Vandersteen 5a's. Sublime. With multiple Vandersteen 2wq subwoofers and a lot of moneys worth of electronics and cables, simply brings you to tears. |
A pair, or even stacked DQ10's. Properly driven and modified these speakers are awesome - the most musical speaker ever. They are exremely revealing and many perceived weaknesses go back to other sources. Work with these a while ansd speaker shopping ends. They really are wonderful. I have heard many larger and more expensive systems but none make me want to give up my 10's.
Too bad John Dahlquist isn't still at the helm. |
Hey After_hrs, where do you live, BTW?
The reason I ask is: I once heard the very same combination of Odeon horns driven by Accuphase electronics & Kimber cabling @ a HT place in Coral Springs, FL.
I have to admit that the overall sound was very seductive & romantic. It appealed a lot of my aesthetic senses. Very "palpable" & non-fatiguing. Hrs and hrs could be spent listening to music. It was all about the midrange - almost SET-like.
However, my best is still the M-L Statement E2 (that I posted long ago in this thread) driven by Krell electronics 'cuz it represented a live event in a truer form & it did better justice to the entire freq. spectrum.
Of course, JMHO. FWIW.
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The best, for me was the Fulton Premiers. Mssive speakers that had some unique qualities that over all have never been equalled. They had an ability to properly reproduce harmonics and dynamics without any cross distortion. Each instrument, voice, whatever stood alone with its' unique timbre, dynamics and spacial orientaion unfettered by anything else going on in the music. It also was unique in presenting a proper vertical or sizing of the source, something few others could even come close to doing. It went up and down with low distrotion and with quality transients. So what am I using now- the same speakers- 20 years later and laughing at evrthing else that comes along.
They still sound like what music reproduction is all about. |
No matter the speaker you prefer, try Bybee purifiers. They seam to deal with "something" that is inherent to electric circuits that results in unnatural sound. If you can pay $10K for speakers you surely can spend $170 for a pair of purifiers. Believe me it can be an ear-opener. |
I cant'elieve I am writing this. I listened to the beolab 5 today ( in the store for 2 hours). I haven't heard tha many audiophile speakers, ( 1 Dynaudio temtation for 1/2 hour, B&W Nautilis 802 for 1 hr, Matin logan Aerius for an 1 hr, Dunlavy sc6 for 2 hrs, and my own carver als3)so take this with a huge pinch of salt. These are remarkable speakers and the ones that have most affcted me. Really a wow. This was with B&o upstream components that apperared to be barely better than a flashy walkman. I was more than surprised |
The bigger Quads fed from McIntosch electronics. That's beyond my means,so I got the Maggie 1.6 s. |
Definitely better than the 989. |
The best speaker you've ever heard is the one you haven't yet actually experienced but most assuredly surpasses those you have according to those who know. Same with amps. |
Khrys, yeah I think I heard about those. They're really something: Night and day difference! ;-) |
Apogee Divas, driven by a Classe DR3-VHC. Unbelievable weight, air, dynamics and overall realism. |
Very true. Don't forget they are always produced in small numbers by obscure manufacturers or by reclusive audio geniuses who are convinced everyone else has it wrong. They also "blow away" anything you attempt to compare it to. Same for amps ;) |
Each system excelled in it's own way:
~ Martin Logan CLS IIa (modified)/ARC Classic 120 monoblocks, with Kinergetics SW-800 subs/Krell MDA-300 monoblocks.
~ Magneplanar Tympani IV/Pass Labs X350, with 2 Entec LF-20 subs.
~ JBL 4344 (modified)/Mesa Baron (2 in vertical bi-amp, modified).
~ Apogee Stage/Lazarus 200/200 with REL Stentor III sub. |
Classic Audio Reproductions...
I don't know why, but they popped into my head first.
