Best speaker you’ve ever *heard

I have never heard a a real good system (electronics/speakers) by Audio Note. The sound is colored. Some like this smooth sound, I don't like that.

 

Focal Grand Utopia

 

Correction YG

 

Correction YG

 

Infinity IRS

 

Fine, but the question was not whether you like AN. What's the best sounding speaker/system you have heard?

 

YG Acoustics Sonja XV and Tidal Audio La Assoluta.

 

Difficult to say. Seems each speaker design is trying to achieve different goals soundwise.

I have been very impressed with my former Tannoy Turnberrys (with a tube amp) on things like Sinatra, the Beatles or Allman Brothers.

For classical, Audio Physic Virgos can be incredibly elegant and lifelike if you manage to position them well (also on tube amplification). I own Tempos which are great in this genre as well.

I heard an Audio Note AN/E SPe system at an acquaintance's sounding very very natural (amp was an OTO SE). Just very 'right', timbrally.

A very 'mainstream' option that I really enjoy is B&W CM9 on either Yamaha or Naim amplification. Sounds great with everything you throw at it. I have heard 800 series as well (802N and 803D) but those or rather difficult to get to perform optimally in terms of amplification. The CM9 doesn't seem so fussy.

 

I've been around long enough to have heard a lot of speakers too, some of them great, but it wasn't just the speaker, it was the speaker + the right amp and everything else, from source to room/set up. Among them, the original KLH 9 in double pairs driven by old Marantz tube electronics; big early Maggie Tympani array driven by ARC tubes (from the era, not the newer ARC gear). I heard the original Wilson Wamm with a floor covered in Jadis tube amps- they were disappointing despite the hype (and the heat in the room was unbearable). I liked the earlier K2, I have not heard the biggest, more current JBL, but have heard a fair number of big JBL monitors in studios back in the day-- the punch and clarity was stunning.
I love my old Quad ESL for what it can do so right-- but it has major shortcomings that most could not live with.
A friend has Rockports driven by big Boulder gear and it is a stunning system, Lyra Atlas, TW Acustic table and room was 'tuned' by somebody who knew what they were doing.
That Jadis Eurythmie is a pretty uncommon speaker- i looked for a pair before I settled on Avantgarde Duos, which I still use.
There's a fair list of people to whom I owe a visit- Mike Lavigne, Albert Porter, David Karmeli- each has an entirely different speaker and associated gear.
I think you have to treat it as a system. I used to love those little Spica speakers with the slanted front baffle- they were cheap and could play wonderfully (at least in the midrange).
If you do a 'drive by'-which is often all that you can get if you are at a show, you'll often be sucked in by the spectacular. Living with it may be a whole other matter, which is why I'm not lured by the big dollar bling--which may or may not be great depending on set up.
The speakers that Larry mentions- vintage horns- ring my bells - but you are getting into pretty recherché territory.
One of the great speaker systems I used to listen to quite a bit was a pair of Duntech Sovereigns driven by early Krell- this was pre-1991. That system had the ability to deliver a full sized image in the correct scale and was never 'in your face'--but much had been done on the front end- tweaked out ET2 air bearing arm, Goldmund table (eventually the earliest VPI TNT that had been tweaked, etc.).
Plasma drivers are pretty rare these days; those Apogees were just killer back in the day too.
I doubt many dealers have the ability to demonstrate much of this older (now vintage, I guess) hi-fi. I do find that some of the more modern dynamic speakers are very good (I've heard the big YG, some Magicos and those Rockports my friend has), but I haven't heard everything now out there. I know some folks swear by the MBL- Greg Baron can demo them properly on the East Coast, I didn't even try to hear them the last time I went to a show. The line was too long. Instead, I sought refuge in Robin Wyatt's room, playing tape from a Stellavox, through a Charlie King Frankenpreamp made up of old Mark Levinson parts, into old Quads with a tube amp I forget. Heard the big Infinity IRS several times, never cottoned to it, though is sure was impressive.
Some day, I may go to Munich. (but i'd rather go to Utrecht if you know what I mean)....

 

Great write up!

I live in Utrecht btw.

 

M&K satellite system. Can't remember the model but I think it was their top of the line system at the time. I thought they were pretty sweet.

 

On the right type of music, a rebuilt pair of Quad ESL 57s are king. Nothing comes close to the mid-range purity. Though they're not the best to use for daily drivers, as some more complex and aggressive music will not sound it's best.

 

It must have been one of the Ino Audio top-sub systems, probably i56s, with quite a few numbers of subwoofers connected.

 

Really hard to say. The Graham LS5/8s are definitely near the top, not counting bass extension. I'd like a speaker with bass of a large Wilson or horn-loaded woofer with the midrange and tonality of a British monitor. Maybe a beryllium super tweeter for the highs.

The overall best in my system are the Spatial Audio M4 Triode Masters.

 

Lumenwhite Kyara with Ayon Amps.

 

I'm gonna be there someday! It isn't the cost of the trip, it's gonna be the cost of the records....

 

You mean the twice per year Collector's Fair? Hundreds and hundreds of record stores from all over the world gathered inside an enormous hall. Many a SHF member would go bankrupt in there... or die of exhaustion trying to cover all or at least a substantial share of the attending record dealers.

 

They are stunning, but at about UKP450k they are definitely out of my price range

 

For some insane loudspeakers and amplifiers have a look at electronluv: hi-fi vacuum tube audio . Deep pockets a must!

 

Yep, the best record show I've attended in the States is the WFMU show in NYC. We have a show in Austin that is ok, it's pretty big, but not the caliber of what is sold in NY let alone in Utrecht as far as I understand, since I'm mainly after non-US pressings of early hard rock, proto-metal, folk-psych, etc. For jazz, the NY city show is really good.
And you are right about exhaustion- i burn out after several hours. I know people that go to these shows for the entire time, every day. That's dedication. I eventually go into overload mode.

 

Is that a single driver speaker, Echoes?

 

Lol no It is a Reference 1.

 

Harbeth 30.2 -sounded like music

 

A speaker I'd dearly love to hear ... from what I've read, spooky realistic stereo image, no need for a sweet spot, or even need for room correction. Too bad they're kit only, and pretty complicated to implement anyway.

Is that your experience, or am I speaking out of my large colon ...?