I listened to Apogee Duetta Signature II’s for 34 years. Cost me $3900 Then, I had them completely rebuilt by Rich Murray (True Sound Works) 4 years ago and drive them with a Pass Labs X350.8 and PS Audio BHK Pre. Rich worked a miracle and made those Apogees so much better in all ways that we ribbon speaker aficionados love….even some low end punch.
Two weeks ago, I received my pair of the brand new Aspen FR30’s by PS Audio. I ordered in the second tranche last December. PS Audio offers a 30 trial. Well, I have found my forever speakers. Amazing frequency response, bass punch, sound stage and a Apogee-like wall of sound!
To be fair, the FR30’s are a bit more than 2X the original purchase plus Rich’s rebuild investment I made in my Apogees. One never knows ;-)
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@djones51 I love active speakers as well. My first impressive active speakers were Bose computer speakers, which I thought they were great for the price back then. Now after experiencing Goldenear Triton series and KEF LS series, it's hard not to disagree. But I still believe there is a joy of finding great matching components in passive market. Recently one of my friend suggested DSP in our listening room and we will explore that opportunity as well.
@mgattmch I had to look up and it shows from 1977 since it redates my birth. What a great era to be in analog audio. Yamaha has had great philosophy in their product development and their quality until now. Even in AV receiver market, one of my favorite brands.
@danager I totally get you. I had my doubts base on my prejudices or my own scientific knowledge which I thought was a common sense knowledge. Audio proved me wrong many times until I experience it myself.
@vinylzone Apogee Duetta 2 are luxury speakers I have only heard from my senior audio lovers. I don't think I have heard anyone owned them in Korea. What made them special to you?
@tsacremento Tell me more of your story, please. KEF 104.2 caught my attention long time ago due to its weird design(to my taste), but such great reviews made me curious about them.
@mckinneymike KEF 105.2! This model is my current R&D inspiration with our existing product models for the US market. Not sure if Jun(Mon Acoustic founder and a designer) would go for it yet.
@david_ten Oh come on, you need to tell me a story with at least one of your favorite speakers. You must have a story with one of them. Don't be shy.
@stringreen We had some visitors at AXPONA 2022 gave us some feedbacks like your experience. Giving goosebumps. Any feedback like this can make the designer dance. Jun danced to it. I am sure Klipsch team would be happy to hear your experience.
@pdspecl Sorry, I am not familiar with the model and the brand. But what were the previous speakers you had and gave you the leaping experience? Just so I can understand.
@sailboat Quad ESL, never had the pleasure yet. But now I want to after reading what you have described!!!
@koestner Those are tall speakers. Do you remember what you were listening to at the time?
@jaytor I think most of the regular people who are used to TV speakers, would have out of world sound experience when they hear dipoles sound for the first time. Which, these days, SVS does extremely well at an affordable price range in my opinion.
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I never owned them, but when I was 20 I visited my older cousin in Northampton, MA and he had very very large Maggies. I don't know the model. Let's just say there's the period in your life before you lose your virginity and the period afterwards, and there's one individual who conveys you through that threshold.
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Don't laugh, but it was Klipsch RF7 II speakers that got me. Up until that time I had been focused mainly on home theater surround sound with music listening a lesser priority. I heard the Klipsch speakers at a dealer in a really nice room and was amazed at how good they sounded and how much bass they had. That started me down the rabbit hole. I still have a mixed 2 channel / home theater system for my main system, but the emphasis is definitely now on the 2 channel performance.
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Quad 57's! Bought the first pair in 1981. Stupidly sold them in 2000. Several years ago I bought two pairs of 57's. A classic design that still sounds better than most any box speaker!
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My first pair of Maggies in the late 70s opened my eyes (and ears) to the open, spacious sound of dipoles with excellent sound stage and detail. I've owned several pair over the years, but often alternated with dynamic box speakers to get more "slam".
More recently, I built a set of GR-Research NX-Oticas which really opened my eyes to what open baffle had to offer. Finally, I have a speaker system with the dynamics and slam I crave from the best box speakers I've owned, with the open, airy sound stage and great imaging of dipoles.
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A long time ago. They were Dunlavy SC4 set up well in a store. I then experienced not "you are there", "they are here" as it sounded like the performer was in the room.
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Sound Lab Millennium 1, a large full-range electrostatic. I bought the first pair in 1999, unseen and unheard, and they impressed me so much that I changed careers (taking a big pay cut) and became a high-end audio dealer.
