Hi All
I am new on this forum.Having browsed through this thread,I must say that the Rockports are truly special.I have only heard a pair once, and it was an awesome experience.I have to agree with Rlapporte,being a dealer has got little to do with personal tastes.One is a business the other is a passion,so his one man opinion has got nothing to do with company sales, especially at 150k.
Cheers. |
Yes, Ronfr, I sell Rockport speakers, among others. In 2004 I wrote on Audiogon that the WAMM was my favorite speaker. It was at the time and no, I wasn't a Wilson dealer. I have written positively about Transparent Cable, for which I am not a dealer. I currently sell a number of great high-end products, all of which I chose for their sonic virtues, but typically avoid "the best" catagorization and such debates. To my ears, the Arrakis is in a category unto itself. I hope that this does not offend and can be considered to be just one man's opinion. |
For a small, soft room, there is only one choice: Konus Audio Essence. About 95% as good as Quad ESL, BUT you don't have to sit with your head in the one foot cube sweet spot AND they can be near the wall! EVERYONE who heard them in my home agreed. Need at least 50 tube watts, though. |
|
The B&W 802 D's with lots of clean power and a 6sn7 tube based preamp...Diana Krall sounds like she's singing live in my living room! |
Hi Guys, from a "value" perspective, not spending a crazy amount of money, I absolutely LOVE my PSB Stratus Gold speakers for $3000/pair. They sound absolutely incredible for every type of music imaginable and also very good and durable for surround sound in the front, kind of a multipurpose setup for music and home theatre. I don't even use a subwoofer.
These speakers were tested at the National Research Council for every type of technical test imaginable, most of which I cannot describe or understand, but they sound amazing! ;) |
Rlapporte, self promotion does not have a place on this site...you sell them... |
I second Ozy's choice...the Rockport Arrakis by a considerable margin. |
This speaker topic looks like which car do you like. Everyone here drives a different car. everyne on my block has a different model car. |
Titus,
What is pure pink noise tone? |
rockport arakkis, hands down ,no contest!!!! |
Could be the speakers you already own!!!!!!!!! I have found a piece of the holy grail when it comes to HIFI and I would like to share it with anyone who loves music. Some of you probably know this already, but if you play a pure pink noise tone through your speakers at moderate volume continuosly for about 8-15 hours (preferrably when you are away from home), you actually demagnitze your pre-amp, amp and/or reciever and speaker cables break/burn in your system and everything sounds much better!!!! I thought this was an audiophile hoax at first, but then I tried it myself. This is one of the secrets only people who are extremely found of accurate sound will make you aware of, and you usually have to pay for it. |
Escalante Fremonts, period. |
dual altec 515's in onkens with a BMS 2" horn driver on top.. wired up with AN silver wire..
sigh..
|
Imperium Acoustics Nicole |
Love the Celius. Heard the Response 3's a long time ago in a room coverd in Sonex. It was amazing. There were instruments coming from everywhere - the imaging was incredible
Have owned Mirage 3si, Magnepan 1.4 and MMG w/sub, Paradigm Export Monitors, NHT Super Zero w/sub and Proac monitors |
The new Avantgarde Meta Primo. Absolutely awesome. |
I believe the Jamo R909 deserve to be listed amongst the best speakers ever heard, and the best part is you can still buy a pair!
I recently purchased a pair and have been absolutely blown away buy their amazing ballance, the possibly have the best bass extension ever heard through a home speaker system with mids and tops to match.
Awesome... buy a pair! |
Dynaudio C4's with Mcintosh 501's and C46 preamp fronted by MF A5 CD player and all MIT Magnum cabling!! For classical it put's the ass in the seat like no other I've heard!! |
|
the best speaker is your ears listening to live unamplified music. |
The best speaker I've heard are the ones I own at the moment. Ck my pots for the answer.
hehe... |
I can't say what the best speaker is, but the best I've heard are:
1. Wilson Watt/puppy
2. Aerial 20T
3. Mirage M3si
4. Dahlquist DQ10
5. My own Aerial 10T's powered with a Parasound 2200 mk II |
B&W Nautilus 801 bi-amp with a pair of 333 Levinson.
Play loud and excellent dynamic without the strain. |
Well, it USED to be Avantgarde Duos...now, it's the Duo Omega. Builds upon all the strengths of this amazing speaker, and adds coherence, better air & extension up top and more effortless power delivery in the upper bass & lower mids. I am a happy camper. |
Oh My God Man: WITH 5 ADS L 1590 II.