(I'm kind of a JBL/Altec fan, anyway)
IIRC, these speakers were a 3 or 4 way, 15" with compression driver(s) I heard them at CES in 2001 with Atma-Sphere amps, the other gear is unknown, thpough the source gear was analog. So liquid, so wet, so palpable, so 3D. I spent over an hour in that booth, and spent mere seconds in hundreds of others that day. I was transfixed, and etched Atma-Sphere in my brain, as my JBL 4343 are so, so simular to those C.A.R. speakers. Maybe they were based on them?
Another runner up for me is the "big" Hales (remember Paul Hales?) with BAT SS gear in a large booth-room at HiFi'98 in Los Angeles. Superb! |
Gershman Acoustics Opera Sauvage. At 2003 CES my wife and I heard the most incredible sound coming out of a little room at Alexis Park. It was the Opera Sauvage powered by Kora electronics playing Scherezade cut off the Burmester demo CD. It was the cleanest, most dynamic, and realistic sound I had ever heard. The closest I had ever heard to live music. |
Radford 360 degree things playing Dark Side of the Moog V by Pete,Klaus and Bill. Heavenly! Happy New Year from England! |
Well, The ones that I owned and enjoyed the most ? Not the most accurate of all, but of superior musicality and the best bass panels I ever heard in my life...Magnepan timpanys, hands down!. When i can follow every single chord of a bass guitar without straining and hear and feel the texture of the kick pedal impacting on the bass drum, thats Amore!! They also have plenty of bass!! better than any subwoofer and more natural!! I love the Timpanys! anyone who says that they do not have bass, don't understand the principles of positioning planar speakers as opposed to Dynamic speakers for the best bass response! |
Best Sound I heard at CES 2004 was a French Speaker called PRAM. Horn-loaded mid/tweeter crossed over to 2(12) woofers in D'appollito configuration. Front end was all Jadis, the CD player, JPL line preamp and JA-80 monoblocks. Lovely, super seductive liquid mids. Very coherent. Dynamic. Only lacking in extreme lows and highs but you don't care. You only want to hear another tune. Wow! Almost bought the show sample but reason prevailed. I certainly can't afford to upgrade my entire system to do them justice. |
Avantgarde Duos. In a big room with vinyl and tubes, they sound like real music. Even my wife is impressed! |
The closest sound to live music, is the new Von Schweikert VR 11, which was demonstrated in Vegas this year at the 2004 Show. We compared live versus recorded each night, with the help of wold famous recording engineer (13 platinum records (?)) Chris Huston, by making on the spot, "live recordings" of Misty River, a wonderfully tallented group of beautiful young ladies possessing absolutely heavenly voices.(Please buy their albums!!) The sound we achieved using the VAC electronics was spectacular, but the cardboard-like walls of the ballrooms of the venue at the San Remo, were an obviously limiting factor for us all (including our friends in other rooms) Even so it was, by all accounts stupendous.
The bottom line is that, NOTHING IS CLOSE TO THESE SPEAKERS for realism of sound. With a frequency response of @ 10HZ to beyond 50KHZ, they pretty much cover the full musical spectrum. They list for $100K, and I know that this is a great deal of money, so one must ask, are they worth it? Not to a neophyte or beginner, but for those in search of the Holy Grail of Speakers, I would say, unequivocally, YES!!!Everyone who heard them agreed that they are beyond amazing...and now for the good (call it even better, news... for those not able to come to the Vegas show, Von Schweikert Audio has the VR-11's set up in their private listening studio in San Marco, California, at this very moment, making them available for private auditions. I am now using the Halcro Mono Block amps for the electronics, since we no longer have the VAC. Good news gets better: I am currently booking flights for interested parties, First Class (credit with purchase) and hotel accommodations. This is an experience that any music lover will never, ever forget.
Email me @ lrsky@bellsouth.net Serious inquiries only, of course.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Larry R. Staples
President Emeritus, Von Schweikert New Business Devopment Worldwide |
The best speaker system I ever heard was the Wilson Audio WAMMs, years ago. They could reproduce the dynamics of a full-scale orchestra and still present a close approximation of the sound of real instruments.