The first time I heard Classic Audio loudspeakers was also transformational, as they started me on the path to becoming a hybrid horn loudspeaker manufacturer.
Duke
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For me it was the discovery of planar speakers in the middle 70's. First it was a pair of Magnaplanars.. Wow. I was completely blown away. once I got them set up for my room (placement and toe in).. the imaging and scale of the presentation both left to right and top to bottom,... wow.
Maggies were the best I could afford for most of my adult life. paired with reasonable priced electronics (lower end models of high end brands). Then about 15 years ago I got into tubes, primarily triode designs.... and got my hands on modern Quads. The Quad 2805 ESL speakers. Another huuuuuge wow. Of course it was not only the Quads. I had gone from a total system cost of about 10-12k including everything to a system cost of about 80k, Shindo Monbrison Pre (later upgraded to Shindo Masseto Pre), Air Tight ATM-3 mono blocs.. great turntable. Wavelength Audio Tube DAC.. . Crimson model with the upgraded silver wiring and silver transformers.... top end end all DAC.
But I gotta say, those Quad 2805s properly positioned in the room, driven by great electronics took my audio to an entirely new and better level.
Had to sell most of it a few years ago due to a 'situation' our family had to deal with. now working to rebuild a similar system over the next couple years.
So, my answer: QUAD ESL's considered by many to be 'the best' or 'one of the best speakers ever'. ....
I also listened to a great pair of original Quad 57's ESL's with a low power amp in a near field position.. sublime.
So again.. the QUAD ESL is the speaker that really did it for me.
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Mirage M5si. These were leaps and bounds superior to anything I had prior. I switched over to hybrid tube power which proved a great combo with these speakers.
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When I was a kid, I heard the large Klipsch corner horn (mono) system playing Marche Slave....that made me an Audiophile....the goosebumps are still there.
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My GE Triton Reference speakers were an end game for me.
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On a whim, I purchased a pair of brand new Dali Oberon 3 from my local Amazon because it was discounted half price and paired it up to a cheap Sabaj amp. I was using a Sonos Playbase for music and movies, thought it was pretty good. But the Dali Oberon 3 made me realize how enjoyable listening to music can be. It was miles better than the Sonos and down the rabbit hole I went. They were gone and I am using a much better (and expensive) setup, but I would forever remember them.
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It was early pat of 1980 and the KEF105.2's. Still wished that I had kept them.
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B&W DM1800. First quality speakers I ever had. Kept them for a long time. This was back when B&W still made speakers that sounded "just right". I also had the integrated, sand-filled stands.
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I went from Vandersteen 2ce’s for many years of pleasurable listening to my current Spatial M3 Sapphires. Oh what I was missing!
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The Acoustat X with integrated tube amplifiers.
The sound was amazing. I eventually tired of the very small (head in vise) listening window. The realistic transients, sound stage, etc. allowed me to understand why people pursue this hobby
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They all have. Every speaker I’ve owned, auditioned, listened to...has helped me learn, grow and understand better. The (my) future trajectory remains open ended and exciting.
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Magnepan IIB's gave me a glimpse of what was possible.
Been on the rollercoaster ever since.
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The Dahlquist DQ-10! I owned a pair many moons ago!
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+1 Active. In my case ATC.
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Apogee Duetta II. I can't go back to boxed speakers. I still have them but one woofer panel is blown. Got a pair of Maggies to replace them until I can maybe get them repaired
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Yamaha NS1000M, what an amazing revelation they were nearly 45 years ago. They looked and sounded stunning to me. OK, I have a pair of Magico A5 speakers now that I am very happy with, but, still miss the Yamaha’s.
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I've always been anti horn,. not because I'd heard them but because I took the word of others that I thought were in the know. We moved to a new house with a big room to fill. I tried several types of speakers in the room and they sounded underwhelming.even with 300 watts. I really liked tubes and had purchased a SET amp that sat in the box unopened for over a year. I came across a deal on some Speaker Lab corner horns that was too good to pass up. 2 watts with those horns sound glorious. There are several manufactures whe make upgrades switching out the horns and crossovers and these boxes would be perfect for that but it's not the priority I thought it was going to be when I bought them. These speakers took everything I thought I knew and changed my perspective.
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No one brand in particular but I would say active speakers in general, particularly with DSP controlled active crossovers. I still listen to passive speakers but they are a poor imitation.
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