AND KRELL HTS, N. PASS AMPS, TRANSPARENT BALANCED INTERCONNECT.
IN HT SET UP NO SUB. Oh My God Man I can't express in words how awesome these ADS speakers are.
Absolutely amazing.
It's like taking a blindfold off of my eyes and can see for the first time.
ADS FOREVER
RESPECTFULLY NESS NY NY |
Wilson Audio Specialties Watt Puppy's version 6, these speakers were paired with Audio Research Tube amplification and I think the transport was a krell cd player, but what I heard from a familiar recording blew me away!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I have heard a LOT!! To name a few, Dunlavy, Martin Logan,Paradigm, Meadowlark, Sonus Faber, B&W, Kef,Klipsch,jbl,Energy,M&K,Krix,Jamo,Infinity, Sorry If I mentioned some of you guy's equipment but everyone "hears" differently!!!! I'm a young audiophile 33 to be exact, but I think I've heard my fair share of speakers to give a subjective comment on what I think is one of the best if not the Very best. |
In the 70's Snell typeA;80's Infinity IRS & Linn DMS;90's Watt Puppies fed by Wadia in Chicago Show; Now ??? |
Evita, I agree. Its all subjective. My response would certainly have changed a few times =) |
Original Quad electrostatics and Avantgarde Duos.
The Quads are the most natural, immediate and alive sounding speakers I have heard. It also is a relatively practical speaker in cost and size. It makes most other speakers sound like, well, speakers. In other words, other speakers seem to make it more obvious that sound is being REproduced through an electromechanical device.
The Avantgardes come a close second but have the advantages of playing louder, deeper and probably higher. They also sounded really big, maybe too big. I've only heard them at a dealer, however.
Other speakers I've heard in demos include Infinity IRS, various Apogee ribbons, various Martin Logans, and the original Sound Labs.
Incidentally, to Armyscout41, the question was "What is the best speaker YOU have heard," which anybody should be able to answer, not "What is the best sounding speaker," which in theory would likely require someone to have heard everything. |
|
Sequerra Metronome 3---This was many years ago. I went to Definitive Audio in Brooklyn to hear the B&W 801; at that time loudly proclaimed as the best Speaker in the World by all the major audio magazines on both sides of the Atlantic.
Well, the Metronome 3 Kicked its A--so badly it was not funny.
From then on, I never again trusted the Mainstream press audio magazines.
BTW nothing I've heard since then has come quite as close to that magical moment. |
Where is the problem ?
The question is just, for everyonge, to tell his favorite speakers !
Not : what is the best speaker in the world !
What is irrelevant, probably, because of the infinity of possibilities of associations between speakers, amplifiers, sources and cables.
Just funny, somehow interesting, to hear what people love the most as speakers, even if they have listened only to a few of them. |
The people making comments including myself, no matter how experienced have limited comparisons. There would be other loudspeaker design we would consider if we heard them irregardless of taste. Excellent point, Armyscout41. I would bet that few of us have heard more than a handful of speakers in which all other conditions are constant. And I'm certain that many among us would change our response 2 or 3 times in the 5 years that this thread has been running. |
I cannot honestly answer this thread nor do I believe everyone can either due to the fact that unless you have owned every single flagship model of every past and present design, you can only make an educated guess?
The people making comments including myself, no matter how experienced have limited comparisons. There would be other loudspeaker design we would consider if we heard them irregardless of taste. I happen to love the sound of omnipolar designs like ohm's which i own, elac, mbl, german physik, decware, ess, duevel, etc. which i don't own and way out of my ability to obtain. I also love electrostats and planar ribbons and anything that is line source design.
Genesis, vintage infinity, nola, beveridge, mcintosh,pipe dreams come into mind and planars like transmission audio.
my choice of all of the most expensive design which i doubt i'll ever hear like those mentioned is the german physik flagship GAUB at over $200k and at over 1000lbs each.
pound per pound and affordability, i will choose the ohm walsh 300 mk2 or walsh 5. Not a single OHM is priced at over $6000 on their flagship. You'd be lucky to get a DUEVEL for under $10k and the same for a german physik.
In my opinon, some of the best consumer friendly designs are ohmspeakers, magnepans,ess, eminent technology, decware, axiom, orb, mirage, anthony gallos and the discontinued srslabs klayman signatures. There are others, but these come to mind. Companies like von scwheikert,wilson,magico,avant garde,B&W, dali, kharma,soundlab,AHL tolteq, vandersteen, mcintosh, beveridge, martin logan, genesis, nola, pipedreams, mbl, german physiks, transmission audio, MJ loudspeakers and others are beyond the average audio enthusiast ability to obtain.
