JTinn at Chambers Audio told me that the new speakers Evolution Acoustic sound as good as the Kharma Exquisite $100K for the fraction of the price. Did anyone have a chance to listen to these?
The best speaker you ever heard?
In my opinion, the speaker is by far the most important part of the audio system. After all, it is the only part you hear. OK, the other stuff really matters a lot, but without a great speaker... No go.
I am a bit 'speaker-obsessed' I guess, and now I am wondering: What are the best speakers you have ever heard, and what made them the best?
I am a bit 'speaker-obsessed' I guess, and now I am wondering: What are the best speakers you have ever heard, and what made them the best?
2,095 responses Add your response
They are close to the best speaker, but the company's newest model was incredible at the show in London. I can't wait to hear it at T.H.E!! Supposedly the Ovation will be used at one of the rooms over at Alexis Park, so there will be a chance for us all to hear the differences right next to each other. (if it's true and they're there) |
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. |
I have seen this post asking what are the best speakers for a couple of years and tried to give my answer but to be very honest, never could give a truly honest answer. I kept asking myself which speaker was the very best that I ever heard.. I all honesty I still cannot give a straight forward ONE SPEAKER answer. I have heard a few excellent sounding systems and honestly cannot say which was the very best. I heard electrostatics that really impressed me with that unique sound.. On the other hand I heard dynamic box speakers with a totally different type of sound that were also excellent. I seriously in all honesty cannot give a one speaker answer. To me there is no best. When I think about it more and more I cannot say any one speaker was so far outstanding to be called the very best.. To me it's not the sound of any one speaker or any one component but a combination of things including the specific sound track recording in a specific room with a unique sound that impressed me at that moment in time. I have heard many of the speakers and even owned one of the speakers mentioned and most all of them were very good to exceptional performers BUT again I honestly cannot single out any one to be so far better sounding than another that would be the final word as to be called THE BEST I HEARD.. I can admit that the big expensive Electrostatic panel speaker like the big Apogee or the big A-1 Sound Lab speaker has always left an exceptional impression on me as a type of sound that has one of the very best sound that I ever heard BUT again I have also heard other recordings on a different designed speaker that was very exceptional sounding to me.. Again I cannot honestly give a ONE speaker being the best answer.. Its much easier for me to say what is the best room you have ever listened to and then the answer becomes a little easier for me to give a ONE SPEAKER answer... My answer to this question is going to be there IS NO ONE BEST SPEAKER I have ever listened too.. That is my true honest answer. There is no ONE BEST.. There are many excellent sounding speakers and to me the ROOM is more what should be the question asked,,,, the ROOM and the RECORDING is the best answer I can honestly give... |
AG Unos beat Duos; Trios? The best sounding speakers I have ever heard were a pair of Avantgarde Unos at the opening of Rhapsody Music & Cinema in Midtown Manhattan, known at the time as Avantgarde Music and Cinema. Their Trio setup was not even close to this, and I have heard that placement is critical for Trios. Has anyone heard both Unos and Trios in properly set up systems? I am interested to learn how they compare. |
Full range electrostatics like the Quad 988 and Russ Knotts Signature Model 2 (custom) are my top choices. The magic of single driver coherence with distortion-free evenness is unbeatable. Magneplanars have consistently been near the top of my list too (MG 20, and MG 3.6) The best dynamic speakers I have heard are B&W (800 and 801) and Tyler Acoustics. Even thoug these dynamic designs are great, they don't invoke the emotional response of planars/electrostatics. |
The best speakers I ever heard are my custom 4-way horns : Two 1954 Klipschorns with JBL 1504C's below 100 Hz ; short, straight 1:1 compression ratio exponential-curve horns with 50's vintage JBL 130A's between 100 Hz and 500 Hz ; round tractrix horns machined from laminated MDF blocks with 60's-vintage JBL 375's between 500 Hz and 10 kHz ; and 077 ( or 2405 ) supertweeters ( 10 kHz+ ). The filters are 3-way 4th-order active s.s.. except for the supertweeters', which are 1st order passive - just single Hovland caps. The amps all use 2A3 triodes : custom ( UTC LS-58's on Webster Electric Hammond organ amps ) ppp x 4 on the Klipschorns ; Brook 12A's on the upper bass, and an A.E.S ( Cary ) SE1 on the mids + tweets. You can see pics ( plus lots of vintage gear ) at my webpage Vintage Audio Trader's - http://homepage.mac.com/Ikecarumba Kerry Brown aka KerrB Vintage Audio Trader |
In 1977 I met Mark Levinson and he invited me up to his loft to listen to what appeared to be his reference system. It was: 2 24 inch Hartley woofers "H" 2 pairs of stack Quads "Q" 2 Decca Ribbons on top of the Quads "D" Big soundstage and sublime sounding. I think he also had a pair of modified K-horns for comparison. |
Two years ago I saw a pair of Soundlab A1's here at A'gon for a great price and bank wired the money. I hitched a ride with a friend going from Cincy to Ocala. I vacationed with my sister for 3 weeks in Jacksonville, rented a U-Haul truck to get the A1's home unblemished, and have been in bliss ever since. I hope the A1's will keep me happy for the rest of my days. Darn this addiction...I may have to consider some factory upgrades someday to satisfy my unceasing craving for perfection. |
Avantgarde Duo's - I've heard a lot of speakers, but nothing has made me "Enjoy" listening to music like these horns with a great SET amp. Set-up is critical (heard good and bad ones), but when done right, these are absolutely magical - foot couldn't stop tapping. I can't wait to hear Trios, although I might sell my car to buy them if I heard them. |
Nautilus 800 and 801. There are always trade-offs in any speakers that I listened to. Some have 99% imaging but 85% in freq range Some have 99% transparency (like logan) but lacking in dynamic, some has good low level details but sound compress when played loud. I like the Nautilus 800 and 801 because they score 95+ across all spectrums (excellent dynamic, imaging, details, frequency range and transparent). |
For me, the dynamic and slam is the taste. Thus the Montana KAS tower speakers by PBN(Peter Noerbeck). Boasting 7 way system per side - twin 12" woofer, dual 9" mid's, dual 5" upper mids, and a tweeter in vertical array(dapolito). All scan speak components. Weighs in at 300 lbs per side. 4 monoblocks of 500 watts amps will produce bigger and better than live event. |
What is your definition of a "best" loudspeaker. How about the loudspeaker that makes you think you are listening to live music. The Cain & Cain single horns or the Zingali Overture 4's or the Wilson Benesch Curves. To name a few. Unless you have spent over $15000 you better say that you have a tube amplifier. I haven't heard any solid state amps that sound like live music. How come all those really good microphones are tubed? |
There is no question that the Overkill Audio Ovation is the best in the world at ANY price. Between the well-documented and grounded acoustical theory behind it, the execution is phenomenal!(plus 20+ years of psycho-acoustic research by Dr. Josef Manger) The hardest part is auditioning them in the States. Try their website for more information: http://www.overkillaudio.com |
The only ones I have not heard would be the speaker city componant rigs or some store in Pheonix that threw together a pair. If I had to pick second place it would be greeen mountain or genesis but unless you have heard the Whispers it is hard to describe the emotional connection. Reimers for the money are good too. If you get out there and experience some of these you will find that a good portion of speakers are a rip off of another in many ways but it is always a matter of opinion. |
