Speakers that will bring me down to me knees crying with joy


Ok, so I had to write something ordinary in the title, but it´s really what I want. I live in Sweden and here we have a few really good Hi-Fi dealers which can offer great brands, but not everything is available. I´ve taken a break from this hobby the last 2-3years so I´m not up to speed on every new set of speakers.

What I have listened to in the past:

TAD Reference One - Really awesome speaker, it was paired up with TAD´s electronic and I found the sound a bit cold, just a bit. 

Giya G1 - I can´t get past the design 100% but the sound was good, but the setup might not have been the best or optimal for me. However I could see wanting to listen to them again in a different setup if possible.

Raidho D3 and D5 - Now this is the speakerbrand is, together with Sonus Faber Cremona M, that made the best emotionally connection with me. I was actually visiting Raidhos factory in Denmark with a dealer who brought me there. The sound from the D5 were super awesome, but they are very hard to get by used, but they could be the best speakers I´ve heard.

Focal diablo - Really awesome little speaker; sounded really good, I would like to hear the new speakers from Focal.

B&W 800D - Paired up with classe electronics; I found them pretty good, but it was too long ago when I heard them.

Magico S5 - I really really wanted to love this speaker, it looked so perfect 2x10" etc. it was paired up with electronics from Devialet. I experienced the sound to be too cold for me, could have been the room which was very small and weird.

## So what is important for me; well emotions emotions emotions; I want to feel something when listen to music; if we´re talking about chosing a "colorless" speaker and pair it up with tubes" or chose a speaker like Sonus Faber use to be, made everything sound lush, then the first option might suite me the best. I don´t want a ruthless system that make 65% of CD´s sound like shit because they are extremely analyzing. This is what I find the hardest to balance. But I like my music loud and I´m mostly looking a bigger speakers because I want that BIG sound which can bring me to my knees I want to be overwhelmed and washed with sounds. I have all my music in FLAC / WAV.

Any suggestions?
the_spaniard

If you're willing to look at electrostatics, the Martin Logan Montis or Summit X are really nice speakers and they convey the emotion of music very well.  They are revealing and need good electronics.

ML has gotten the crossover from the bass cones to the panel right.  I and the reviewers I have read can't hear the crossover, although I'm sure that someone can and that ML will improve on it further in the future.

So...

missing data in your quest-
1. How big is your Room?
2. What are the upstream equipment? Pre/Amps, DAC, Digital player?
3. Ease of speaker placement?
4. How much are you willing to spend?

thoughts to consider-
1. A whole system approach rather than piecemeal speakers only.
2. Speakers and equipment that utilize the rules of sound perception.
3. Investigating dipole and Omni- speaker designs.
4. Considering horns and line array technology.


and finally...

How often have you fallen on your knees and cried with Joy? If it hasn't happened before its probably not going to happen .... that easily

How often have you fallen on your knees and cried with Joy? If it hasn't happened before its probably not going to happen .... that easily

Every time I go to Charney Audio in Somerset NJ I listen in amazement at what I'm hearing. I was there when a perspective buyer came by for a listen (I had stayed a lot longer than expected). Brian was good about it as long as I didn't interrupt the listening session.  No problem with that! The guy put on a classical CD that I had never heard of. He sat and listened to the entire disc and not one word was spoken. His first comment was "That is some speaker!" He was walking around looking behind the Maestro to see how they are constructed and kept shaking his head in disbelief. All the while with a huge smile on his face. He continued to listen to various genre's of music over the next 2 hours. Still shaking his head and smiling through it!  He went on about how much (50k+) he had in his system and how the Maestro set up was superior at about 1/4 the cost. 

The listening system consisted of: Oppo BD95 - Charney 300b amp $6500 - Maestro $6500.00 full range single driver rear loaded horns constructed from the tractrix theory. The wires were standard supplied IC from and old CD player and Home Depot white lamp cord.   

I've been around this hobby for a long time (almost 40yrs) and the Charney Audio horns amaze me every time. I urge anyone within a couple of hours from Somerset NJ to make an appointment and listen. Brian is very accommodating with no pressure to buy. His speakers "speak" for themselves!




At CES in the mid-90's I made the mistake of having Jerry Crosby play "No Time To Cry" by Iris Dement on his modified Quad ESL63's. When near the end of the song Iris sang "I bite down and swallow hard" (if you're familiar with the song you know how devastating it is), I couldn't hold back the tears, and made a complete fool of myself in front of Jerry. Not very professional! Luckily, it was only Jerry and I in the room.