch, but each one will appeal to a different sonics/price/tec-specs/looks preference. I heard one or the other product from most of these at the Munich High End, others directly at the constructor's or distributor's (mind you, not always enough to give detailed descriptions of sonic peculiarities, let alone subtle differences between them)
Admittedly, "obscure" is not a valid description for some of these in their home markets, e.g. Audioplan in Germany, WML in Austria or Davis in France, but they are fairly unknown to the audiophile community at large (sorry guys, some of these do not have websites in English)
Horn Manufaktur (Austria)
http://www.hornmanufaktur.at/en_index.html
Wiener Lautsprecher Manufaktur (Austria)
http://www.wlm-loudspeakers.com/indexengl.html
Floating Systems (Belgium)
http://www.floating-systems.be/home.htm
Waterfall (France)
http://www.waterfallaudio.com/
Venus Acoustics (France)
http://www.venusacoustic.fr/index/index.html
Davis Acoustics (France)
http://www.davis-acoustics.com/gb/enceintes.php
Audioplan (Germany)
http://www.audioplan.eu/03e_products/03e_prod1_ls/03e_prod1_ls.html
Audiaz (Germany)
http://www.audiaz.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=5
Black Forest Audio (Germany)
http://www.blackforestaudio.de/cms/front_content.php?idcat=8
Ikon Akustik (Germany)
http://www.ikonakustik.de/lautsprecher.html
Mythos Audio (Greece)
http://www.mythosaudio.com/results.php?cat_id=15
Rosso Fiorentino (Italy)
http://www.rfspeakers.it/prodotti.htm
Daluso (Netherlands)
http://www.daluso.com/ |
Digital Phase is definitely an obscure company making EXCELLENT speakers. They have been making speakers with their proprietary 'acousta-reed' technology for over 20 years in Chattanooga, TN. Their response curve on all their speakers are ruler flat from 35hz-20khz (+ or - 1.5 db) and they sound incredible, easily on par with my Dunlavy SC-IVs. Although their website needs a lot of work, it does have some useful info here:
http://www.digitalp.com/ |
Two more that deserve to be in the spotlights:
Blumenhofer Acoustics (Germany)
http://www.blumenhofer-acoustics.com/GenuinFS1D.html
Master by Dynamic Solutions (Netherlands)
http://www.dynamic-solutions.nl/luidsprekers.htm |
i have been following this thread and have a question,i heard rethm,s the sound was such as if i was sitting between the musicians ,i am looking at something similar with detailed relaxed and lifelike lively soundstage suitable for SET amp,which of the manufactureres mentioned above will suit my requiremnts,recently i heard about field coil speakers like classic audio and cogent but these are too expensive,even japanese like similar speakers which are musical, i have been recommended high emotion audio speakers,as similar sounding i will appreciate your input |
Mehrakrishan, no field coil speaker is going to be inexpensive. The reason the permanent magnet speakers showed up decades ago is that they are cheaper to make!
The High Emotion Audio speaker is easy to drive but it is not considered high efficiency, like you often need for an SET. PHY makes a great set of drivers that are full-range and high efficiency, you might also investigate Fertin Acoustic drivers, many of which are field-coil. |
has anybody heard sculpture horn speaker by CH audio with magnet speaker or field coil drivers |
Eventus Audio that uses their SACC (Simulated Anechoic Cabinet Construction) Technology. I have a pair of Phobos and they are absolutely fantastic. Paird up with a Pass Lab amp, and you have a really open soundstage. |
Bamberg Engineering Sound Lab
King's Audio Limited KingSound Speakers
Lenehan Audio
PNB Audio
Acoustic Energy
Living Voice
Ohm
I own a pair of PBN Montana XPs. All the above, including Reynaud and Selah speakers previously mentioned are currently on my radar screen to replace my second system. |
I've heard the new Bamberg speaker on several occasions. It has extraordinary performance and value. I must disclose it now uses ClarityCaps in crossover as OEM'd by my agency. |
I own a pair of KCS speakers which are outstanding, also owned Salk's HT3's great speaker. One brand that I think has not been mentioned but one that I have been seriously considered buying is Horning speakers. These are a hybrid which use Lowther drivers only for the midrange. Possibly the best I have heard at their price points. |
How about Tekton speakers? |
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Add Green Mountain Audio to the list. Not exactly obscure, but not a household name either.
