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


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I was never impressed with their speakers, although I did own a pair of Helix 2's back in the day...

 

I am also not impressed. Good on paper, disappointing at the practical result.

I guess that they are relying too much on DSP. Usually the loudspeakers are set almost against the wall because they want to demo the DSP room adaption capabilities.

 

Even so, too much money for the result.

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TAD reference one never failed to impress me.

 

There was a magical moment also with a B&W Signature Diamond (and I am not such a fan of this brand). So I got a crush on these babies also because of their particular design (anyone has a used pair to part away?).

 

Recently the Raidho has been practicing my kind of sound.

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I still think best bang for the buck speaker and regardless of price one of the most engaging speaker of all time is the Magnepan. The 3.7i IMO is their best. It does so many things right.

 

I agree that Maggies are very good, Yes they do many things right. They are not quite as good, IMHO, as electrostatics, but the Maggie's ribbon tweeter might be the best transducer yet devised. Too bad nobody has been able to make a full-range version of such a ribbon and have it keep the tweeter's coherence, speed, and low distortion all the way to the bottom-most octave! BTW, have you heard the MG-20 in it's latest incarnation? It's the 3.7i with almost another octave tacked on the bottom and lots more dynamic range and is even less colored in the mids.

George

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I agree that Maggies are very good, Yes they do many things right. They are not quite as good, IMHO, as electrostatics, but the Maggie's ribbon tweeter might be the best transducer yet devised. Too bad nobody has been able to make a full-range version of such a ribbon and have it keep the tweeter's coherence, speed, and low distortion all the way to the bottom-most octave! BTW, have you heard the MG-20 in it's latest incarnation? It's the 3.7i with almost another octave tacked on the bottom and lots more dynamic range and is even less colored in the mids.

 

I haven't heard the 20. My friend in NY who sells Maggies loves the 20 but his favorite is the 3.7i. I have a pair of Lawrence Mandolins in my second home and "thinking" about selling them. They are not in a dedicated room and they do require loud SPL to get their best sound and I am always faced with "lower those things" so I am thinking maybe selling them and trying the 1.7, however, I may just have to face the fact that I "stuck" with my headphone rig out there.

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Generally speaking I don't think that speakers which require loud SPL are good speakers performance wise, and they're not good for your ears either.

 

R

"Science draws the wave, poetry fills it with water" Teixeira de Pascoaes

 

HQPlayer Desktop / Mac mini → Intona 7054 → RME ADI-2 DAC FS (DSD256)

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Generally speaking I don't think that speakers which require loud SPL are good speakers performance wise, and they're not good for your ears either.

 

R

 

I couldn't agree more!

 

I don't want to mention some of the big names that require loud SPL to get dynamics right as it always leads to arguments and justification. I with you though. The Mandolin is a very good speaker but wrong speaker for the application I have it in.

 

One of the reasons I love my Concert Grands is how right they sound at any level.

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KEF LS50 speakers & a Sunfire HRS12 subwoofer, where the (active) sub and power amp for the KEFs are fed the same full range line signal from two Y-connectors at the output of the preamp (RCA left & right channel). No crossover filter is used, only the phase (+90°) - and volume settings of the sub.

Correction. The phase setting of the sub should be ~ +45°. ;)

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I haven't heard the 20. My friend in NY who sells Maggies loves the 20 but his favorite is the 3.7i. I have a pair of Lawrence Mandolins in my second home and "thinking" about selling them. They are not in a dedicated room and they do require loud SPL to get their best sound and I am always faced with "lower those things" so I am thinking maybe selling them and trying the 1.7, however, I may just have to face the fact that I "stuck" with my headphone rig out there.

 

I must admit that I have not heard the latest 3.7s, but if they are better, overall, than the MG-20s, that's saying something - and they'd be a bargain, to boot! I've owned many Maggie's (including the huge, 8-panel Tympani III-C) and have reviewed many more, and even their flagship models have always been reasonably priced for what one gets. Performance -wise, both the MG-3.7i and the MG-20, are excellent, and each new iteration of the entire Maggie line just gets better and better. In my second system, I have a pair of MG-Point Sevens, and a pair of subwoofers from Dayton Audio (Parts Express). The combo is so good and so cheap (under US$2k) that It would be difficult to justify anything else based on price/performance (of course, the Krell KAV-300L with which I'm powering the Point Sevens (the subs are self powered with on-board, Class "D" amps) can't hurt either!).

