What are the best speakers you have ever heard? (1 Viewer)

[Jon_Welker]

I've never listened to any of these real fancy speakers whose names are hard to pronounce, but the best I've heard recently is some KEF Reference 207's hooked up to a Marantz MM9000 and a SR4300 (if you can believe it) as a pre/pro. I would call this the everyman's budget high-end audio 2 channel system. I'm of the law of diminishing returns school of thought. Do $40,000 speakers sound that much better than a pair of $5000 speakers? Dunno. Never heard a pair of $40,000 speakers and I don't think any exist at the stores in my area. That's about the best I can say that I've hear for the time being.

 

[Jan H]

Tie: Dunlavy VI's and Dynaudio Confidence C2. Were it not for the mammoth proportions of the VIs, you'd never have known they were in the room with you. On ANY kind of material. The Confidence is an amazingly detailed speaker, too.

 

[Jason.Soko]

Yes, $40,000 speakers do sound better than $5000. The question is that bit of performance gain worth it to you. The asymptote line starts leveling off in the price/performance chart as the money gets exponential. Costs a lot more to get just that much more performance.

Dynaudios are amazing, someday, they will be mine. For now I'll settle for their drivers in my Forests

 

[Chet Wilson]

check out this site:

bose, I think not

 

[alan halvorson]

For a great many years I considered the Beveridge Model 2+SW electrostatic speaker to be the best on the planet. Not many here have probably heard of it, and fewer (if any) seen. It was quite unique - there is nothing equivalent today.

They were produced in the late 70's and early 80's.

Unlike most electrostats, the Beveridge electrostatic panels were housed in a large (6" tall) cabinet. Sound wound its way through a special "acoustic lens" and exited via a slot in the middle of the 3-sided front that ran the height of the speaker. The recommended positioning of the speaker was on the side walls, out from the back wall, so that the slots faced each other. In this position, while music was playing, you could walk between the speakers and feel that you were walking into the musicians as they were playing! It was uncanny; no speaker I have heard since, however well regarded for its imaging qualities, could quite match this orchestra-in-your-room sensation.

The Beveridges came with built-in amplifiers, tubes for the electrostats, SS for the subwoofers. Since the tube amplifier was specifically designed for the electrostatic panels, the normal transformers (step-up for the panels, step-down for the amplifier) required for each could be dispensed with (this is the only justification for tube amplifiers). The subwoofer was of conventional design.

Downsides were plenty. First was cost. The version I auditioned cost $7,000 - more than most autos of the day - and still not chicken feed. Were they still produced today I would have to think that they would be priced between $50,000-$100,000. How I agonized over how I could afford them! Fortunately, I never found the money. Second was inefficiency. This speaker could barely make it to 100 dbs. Frequency response was pretty ragged also. The subwoofer didn't go all that deep and it didn't have that much impact. Definitely not a rock speaker. Then there was size and weight. And reliability. And the problem of getting the amps fixed without sending the whole speaker back. And so on.

I love my current Legacy Focus speakers and wished I had the latest versions. I also desire the Legacy Whispers, but right now they're a little out of my financial range. But the Beveridge 2+SW hang on in my mind as at least one form of ultimate speaker.

 

[Jason.Soko]

Cmon someone has got to remember the ESS's with HEIL Air Motion Transformers. I still have my fathers Model 5's They owned back in the day and still do.

 

[Chet Wilson]

Alan, you can still buy the Beveridge speaker. see at:

beveridge speaker

 

[alan halvorson]

Chet: Many thanks for the Beveridge link! I had no idea they were still around; it was reported long ago that they went defunct. Apparently this is a resurrection of the Beveridge company by the son of its founder, Harold Beveridge. I wish them success but the landscape is a lot different from way back when.

To all interested: be certain to look at the legacy speakers section where you'll find the model I'm talking about, plus a photo of the recommended setup (although, oddly, one speaker is turned 90 degrees from the other).