I am a used and vintage loudspeaker collector that's affordable. I personally own ohmspeakers, acoustats, eminent technology, magnepans, klipsch, srslabs, wharfedales, optimus linaeum, dcm and used to own bose 901's in the 80's! (crappy compared to my walsh, electrostats, planar driver designs)
ohm and magnepans to me is the best affordable loudspeaker that i can own. The rest are beyond my financial ability.
If price is not an issue. German physiks GAUB would be my choice. You'd think it's a power generator more than a loudspeaker, a beveridge looks like a boat, a genesis, pipedreams, nola, mckintosh looks like large heaters, martin logans like radar,magico an aircraft part, wilsons and B&W like robots, and magnepans like room dividers, von schweikerts a large furniture and so many others from the pyramid like CAIN &cain and the rest from stargate!!! |
Rwwms: I am not familar with your loudspeaker, but the "..just be ready to hear something that doesn't sound like a speaker." Hey! I like that! What a great line! |
Avantgarde Duo Omega- nothing has ever effected me emotionally the way that speaker did...just be ready to hear something that doesn't sound like a speaker. |
the best speaker is no speaker. it's ive music.
the next best is 4 original quads. |
Hmm, the battle goes on..... |
"laugh all you want..."
-Andrewdoan Nobody but an idiot would laugh at the enlightened and successful efforts of a seasoned audiophile such as yourself. I pity anyone who would laugh at a fellow hobbyist who has put together a satisfying system and then been kind enough to share the story of his or her success with this community. In fact, putting together such a system on a budget is even MORE impressive, at least to me, than mindlessly throwing money at a showpiece. IMO. |
As folks at ML saying "happy listenning", to me the best speaker is the one that matching to the rest of your systems. There is no "the best speakers" in this imperfect world gorvened by the imperfect laws of physics. I have owned from JVC,Fisher,Klispch,Definite Tech.,Mirage,Martin Logan, Sonus,B&W..in the past 20 years. They all have weakness and strength...Due to my recent downfall, I now own a Krell 400xi with Sony es Sacd,and a pairs of rt14 POLK..yes a low-end cheapy Polk..laugh all you want but with some old pjb-RCA (Kimber) and 8TC-speakers (Kimber)that I have left from the old systems(sold them all thru this web), Diana Krall and Shirley Horn still sound quite beautifully. TRust your own ear when spending your money. Happy listenning.. |
VON SCHWEIKERT VR-9 SE'S- you can (almost) squeeze a symphony orchestra into your living room with these puppies; my beloved eggleston andras, one of the most musical and balanced speakers from 20 to 20 i had ever heard, could never really convince me i was hearing large-scale ensembles- they lacked that last chunk of scale and authority.
plus, as good as they were at resolving detail WITHOUT sounding analytical, the VSA's are in another league altogether- the midrange, a lone 7 inch driver, is so transparent it reminds me of maggies and quads. btw, can you hear the tiny sound string musicians make as they position their bows a second before the music starts? in 40+ years in the hobby this is the 1st time and one more thing- the vr-9's come with adjustments for the three tweeters as well as the built-in activer subwooofer (they go flat to 16Hz if you like bass). the sound can be taylored to your room acoustics and your personal tastes. once upon a time i thought the wilson WAMM's were, given their size and complexity, the best speakers i'd ever witnessed- they reproduced live concert sound as well as classical orchestra music with equal authority. but they have more than met their match, and for almost 1/4th the cost. only the vr-9's
can reproduce a solo guitar with uncanny delicacy while the WAMM's might blow out of proportion. |
Harbeth Super HL-5 were WAY up at the top of the list, too. |
I also agree on the Green Mountain Audio speakers. Once you experience them in your home, you will want no other speakers. |
Gotta agree with the GMA response. Spent a decade selling high-end audio and a lifetime as a musician and have heard nothing as real sounding as these speakers. |
it's the original quads.
4 of them with a low powere tube amp is audio heaven. |
Proac Response4 driven by top of the line NAIM electronics (CDS3-Naim 555 and 552 and 555 powersupply). |
Green Mountain Audio, PICK ONE, THEY ARE WHAT YOU ALL ARE LOOKING FOR. It took me thousands of $ to find GMA |
B&W Nautilus 800 speakers are one of the best I've listened to in the last few years. |
SONUS FABER AMATI ANNIVERSARIO. |
