Go analog then. Buy a couple of 5 channel HT Rotels or Parasounds. My subs are not unlike his. In my room, I did not need an LT to get smooth base down to 20. The Peerless is a very very good base driver. If I had the time or money, I would rent his place for a week and just sit around listening to music. Sadly, I have neither.
Best in what way, Sound, Looks, Or multi person room filling?
I second you on the Quad ESL63 as one of the best sounding, speakers ever, and I have them as my main speakers, lucky duck that I am, I would also include the Quad ESL 57, which in my opinion sounds better in the mid range frequencies if you sit in exactly the right spot, but the 57 far less practical than the 63. The 57 is almost a giant floor standing headphone of audio perfection but is very very fussy. So the 63 wins in my opinion best sounding speaker.
I don't know the Sound Lab Majestic 945. So cant comment on that point.
I went to a HIFI show (Hifi Tag) in Hamburg in Jan or Feb this year and was shocked to hear how bad most speakers sounded above approximately 10Khz, most where not listenable , particularly the "esoteric companies". B&W's zeppelin beat most speakers at the show.
B&W's zeppelin wins best speaker with good looks and ease of placing, size and general coolness over most pairs of stereo speakers.
At this HiFi show apart from the awsome looking zeppelin only two speakers stood out, Genelec stand and the 8050A which sounded very good, but I suspect suffered and benefited from the DSP they where using. Ohms Ominidirectional speaker, was exceptionally good, and could present an exceptional stereo image. The Bass with both of these was better than the Quad ESL 63, and the stereo image of the Ohms Ominidirectional speaker was nearly as good as the Quad 63 (Very very good I guess Ohms must do a lot of quality assurance to get this from a moving coil design), and the Ohms Ominidirectional speaker has no sweet spot for stereo imaging, which in my opinion makes this speaker also a good candidate for best speaker.
Regards
Owen
I second you on the Quad ESL63 as one of the best sounding, speakers ever, and I have them as my main speakers, lucky duck that I am, I would also include the Quad ESL 57, which in my opinion sounds better in the mid range frequencies if you sit in exactly the right spot, but the 57 far less practical than the 63. The 57 is almost a giant floor standing headphone of audio perfection but is very very fussy. So the 63 wins in my opinion best sounding speaker.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I don't know the Sound Lab Majestic 945. So cant comment on that point.
I went to a HIFI show (Hifi Tag) in Hamburg in Jan or Feb this year and was shocked to hear how bad most speakers sounded above approximately 10Khz, most where not listenable , particularly the "esoteric companies". B&W's zeppelin beat most speakers at the show.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
B&W's zeppelin wins best speaker with good looks and ease of placing, size and general coolness over most pairs of stereo speakers.
At this HiFi show apart from the awsome looking zeppelin only two speakers stood out, Genelec stand and the 8050A which sounded very good, but I suspect suffered and benefited from the DSP they where using. Ohms Ominidirectional speaker, was exceptionally good, and could present an exceptional stereo image. The Bass with both of these was better than the Quad ESL 63, and the stereo image of the Ohms Ominidirectional speaker was nearly as good as the Quad 63 (Very very good I guess Ohms must do a lot of quality assurance to get this from a moving coil design), and the Ohms Ominidirectional speaker has no sweet spot for stereo imaging, which in my opinion makes this speaker also a good candidate for best speaker.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Regards
Owen
Best I've heard is Martin Logan Summits driven by Krell amps. 2nd best was PMC monitors, driven by Bryston amps.
Closest I've got so far with diy is by playing with horns - they beat the above speakers in some aspects, especially dynamics and realism in vocals.
Best Sub I've ever heard were the 2 labhorns I built and put in my system.
Closest I've got so far with diy is by playing with horns - they beat the above speakers in some aspects, especially dynamics and realism in vocals.
Best Sub I've ever heard were the 2 labhorns I built and put in my system.
Last edited:
The really big, really amazing 4-way system we demo'd in Paris years ago.
See top of the page in this link.
See top of the page in this link.
- Bass: Onken-W
- Low Mids: WE-15A with Westrex driver
- Upper Mids: Iwata horn with TAD driver
- Highs: JBL 2504
- Passive crossover.
Best??..........rolling into a stereo shop one-day.........thought someone had set-up an ensemble somewhere in the store.....it was a pair of INfinitys Don't recall the model right off....it was those Reference Standards, with the half dozen or so midrange EMITs running down the front of the baffle.
______________________________________________________Rick...........
______________________________________________________Rick...........
Source! Placement! Room Acoustics!
Heard supposedly great and tres-expensive$$$$$ (at least in my world) commercial speakers (IRS-Infinity Reference Standards) sound gawdawful because of sub-par source material, poor positioning, terrible room treatment and heard dimminutive on-the-cheap speakers (DIY modified Minimus 7s) sound more mahhvelouss than they should because the source material was exceptional, their placement was well thought out and room acoustics were accounted for.
Don't get me wrong...love the aesthetics and drool potential of many of the aforementioned speakers and I'm certain many of them sound amazing..but nothing beats DIY designs or retro-fits that defy expectation especially in bang for the buck....
Heard and saw a pair of IMF80 TL speakers in full-out new cabinets with re-engineered X/Os and NOS Kef, Coles drivers that beat the heck out of the original iteration (which happened to be there as reference point for us to compare)
When the wave of mini-monitors hit the NA market in the very late 70s and early 80s (Visonik, ADC, KLH and Realistic) many a consumer was smitten by the fact these diminutive little things punched way above their weight class and were convinced they were the best speakers they'd ever heard because of the surprise factor....
