The speakers in my living room no doubt. Why best? I could actually afford them, and they are a billion times prettier than the BeoLab 90's. Measurably among the best speakers I've ever been able to listen to as well, based on distortion, compression and frequency response. So, in th sense of best I could possibly afford, I think I've arrived. 
Having said that, there are a lot of speakers I could not afford I thought were droolworthy.
1 - Snell A/IIIs. First time I had ever heard speakers capable of locking in the air pressure in a room.
2 - Martin Logan.... cls... something something? 5' tall, 3' wide. Driven by CJ preamps and solid state amps, like sex at the end of a speaker cable.
3 - InnerSound Eros ESL/Dynamic hybrids, except for the bass crossover stuff. Fabulous imaging and transient response, but the cause of a great deal of neck pain from having to hold your head so rigidly in one place.
4 - Magico S1/Mk II. Not perfect speakers at all, but what great dynamic range and extension for the size.
5 - The Focal mid-range Utopia's with the Tioxid tweeters.
6 - Stax / Lambda headphones
There are a lot of other speakers I've heard at shows, but usually they sound like absolute garbage due to the room acoustics and the vendors/dealers refusing to treat them properly. I've heard big Tannoys, but never heard them well for instance.
Best,
Erik
Having said that, there are a lot of speakers I could not afford I thought were droolworthy.
1 - Snell A/IIIs. First time I had ever heard speakers capable of locking in the air pressure in a room.
2 - Martin Logan.... cls... something something? 5' tall, 3' wide. Driven by CJ preamps and solid state amps, like sex at the end of a speaker cable.
3 - InnerSound Eros ESL/Dynamic hybrids, except for the bass crossover stuff. Fabulous imaging and transient response, but the cause of a great deal of neck pain from having to hold your head so rigidly in one place.
4 - Magico S1/Mk II. Not perfect speakers at all, but what great dynamic range and extension for the size.
5 - The Focal mid-range Utopia's with the Tioxid tweeters.
6 - Stax / Lambda headphones
There are a lot of other speakers I've heard at shows, but usually they sound like absolute garbage due to the room acoustics and the vendors/dealers refusing to treat them properly. I've heard big Tannoys, but never heard them well for instance.
Best,
Erik
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Sorry, I assumed everyone knew I built my own speakers thanks to the generous help of other DIY members here.
Me too but not as good looking as yours.
My first build was a pair of boxes with 2 Fane 50WRMS drivers in each for a mobile disco. They sounded great and were very loud when needed.
I have mostly built sealed boxes although more recently I have ventured in to bass reflex and folded horn enclosures.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I bet you got great atmosphere pumping out of them! Where I live a speaker that size could house a family of 4.
Well, you'll need to spend hundreds of hours learning cabinet making like I did. I traveled to China to learn to make the bronze tools I'd need to create the iron molds with which to create chisel blanks.... <cough cough cough cough>
Honestly I cut no wood for them at all. I asked Lee Taylor over at Taylor Speakers to make them for me. All I did was drill pilot holes. Electronics was all me though.
Best,
Erik
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adason - wouldn't the answer be axiomatic - my recent build, which consisted of.... ( insert timely specifics here).
But seriously, if the interrogative was phrased as "for sonics alone, which would I want as my daily ride"?, then
- of DIY builds by others, it would probably have to be a home demoed system hobbled together by Gary Pimm while attending my last VSAC show in 2008. I'd imagine Gary has not stood still since then, and the total system -( he makes a pretty decent SS amp, BTW) has likely progressed in the past almost decade.
Of commercial products, where I find the confluence of visual aesthetics and emotional connection with the music more significant, probably the Sonus Faber Elipsa - but even that was at least several years ago, and of course, with commercial products state of the art bounds ahead relentlessly unencumbered by the laws of physics as we think we understand them, so today it might well be the latest Bose desktop or Wave radio system
But seriously, if the interrogative was phrased as "for sonics alone, which would I want as my daily ride"?, then
- of DIY builds by others, it would probably have to be a home demoed system hobbled together by Gary Pimm while attending my last VSAC show in 2008. I'd imagine Gary has not stood still since then, and the total system -( he makes a pretty decent SS amp, BTW) has likely progressed in the past almost decade.
Of commercial products, where I find the confluence of visual aesthetics and emotional connection with the music more significant, probably the Sonus Faber Elipsa - but even that was at least several years ago, and of course, with commercial products state of the art bounds ahead relentlessly unencumbered by the laws of physics as we think we understand them, so today it might well be the latest Bose desktop or Wave radio system
I have a pair with these innards. These too.
[Vendues] Focal JmLab Mini Utopia - Club Hifi
Selah Audio RC3R Review. . . .
Anything I heard better cost MANY thousands.
I use mine close field. They are my bigger headphones.
[Vendues] Focal JmLab Mini Utopia - Club Hifi
Selah Audio RC3R Review. . . .
Anything I heard better cost MANY thousands.
I use mine close field. They are my bigger headphones.
Of commercial products, where I find the confluence of visual aesthetics and emotional connection with the music more significant, probably the Sonus Faber Elipsa - but even that was at least several years ago, and of course, with commercial products state of the art bounds ahead relentlessly unencumbered by the laws of physics as we think we understand them, so today it might well be the latest Bose desktop or Wave radio system
I agree on the Sonus Faber. I love them, visually and listening to them. However, the quality of sound has sadly not progressed in terms of how good things sound in the middle and low end very much. It's mostly mass market stuff.
There are exceptions, of course. I'm just saying, it mostly sounds like the same boring thing to me and I haven't heard a real technological breakthrough since the ML electrostatics.
I'm also not saying that there isn't a Hi Fidelity end, where things sound much better than that. Just that I haven't heard that trickle down, nor have I heard it leap forward.
Commercial presentation I sort of liked were Goldmund system with Kaiser Kawero speakers and level 5 Audio Note with alnico AN /E- probably the best turnkey system available for affluent clientele.
If it comes to DIY then unquestionably horns, but I heard only a glimpses what's possible .
Vintage ? ElectroVoice Patrician IV -simply wonderful .
If it comes to DIY then unquestionably horns, but I heard only a glimpses what's possible .
Vintage ? ElectroVoice Patrician IV -simply wonderful .
I also like Sonus Faber's sound and looks by the way. Here's a line of speakers I didn't even know existed, the high-end Technics horns from the late 1970's.
There is a speaker worth checking the capacitors on!
This is the mid-sized version, by the way. The largest used 4 woofers and stood over 6' tall. Of course they could sound like runny dog poo, I have no idea. Maybe I would just put them in the living room to look at. The smallest one was about the size of a Bose 901 + the horns on the top. Quite svelte and stylish. Like us.
There is a speaker worth checking the capacitors on!
This is the mid-sized version, by the way. The largest used 4 woofers and stood over 6' tall. Of course they could sound like runny dog poo, I have no idea. Maybe I would just put them in the living room to look at. The smallest one was about the size of a Bose 901 + the horns on the top. Quite svelte and stylish. Like us.
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