Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario or the B&W Silver Signature. |
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Hales Concept 5
Just picked up a pair for 1100.00. These are really nice. Big, rich, realisic sound. I can't ask for more. |
The best speakers I've ever heard are probably Apogee Scintilla's. The best speakers I've ever owned are Apogee Centaur Majors. |
Without a doubt, Dynaudio Evidence Masters. Even in a smaller room they are oustanding. Low volume, high volume, any music you play, perfect. |
I have owned the following speakers in the last few years. Please keep in mind that I like everyone of them during the path of upgrade/changes with an exception of the Advangarde Duos ( I dont no what is so goog about them).
B&W Nautilus, 800
Avangarde, Duos.
Magnapan 20.1R and 3.6R
Wilson WP7 and Sophia
Martin Logan Prodigy
Kef 207
Usher Dancer 8571 and Be10
Revel Salon and Studio
Eggleston Anda II
I bought a pair of Black Swans from Gershman Acoustics a few weeks ago (do not mistake this for Swan speaker). This by far is my favorite pair of speakers in my 15 years as an audiophile. I am hoping to have enough time to post a review soon. I thought the speakers sounded good at the show, oh man, they sounded a lot better in my home. I am running them with some Conrad Johnson, Cary, and McCormack electronics (LP70s, CT5, UDP1, and Premier 350: Cary: SPL-05,CAD-805 AE, SACD306).
I have heard too many speakers to list. Basically I have heard pretty much everything or as many as a i could in the 4 days I spent at the CES each year, Alexis Park and Venetian (2000-2007). Some sounded really good other sounded like crap regardless of the price. If you are looking a pair of speakers in 20-30K range, please do yourself a favor and listen to the Black Swan. They are that good....Acurate, cohesive, expansive sound stage, (wide, deep and high), balanced from top to bottom, beautiful mids, and airy and silky smooth highs. (sound stage is not as deep as I would like to have- potential room acoustic isssues.
The best speakers I heard was at the MBL show room this year. |
The word "best" covers a lot of ground. It has always been reserved for the Quad ESL-57, but... it is slowly becoming the Gallo Ref. 3.1 (which I have owned for a very short while). I will know for sure when the Edge M6m amp (another Audiogon purchase) gets here next week.
As long as my hiney graces the well worn seat in my recliner, the 3.1's are Nirvana. Only the 57's have given me the musical enjoyment that these funky looking Gallos have. |
Ridgestreet Audio Designs Sason LTD...perfectly coherent from ~high 30 Hz to the highest treble, deepest, most layered soundstage I've ever heard, image and tonal density beyond reproach, amazingly natural portrayal of detail...an extraordinarly expressive and communicative speaker! It doesn't go real low (2-way with 7" mid/woofer), but what it does, it does better than any other speaker I've heard. Never even missed the bottom 10 Hz. I've got my order in!!
The Avalon Eidolon Diamond with all Spectral components and over $20k of room treatment at Progressive Audio in Columbus, OH was able to soundstage and image almost as well as the Sason's, but tonally it was too lean. Substituting an ARC VT200 added a little weight to the lower midrange, but soundstaging and imaging suffered. It was a tweaked out system in a tweaked out room.
I've heard the MG20.1R's in good setups/rooms that were also very good, but I'd take the RidgeStreet Audio Sason's over anything I've heard in 20 years. |
Avantgarde Mezzo.
The basshorn will give you fast clean bass even at low listening levels.
Sound is absolutely the BEST I have ever heard.
Looks are stunning: my wife likes them, my and her friends also. So you can put them in the living room.
See what www.high-endaudio.com has to say about AG's. |
While my exposure has been limited, this topic really needs to be expanded into categories IMO:
Horn systems, bookshelf, etc.
