Best speaker you’ve ever *heard

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by sonicsstoog, Mar 13, 2019.

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  1. displayname

    displayname Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas
    My favorite combo to date is the Rosso Fiorentino Siena powered by Norma separates. I also have heard the Revel Salon 2 powered by a full Mark Levinson rack which stands out in my mind. There was also a mostly British system I demoed somewhere that I regret not looking into what the gear list was. Those three systems are probably the biggest standouts in my memory. All of them are less than half of the most expensive systems I've heard.
     
  2. Echoes Myron

    Echoes Myron Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Actually yes, concentric.
     
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  3. Juan Matus

    Juan Matus Reformed Audiophile

    I heard Noam Chomsky once he was pretty good. Lincoln was good but before my time so I never heard him live. But my absolute favorite speaker of all time was probably George Carlin.
     
  4. dsf

    dsf Well-Known Member

    Location:
    75039
    4 large Magnepans powered by a GAS Ampzilla amp in the late 70s. Best I ever owned some DCM Time Windows powered by a NAD amp in the mid 80s. Infinity Primus 363 towers nowadays powered by a HK 120 wpc high current receiver. Good but not like the others as least like I remember them.
     
  5. hammr7

    hammr7 Forum Resident

    My answer is the same as the recent thread on best owned speakers. RTR DR1 cylindrical e-stats with isobaric bass (I think it was one of the first, if not the first, commercial isobaric implementation). These have built-in Class G amps to handle the e-stats, so almost any higher power amp can be used on the woofer arrangements.

    I've never had enough room for some other contenders I have owned, such as ML Monoliths. I have modified CLS-II s that are memorable, and had original VMPS Supertowers that were just a bit too much for the listening room I had at the time. The Supertowers, in rosewood cabinets, were a pretty amazing fashion statement as well.

    I heard a highly modified Quad 57 implementation that came close. But the sweet spot was so small that even turning my head changed the fidelity.
     
    Bill Hart likes this.
  6. Maltman

    Maltman Somewhat grumpy, but harmless old man.

    Location:
    Vancouver Canada
    A friend has a full on Quad system with the big flat electrostatic speakers. Cranked up they sound incredible. I also heard some very impressive Dynaudio floor standers running through a high end Sim Audio Moon amp. They were for sale but well above my pension grade.
     
  7. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    I'm not sure which ML I heard at a salon in Paris- it was huge- and run from big Jadis. It was quite impressive. Very large image. Also, one of the more pleasant places to have a hi-fi store, at the Jeu de Paume on the Il St. Louis. This was many years ago.....
     
  8. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    Revel Salon.......... thank you, there is the answer to the senior moment I had on Page 1 of this thread when I couldn't recall which Revel it was........

    .... then again I am 90% sure....:)
     
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  9. mongo

    mongo Senior Member

    I'd have to say the best 2-channel system I ever heard was one composed of the Wilson Alexandria speakers, Halcro mono-blocs and pre-amp, I believe it was an Ayre disc player and all Transparent Reference cables.
    Stunning to say the least. There was a line to the room for listening as it only had one chair. I got to listen to 3 songs not of my choosing than out!
    That said, Halcro went bankrupt, I would never buy a Wilson speaker or Transparent cable whether I could afford them or not.
    Ayre makes brilliant products
     
    Tim 2 likes this.
  10. bhazen

    bhazen I Am The Walrus

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    Not sure I like the way he sounds, but I've come round to the idea that he's accurate.
     
  11. bhazen

    bhazen I Am The Walrus

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    The best speaker I ever heard for making loudness-war-victim, glare-y CDs sound better was a pair of Linn Majik 109s. Great little speakers.
     
    Helom likes this.
  12. brushwg

    brushwg Forum Resident

  13. Just Walking

    Just Walking Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Well you have to be single minded for sure, and be prepared to put money down almost on an act of faith. Although there is a "Seeking Auditions" thread here https://oplug-support.org/viewforum.php?f=28 . Anyone in the South of the UK would be most welcome to come and listen to mine.

    Because I'm an amateur (but trained) cabinet maker, I built mine from scratch, veneered and French polished them. Normally people buy a woodwork kit, drivers and analog crossover from Madisound, or kits, or finished woodwork and comprehensive electronics from Magic LX521 in Europe (although they ship internationally).

    The first thing is that you buy the plans - that is basically a license to build - the money going to Seigfried Linkwitz's estate. You can't even buy the drivers without that (they are custom, from SEAS).

    Basically you need to build (the kits are pretty foolproof) or buy finished loudspeakers themselves. Then you chose between a digital crossover or an analog one (there are designs for both, to buy). Then you need ten channels of power amps (five amps for each side, or four if the amp can cope with two bass drivers in parallel). The main options for that are the ATC AT52XNC Amplifiers or the Emotiva XPA7 XPA-7 Gen3 . The ATC uses Hypex N-Core class D modules, and would be my choice if I were starting from scratch.

