Coincident Pure Reference Extreme Doubled up.
Best I've now heard. I'm half the way there...... :) |
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The Von Schweikert VR-33's just recently released July 2010. I was smitten the moment I heard them and bought them on the spot. After comparing Joseph Audio Pulsars, Accoustic Zen Cresendo's, and a number of other $12-20,000. Speakers these were in a class all by themselves. They must be heard to be believed. Espeacially because these 120lb each floor standers were $3750. Albert wanted to build a speaker where every nickel went into the sound not the looks. They still look good but thousands were not spent on finish, and he only sells them factory direct. Thus accomplishing his goal of a world class $15000. Speaker for under $5000. To meet the desires of the Audiophile in this economy. UNBELEIVABLY WELL DONE! |
best I've ever heard were Focal grand utopia's. My son and I heard these at a high end audio store. I don't remember which amp was used, but they were playing a female jazz singer on LP. The sound was so realistic you could see the cigarette smoke in the room. (you know, the smoke in the old jazz clubs when smoking was still cool!) Anyway, I'd never heard anything like it before or since. |
Guystp - See if they have a pair of the Focal Diablo Utopia speakers that they can hook to the same equipment. They are a fraction of the cost and matched with a JL Audio subwoofer would be my choice. Great speakers AND a great car for the same amount of money. |
The best Speakers I have ever heard now have to be the Vandersteen Model 7. I have heard many speakers in 35 plus years of HiFi and the Model 7 is the speaker that seems to do everything well. They immediately disappear to provide the listener with a full soundstage that is completely devoid of driver artifacts. This provides the listener with the closest thing to a Live performance I have ever heard.
Everybody needs to visit a Vandersteen dealer and have a listen to these speakers. |
Rocket625
ill say this, my wilsons are the best sounding speakers around but do tend to eat amps wires components enough electricity to heat Manhattan. These babys are just plain thirsty. the next big purchase is a pair of audio research monoblocks. Anybody out there push wilsons with tubes? I do and have done such with my X-1 Series lll, X-2 series l and now my X-2 series ll Initially I was using Audio Research Ref 600 Mk lll, then Lamm ML 2.1 and now thenLamm ML 3 Signature I will never go back to SS with my Wilson's YMMV |
Did anyone mentioned Tannoy Westminster Royal?If you like beautifull wood(instrument like),retro design(I own 200 yers old house),high sensitivity(no need for 1000w mono blocks),natural and realistic sound,listening anything from classical to progressive rock then these speakers are for you. |
A friend has the huge TDL reference speakers and they are something else. |
Very true Mcgarick. I owned the TDL Monitor for years, bought them again recently, but sold them because they were not compatible with my current listening room. Still, they were and are a very good speaker. |
The 800 series with diamond tweeters by Bowers and Wilkinson. They just sound great. |
I have heard: ML CLX (without subs which i've heard make a big improvement), Magnepan 3s (which exact model?) Thiel 7s, SF Stradivaris (own them), Quad 2905, Rockport Merakii/sheritan ii (extremely impressive...would luv to hear bigger rockports), YG Acoustics Anat Prof II, Hansen Prince, B&W 800/801/802. I have also heard (and could not luv) the Wilson Watts 6-8, sophia, sasha, MaxxII.
In all, I have never been "captivated" so much as when i heard the Wilson Alexandria's (Series 1) run by Krell Evo One/Evo2, ARC CD7...except when i heard older Grand Slamm IIIs run by ARC Ref 110/Ref 3 and CD7. Though Alexandrias seemed more accomplished in nearly every way, i prefered the sound generated with greater tube influence in the system with the IIIs. Still remember that day and it is a reference point over the last 25 years of listening.
I have spoken with 5-6 of you in the last week, 2 dealers (who are on the other side of the world and sell both SF and Wilson) and also Wilson themselves about a possible trade for a pair of Grand slamms and (subj to in-home audition) fingers crossed!...i intend to trade in my Strads for the Slamms. it was (as posted 18 mos ago here) the only speaker which i have heard which i would "trade up" for with my current Strads. (Alexandrias well out of reach at the moment, and cannot find any opportunity to hear the bigger rockports which would likely be my only other consideration given my experience with merak/sheritans.) Enjoy everyone!!! |
The best ive heard is the Paradigm S8's, This is from a choice of B&W's, Revel, etc. |
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EASY IT has to be the one that brings you closest to the heart of the music. Forget hifi, but just as long as you are able to listen to any album in any mood at any time from start to finish because it brings your senses into close contact with that something special -emotion
Include Neat and KUdos |
Wow, people have listed some amazing speakers here and I've simply not got anything to compare. My father's Quad ESLs are awesome and I love my Maggie 1.6QRs, but to be frank I really want some Maggie 3s (I actually wouldn't want the 20s, too much money IMO.... unless they're free, in which case scratch my previous statement.)
