If you don't count anachronistic speakers like my Dad's 1959 JBL C36s, then my Focal 936 Electras. Simultaneously the best and the worst. When I finally got the right tube amps to play them they were glorious, unmittigated splendor bofore the Tube amps Consonance Cyber 800 mono blocks a humble Cary 6SN7 based Pre amp and Cardas gold ref interconnects they were a constant challenge. Once solved nothing better imho.
What are the best speakers you have ever owned and why?
I just recently recieved my long awaited Shahinian Diapason 2’s from Vasken And they are absolutely spectacular! This got me thinking about my long journey to get here. Bless my wife for putting up with the many many many speakers that have passed through. The lifelong saga began with Magneoan MG 1’s back in college which were replaced by Dahlquist DQ 10’s. Then we traveled down a long road of speakers and systems. Magnepan Tympanis, Misson 770, Randall Rsch DQ10’s, Quad ESL single and stacked, Acoustat II, rogers LS3/5A’s, Linn Isobarik’s (2 pairs) B&W 801 Matrix, Hales Signature, Martin Logan Monolith2, Apogee Scintilla (1 ohm) Apogee Full Range, Theil SC 5A, Egglestonworks Andra, B&W Nautilius 801,Quad 63 and some I’m sure I forgot! Each speaker had its virtues and flaws but oh what a fun and a times frustrating trek! I think I have finally found my speaker to take me to retirement they do everything that I value wonderfully . They are detailed without sounding so, very dynamic, they have great low end reach, power and detail, are open sounding like a planner, their tonality and timbre seem spot on and they sound wonderful on any kind of music. Tell me about your journey!
194 responses Add your response
Horrible Fisher speakers unbelievably bad. Worked at store where I got them free. Yamaha ns10m - my first real speakers. Acoustat 2mh - wow, first audiophile ADS L1290 - decent Silverline Sonata - what a midrange!@! Linkwitz Orion Linkwitz LX521 - fixed mids of Orion really great PBN - some huge speakers. Great, but too big Dennis Murphy Philharmonic 3 - nice overall |
Here is my list mostly in order. I may have forgot one or two. What is interesting I did not get rid of one to get the other. I was not looking for improvements with other speakers. With a little time and attention most all of these could be made to sound extremely good. Klipsch Heresy's ver.1, Tannoy Cheviots, Infinity rs3000, Paradigm mini mrk II, Theil 1.2's, Near 50m's, Spica TC60's, Focal chorus 836, Vienna Acoustic Mozart Grand, Theil 2.4 's. |
Apogee Mini grand ,these ribbons speaker panels with separate subwoofercabinets with seperate amplifiers forthe ribbons and Bass . I was running CJ premier mono blocks for the topend and mids,and a Krell 250 for the bottom end.These Speakers were super fast as well as lifelike with great dynamic range. ,these$6500 speakers 20 years ago ,easily beat many speakers over $30k today. I wish I still had them. |
Started out with small Technics floorstanders, then Polk Audio Monitors, Paradigm floorstanders (don't recall the models of the aforementioned 3) , Tyler Acoustic Linbrook System 2s, Tyler Acoustic Taylos, Tyler Acoustic Decade 3s, JM Reynaud Offrande Supreme V2s (now in a 2nd system), Daedalus Audio Argos V2s (main system) . Daedalus are keepers, thoroughly enjoy their musicality, and their ability to be driven by either lower power tube amps, or higher power solid state with equal aplomb |
My modest list:
Monitor Audio MA 700 Gold - (after many years one woofer went bad. I was naïve enough at the time to think I could not repair/replace. Foolishly sold them but they had me hooked on British 2-way Stand mounted speakers) North Creek Audio Borealis - (customer made two way speaker similar to Proac Response 2.5. I could never get them to work in my room/system) Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures - (traded the North Creek's for these. Tried really hard to like them, but again, in my room they just did not work. I moved them into a large room and they sounded fantastic, but that was not the room they needed to be in) Dynaudio Audience 42 - (These are amazing little speakers. Very musical and dynamic. I have them in a second system and will never sell them. Harbeth C7 III - (Now we are talking. Bought used on a late night whim. Loved them. They worked wonderfully in my room in my system. I added a JL Audio D110 sub to round out the bottom end.) Harbeth M30.1 - My current speaker. They are wonderful speakers. They are an improvement over the C7 but not by a great deal. I could have happily lived with the C7s but had an opportunity to get a great overall deal on new 30.1s while selling my C7s for more than I paid. Still using the JL Audio sub as well. It is very tight and fast, so it can keep up with the Harbeths. So you can tell that I gravitate toward refined 2-way speakers. To my ears they are a perfect, effective and pure sound. |
