What speaker do you passionately want to demo?


Beyond the slight curiosity of what speaker you'd "like" to demo (example: every Klipsch horn speaker), what speaker(s) would you "passionately" love to demo?  A brief explanation of "why" you like these speakers would be beneficial.

I'll start:

MBL 101 X-treme - almost a decade and reviewers still say it's amongst the best they'd ever heard.  Probably should be matched to the MBL Electronics

Living Voice Vox Olympian Horn - it's wood (maybe sounds more warm/organic), it's a horn, and it consistently gets good reviews at the Munich High End audio shows.

Muraudio SP1 - Electrostatic + cone hybrid speaker that received many rave reviews.  It's not an easy task successfully marrying the fast electrostatic to the slower cone to sound seamless.  This speaker was on my short list to purchase.

Voxativ AC-XP field coil driver - both Voxative and Pure Audio Project speaker offer the Voxativ AC-XP field coil driver as an optional upgrade, but it's an additional ~$7k (yow).  The reviews leads me to believe that this field core driver is sonically "significantly" superior above other choices.  

Mike Lavigne's Evolution Acoustics MM7 in his dedicated sound room.  The sonics of demoing speakers at storefronts or audio shows can be problematic depending on the audio chain and the room setup.  MikeL has a matured optimized setup that is sonically recognized as excellent by other serious audiophiles.  
kennyc

Showing 6 responses by kennyc

Thanks for reminding me. Your discussion of Tannoy and Fyne reminded me of point source speakers.

Because I was interested in a full range linear performance I dismissed point source speakers from my search in favor of multiple driver speakers thinking they can do a better job maintaining linearity at the frequency extremes. After many speaker demos, I’ve settled on the Magico A5 which I should be able to fund hopefully in a few months.

Simultaneously I was looking for another speaker capable of being driven by a flea watt 300B amp. I was looking for uncolored neutrality and frequency linearity while being able to fit into my home (no massive horns). I’ve finally settled on the Volti Audio Rival 100dB, but wishing for the Volti Vittora’s 102dB performance (likely too large for my room). But I should also consider the “point source” speaker
Coherent Audio MGRA 15 Signature 102dB - Fyne and Tannoy seem less efficient

Funny how sonic differences between flea watt speakers seem less important relative what the 300B the brings to the table.  Maybe it’s the difference between accuracy and midrange warmth magic.
@mijostyn
Kennyc, I’m very lucky. I have the only speakers I ever want to own.
You are truly blessed to have and enjoy what you want.
The Muraudio gets decent reviews but IMHO it is a bad design.
I too was leery of how several panels sounded, but studying the many rave reviews suggesting it sounded better than the long established other offerings such as Martin Logan.

+1 @gmercer
The new Zellaton Plural Evo
Zellaton- how could I forget??? Long established company, painfully custom handcrafted lightweight speaker cone that translates to a fast effortless sound as reviewed by JV of TAS. While the Zellaton floorstanders were expensive $100k+ the new Plural Evo is only $55k (perhaps “only” isn’t the right word). Launched in 2019, I’m still waiting to find a PE review online although I believe Myles B. Astor is working on one for Positive Feedback. I also believe there’s one for demo in NYC.
@jerryrocks
For some strange reason I am wanting to give the Joseph Audio Pearls a listen. Can anyone shed some light on what these are about?
I read that frugal Harry Weisfeld of VPI turntables purchased a pair because the sonics punched way above it’s price point.

At the 2019 RMAF, the updated Joseph Audio Pearl “Graphene” was demoed w Doshi electronics. It sounded great to me- wanted to purchase a pair, but budget reality set in. I also noticed Fremer hanging out at the demo.
https://theaudiobeatnik.com/rmaf-2019-world-class-lineup/
…..with the Voxativ AC-XP field coil driver …mightily impressed…are sonically significantly superior
Now you really have me curious for a listen

The A5 are incredible loudspeakers and, at their price point, the best I have auditioned. 
The $25k Magico A5 I consider a bargain - sonic performance surpasses Magico $30k S3 and competes with Magico $42k S5.  It’s my next purchase when funds allow hopefully within the next few months.

I heard the Magico A3, S3, S5, M3, M6 (at Magico’s showroom) so am buying the A5 without hearing first because I’m assuming it’s voiced similar- hope this is not a dumb idea. 

When I started speaker shopping, I tried to listen to the best I could find at stores and shows, then try to duplicate the sound as cheaply as possible while maintaining sonic quality.  Although many speakers like Wilson, Kef, Viva, etc sounded great, only Magico and YG consistently resonated with me emotionally.
Speaker design encompasses compromises- no speaker is perfect- it’s a facsimile of reality.  I’m of the opinion that most speaker bashing is due to a subjective preference rather than any gross deficiencies in the speaker design which would likely make them unsellable.