    There is a much lower cost and simpler option called the LX-Mini. I did a shootout in my living room between my LX521 and a friend's LX-Mini, and they were astonishingly close in terms of imaging and realism. The only real difference was bass extension - although there are subwoofer options to extend that. See Magic LX 521's website (LX-Mini+2 and LX-Studio). The LX-mini is also much less fussy about room placement, because it is a monopole and not a dipole.

    All of this was developed by Siegfried Linkwitz, a guy who's working life was developing microwave test equipment at Hewlett Packard. RIP. He died last year at the age of 82 and left a legacy of brilliant designs and a masterwork on loudspeaker development . Linkwitz Lab - Loudspeaker Design
     
    bhazen likes this.
  14. Cyclone Ranger

    Cyclone Ranger New old stock

    Location:
    Best Coast USA
    True about the BC-1's weaknesses. But the things the BC-1 does well, it does very very well. And my friend who had 'em managed to put them in a system that was just right for 'em. They were pretty mesmerizing.

    But, I also have no doubt that some of the modern Spendors are better overall. I'm just not that thrilled with how out of control Spendor pricing seems to have gotten, at least in the US.
    .
     
  15. snorker

    snorker Big Daddy

    I’ve heard several such systems over the years at Deja Vu in Northern Virginia. This system I heard a few weeks ago was stunning.
    [​IMG]
     
  16. Hell on Reels

    Hell on Reels Forum Resident

    JBL 4343
     
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  17. Salectric

    Salectric Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    I agree with you. That system at DejaVu Audio is stunning. I would go further and say that a number of custom speakers I have heard there are also stunningly good. Vu seems to have settled on a very successful formula: pairing a large (15" or 18") vintage paper cone woofer in an open baffle with a horn midrange, and then adding a horn supertweeter cutting in around 10K or so to supplement the extreme highs. When done right, this combination is capable of really fine sound with coherent blending of the different drivers. The combination produces a very dynamic, involving sound that consistently sounds like live music to my ears.

    The particular system shown in your picture is very expensive but Vu has other systems that are a bit more real-world in pricing. I have less expensive speakers that Vu made for me two years ago that use a Jensen 15" woofer in an open baffle frame with YL Acoustic midrange driver and horn, supplemented with an Electro-Voice T-350 tweeter. I have been very pleased with the sound quality. I am not going to say they sound as good as the speakers in your photo but they do share the same DNA.
     
  18. Salectric

    Salectric Senior Member

    Location:
    Maryland
    Another favorite of mine is a DejaVu speaker that used a Goodman 15" in open baffle crossed over at 200 Hz to a YL Acoustic midrange horn with a Jensen horn above 10K. The midrange horn was quite large which allowed the crossover to be so low.
     
    The FRiNgE likes this.
  19. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    A custom horn system with straight midbass horns digitally crossed over a large constant directivity midrange/treble horn. Utterly absurd how real that system sounded with zero horn coloration. On a live recording of a Shostakovich symphony when the audience slowly started clapping and then ramping up in intensity it sounded like you were in the middle of them. I've never heard that effect before. Made actual orchestral, concerto and piano music sound just as real.
     
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  20. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    My own Harbeth Monitor 30s with dialed-in SVS 12" sealed subs and a pair of 15" Velodynes under them...
    Honestly sounds like being right at Carnegie Hall and I've sat in the best seats in that hallowed building and know exactly what it should sound like.
    I have been selling and building rooms for 50 years and I have never heard anything come close.
    This is NOT because my set is the best.
    It is because I now have the incredible luxury of being able to adjust the room setup for YEARS and YEARS as I am retired, finally.
    Small changes are not "tweaks."
    They make the speakers lock into the room and SING.
    No set I have heard out there in the "world" has had five or ten years of knowing adjustments done by a professional with calibration equipment, a dozen portable Sonex panels and a set of ears tuned by being a professional musician.
    Mine do.
    I can only imagine what it would sound like if I had some Everests and some subs and a really BIG room to play in.
    Oh well...
     
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  21. StimpyWan

    StimpyWan Forum Resident

    At 2004 CES, the Nola Pegasus (or very similar) speakers. Of course, Carl used tubes. An effortless system. The best bass response I've heard. Recorded drums were phenomenal.

    [​IMG]
     
  22. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    Gotta love how they misspelled "amplifier" in large font on their home page.
     
  23. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    Considering their build quality and sound, they're still a pretty good value, even despite the 15% retail markup over UK prices.
     
  24. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    Tough choice,
    Apogee Duetta signature II with custom piano black/ gold leaf accents (driven by high current solid state)
    Jadis Eurythmie full range horn (Jadis 2.5 watt 300B mono-blocks)
    Acoustat 2+2 (owned 1+1.. full range, no sub) (Acoustat high current solid state)
    Ohm Walsh the original edition (1970's Phase Linear 700B)

    Today I am going with the Jadis full range horns, IME unsurpassed depth of image, and dynamic range.
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2019
  25. Just Walking

    Just Walking Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Hadn't spotted that! HaHa!
     
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