The best speakers I have heard are my friend's TLS-1's (based on the original Ohm F) made by Dale Harder of HHR in Ohio. I haven't heard anything that sounds that realistic and natural. Vandersteen 7's would also be up there. I have owned Vandersteen 1's, then 2ce Sig II's, briefly Tekton Electron and Paradigm 75F, Kef R7, then traded up to the R11 which I am enjoying very much at the moment. I would love to hear ATC SCM19's as they seem to come up frequently here. |
Best speakers are the ones I currently have. Audio Physic Avanti III so transparent and detailed, but always completely organic. It's eery how well they image and how they can simply transport you to a live venue. Prior to those, Thiel CS2.4 which are pretty amazing by themselves and in some ways even better than the AP's, but they don't have the same ability to make you relax. Magnepan 1.6, Hales Concept 5, Magnepan MMG before those. |
I started my speaker journey 50 years ago in the service with Sansui SP-100s. I loved those speakers, never heard music sound so good as I only experienced cheap stereo before that. The journey went on to Big Advents in the 80s, Infinity’s in the 90s and then I discovered Maggies in 2005. My current speakers are 3.6s, but I am considering 20.7 and would love to hear the 30.7 just released. Maggies are all about having enough clean power, then the magic begins. |
Who can resist a discussion like this? Less interesting to me than the identity of one’s "favorite" loudspeaker is the path taken by individual audiophiles. Watching a chronological list of a thoughtful listener’s speakers go by is to sense that person’s musical tastes and watch an evolution, as the audiophile’s disposable income increases and—more importantly—they come to grips with the fact that compromise is inevitable, and one makes a series of judgements made to serve the music most important to us. If this has gone right, over 5 years or 50 years, you’re as happy as you can be. For now. Here’s my progression from age 17 to the present: My "reference" two-channel system: KLH 17
Advent (Large)
Klipsch (Heresey)
B&W DM7 Mk2
Magneplanar 3.3
Mirage M.1
Watt3/Puppy2/POW-WHOW
Watt/Puppy 6/Martin Logan Descent
Sasha/Watch Dog
Duette 2/WatchDog
Magico S3 Mk2/Magico S-Sub It works out to 4.4 years per loudspeaker. A reasonable amount of patience for one of our kind. Andy |
| Post removed |
My own design. Why are they best? Because they sound exactly like I want them to, and I got world class drivers and crossovers into them for a song. You don’t have to agree with me, at all, but here you go: https://speakermakersjourney.blogspot.com/2017/12/snr-1-two-way-high-end-diy-monitor.html Tweeter and mid-woofer are of similar brand and quality to that found in Wilson, Gryphon and other top end brands. All caps are Clarity. All coils are Jentzen and some are copper foil. While this is all a matter of personal taste, and you do not have to like mine, I am happy to report I’ve heard a lot of commercial speakers in the $10-$25k range which I would not trade them for. How would I describe the sound? Warm, and transparent. Meaning, they don't sound like two boxes, you can't hear them playing as speakers at all. Whatever you hear, the illusion of the disappearing speaker is complete. They can play with great dynamic range, and deeply enough for my largish 1 BR apartment can handle. They are neutral enough to play just about anything well, including movies! They excel in HT mode, though I mainly listen to jazz and classical. The imaging is constrained by my apartment I'm afraid, but given room they are pretty amazing. |
| Post removed |
Original Advent large followed by ESS AMT 1B then McIntosh ML1C's. The ML1C's for me have been incredible. Thanks to Roger Russell and Audio Classics I upgraded the crossover and two high end drivers myself, couldn't be happier with the sound. In the mid 80's I also had DCM Timewindows, great imaging but didn't like the low end. Nowhere near as esoteric as other posts, but man I'm dedicated to the ML1C's. Their sound quality, for me, is all that I ask for, especially with the Russell designed high end modification. |