In the early 60s I heard my grandpa's Wharfedale SFB/3s and was smitten....51 years later I finally got my own pair and was smitten all over again..despite (or because of) the remarkable simplicity of their design and the well-executed engineering that went into both the drivers and the baffle they continue to be the best loudspeakers I've ever heard dollar for dollar, pound for pound...
Heard supposedly great and tres-expensive$$$$$ (at least in my world) commercial speakers (IRS-Infinity Reference Standards) sound gawdawful because of sub-par source material, poor positioning, terrible room treatment and heard dimminutive on-the-cheap speakers (DIY modified Minimus 7s) sound more mahhvelouss than they should because the source material was exceptional, their placement was well thought out and room acoustics were accounted for.
Don't get me wrong...love the aesthetics and drool potential of many of the aforementioned speakers and I'm certain many of them sound amazing..but nothing beats DIY designs or retro-fits that defy expectation especially in bang for the buck....
Heard and saw a pair of IMF80 TL speakers in full-out new cabinets with re-engineered X/Os and NOS Kef, Coles drivers that beat the heck out of the original iteration (which happened to be there as reference point for us to compare)
When the wave of mini-monitors hit the NA market in the very late 70s and early 80s (Visonik, ADC, KLH and Realistic) many a consumer was smitten by the fact these diminutive little things punched way above their weight class and were convinced they were the best speakers they'd ever heard because of the surprise factor....
In the early 60s I heard my grandpa's Wharfedale SFB/3s and was smitten....51 years later I finally got my own pair and was smitten all over again..despite (or because of) the remarkable simplicity of their design and the well-executed engineering that went into both the drivers and the baffle they continue to be the best loudspeakers I've ever heard dollar for dollar, pound for pound...
Attachments
I gotta get out more often! So this is how the Big Boys play!
We demo our stuff when all us hobos get together at VV, Goodwill and the Sally Ann to rig up something with duct-tape, zip chord, our Craig 6x9s, a Sankyo receiver and whatever K-Tel 8-track we can muster up.
Our 4-way never got any reviews cept in the "Monthly Penny-Pincher," never mind fancy french language reviews like yours...ooh la la!
Bass unit: anything "Fukken B' (Big)
Low/mid units: anything smaller than our Fukken Bs and larger than our upper mids.
Upper mids: 68 Datsun 510 4dr Sedan Horn with phenolic driver utilizing independent 12volt car battery energizer
Highs: Line array of Pyramid Piezos
Active crossover? I'll say! On the fly, finger wound inductors and ad-hoc cap coupling......mismatched values be dammed!
Bigger? More Powerful? Holy Hanna, Pano! I guess that 4-Way system you guys showed off in France is just closet sized in your neck of the woods
Ha! I've done plenty of Duct-Tape systems too. I'd love to hear your crazy-a** rig. Sounds like a lot of fun. I'm in in for the fun.
You know what they say: "I have yet to see any speaker system, however crazy, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more crazy.
By bigger and more powerful, I meant full blown P.A. systems with Multiple 18's, tons of power, etc. They sound louder than that Parisian system (of course), but never bigger or as vast. No real image at all. That has puzzled me for years.
I'd love to hear your crazy-a** rig. Sounds like a lot of fun. I'm in in for the fun.You know what they say: "I have yet to see any speaker system, however crazy, which, when you looked at it in the right way, did not become still more crazy.
By bigger and more powerful, I meant full blown P.A. systems with Multiple 18's, tons of power, etc. They sound louder than that Parisian system (of course), but never bigger or as vast. No real image at all. That has puzzled me for years.
Ahh !
Martin Logan Statement 1st series, with tons of Krell KRS Watts, pre-launch world tour.
Presence audio-conseil, rue Saint Louis en L'Ile, Saint Louis island in the Seine, Noël 1988.
(me there actually for the fancy Notre Dame celebration, laser show and all, sheer luck to walk by the audio store a day before the ML demo)
Me heard the Statement E2 about a dozen years later (Rhapsody, Hilversum)
Audited the Infinity IRS in Germany in the '80s.
Heard the Grande Utopia EM not so long ago.
But the '88 Statement show, pure James Bond, man !
The Linkwitz Orion 4
Has anyone actually built the Linkwitz Orion from the DIY plans?
In the UK I can get the drivers for about £1500 GBP and the crossover PCBs and the design plans for about £200 GBP.
I don't like Class D amps full-stop so the 10 channel amplifier will be an expensive Class A build.
Has anyone actually built the Linkwitz Orion from the DIY plans?
In the UK I can get the drivers for about £1500 GBP and the crossover PCBs and the design plans for about £200 GBP.
I don't like Class D amps full-stop so the 10 channel amplifier will be an expensive Class A build.
Build a Nao Note instead. All the benefits of active without the drawbacks of needing 8 channels to drive it. 4 good channels will do the job. It also has better polars in the upper mids/lower treble.
It's a good bit smaller investment than a pair of Orions... yet a smarter, less dated design.
It's a good bit smaller investment than a pair of Orions... yet a smarter, less dated design.
Yes and in addition to being cheaper and more modern IMHO they sound better too.
Well-measuring speakers will never sound poor. At worst they will sound like the source content. If you listen to source content that you don't enjoy "as it was intended" then I suppose your apprehension has merit.
Last edited:
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.