Best speaker you’ve ever *heard

In person. I’d say the Vivid G3 takes the cake for me. B&W 802 d3s aren’t far behind.

 

The Revel Performa M22 are the best I heard. Not only do these bookshelf speakers play to about 30Hz, the midrange is the most clear and musical I ever heard. The tweeters are also spectacular. The sound is effortless sounding on complex music too. The custom in-house built M22 midrange speaker is in the current Revel speakers at $4K per pair.

 

Western Electric 757

 

Dahlqvist DQ-10’s I still miss them...

 

Magico M3

 

I saw the thread title, then seriously gave thought over the last 45+ years if I could truly think back to all the speakers I have ever heard if I could pinpoint a "best"........... I just can't!!!

I have forgotten more speakers I have heard than ones I remember..... how are some able to just go "bang" and say here it is with one definitive answer? (definitive..... pun caught after typing it)

But in recent memory, one comes to mind -- I was at a friend of a friends house a five or more years back and he had some $15K or $20K set of Revel's --- can't recall the name or model number though........ can hardly recall what they looked like. But the owner played some Floyd and Zep that was legendary in memory for quite some time. But I am certain it also had something to do with the $20K in tube preamps and amps he had too, and the $20K Micro TT he had too.

 

Vandersteen 5 best imaging I've ever hear. Mind you I don't usually go around looking at $30K speaker. But they had a pair at a showroom.

 

I've intentionally heard, I dunno, hundreds of speakers across the years. Starting from when I didn't know what I was listening for. So, nearly impossible to say what's best, as I've grown in why (and what) I'm listening for ...

A few memorable transducers do pop into memory -- some huge Magnaplanars, creating a stereo picture you could walk around in; Naim DBL's -- massive, tri-amped by 500-level amps, powerful and effortless; Snell Type A's -- a totally relaxed, beautiful sound; DeVore O/93's -- an 'in the room' presence of whatever artist you were playing back through them; Tannoy Eatons -- providing a view deeply into every corner of a recording. All speakers well beyond my ability to afford, sadly! But hearing them (and many, many others) informed my choices of speakers I actually owned over the years, and continue to do so.

 

I have owned many great speakers but two stand out the Nola Grand Reference 4 x 7ft towers, first are the Legendary JBL Everest truly stunning.

 

TAD-R1
Adam Tensor Alpha
B&W 800
Avantgarde Duo
Tannoy Dimension 12

I can't afford any of these, even second hand.

 

The ones I'm using just now - the Linkwitz LX521. LX521 Description .
But beyond that, the best ever that I've personally heard, but could never ever afford, was the Rockport Arrakis (looking at Rockport's site, it is no longer made)

Rockport Arrakis Review – Cake Audio

 

living voice vox olympian

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Bose 901

 

1039A Studio Monitor | Genelec.com

For me its these flush mounted Genelec 1039a which were used in the mixing room at Ridge Farm Studios.

Unbelievable bass response.

 

In my room 1, I have been REALLY trying to find a speaker that I like more than the $9000 a pair AN/E speakers I have in room 2. I bought my classic favorites from the past (namely Thiel CS-3.7 and B&W 800 Matrix), tried various amplifiers with them, and I just have not been able to out-do the AN speakers. They are lively, have great bass, detailed, and always smooth as silk with not any compromise in offering that musical quality of realism.

Now I know, the only other speaker I wish I could try is the Jadis Eurythmie. But those are going for about $30,000 used... and then I would have to compare them to the $25,000 AN/E, which is just truly phenomenal, probably as good or better than the Jadis.

 

My favorite...... right now: YG Acoustics Sonja XV. This speaker design sounds smooth, great dynamics, awesome bass, and very balanced sound. The only bad thing... needs a big room and powerful amps.

 

I have never heard the TG Acoustics Speakers, i bet they sound awesome you are very lucky if you own a pair.

 

MBL 101 Xtreme at a late night listening session at Axpona. Gobsmacked by how visceral and live-sounding they could be. With the right recordings....a poorly recorded Ozzy track was laid too bare, spoiling the fun somewhat.

Another standout moment was a short audition of a pair of Quads with Soulution electronics — never heard (seen) imaging like that before.

 

I mean, I have to say 802D3's as I bought them,LOL! That said, I listened to many over the years, and recently auditioned a bunch before deciding on these... For my ears, they are subjectively "the best". I'd also add, I have never heard $200,000 speakers... my top out was a pair of $80k Sonus Faber, that, I just didn't think were amazing given the cost.

 

I do not own the TG Acoustics... I have heard the speakers during a trip in Hong Kong. The Sonja XV needs really a huge room to breath. They can reproduce clear and undistorted LIVE sound like no others.

 

Probably the Apogee Duetta.

Old-school Spendor BC-1s also made a big impression, despite the non-nosebleed price.
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I was lucky to own original Apogee Duetta Sigs, best imaging i have ever experienced mind bending incredible.

 

Yes, Apogee Duetta at the audio shows were incredible.

But the Spendor BC-1 sounded terrible to me every time I heard them. They alwaus sounded too warm, down tight boomy, and rooled off in the highs. I LOVED the concurrently sold SP-1, much more articulate and not to dry, not to warm.

 

JBL K2 Everest, second choice Tannoy HPD in Arden Cabinets.

 

Almost all of the great systems (I don't know how to separate out the speaker's contribution) I've heard were custom builds--Massive horn-based systems. When it comes to depicting the scale of a large enveloping soundstage, big speakers seem to do it better.

As for regular commercial speakers, I've heard an amazing system that used three large Wilson speakers (Alexandria?) for the front channels and two massive, but "cheaper" Wilson speakers for the rear channels that sounded amazingly realistic, even with such challenging material as opera. I also like a system that featured an Audio Note AN-E SEP speaker and crazy expensive Audio Note electronics. At a recent audio show, I heard a system with very economical electronics coupled to Charney Audio speakers that sounded terrific to me. At the same show, I liked the Emia system that featured four sets of twin Quad 57 (stacked array), each with a dedicated active crossover and two tube amplifiers. Going back in time, I heard a large SoundLabs electrostatic setup that sounded good, an Avantgarde system with huge woofer arrays, the Infiniti IRS system, Apogee Diva/DAX, Edgarhorn, and Goto system that sounded very impressive.