Best speakers and why ? Talon Khorus Tonally Accurate, image and disappear with the best of them, air between musicians, no matter how congested the recording may be . Talons are My favorite amongst some very Excellent speakers I’ve been fortunate to have owned prior (in order...) Paradigm S2 V.3 Magnepan Qr 1.6 Linn AV5140 Thiel 2.4SE JM Lab 946 Thiel 1.6 Hales Revelation lll All of them sounded so great, and all were worthy of spending a lifetime with, but I got bit by the try something new bug. Cheers All ! |
| Post removed |
Duntech Soveriegn 2000, By some margin the best I have come across. Designed as a "point source" sound pattern (as the reverse of a recording mic), and with all drivers in time and phase alignment, Has minimal distortion and almost perfect imaging and sound imaging. I have not heard the Dunlavy Audio Lab's SClV, SCV or SCVl. These have the same design principles as the Duntech and should be excellent speakers. Also designed and made by the late John Dunlavy These speakers come with very cheap prices and are the best buys IMHO. They need big rooms. Center of speakers (Tweeter) best at 1.5 meters from the back wall, and 2 meters from side wall. |
One of the great systems I used to listen to a lot was centered on a pair of Duntech Sovereigns, owned by a friend in the late '80s (he passed away in 1991) driven by Krells. Bass string tone and scale on a good jazz recording was lifelike as was the weight of a full orchestra. I was a Quad ESL listener then, and very picky about the midrange. That big Duntech could deliver across the entire spectrum, maybe not quite as spooky as the Quad in the mids, but everything else, with far fewer limitations- we used to have these marathon listening sessions that would start at noon, and go through dinner. Fond memories of that speaker. |
There a couple pairs I can't seem to.part with not seriously highend equipment but just has soft spots in my heart and depending on what I was to hear and details in music I go back and forth. I can't seem to get rid of the dahlquest dq-10s, the Yamaha ns-2000s and I somehow seem to be a collector of NS-1000s (6 pairs, I promise they find me, I don't search them out) the klipsche Belle, jbl 4430s with reworked upgraded crossovers. And finally the JBL Everest's. I know there are much better brands and prob sound amazingly better, but these are speakers that I just can't seem to part with for some reason or another. |
Klipsch for 30 years then decided to leave the horns chorus belle then b&w 802 d ,loved them but just would not put out the volume I wanted 10 % of the time ,ie listening to The Who loud ,driving with a Mac mc 602.now I have focal 1038 be ,love them as well ,making my final move either to the sopra 2-3 or b& w 800 d-2’s, upgraded to Mac 601 mono blocks |
Here are the ones I can remember- Dahlquist DQ10 Double Stacked Advents Fuselier Model 3, Model 3D, Model 5, Model 3.8, Model 2.6 and Model 2.5 Focal/JM Lab (don’t remember Model, small two way tower) Spendor SP 2/3e (3 pairs over the years) Spendor 3/5 and 3/5r Spendor S3e, S5e and S6e Spendor SP 7/1 Spendor SP 1/2R2 Spendor SP 2/3R2 Thiel CS 2.4 w/Thiel Sub Vienna Acoustics Hayden Vandersteen Model 2Ce Sig Magnepan MG 12qr Magnepan MG 1.7 Ref 3A MM deCapo BE Ascend Sierra Tower Penaudio Cenya Totom Model 1 Sig Totem Staff Totem Arrow Monitor Audio Gold 100 Monitor Audio Studio 6 StudioElectric Monitor ProAc Tablette ProAc SC1A B&W Nautilus 805 Currently - Totem Kin Mini and Mini Sub Falcon Acoustics RAM Studio 10 Dynaudio Special 40 Rogers LS 3/5A 15 ohm version |
1970’s a pair of Martin speakers made in NJ - first revelation of what stereo sounds like. 1980’s Infinity RSM , was sorry the second I bougt them, way too dark sound. last 15 years: NHT the entire classsics range 1.5, 2.5, 2.9, 3.3. , still most amazing value for a particular sound that I could easily live with. Klipsch Heresy I, recd as gift, awakened me to the richness of horns. If they had better bass I would have kept them, now looking out for Forte’s that I think would settle second room needs. martin Logan ESL, soothing mostly there music but just not exciting. Egglestonworks Rosa, did everything right except deep bass Egglestonworks Andra, maybe it’s my combo of Bryston pre/amp but I find that I am forcing myself to be happy. i would love to hear Verity Parsifal’s, Gershman Swans, Legacy Aeris. |