 

[alan halvorson]

Jason: I certainly do remember the old Heil Air Motion Transformers, but I also remember that no one regarded them as anything near a great speaker - to tell the truth, most in the know were of the opinion that they were not even good speakers. Do they still work?

 

[Nathan J]

B&W Sig 800's on both Krell, and McIntosh gear.

The Krell impressed me more, but that was years ago, and it was my first time hearing B&W's. The time with the Mcintosh gear was awesome, but I new more of what to expect, so it wasn't as much as a surprise.

 

[Jason.Soko]

Jason: I certainly do remember the old Heil Air Motion Transformers, but I also remember that no one regarded them as anything near a great speaker - to tell the truth, most in the know were of the opinion that they were not even good speakers. Do they still work?

Yes the still work, 27 years old. I had to refoam the cones because they had disintegrated and it sounds great! The Heils were far beyond their time and produced a high end no one had ever heard before. Of course now of days they have all kinds of exotic metals to make tweeters out of, so it isn't as much of a concern. Personally I still love the way they sound. Apparently I and many others are not in the know, oh well

 

[Jon_Welker]

Yes, $40,000 speakers do sound better than $5000. The question is that bit of performance gain worth it to you. The asymptote line starts leveling off in the price/performance chart as the money gets exponential. Costs a lot more to get just that much more performance.

That's pretty much the point I was making in my post...

 

[Keith J]

Pipe dreams followed by Revels f50's

 

[Mike Poindexter]

The best I have heard for stereo are the Genesis 1.1 I heard once when I wanted to audition IRS V but couldn't find a pair near me. I would have bought the Genesis if I had the cash.

The best I have heard for home theater was Infinity IRS V mains, dual IRS Betas for surrounds and an IRS Gamma for a center. No sub, but 32 12" woofers made up for it.

 

[BrianAe]

Yes, $40,000 speakers do sound better than $5000. The question is that bit of performance gain worth it to you. The asymptote line starts leveling off in the price/performance chart as the money gets exponential. Costs a lot more to get just that much more performance.

I don't think this is that true with speakers. I think the jump from 200-300 pair speakers to 1000 pair is often small. Especially if you have a good sub. Plus, speaker taste is very personal. For instance, for my tastes I'd say that given a good sub, the difference between ascend monitors and paradigm studio towers is small but moving on up Energy Veritas towers are a big leap forward and I just got to here some Revel Studios a few weeks ago that I thought were a solid step up from the Veritas.

However, I think it is definitly more than true with electronics and cables.

 

[Jason.Soko]

However, I think it is definitly more than true with electronics and cables.

I hope this doesn't mean spending ridiculous money on cables actually makes a greater difference then spending ridiculous money on better speakers.

 

[BrianAe]

Nope I meant the opposite. The rule is true for cables and electronics. Spending ridiculous amounts on cables makes much much less sense then spending it on speakers.

 

[Scott_N]

The best i've heard is Dali Megaline's powered by Lamm amps with a Lamm preamp and a Amazon table and Nordost cable. Next would be JM Lab Mezzo Utopia's.

 

[Steve Crowley]

I was in the Philly area about 5 years ago and heard this monstrosity, Wilson Grand Slam mated to 2 massive Krell amps and some sort of pre-amp/cd from Krell. The speaks were over 6' tall and the amps looked like it would take a forklift to move them. It was in a dedicated room that was so quiet you could hear your blood rushing through your ears. It did sound nice but not for the 150,000$ they were asking for it. I think room acoustics can make even the average system sound a lot better.

 

[Michael R Price]

Has anyone else heard the Martin Logan Prodigy? I did once at a local shop, they were driven by Krell's top of the line CD player (KPS-20?) and monoblock amplifiers (FPB-650Mc). It sounded really big, powerful and detailed. A slightly smaller and still ridiculously expensive ML speaker sounded as detailed, but kind of wimpy (weaker than my current, $1500-total system).

I think I can get my own stereo system to be almost as good as the big boutique shops' for far, far less money with some careful DIYing.