Shakey |
Fritz speakers, amazing monitors |
Thank you for starting this thread and all those who have contributed to raising the awareness level for a non-audiophile. I guess my next question of these wonderful small companies, how many offer fantastic speakers for a relatively modest price. Thanks to all! |
Pmshow - It would help if you would define what you mean by "a relatively modest price" . . . ! |
Under $1000 for decent monitor speakers? |
You can add Daber Audio to the mix. Our website doesn't include our Monitor 3's yet, and has some pretty lackluster photos of the Tympanist subwoofers.
The Monitor 3's are not up on our website yet for two reasons: 1) my photographer became ill and 2) I'm pretty bad at website design.
I do have the Monitor 3's up in a classified in the "monitors" section and you can view them there. We do advertise on facebook, but as the o/p of this thread touched on, advertising is quite expensive. We will be getting a review in an ezine coming up relatively soon though, so I'm hoping that does a good job of helping spread the word.
Thanks for making this thread! |
Tekton, KCS and Hornshoppe Horns all make great sounding and high value loudspeakers. I have heard good things about Fritz as well, but I still haven't tried them. |
I have now had the Daber Monitor 3's for two weeks and have had a chance to do some critical listening. I have the rounded cabinets in maple that Steve provides for a small extra fee. They are gorgeous with very high end carpentry work! The first thing that will strike you is the deep, tight bass for such a relatively small speaker. I doubt anyone but the most avid bass fan will see the need for a subwoofer in a two-channel setup. The mids are very satisfying and the highs are clear and precise. Vocals are rendered in a very natural fashion. The soundstage competes with the best. My wife, who is very musically inclined, even prefers them over my Acoustic Zen Adagios. A very different speaker and a matter of taste, but still high praise from a very musical person. I love them both for different reasons. To say that I am pleased with the results would be an understatement. In summary I think this must be one of the best values in speakers out there and they are made in the USA by a small entrepreneurial company. Give them a try - you will not be disappointed!
As a side note the speaker stands for the Volla speakers fit as if made for these speakers (rounded) - got them from MSS HIFI at a decent preice. Steve is planning on making stands for them as well in the near future. |
Excellent sounding, and beautiful to look at.
http://www.vaporsound.com/#all |
Gershman Acoustics. Excellent reviews of the Sonograms I recently purchased. Eight inch driver goes down to 28hz! |
Shelby + Kroll :-) Do a search and read through the site.
Tim Kroll has put together a great sounding speaker system. |
I have recently bought a pair of Master One speakers. Master is a Dutch company that build wonderfull speakers. Not really sure if they are even sold out side of the Netherlands but when you have the option please give them some listen. There is really no reason for it but so far all the speakers I have owned are Dutch made as far as I can tell. Those brands were; Studio de Schop, Driade, Impulse and now Master.
http://www.dynamic-solutions.nl/master.htm |
My first hifi setup was purchased with paper route money in 1981. I bought a Technics receiver and TT with a pair of Genesis G1 two way loudspeakers (not the Genesis of today). The speaker manufacturer was out of New Hampshire and they were of the New England School of speaker engineering which was very similar to the BBC stuff coming out of England in the 70's. The company was doing well but made some mistakes and went belly up. The story can be found at this link, which is a web site that still sells parts for the Genesis speakers. A guy who worked for Genesis started his own company in order to manufacture parts for all the Genesis owners who were getting screwed out of their warranties. He makes his own line of speakers now.
http://www.humanspeakers.com/genesis/genstory.htm |