I found a pair of Legacy Audio Focus 20/20 at a reasonable price and they are the best speakers I have owned. They create an enveloping soundstage and are detailed without being harsh and have no problem plumbing the depths. I've had a lot of more "sophisticated" speakers, Vienna Acoustics, Canton, Spendor, Monitor Audio, etc. but the 20/20s just rock and are fun to listen to. I've also owned a lot of Klipsch speakers and my KLF-30's with Bob Crites crossovers, mids, and tweeters are my second favorite, more for sentimental reasons. I remember early in my "audiophile" journey hearing some Klipsch RF-7 II and also some KLF-20 and being blown away by those. I looked for the KLF-30s for a while and finally found a pair at a reasonable price and after spending some time fixing them up (I also had to fix rattling back panels), they are really musical. A little "smoother" on the top end than some of the Heritage Klipsch like the La Scala (which hurts my ears at loud volumes). They are very detailed and can play really loud without distortion or being "shouty" or "bright". I recently went through a similar journey with a pair of Klipsch Heresy I. Replaced all the drivers and the crossovers and mated them to an ARC Vsi55. The combination is very nice. I guess I am an unsophisticated "meat and potatoes" kind of music lover. |
My humble, 50 year, journey includes these as well as some KLH, AR or Infinity that I can’t really remember much about: Lafayette Radio Electronics Minuets (excellent little bookshelf units) Wharfdale W70 (room shaking bass) Janzen Electrostatics (early ribbon tweeters - quirky electronics) Ralph Vaughn - custom build (big woofers, mids and Janzen tweeters) Paradigm Espirit Towers (my first eBay purchase) KEF 105/2 (the "laid back" British sound) Mirage OMD-15 (omnipolar; very holographic and sweet) Joseph Audio Profile (neutral, clean and clear) |
I'm amazed about how many in this group have gone through a dozen or more pair of speakers. It almost seems a bit schizophrenic. lol When you drop some serious coin on a world class speaker, how do you lose interest so quickly. I've often wondered whether some people enjoy buying new speakers, or other equipment, more than actually listening to them. I can certainly understand the thrill of acquiring a new rig, but let's not lose sight of what (hopefully) the real goal is...... enjoyment of the music itself. That being said, a few months ago I purchased a pair of Grandinote Mach 36's. Presently, they are the only pair in the world. They are supposed to be formally unveiled at the Munich High End show this spring. If you have curiosity about them, my pair of custom made red ones may be viewed by Googling Grandinote Mach 36. There are pics of them taken the day they were installed in my house on Long Island by Massimiliano Magri or Max, as his friends call him, the owner and chief engineer of Grandinote, who flew in from Italy to do the work himself. I have never heard anything like them before. The 36 drivers (hence, their name) and 25 tweeters in each speaker create an expansive soundstage with clarity and neutrality to the nth degree. Powered by my Naim 500 Series electronics, with Danny Labrecque's Luna Cables, the music, whether it be Beatles, Beethoven, or anything else, has a vibrancy and life that makes it near impossible to turn it off, though I must admit, my wife does not always feel that way. Anyway, these are the speakers with which I shall spend the remainder of my (hopefully, many) years! |
The Best Speakers I have owned to date, are Anthony Gallo 3.1's, which I bought used. Note, they are no longer in production. They are essentially Crossover Free, utilizing the following: 1) An Electrostatic 300 Degree Dispersion Tweeter with transformer, etc., from 13 K upward, no crossover. 2) Two 5 inch Carbon Fiber Reinforced mid range speakers, no crossover. 3) One 10 Inch Woofer with two voice coils, no crossover The High Frequencies are amazing with great Mid & Bass Response, Clarity & Slam. Bass is great down to 40 HZ or so, rated to 28 HZ with an optional amplifier on the second voice coil. I chose to augment Bass with two Sub Woofers & an Electronic Crossover set @ 40 HZ & Down to get base down to 20 HZ in the system. |
http://stereotimes.com/speak112410.shtml Lansche 4.1 speaker with pristine treble out of plasma tweeter and high efficiency around 95db/w suitable for low power SET amplifier. It is also dynamic with two active 10 inch woofers. I had been happily using it since 2007. The best speaker that I had ever heard is big Western vintage horn but they are too large and expensive (around 300k$). |