As for keepers, while it really isn't in the same league, I simply love my Allison Fours. They were my first speakers. I sold my first pair to a good friend and recently acquired a new pair that I plan to keep forever. Love those speakers, yet indeedy.
-Aaron |
The Big Corner Klipschorns. I listened to a pair at a local salon here in Detroit that was driving them with an Ampeg reel to reel playing a very large tape with "Dark Side of the Moon" on it. I will never forget the visceral effect that listening had on me and most especially the intro heartbeat... Nothing since has had that same effect on me and I've listened to a lot of systems.
It would be wonderful to run into something new that could go beyond that time and that's why I keep listening every possible chance... |
I have owned some different speakers but the ones that for me are really much better are the Dionisio speakers by Yamamura Churchill.
Pietro |
Having heard and owned horns, electrostatics (many), electromagnetics, ribbons and many other dynamic speakers for me the Coincident Pure Reference has a presence, tangibility and transparency that is unbeatable except perhaps by their PR Extreme. |
tidal contriva diacera-se....my guess is that the more expensive 'sunrays' and t1 sunrays' would be better in the right room but in my room the contrivas'rock... |
I agree about the Contriva DiaCera SEs. When I first heard them, I knew this was the exception to my conclusion that all speakers were compromises somewhere. |
Hello roydavis,
The Coincident Pure Reference , is a name that keeps popping up as a speaker to hear, quite a few feel the same as you...
regards, |
take a look my speakers which i have bacheaudio model
Streamline 305 cost $2750 new compare to Living Voice from
UK less expencive , bigger size exselent bass, good with
chienees Bewitch 2A-3 you dont need better |
Tidal Sunray, without a second thought! |
Argyro, perhaps you have had better demonstrations than I, but I just cannot hear the benefits of the Sunrays over the Contriva Discera SEs, especially considering the price difference. |
Having heard all Tidal Speakers on many occasions the past 3 years I can honestly say that "Benefits by themselves"and "benefits considering the price difference" is sth totally different. I do not see benefits as well from the Piano Diacera to the Sunray but that is "considering the price difference". ;-)
But if price didnt matter of course the Sunray is a better speaker overall than the Contriva Diacera.
Just my 2$ |
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Easy!! IMHO, that depends on 6 simple, elegant criteria:
(0) How good is your hearing? Has it been tested lately?
(1) Is your target live unamplified music or highly engineered rock-type sound? Do you own a variety of instruments you keep as reference, to ensure you don't end up barking up the wrong tree?
(2) Do you want musical transparency, or sheer power that will - or at least can easily - shake the walls?
(3) Do you want to feel like there are instruments playing in front of you, or do you want "an awesome stereo, dude!" that might well exude details?
(4) Does your available space have appropriate acoustics, either to recreate the feeling of a concert hall, or to simply accommodate a 5-piece instrument orchestra?
(5) Do you have others who can blind/double-blind A/B with you, and whose opinions you can use as confirmations or refutations of your hunches?
(6) At what budget? Seriously, I doubt that any $500 stereos will blow away $30,000 audiophile set-ups.
The "correct" answer will depend on your combination of choices from questions above.
I don't proclaim to be an expert, but I will say this:
I have heard many fancy sound systems in many places, and found most sounding horribly unnatural, requiring (re)training, i.e. listening until your mind plays a trick on you: your hearing apparatus adjusts (which may take about 15-30 min). I won't have any of that.
To me, not much matches the realism of Magneplanars; when different guests have avoided walking into my house in fear of 'disturbing people practicing music inside', I knew I had to have been doing something right! Especially when it was none of the baby grand, drum set, lute, guitar and other goodies sitting there that were doing the trick! Having gone through 4 pairs of Maggies over a quarter-century, I am now comfy with my Tympani IV's, driven by a relatively clean and adequate Harman/Proceed "ML" 431 workhorse, a Mark Levinson LNP-2 preamp, a Bryston BDA-1 DAC transforming various digital sources.
In a 45-ft long space consisting of a 14ft wide living-room extending straight (other than a peninsula) into the kitchen, there's a lot of space for my 9ft x 6ft "wall of sound"-waves to harmonize.
Is it live or is it Memorex? My friends get the discerning challenge when I blend live instruments with recordings played at exacting life-like levels. The answer? It's both!
There may be better stuff out there, but I am not jealous.