Having said that, I do remember liking the vintage mid-70's Wharfedales. So unfair to limit it to just one. |
Njonker: I oun a pair of Nova Evolution III speakers . They are outragious in price but nothing comes close ...Be prepaired to buy the farm but oh what a ride ! |
For best full scale real world speaker I give the nod to Dyanaudio for their C4's. Music is performed through these speakers in full measure and in a disarmingly natural way..no artiface, just pure unadulterated sound. I don't miss my Wilson's, B&W's, Dunlavy's or Magnapans. |
Apogee Duetta signature and Thiel CS5
were the most memorable listening experiences I've had. |
I still think my B&W Matrix802s3 sound great but the last 2 speakers I heard were new 802 Diamonds with Mark Levinson gear, at Audioden in LakeGrove Long Island. And Wilson Sophias, with I think Linn Equipment. Talk about a disapearing act and sound stage |
Tyler Acoustics Woodmere. |
I have to break this down into three catagories; dynamic bookshelf, dynamic floor standing and electrostatic. Of the latter, I've only owned one, The Martin-Logan Aeriusi. While it was surely different, I cant say it was the best loudspeaker I've ever heard. As for bookshelf dynamic, I'd have to say the Paradigm Reference Studio 20. I wish I could afford them now. Paradigm also rules in the floor standing dynamic category. There, it's a toss up between the Paradigm Reference Studio 60 and Esprit bipolar. I really miss the Esprit's. Presently, I am listening to Mirage M-290's which I purchased for a ridiculously low price on ebay. They are very good indeed. Any comments? |
I am looking for Artemis EOS sig. anyone forward to me ?
kim@kmold.biz |
Analysis Audio Amphitryon Full Range Ribbon Speakers. They even edge out, by a small margin, my second favorite, the Dali Megalines. |
Sonus faber Stradivari!!! |
Albert Porter's Dali Megalines. They are outrageously good! :-)
Cheers!
M |
MBL SIMPLY THE BEST
NO OTHER SPEAKER MAKES MUSIC SOUND THAT LIKE LIFE! |
I would have to say the JM Lab grand utopia.
I also heard the Audio Aritstry Dvorak in Mount Kisco at Audio Outlet it was a four piece system and was amazing.
Joseph Audio Pearls at the Stereophile show were great too. |
Now the best I have heard is the LSA Model 10s. I doubt these speakers will ever be produced. |
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Many years ago I had the opportunity to listen to the infinity reference standard system and they totally blew me away. I've gone to the shows and heard alot of great speakers but my mind always goes back... |
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Magnepan 20.1 with 2 Mark Levinson 23.5 in biamplification (and a tube active crossover)..... |
I heard these at the Stereophile show in 2005.
These speakers were amazing.
They use ScanSpeak's ring radiator tweeter.
A 5 inch midbase by Skanning and 2 9 inch Skanning woofers.
They sounded sweet and holographic with a perfect bass response. |
Best full range
Dynaudio Evidence Master with all Chord electronic.
Best Monitor
Diy two ways: preamp Deqx Dsp/X-Over
Mid-High: Raven 3.1 pro driven by Cary 805 AE with Amperex 211 + super mods
Mid-Low, Audiotechnology C-18 driven by Bel Canto E-1000)
unbelivable experience!! |
magnapans 3.6 w/ mac intosh equipment. |
Best I heard was Tyler Linbrook Signature System, a Dual 8 for bass, dual 7's for midbass and the finest tweeter, The Millinium. had it all in a good balance. Weakness: none. |
At this point, clearly the Acapella Triolons driven with Audio Note electronics, Jorma cabling and EMM Labs digital. The Triolons significantly extend the dynamic envelope with excellent microdynamics and crescendo's capable of rattling walls, all with a vanishingly low level of distortion. Detail retrieval, particularly low level ambient detail is phenomenal. Even though the speakers utilize three very dissimilar types of drivers (ion tweeters, horns and dynamic woofers), they are very coherent and seamless, with an effortlessness reminiscent of the Goldmund Reference TT. Images have a solidity and three dimensionality. The bass is tight, well controlled, goes low with great authority and speed. More importantly, by pushing the horn technology down to 200 hz and dividing the range between 200 hz and 5000 hz so that it is handled by two horns, there is a significant lowering of intermodulation distortion that effects the entire range. Acapella has been able to do this in such a manner that the two horns act almost as a single unit. You cannot pick out the crossover point and there are no discontiuities as the sound moves between the horns. Bells and other percussive instruments have a steep leading edge with a with a natural reverberrant tail. Voices are a joy on this speaker, both male and female. The plasma tweeter remains the best high frequency driver that I have heard and that includes the superb diamond tweeters used in the Martens and Kharma's |
Magico Model 6 and/or FocusAudio Master 2 |
B & W or Vienna Acoustics |
Avant Garde Trio's fed by Lavardin Mono's. |
I can not say the best but for sure one of the best TALON FIREBIRD DIAMOND! |
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To Anacrusis
I'm not so sure I agree with the statement about speakers varying the least. Being mechanical devices, they would tend to vary the most, at least to my ears. However, I agree that the amplifiers DO matter, and to a great extent, since they impart their sonic signature to the speakers. And, I have heard some combinations that involved excellent speakers being driven by horrendous amplifiers, with predictable results (acoustic agony). And I've also heard speakers that were not very impressive, improve markedly when hooked up to a superior amplifier.
