In no particular order:
Soundlab Ultimate ones
Quad ESL 63
Vandersteen 5's
Audio Artistry Beethovens
Magnegan 3.6 |
Here are my choices, in no particular order and chosen for the impact and importance of the speaker in its time,not necessarily because it would stand up against the competition today-although several do indeed still sound remarkably good:
1) Quad 57
2) Acoustic Research AR 3
3) Quad 63
4) Dahlquist DQ 10
5) Spendor BC 1
6) Spendor SP 1/2
7) Magnepan MG III
8) Klipsch Corner Horns
9) Large Advent
10) Rogers (or Spendor) LS 3/5a
These are/were all "real world" speakers, i.e., at least within financial reach of quite a few people of normal means, unlike some of the esoterica from Infinity, Wilson, Genesis, Pipe Dreams, etc. |
all the speakers mentioned here are good to great speakers.i have heard most of them ,in one setting or another,realizing that each is different.i would be willing to bet that most,if not all the posters,have not heard piega p10 speakers.( if you have the july,i think, tas read jonathan valin's review of this superb speaker).i have had merlins,vr5s,heard dunlavy scVs',in fact a friend traded his for the p10s saying they are the best he has ever heard.i have heard 989s,all b&ws,egglestons,et al and none come close to doing right what these speakers do...they are magical. |
This is impossible, there are so many great speakers, but here are my 10...Quad ESL 57, Quad ESL 63, Magnepan MG3.6, KEF 107, KEF 102, Martin Logan Quest, Rogers LS 3/5a, Infinity RS1, GNP 220 + Model 2 Sub?. I leave one open slot for the future. |
Seems to me yall like whatever you own ,come on the martin logan quest dont sound as good as the request ,ascents or odyssey old quads while good in there day are so dated sounding now,not that they are not classics,but the cls 2z blows the old and new models away.and that speaker is old now.its just like food some people like raw oysters or beets i think they suck but to each his own. |
LS3/5A (Rogers, Chartwell, Spendor, etc. 15 ohm)
Dahlquist DQ10
Spendor S3/5
ProAc EBS
Quad ESL
Magneplanar Tympani IIIa (tri-amped w/ tube amps)
Audio Physic Virgo
Advent Large
KLH 9
Stax F81 |
The Accustat 2+2 and the DQ10's are two of the best speakers around. |
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Vandersteen 5. Incredible speakers. |
Servo-Static, Stax F-91, Quads, Sound Labs. |
The original Quads, of course, and the Infinity Servo Statics as well. I'd like to also nominate the Duntech Sovereigns, which when first introduced raised the bar for dynamic cone speakers and still, when set up in a large room with electronics that can control their bass and match their warmish tonal balance, can convey the soul of the music with the best of them. And I think that time could also find the Avalon Ascents in this company of speakers, a great design that has since been further refined and showed how well a box speaker could disappear when properly set up. |
Here are some of mine....in no particular order:
Infinity Servo Static 1A, Infinity IRS's, Magnaplaner 1-D, Levinson HQD, Harry Pearson's QRS-1D, a highly modified Infinity RS1-B system from a friend, Rogers LS 3/5, Dahlquist 10, ....I'm still thinking..... |
Ha, great ears hear alike! (-; What deep narcicisstic satisfaction to wallow in. Gentlemen, you made my (SUN)day!
Cheers! |
Soundlab U-1, Beveridge 2's, original Apogee's |
Used to love the original Advents, then DQ-10, now my favorites are any of the Dunlavy |
After 20 years, these are my audio nirvana. The system has incredible staging, great dynamics and detail. This system sounds more like music every time I listen. I can listen hour after hour without thinking of equipment, just the music. I've heard systems that play louder, systems with my detail, but I don't think I've ever heard a system that puts it all together like this one. |
Magnepan 3.6 and 1.6;Spica TC-50 and 60;KEF 105;Aerial 10t;Lowther Medallions. My list is strictly limited to speakers that i have personal experience with.For instance,i am sure that the maggie 20's are wonderful,but have never heard them.Chuckle if ya will at the humble lil spica-but smack in the middle of the midrange i have seldom heard their equal. |
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I agree with you the K-Horn and Belle center is the best system in the the world regardless of price, and I have heard everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Vienna Acoustics Mahler and My current speakers Aerial Acoustics 8B Santos Rosewood and stands , internally wired with Audioquest kilimanjaro silver speaker wire . |
ProAC 1.5, Snell C/V and D, and North Creek Borealis. |
This is so interesting? The Dahlquist DQ-10 keeps coming up again and again? Are they really THAT good?
