What is the Best Sounding Stand Mount Speaker in the world?
Price no object.
Brand and Model is adequate.
If you have not listened to it, please restrain yourself.
I raise this question because there is a maker claiming
to be the best. I am curious if it will garner votes.
Conclusion out tomorrow!!
Stay tuned!!!
The Wilson-Benesch Endeavors are sublime. Why you might ask. Well they combine rich midrange, excellent tonality, ie voices sound exactly like they should, the bass is very accurate without being heavy and over compensating. Many stand mounts in an effort to sound impressive force the mid drive to perform like a bass unit.
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I've been in this hobby for a long time (since 1979).Just remember it is a hobby not a life and death pursuit. My opinion and only my opinion is the Rogers LS3/5A. gold badge that I purchased in 1979 for $300.00 (used) but costed $400.00 new at the time.Sold them on this site in 1979 for $1,70.00.!! I almost blew them up but Regnar in New York saved them. They are all the things the top reviewers say they are and why reviewers like Holt, Kessler, and Reichert keep them around regardless of all the new contestants they reviewed. (R.I.P. Holt) Now the polar opposite would be the Usher BE718 DMD now discontinued but sometimes available on the used market. They are big and bold, sounding like a floor stander and easily able to fill a large room with sound. Needs a good stand like the Skylan two pillar stands filled with epoxy aquarium gravel. In my opinion everything out there are also-rans. NOTE: read the review in 6moons on the Ushers, but read it carefully about his thoughts on standpoint speakers in general. An eyeopener! David |
Yes, me too. Also, their crazy snowflake/hybrid midrange. Assuming it makes its way down the range eventually (we can’t call Medeos a stand-mount :-) |
agreed but it takes some skill, this is our Master Artist Signature Monitor on its optional matching bass module Wired with Kimber Kable 4tc wire. We used Mundorf binding post and Parts (Including Goertz Copper Foil 12awg inductors on the woofer, ClarityCap CSA cap and Mundorf Copper Foil 16 awg inductors on the mid, and Mundorf Supreme EVO-Oil/ClarityCap CSA combo caps on tweeter, Mundorf MREsist Supreme resistors in all critical tweeter and midrange circuits. Wrapped in porsche blue leather and has birdseye maple real wood veneer. raal 140 ribbon tweeter, accuton 7" cell mid bass and accuton 8" cell woofer
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[please forgive my poor English] - Stenheim Alumine Two, or Alumine Two SE |
I guess many people have to consider what they have, or have had, is the best component be it speakers or any other, that's probably why they bought that component. Having listened to at least hundreds of speakers I am now truly happy with mine in my room in my system. They may not be the choice for many other people. I was looking for a larger stand mount eventually settling on the PMC FACT 3, until I listened to them, no not for me, Dynaudio bookshelf, nice finish, sounded ordinary, I could go on and on but eventually settled on, a small floor stander by Audio Physic, probably because I was up grading an existing pair of Audio Physics. Its what suits you, no best just a lot of very good ones. |
I’m not going out on limb by nominating the The Borresen M1. However disclaimer.. have not actually heard them yet.. so skip to the last paragraph, but on the M1’s, I have read about the engineering and have heard other Borrensen and Raidho stand mounts so would be surprised if these aren’t at the top. I’ve also read great things about the Fleetwood DeVille, but haven’t heard them. For what I’ve actually heard.. First consideration would be to Audio Note AN-E/SPx AlNiCo. Fritz’s stand mounts are really good for the money, as are Klaus Bunge’s Kismets, which I fondly remember. I also like the latest Vimbergs, and the latest big QLN’s. I’m not in the BBC LS3 5a or KEF LS50 camp. I’ve got an old pair of NEAR 10m’s in my bedroom which I prefer to those using the proper sources and cabling. For all the stand mount speakers which I’ve actually heard.. which for my money, besides disappearing.. imaging, they must have weight, dynamics. I would choose (and did) the Ocean Way Audio Eurekas. The caveat being.. they’re driven by high powered high damping factor GaNFET amplification. Time alignment.. sweet, detailed, dimensional.. image like mad.. sound like big really well engineered 3-ways. |
That’s a speaker I’d love to see and hear. And probably touch. 🤩 Of those mentioned here and fabulous, I’ve heard Focal Diablo recently enough to remember, it’s a nice one. |
Does the Vivid Audio OVAL B1 Decade count as a standmount? |
@jeffseight Good question. The Electa Amator 3's are a very nice speaker, certainly a lot more attainable and more modern looking. Having listened to them extensively, I think they would be a good choice IF one could not source the GH's, which is highly likely. The GH's are IMO a lot more transparent and dynamic than the EA3's, plus they seem to disappear into the soundstage better. Like i said, I have never heard a better stand mount than the GH's...and I have heard a lot of stand mounts, including the later G's, the Magico's and the Borresson, which is right up there with the GH's, albeit at a price that would most folks jaw drop! |
Hiding in plain sight is the often overlooked (but never under rated when heard) ESTELON XC DIAMOND. SOA drivers (ceramic & Diamond) in an equally SOA cabinet. Widely agreed to have transparency & balanced musical sound second to nothing else. Of course there are other ways to go, but nothing can be said to obviously beat them in really any area (bearing in mind a subwoofer is always recommended for any stand mount). I mean ANY area including surprisingly enough, compatibility with lowish power tube amplifiers. Their impedance is extremely high, as is their sensitivity. Probably the only SOA speaker that could be adequately powered by Lamm amplifiers or Conrad Johnson’s ART 27A for example. Could the same be said overall, of any of the other speakers listed here (or existing elsewhere)? Exactly. |
There are numerous candidates one could identify as excellent stand mount speakers, but there is no such thing as "best-sounding" because the matter is a subjective one. No two persons' ears/brains are identical and therefore personal perception is a major factor. Moreover, one cannot discount personal biases, brand loyalties, aesthetic preferences coming having an influence. |
The Borresen 01's seem to be the consensus winner here, a speaker that I never have listened to. I am surprised that the Focal Diablo Utopia III's have been nominated for that category of the "best ever." I had them and they are great speakers, especially with a tube amp, but the "best ever," . . .? The Joseph Audio Pulsars, another speaker that I have owned, is a fantastic well-rounded stand mounted speaker, but I would put them in the same league with the Focal's. A different sound between the two, both enjoyable. Maybe I'm just jaded now regarding what the "best" stand mounted speaker should sound like . . .
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Yamaha calls the NS-5000 a bookshelf speaker, but it has to be put on a stand so Absolute Sound classifies it as stand-mounted and the stands are included and integral to the design. It's a shame AS did not give it its own review but included it in a review of the series, and Stereophile didn't review it. There's a bias in the USA against Japanese audiophile speakers although it's true basically only Yamaha and Sony in that market and then only when they want to be. That said, name me another full-range (bass down to low 20's) speaker with a 12" woofer, a dome midrange (hard to do) AND all three drivers made from the same high tech material and innovations inside, with Yamaha's superb piano finish, AND at $14,995, Yamaha hasn't even raised the price. With the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack, the room will vibrate, but the speaker won't. With piano music, well it's Yamaha after all. Ask Sir Elton. |
