The best speaker you ever heard?

The best speakers for me are those that can sound damn impressive in my own modest room without expert room treatment and megaexpensive electronics. Anyone can make a "best" speakers for $20k+, and they will require very expensive electronics to sound great. I have heard $70k speaker sound unbelievably crappy even with the so called "best" electronics and in the "best" rooms with $20k worth of acoustic treatments. But only a few manufacturers can make great speakers for less than $5k that can compete with the best of them, regardless of price. In the past, those were the likes of Apogee Duettas and Martin Logan CLS with the right subs (both finicky but magical when properly set up). Now, they are the Hyperion 938s. They are supremely easy to drive and work very well with affordable (ie, under $1k) electronics and wires, but higher quality electronics will give you the ultimate auralgasm :) Cheers.

Before you go head over heals over the Analysis Amphitryon (actually me thinks they're closer to $24k), listen to the new Apogee Synergy 1.5 (looks like the Scintilla, but very different in execution) when they come to these shores. Very expensive at $24k but priced similar to Amphitryon. The build quality seems to be on another level to the Analysis. The Synergys are actually smaller than the Amphitryon which are similar in size to the Diva, but weighs close to twice as much (close to 300 lbs each) due to extensive use of metal and much more powerful neodynium magnets. Alot more sensitive too at 95 dB than 86 dB for the Ananlysis. Some actually prefered the Scintilla over the larger Diva from what I recall. From what I read, the Synergy will play loud at 110+ dB and you only need 30 watts due to its high sensitivity. Original Apogee owners would kill for this.

Hi Gregm,

Caveats apply to the specs since they're general without specifics. The Scintilla was measured close to flat down to 20 Hz (ie, real 20 Hz) if you read the originanl reviews back in the 80's, so I don't think the Synergy is any worse, maybe better. Also the bass "ribbon" in the Synergy has 1/3 less mass than the original Apogee ribbon. There's an option of getting a bass ribbon even lighter than that used in the company's most expensive Definitive (~$90k). The MRTW ribbon is "foil", without the plastic backing in the orginal Scintilla (me thinks), so much lighter also.

I don't know the technology behind the Analysis ribbons. But the guy who designed the Synergy has been THE Apogee repair guy since the company folded, and he has been steadily upgrading the ribbons with new materials and tighter tolerance with CNC cutting of the ribbons (original Apogee ribbons were hand cut).

Yes, 2.5 ohms is low, but because it's very flat much easier on amps. My understanding is that Synergy has been driven with relatively low wattage tube amps without problems, impossible feet for the Scintilla. The Ananlysis has nominal impedence of 4 ohms, but no specifics on the minimum.

I have seen the Amphityron up close at shows. Although the build quality looks good, probably better than the equivalent Apogge, I don't think it comes close to the Synergy. Personally I don't like the looks of the big Analysis. The Synergy looks more elegant and cleaner to me.

Getting 110+ dB from a pure planar speaker would be an awesome experience.

Next year I will embark on a journey auditioning these speakers among others to build an ultimate system. Proof is in the listening.

Gregm,

"The Synergies spec 95dB "in 3000 c.ft room". Hence ~90 (?) single spkr anechoic. The Amphi etc specs 86 single anechoic so, say ~90-91dB accordingly. That's ~1/2 the sensitivity this far."

I'm not sure how you made these calculations but seems like a lot of hand waving, not that my comparison wasn't either :-)

Ah..Pgulrich, before you claim the JMLabs with Be tweeters are the "most transparent speakers around", have you heard the various current electrostats (SoundLabs, Audiostatic, Innersound etc), ribbon speakers (Apogee Synergy, Analysis Audio), and horns (Acapella with the plasma tweeter, Avant garde)? I've heard most of these speakers, and transparency is not one of the standout features of JMLabs (Grand Utopia Be) in comparison.