So far the best speaker I have listened to is the Magnepan 3.6. I'd like to hear the newer Quad's. |
Sonus Faber Amati Homage
Avalon Acoustics Eidolon
Martin Logan Statement
Genesis 1.1
I could live with either of these 4. |
Soliloquy 6.3 great speakers for the average guy wanting a great sounding system. Great sound and a reasonable price! |
I'm with Plato, Innersound all the way!!! |
Terzian handbuild speaker from a german organbuilder ( the big ones in european churches)
2 way optional bass unit. The cones are made by himself. you get the sound of the reel big systems for half of there price. |
after purchasing a pair of SOUNDLAB A-1 i can't possibly imagine it getting any more real than that, with the exception of its soulmates which are built to almost the same specs, the SOUNDLAB models U-1 and M-1...
talk about a "cristal clear wall of sound"... or is it "a window into the music" ??? and whoever heard of an electrostat capable of reproducing a 25Hz bass signal with that incredible sound "signature" that electrostats are known for ???? and how about playing at 100dBs level without any distress ??? awesome loudspeakers!!! |
Vandersteen Model 5 has to be there! |
Have I mentioned it before? Gotta be the Dunlavy V. (Mr Dunlavy once admitted to me, on the phone, that V is more accurate than anything he has done, including the VI's. ) |
The first time I walked into a high end audio store in 1983 I saw those 2+2 towers and heard sound that the salesman explained to me as having ambiance and presence...I knew I would have to own a pair someday...well it's nice to see people talking about them in 2002! They are great and Yes you have to have a special room for them and an understanding family. Wait! Who's kidding? No Family/No Kids and NO PETS!
Does anyone talk about the special electronics required for a speaker like this? Huge amounts of current for excellent sound? Excellent build quality, massive transformers, massive capicitors...Krell...Mark Levinson...type stuff...ya know? heavy duty amps and beautiful tube pre-amps and good ole' turntables...that's what these babies are for....old school analog...have fun! Happy New Year and keep that electrostatic gear alive! I'm keeping my 2+2's and my Model 3's just in case...
Peace :-) |
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A new company, Roman Audio, out of Groves, Tx. Their 8" 2-way, The Centurion, is without a doubt, one of the best I've EVER heard. When I demo-ed them, I had my wife with me and even she fell in love with them. Check them out at www.romanaudio.com. AWESOME!!! |
Magnapan Tympani. It was the first high end speaker that I heard. They blew me away to the point that I purchased a pair with in a year. |
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RevJoe & Holman are correct.
Snell Type AIIIi speakers have set the standard in box design speakers. The later Peter Snell was a genius. Kevin Voecks contributed to the AIIIi's also.
I've personally had about twenty different speakers in the listening room since 1990 ranging from $8K -$40K and the Snell AIIIi's remain. Other speakers in the $8K- $40K may have certain strengths over the big Snells. "But as an Over All Performer" through the check list, the Snell AIIIi's remain the best all around speaker.
Apparently Mr. Andrew Singer of the well known world wide high-end retailer Sound by Singer, Ltd. in NYC thinks so too. I quote Mr Singer from the current issue (Feb., 2002) of Stereophile page 55. "The Snell A3s were one of the best speakers-Peter Snell was one of the best speaker designers in the last 50 yrs". Here's a guy who's had all the toys in his shop the last 25 yrs. Truly a Bold statement from a man who's heard everything. I agree with him.
Original owner of these Snells since 1992 has brought nothing but enjoyment in listening to Music. Truly a Classic for the Purist.
Hopefully another speaker designer like Peter Snell will come around this half of the century.