But, the top of the line Soundlabs I've heard recently (Ultimate-1s, I think) are better at capturing the nuance of detail and the size and shape of the "acoustic image" of a real instrument's sound and are the best I know of, now, especially at anything other than ear-splittingly loud levels.
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Avantgarde Trios, tough to beat good horn systems if you like the true dynamic range of music and not the possibly more "accurate" but compressed sound of most high end speakers. |
VMPS RMX 'Elixir', I am fortunate to spend a couple hours each day with this system in our studio. While you may want to take this with a grain of salt since we peddle VMPS, I invite you to come listen and decide for yourself.
Regards,
Rupesh Kapadia
ROOP Audio Labs LLC |
Those iddy biddy bose speakers |
VMPS RM/X with Analysis Plus internal wire and TRT crossover capacitors. Passively biamped with Jeff Rowland 302/4 and sourced with dCs Verdi/Purcell/Elgar DSD stack. Powered with BPT 3.5 Signature. Pure Note Cerulean XLR interconnect, custom Acoustic Zen Hologram mk2 "Double Barrel Shotgun" speaker cables with 7n silver, and BMI Whale Supreme power cords. Room treatment by Acoustics First.
Second place: Apogee Diva with Muse 18 subwoofers, DAX3, Krell MDA-500 amps, Sonic Frontiers Trans3/Proc3 & Line3. |
Eric:
I am hoping you will post the pictures and overview of your system.
best regards |
diva
I've saw Eric's system at the audiocircleforum, If I recall...The Diva-Muse system was a system he owned before he switched to Vmps RM-40's which he has sold off to upgrade to the Vmps RM/X system he now owns.
He has? some pictures posted at that forum a while ago and may have posted more sense I saw those, don't know.
Dave |
Revel Salons. I'm a drummer, been one for 40 years, so I can say that I know what a drumset sounds like. Drums encompass the entire frequency spectrum- bass drum on the bottom, toms through the mids, and cymbals on the top with very high transients. Salons are the only speaker I have heard that reproduce a drumset the way it sounds to me (not necessarily when I'm playing them, but when I am out in front listening to another drummer playing.) And of course, it does a great job with the other instruments that I play with - guitars, keys, etc. |
A good pair of Acoustat electrostatic model 4 |
One of the best I have heard was the Joseph Audio Pearls at the Home Entertainment 2003 in San Francisco. They were paired with Manley tube equipment and the sound was absolutely phenomenal. |
Hello! I'm a drummer too,and the recording has alot to do with how the drums sound,what kit has definition to one drummer is totally wrong with another.Dave Weckel's last cd really sounds good on my Apogee Duetta's (There in repair now)for that matter they make most insturments sound real. Ribbons Rule!John |
In my system the Quad 988 is the best I've heard. However, I would like to hear the OHM F's (owned from 1975-1989) and Apogee Scintilla (owned from 1989-2001) with the electronics in my set up now. |
I now own a pair of second hand Ocellia Tilias. I think the manufacturer has discontinued them in favor of the Celia. In my own home, they are the best speakers I have owned since, due to financial woes, I gave up my Clements RT-7's.
Driven by a newly acquired 50 watt 47 Labs Gaincard, I strongly believe they will be chez moi for a long time.
They are highly room interactive, so positioning them is an adventure and a learning experience, since they exhibit some of the characteristics of direct/reflecting speakers.
They are a resonant cabinet, single driver design. Accuracy without sacrificing musicality, imaging, they have all that.
I can't wait 'till I have owned them long enough to feel I've reached their full potential. |
While the 1A, with the outboard crossovers, may be better still, the 1B is as good as I've personally heard. There may be speakers that do this or that a wee bit better, but the Kharma bests them all by being *consistent*. It excels at everything, fails at nothing. |
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just got back from the audio show in Montreal and I would
say the best was the 989 Quads.
Most speakers have anywhere from 3 to 10% distortion.
