What Are the Best Sounding Speakers You've Ever Heard.?

[Ralf11]

Bose 901s

 

because 'best' means what you are used to. When they first came out, I innocently walked into a hifi place in Cambridge, Mass.that had them set up perfectly. I kept looking around to see where the orchestra was then realized what I was hearing. As a young yokel from trailer trash country, I had a very limited knowledge of the best sound reproduction possible at the time...

 

 

For overall best for the price, I have to go with Maggies also. Some factors I did not see mentioned:

- very large sweet spot - you can sit or stand anywhere too and they still sound pretty good

- go ahead and shove them against the wall - they still sound pretty good (just don't think about what you just lost)

- unlike even the best cones, the drivers do not store energy and re-radiate it at the wrong time

- unlike electrostatics, they are not hard to deal with or to live with

 

I think you will be hard put to do much better than the 20's (tho I am at the low 1.5QR end).

 

Now, I never heard those plasma hydrogen speakers, but I bet they were the ultimate in some aspects of SQ (and the ultimate in making sacrifices to get SQ too...)

[Ralf11]

nobody mentioned Bob Carver yet...

[Ralf11]

re: bad integration of the sub with the horns

 

I saw that and immediately thought of Magneplanar's admonition to not use cone based subs with their speakers. maybe we have an empirical generalization to not mix types of drivers...

[Ralf11]

I wonder if the Brits saved those gigantic listening horns they built for WWII?

[Ralf11]

I wonder if the Brits saved those gigantic listening horns they built for WWI?

 

aha...

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=gigantic+listening+horns+they+built+for+WWII&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZ9Jydrc_QAhUCzmMKHXrQAHgQ_AUICSgC&biw=1438&bih=768

[Ralf11]

The  best sounding speaker I ever heard was Allen Ginsburg.

 

John McPhee was not good at all; luckily his wife did most of the reading.  At the "after-party" he spoke very little but kept watching everyone with very bright eyes.  I figured everything we we saying would be material for another book.

[Ralf11]

Martin Logan is more accurate than SoundLab??