Time will tell........ |
JBl L100, stacked ARs (!!), Klipsch KHorn, KEF 105, LS3/5A, Dahlquist DQ-10, Magnepan, Paradigm Studio 80, Mission 770 - and that's only 9. The JBLs and the ARs are here not because they are the best sounding, but because so many of us got started with speakers like these. And, if ya wanna play LOUD, there is NO substitute for the KHorns. |
Okay- you can laugh, but I love the sound of old Polk SDA-SRS speakers. With my equipment, and in my available listening space, these seem to give me the best all-around sound for whatever music my mood deems necessary at the moment. They can make Chopin sound as though someone is actually playing my piano in the other room, or they can rock so hard my dogs start to shed. Best of all, they fit into my budget effortlessly. Now if only they didn't weigh 185 pounds each.... |
KEF 105.2 also very good just perferred the two smaller woofers vs one larger woofer, 105.4 woofers seemed to respond faster? |
Oris horns and klipsch la scalas |
Legacy Whispers have got to be mentioned among the best. Yes, Wilsons, B&Ws, Martin-Logans, Dunlavys, Dynaudios, Genesis, and others, all can have great sound. But for the money, I'll put my Whispers up to the task. Real clean, room friendly, mid-range to die for, tremendous soundstaging, they truly disappear. For some, the lowest end could use a sub-woofer blend, because of the dipole open-air design, but that is the price to pay to get the rest of the package. They are also works of speaker art, especially in the premium woods. |
reference speakers! I have some JM Lab Tantal, B&W's, and Boston Accoustics a-200's, and even homemade speakers, but if I REALLY want to hear how somthing sounds I turn to the polk's..There are notes, especially low 15-20hz area notes that they play effortlessly. Case in point, "Welcome to the Macine" by pink floyd, you feel the note it's so low, not really hear it. Some notes in Tracy Chapman's music that don't EVEN exist on my other equipment but can be heard clearly on these BIG bad boys. All this is not to diminish the highs and mid-range which seem as flat as they come. The 4 tweeters per channel help in the high end department. The imaging is unprecidented as well oweing to the column of 6 inch speakers playing the sonic opposite of the channel opposite...did that come out right, well you know what I'm talking about the cable that exists between speakers feeds the signal. I agree, can you tell? |
Easy....but I doubt I'll get many nods in agreement.
Active ATC 150's internally triamped speakers!
I heard in the Sony SACD Booth 5 of the 150's for their
demo room at CES a couple weeks ago. I've never heard better... It was just stunning!
I got curious about them after reading the Stereophile Guide to Home Theater review picking ATC as the system of the year for 2001. After finding them at CES last year and this year, I was so amazed by the brits w/ no USA residential presence. They've only done Pro Audio for years. Now I found that the first USA dealer to DEMO the products is here in Denver and I just parted w/ my money for 3 of the Active ATC 100's for the front of my home theater/audio system.
Has anyone else experienced ATC yet and had the same
response as me? |
Klipsch Lascalas perfected w/ AL K networks! These babies rock! With the coming of sub 40hz material, Lascalas don't get the brass ring, although lascalas remane in im my employ, for their ability to repoduce the LIVE sound is very satisfing indeed. |
An easy one for me. I am 64 years old and I have been buying high-end for 30 years, and in heavy rotation with speakers for the last 5 to 7 years. The absolute best ? The Verity Audio Parsifal. Small footprint, thundering lows, sweet electrostatic-like lightning-fast highs, and a true work of art all-around. More importantly, a Steinway sounds like a Steinway. Not cheap, but my all-time best nevertheless ! One a more realistic scale |
Mine sound so good that I have no desire to upgrade them. That's rare for me. They are powered with B&K Ref 220's. These speakers aren't made anymore unfortunately. You have to buy them used. |
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The Snell Reference A Towers get my vote. Now, I admit I've not heard many of the speakers mentioned above, but I've heard quite a few speakers (I especially liked the vote for Lloyd Bensen re: quip to Dan Quayle .. lol).
I was surprised to see the DCM Time Windows mentioned. I owned a pair of these for several years. I then heard the Snell B Minor in an A/B comparison (because I bought the B Minors). The DCM sounded like they were coming from a box in the next room -- congested, out of focus, distant. But, the Time Windows are great speakers for the money.
Then I bought the Snell A Reference ... which took the sound of the B Minor yet a few more quantum leaps forward ... and the B Minors became, and remain, the mainstay in the home theater system, and the A's remain in the separate stereo system.
Many mention the Martin Logan. When I first heard ML, I was just blown away by them -- it was so *real* in-your-face-right-there sounding. But as I listened extendedly, I came to feel it sounded "thin." Perhaps this is just a prejudice from listening to boxes for too long.
Anyway, we audiophiles are blessed by having so many choices in, not only speakers, but wonderful equipment these days. Those who suggested, several years ago, that stereo was dead and surround had replaced it reminds me of the story about the suggestion, made long ago (when was it ... in Ben Franklin's or Thomas Edison's era) that the patent office should be closed because everything that could be invented already had been invented. Truly, this is the golden age of audio ... the numerous brands mentioned above are testament to that. We are lucky to be living in such an era.
Paul |