The quads have a measly 0.1%
Kinda redefines the word clean and acurate.
They did sound quite amazing.
jim. |
Quad 988 or 989.
Did I say midrange to die for?
Well it has midrange to die for.
A reviewer said it was perfect and I'd have to
agree.
Perfect!
only ceavat is that the bass dosen't slam like
Focal JMlab's woofs.
but a pair of subs/woofers could fix that for what
might be the perfect speaker.
IMHO.
Chow |
to jimpcn: I'm running a pair of Vandersteen 2W subs with my Quad 988's and it's a pretty sweet package. |
I innocently walked into a highend audio shop 8 years ago & heard a pair of B&W 802 matrix 3s.I had no idea recorded music could sound so great!These may not be the worlds best speakers,but they changed my life.I became an audio nut on the spot. |
Best Speakers I have ever heard are The ATC SCM300ASL Pro Studio Monitors. The ATC SCM300ASL is a 3-way active main studio monitor capable of continuous SPLs up to 121dB/1m. Drive units are comprise of two hand-built ATC 15" (375mm) massive super linear bass drivers. ATC's award winning SL soft domed 3" (76mm) mid-range driver and a 1 1/2" (34mm) HF driver.
The speakers are driven by ATC's new, free standing, top-of-the-range P4, four-way monoblock power amplifier. The P4 produces up to 275 watts output into each bass driver, 200 watts to the mid-range driver and 100 watts to the HF driver. |
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I would have to say that the JM Lab Grande Utopia Beryllium were the best speaker I have ever listened to. I have been an audio phile for more than 15 years and have listened to The best Dynaudio, B&W, Revel Salon, Linn and many other brands. I had the opportunity to listem to the JM Labs the other day and was blown away. Most speakers have their own look and their own sound. Some are more forward, some focos on base ar mid-range. The JM Labs were extremely well rounded and in a very well designed cosmedicaly pleasing cabinet. They had a tremendace sound stage with very accurate depth. The imaging was incredible, at one point I closed my eyes with a nice live jazz disk and though I was at the venue. I took some time to listen to the rest of the line since they were $85,000.00 pair and was blown away withe entire line. The Electra's are there step down for $8,000 pair and they were steller. Take the time to check this one out. |
Technical Audio Device Model-1. I heard this system at CES 04 with Pass labs amps. The room was crowded so I did not get a great seat but I could tell there was something I had never heard before. The dynamics throughout were amazing. Well I wished I had listened more after the show. Then I read this month’s Absolute Sound review and it seemed to match my impression of these newbies exactly.
It seems as that they have put two designers from KEF and INFINITY who were showing the system at the show. I could tell that they knew what they were doing and it is shown in the construction and design on this system. The design of the drivers was very impressive including a Beryllium concentric tweeter / midrange point source. The cabinet is amazing construction also - very dead. Most of all they actually look very good. But still way out of my price range :(
Checkout what they look like on the site www.tadaudio.com |
I have heard 99% of all mentioned speakers here. It is always a matter of opinion, electonics and recording but in terms of emotional involvment and pure stunning jaw dropping sound quality nothing comes close to the Legacy Whispers. I must mention that The whisper I listened to extensively were powered by the Coda 11.5 2 cahnnel amp with a wright sound tube pre. |
Kozmonot, I'd be interested to know which two speakers of the list above you hadn't heard yet ;-) |
Yes indeed so would I. I'll cross them off my short list. |
Klipschorns! 104 db rated, huge stage, horn sweetness. valves and records never sounded so smooth. You can almost hear the performers HAIR grow! |
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?spkrplan&1089343827
triple stacked quads,most realistic lifelike system i ecer heard.check the site above for pictures. |
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. |
Without doubt, a properly positioned pair of Avantgarde Duo's through all BAT upstream electronics. Largely because of their speed, the Duo's reproduce music that seems to just appear in space, as if out of thin air.
They are just breathtaking! |