@prof1 and terry 9: To take the one at a time--Quads are wonderful speakers. We built some stands for the Levinson HQD system and had the pleasure of listening to them with the full setup--Decca ribbons in the middle of stacked Quads and 2 24" Hartley woofers in cabs we built that were as big as we were. Totally great sound when driven by tubes. The original Quad electronics were rather weak, but joined to Audio Research products, they sounded pretty durn good! We were not a Levinson dealer--he did not care to be in the same shop with some other of our brands, and actually, back then, his stuff sounded pretty bad even though it was built like a tank. He was what we called a "slow pay" as well, but that's another story. So yeah, Quads are nice in the right room...I would bet a dinner that I could spend a day in your room and show you how much more accurate the Maggies are, but glad you love your system. That's all a good dealer wishes for his clients, and you are an example of one who knows what he likes and is able to own it. We call that a huge WIN! Aprof1, back then we all played instruments of various kinds in bands and went to a lot of concerts. A fellow dealer from Miami became an expert recording person of live music of various kinds. The chamber music was done very well. When played over any other speaker, it did not sound as it did live based on us being in the room during the recording. I would like to tell you we set up a big lab and measured everything with million-dollar mics in an anechoic chamber, but no one I know listens to music in an anechoic chamber, so we relied upon the musicians and experts in the room to point out places where other speakers (and electronics in some cases) added or subtracted or otherwise changed the music. Obviously, no recording, etc., is perfect nor is any system perfect; they all have their idiosyncrasies. BUT, without question, the Magnepan products introduced less of all undesired qualities to the music. We have some theories, of course, but I will let the engineers argue incessantly over all that stuff. I just knew what we heard, and it sounded like the instruments we heard live. I have always put forth the concept that accuracy is best, but many clients want something else. That is why there are over 300 speaker makers with many items in each line pretty much all the time. There were 2 tube hardware manufacturers in the 1970's; today, I can't even count the number, so it must be a good business or it would not thrive. I also have some theories and many hours of explanations from engineers, inventors, etc., about the how's and why's of things, and I know that what we hear is somewhat colored by many variables out of our control. Go to a live concert (rock) today and like me, you might walk out time after time given the horrible sound systems they use. It is almost unbelievable based on current technology, but I seldom hear the musicians playing their instruments or the vocalists singing. Mostly, it is just loud noise. Back in the day, Yes was the loudest band on the planet; today, Yes seems like chamber music when compared to the concerts I have attended in the past 6 years or so. So, the best I can offer is to attend concerts where the music is played at normal volume and then see if your recordings of that same music sound as they did in the hall. Where you notice differences that YOU DO NOT LIKE, talk to your dealer and try out some other items in your system to see if it gets better to you. There is no perfect, only what you like in YOUR ROOM and can afford. Cheers! |
My speaker history is fairly limited. Chronologically: Triangle Celius Magnepan 3.6RTotem ArroReference 3A de Capo (installed the beryllium tweeter) Acoustic Zen AdagioASW Genius 100Reference 3A Veena Spatial M3 Turbo S I've owned the Spatials only for a few months and I have the feeling they might be lifers. But the best speaker was, hands-down, the Reference 3A de Capos. Those gems of monitors were succulent, crisp, warm, and engaging. I never identified anything lacking or anything I was unhappy with. |
richopp Ok, thanks for the details. I like the sound of maggies and used to hear them a lot, but admittedly it's now been years since I've been able to hear them. It can be tough trying to figure out among audiophiles which speakers are most accurate in terms of reproducing live sound, because all speakers compromise somewhere, and someone may be more sensitive to that area of compromise over another. I've been interested in live vs reproduced sound for as long a I can remember, so I've always been comparing them. (I work in post production sound and record live sound all the time). I've mentioned before on the forum how I made recordings of instruments I play, that family members play, and of family members voices, which I'd use to do direct live-vs-reproduced comparisons through various speakers. It was always fun and illuminating. |