When considering speakers, the quality of the design itself can vary greatly as well. Has it been designed to work under real world conditions, or just to measure well? How is the transient response and low-level information retrieval? How much noise does the motor assembly of the woofer make? (This can obscure musical detail.) How is the phase response? Will it sound good with a wide variety of amplifiers, or will you need to take out a second mortgage to power them?
As to the speaker itself, I have recently acquired what I consider to be the best sounding one yet, that sells for a fraction of much of their competition: Escalante Design's Fremont. At $15K a pair (increasing to $19K on 11/30/06 because of production costs), they absolutely blow away anything near, or at multiples of, their price. They are 'mega-monitors', and come with their own dedicated stands, included in the asking price.
Sonically, they are incredibly articulate and detailed; with loads of air, space, timbre, etc., but with a dynamic range that rivals live performances. Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of their performance is not just that they sound good at all volume levels (they don't 'disappear' at lower volumes), but that they NEVER compress ANY part of the music, no matter how demanding the passage.
They are extraordinarily smooth, and pass on whatever characteristics the rest of the musical chain possesses. You could power them with a low powered SET (I've heard them with one), or use a super powered monoblock with wattage figures approaching a kilowatt. They are 93 dB efficient, and go down to 18Hz, CLEANLY.
As a long time advocate of planar speakers, since I am a nut for detail and imaging, it took a little time to adjust my thinking to having a dynamic speaker, but they are simply that good. |
Speakers are the most important component, but vary the least of any component (save frequency response). A great amp through mid-fi speakers will sound great, whereas a mediocre amp through the best speakers in the world will still sound mediocre. Anyone who has made a living in audio and doesn't have a tin ear knows this. The idea that you can make an objective evaluation of a speaker without due consideration of the driving amp is the silliest concept in this hobby. With few exceptions, and there are some that I know of, the sound of the speaker you love so much is really the sound of the driving amp. In fact the better the speakers the better you can hear the amp. The physics of the best speaker in the world of a certain type (ribbon, electrostatic, dymamic etc.) varies little relative to the circuit design (physics) of various amps (not to mention tube vs solid state). Don't spend a fortune on speakers or a source component(cd players vary second least ) until you have spent a fortune on the amp and preamp. Experimentation in this hobby is fun and a good thing but there should be some logic applied or else you will end up being taken for a lot of dough before you finally figure it out (or at least approach your ideal). |
Revel Salon's have to be the best speakers I have ever heard. Words cannot describe how unbelievable these speakers are. I think their only a mier $20,000 for a pair. |
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. |
JMLab/Focal Utopia with the Be tweeters's (any of them depending on your room size). Most transparent speakers around, high sensitivity yet full range and great with most any high quality amp (particularly tubes in my experience). Several cosmetic options. Not cheap but worth it. |
Salk HT3 by Jim Salk. Hand made 3-way with ribbon tweeter. crossover by Dennis Murphy.
gthomas |
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Dracule -- a rule of the thumb: when driving TWO spkrs together inside a venue and feeding IDENTICAL signals, you get +6dB over the rated sensitivity of each spkr measured individually. But in the Synergies case, the spec is for music spl -- i.e. not identical signals, so the extra gain is less, say 4-5dB over the single spkr. So, the single spkr would spec 95-4 or 5= 90-91.
3dB: to go up (or go down) by three dB, you double the power (halve the power).
Cheers. |
Well, I have heard a good speaker finally. One that does not have a boxy sound, that has a sharp leading edge, that has the pace of music, that images realistically, that has all frequencies arriving at the same time, and one where the speakers themselves vanish. The only problem is that the LSA Model 10 driven by the LSA/Exemplar components cost $80k. |
Like my grandaddy used to say......."It's a good thing we all don't like the same thing,........ cause everybody'd be after your grandma... hum.......best speaker I ever heard ... has to be Dale Carnagie seriously I've listened to the expensive ones, but I still like my ACI Sapphire II's with the Focal kevlar drivers mated with their Titan Sub |
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 :-) |
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
This snip from a thread is from the very first "Synergy" owner...they don't sound like to tuff an amp load.
"The Synergy efficiency is at least 95 db/W, I actally think it could be more like 96 to 97. Impedance is around 2.5 ohms and very linear.
I was using single 70WPC Rowen monos at home, and even with constant 100db peaks for 20 mins they only got warm"
Anyone own, or heard the "Amphitryon" that can comment on their efficiency?
Dave |
