What's the best pair of speakers you've ever heard?

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#242
I will drink to that .

It seems likely a speaker will be open baffle if the very best . If a sub woofer is used it comes in low and will be a pair . Celestion had a great design .

As said before I use SMGa's . They never say to me why bother listening to this . We always joked that the true Audiophile has six records as they are the only ones good enough for the system . Usually obscure jazz . Jimmy Hugues said something I agree with . When you truly improve a hi fi system you no longer get up to take the record off when the track you don't so much like is playing . When truly working well you leave it on as if a radio . Great speakers allow that .

My friend Ijaz had Quad ESL 63 and Marantz model 9 amplifier . The covers were removed . In most ways they are the best I every heard . I have not especially liked the 63's in the past . Strangely a very cheap Yamaha amp was very OK with them ( 2 x 80 watts ) in another system . The 63's were a gift to a friend who had very little money to spend . We never found a CD to match . A Rega P3 being fine as a prime source . All done on a $1000 budget . It was a rather nice system which possibly was better than the Quad 405 attempting the same . The Rega wasn't good enough . It was good enough to enjoy and that is all that matters .

One very good friend who mostly listened to heavy classics admitted to using Doris Day records as a critical test . He was a very proud man so sharing this was not easy for him . One day he let me join in to listen . I totally understood why he did that . Not unlike the opera he loved in what it required . Dusty Springfield is a difficult test . The production that seems so alive on radio seldom sounds real on hi fi . Very processed is my guess . Doris Day easier than Dusty .
 
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#243
Max Headroom said:
Genesis 1.1 for sheer sense of power.
Duntech Sovereign for sense of power and uber depth imaging.

Anything physically smaller can never be in the same league.

Dan.
Click to expand...

I have heard both , extensively , the Duntech, is not in the same league, aside, i do agree with you about size ...

nigel pearson said:
A friend went to buy some Genesis speakers . The dealer said they had gone out of business . My friend bought the company . This a is a true story . The friendship an incidental . Gary certainly agrees with you as he put his money where his mouth is . I have no idea how old and new compare . Gary and I love maths so sometimes write to each other . We started by discussing filter curves and saying none truly represent music .

Here is a big cat to set amongst the pigeons . Saying the best speaker is impossible . The reason is ,it is a complete system that you are hearing . The speakers are just the widow to what's inside . I will exclude the room as that's too obvious . The Klipsch La Scala is amongst the worst and best speakers I ever heard . Same speaker in different situations . When I say worst I truly mean that . A speaker that often favours amplifiers that no one is buying . It took a very brave buyer and store owner to get a sale . They are sublime when right . They probably are wrong on a Health and Safety basis .
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You're friends with Gary..? Great guy, he has improved the line since Nudell , i have a few Nudell stories , one day .. 🙂
 
#247
I worked with your beloved acoustats in the early- mid 80's , the factory was close by. I remember hearing the floor to ceiling model for the first time .🙂

IMO Acoustats back then made the best ESL SPEAKERS , so i'm not supprised they have a following today. Personally i prefer the sound of magnetics, my preference of course ..


Ciao
 
#249
Had a chance to listen to some new IRS Betas back in the 90s, in a local store's basement located, treated sound room.
At the time they had about 30 - 40K$ worth of hardware connected to them.
They gave me free run and I spent over 4 hours down there, it was the most amazing setup I have ever heard.
 

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#253
Hi Mr Acoustat,

So bad than a coustat are difficult to find on second hand in my country, it seems to be a very solid speaker which doesn't break with time and a good bargain for the price!

Why some prefer ESL like 2905 and others really prefer managneplanar like J Atkins with the Maggies 3.7... I can't really understand why 2 grups exists with those family planars... personal flavor Taste ? one more difficult to drive ? Do the ESL just better in the mid while maggies have fantastic trebles with their rubban tweeter and solid clear bass ?

Is there a good multi cellular ESL which everybody agree for a better quality ?
 
#256
Would have loved to have heard the IRS MkVs myself, unfortunately none where brought in locally for demo, just not a large enough market to warrant it.
Same goes for the other high end offerings, if you didn't live in a big city you had to travel to see them.
 
#257
In the couple of years I spent saturdays at the best hifi shop in my old hometown I've heard plenty of brand name speakers including Proac, Sonus Faber, Wilson, Duntech, Martin Logan. The most expensive one was the Wilson Alexandria and I found it rather emotionless. I eventually ended up with the Duntech Princess which was the best commercial speaker I've heard in all that time (although the Martin Logan CLS was very smooth).
The best of all speakers has to be my own creation. Nothing else has matched the holographic soundstage that these open baffle towers create (depending on recording of course).
 
#260
jamestrexx:
you link does not work
you made me curious
but i can't see you open baffle speaker


JamesTRexx said:
In the couple of years I spent saturdays at the best hifi shop in my old hometown I've heard plenty of brand name speakers including Proac, Sonus Faber, Wilson, Duntech, Martin Logan. The most expensive one was the Wilson Alexandria and I found it rather emotionless. I eventually ended up with the Duntech Princess which was the best commercial speaker I've heard in all that time (although the Martin Logan CLS was very smooth).
The best of all speakers has to be my own creation. Nothing else has matched the holographic soundstage that these open baffle towers create (depending on recording of course).
Click to expand...
 
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