Hope this helps. |
Rel2,
Get the Ampeg reel and tape instead, They cheated ........ :)
Regards, |
The newer TAD Reference One. Very hard to find a US dealer as they have focused on international sales up to this point. I've heard them at RMAF the last three years in a row and thought them the best at show each time. This is not easy to do considering the very high end competition there. I also work around high end product daily and have for over 35 years, but more importantly, I'm used to working around live music, so it is not easy to impress me upon playback. So my company, Audio Video Logic, signed on and will have them in stock before the end of December 2010.
We have a TAD seminar planned for January 27th, 2011 with Andrew Jones (the designer) attending. In addition to the Reference One, we will also have the TAD Compact Reference One in stock which was just given a stupendous review in the Absolute Sound in September. Go to
www.audiovideologic.com for details. |
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I agree with Audiologic. I listened to the big TADs at RMAF for the last two years and they are simply the best I have heard. Andrew Jones is a gentleman who will answer any question by giving you a whole lesson about the speaker. |
Audiologic,
How are the JBL's ? beautiful looking speaker......
regards, |
Easy...MBL 101 Extreme. Unreal. Then again, for a quarter of a million dollars, they should be.
Second place...Magnepan 20's or B&W Nautilus. |
A comparison at Audiologic between the JBL and the TAD would be at the top of my audio wishes. |
My Theil 04A's that I restored, first speakers to ever give me chills! |
The latest version of the Vaporsound Cirrus. In my 26 years, I have heard NO peers under $50,000. |
i was at the ces in chicago in 1976 and Saul Marantz gave me a demonstration of some tube gear with stacked modified dahlquist dq-10s with dual subs in a hotel suite. he had blankets hanging over mirrors and no other tweaks i can remember. but the sound and demo was incredible. great memory.i worked at a dahlquist dealer and never did sell a stacked pair but sold many pair of them with mcintosh electronics and thorens turntables. the good old days. ha. but i think todays gear is much better with the new technology and materials. about 5 years ,in the early 80s, later infinity brought out a huge pair of speakers with rows of ribbon like tweeters and poly drivers that were more expensive than almost everything else and they were very nice. i don,t remember the model number. |
Hotmailjbc,
I believe you are thinking of the huge Infinity IRS V's consisting of two tower columns with floor to ceiling emit ribbon tweeters and two columns of floor to ceiling servo controlled 12" (I think) bass drivers. Sold new for ~ $50K. Heard them at MillerSound a few years back and they were awesome. |
Harbeth M40 on 4 post Sound Anchor stands. |
One saturday I went to audio connection looking for a cd player john showed me the primare cd-31 which is an excellent machine for any price. He played this player on his front system which he had the vandersteen 7 for the speaker system. Out of all the speaker systems I,ve heard these were a new level of high performance. The sound left me speechless. You should audition this speaker at least once in your lifetime. |
Mike_barnett, it is the high point of Richard's speaker development certainly. |
The best speakers I have ever heard are the ones I have owned since 2005--PSB Platinum M2 monitors. They are so good that I am trying hard to replace them with much more expensive speakers but can't let them go. Very frustrating, but with every system upgrade, they get better and better. Very fast, transparent, sweet when necessary but with a real raucous nature when called upon. |
Im a skeptic. I dont think that just because a speaker costs 100k it is the best. As of now the PSB Synchrony One holds my attention.
Revel Salon II second pick. |
Not to go off topic but I've compared exotics to the PSB M2s and still prefer them. I agree with the skepticism about price in the previous post. This weekend I'm listening to SF Guarneri Mementos which if I buy will automatically become the best speaker I have ever heard, in my limited experience. |
Oeiras99 - What does purchasing have to do with making a speaker the best you've ever heard? Their sound doesn't change simply because you didn't take them home. If they're a significant investment and you're happy with your PSBs, why change? |
Mceljo. I will buy the Mementos only if they sound better in my system in a home audition than the PSBs. In that case, the Mementos will be the best I have ever heard; if not, the PSBs are still champs. Thanks for your input. |
There are a lot pages to this. Which PSB's do you have now? Is it the M2? Get a demo on the Synchrony Monitor too. I was skeptical of PSB when they started making speakers in China but the Synchrony is their best yet. |
PSB M2 Platinum monitors exhibit great energy, excelling in everything from acoustic jazz, female vocal, to large-scale symphony orchestra. While the Platinums are the top of the line, the other models have been well received. Canada seems to create great speakers even if some are assembled in China. |
I agree with Paimei,
The PSB Synchrony One floorstander can compete with speakers mulitples of its price - its midrange is that good. |