George

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I must admit that I have not heard the latest 3.7s, but if they are better, overall, than the MG-20s, that's saying something - and they'd be a bargain, to boot! I've owned many Maggie's (including the huge, 8-panel Tympani III-C) and have reviewed many more, and even their flagship models have always been reasonably priced for what one gets. Performance -wise, both the MG-3.7i and the MG-20, are excellent, and each new iteration of the entire Maggie line just gets better and better. In my second system, I have a pair of MG-Point Sevens, and a pair of subwoofers from Dayton Audio (Parts Express). The combo is so good and so cheap (under US$2k) that It would be difficult to justify anything else based on price/performance (of course, the Krell KAV-300L with which I'm powering the Point Sevens (the subs are self powered with on-board, Class "D" amps) can't hurt either!).

 

They now give you "30 day free audition" of the 1.7. I think I am going to take them up on the offer in Montana.

 

Yes the Tympani were something else!!

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Mbl

 

[attach=config]29776[/attach]

 

Another speaker that does so many things incredibly well. My buddy who became an MBL dealer early on, with their very first speaker imported to the states, called to his store to listen. It was such a unique soundfield we were all in awe. Their earliest speakers had many issues and for 68K were overpriced particularly considering the issues they had, but they were and continue to absolutely unique in many ways. Those looking for a truly immersive experience can't do much better.

 

There really are so many good products out there, and given the many favorites people are listing and my opinion about them, it is apparent despite being incredibly happy with what I have, I could easily "live and tremendously enjoy what most people are listing without a second thought.

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If I could afford them, the ESL system from Sanders Sound Systems. They are actually not terribly expensive given you get speakers, amps and crossover w/ DSP for around $20k.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Computer Audiophile

 

Sanders speakers sound very good however, even though he holds the patents for curved, wide dispersion ESLs, he doesn't make his speakers that way. The result is head-in-vise directionality. I loved the sound of the pair, that I had, but the inability of more than one person to listen at a time, the fact that that "one" can't move their head one iota or all the highs will go away, made them impractical IMO.

George

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  • 1 month later...

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...)

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First of all the subject of this thread isn't my idea. I borrowed it from another forum :) But I love it!

 

I'm a big fan of audio and maybe even bigger fan of speakers which IMO are the most important component of any audio system. I know this statement is debatable for some but for me speakers plus speakers-room interaction (room acoustics, matching speakers' bass performance with the room size etc) taken together are responsible in 85% for any audio system's sound. BTW I'm not an extremist here, a well known in my country ex-audio journalist and audio gear distributor claims for him it's 95%..

 

This absolutely doesn't mean that I don't care about DAC's, amp's, cables', power conditioner's etc. quality - I do 'cause obviously they all influence sound quality.

 

Yet, for me these are loudspeakers which are the 'royal' component of any audio system!

 

What are the best sounding speakers you've ever heard.? What sound qualities made you love them so much? What were the other components of the system? And least but not last what music was played by them?

 

Let's have fun! ;)

 

Actually no one speaker meets my criteria for "best speaker". But here are some contenders:

 

Sound Labs (the big ones. Don't recall the model name)

 

ML Neoliths

 

Magnepan MG-20s

 

I like these speakers because of their almost perfect neutrality coupled with adequate bass.

George

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I thought that these would be my endgame speakers until Omega came out with a newer 99db "High Output" version of their Alnico floorstanders. I got a good deal on a pair and now have my current speakers for sale.

 

If you want to boost their performance a bit try rewiring them using some Duelund DCA16 hookup wire as speaker wire soldered directly to the driver terminals and bypassing the binding posts. You can run the wire out the rear port. PartsConnexion sells the wire.

 

Thanks for the tip off Mourip and there was I thinking my search was over ...:)

 

Love to hear your listening impressions when the new ones arrive.

 

I have been using them for several weeks and feel that they are an improvement over my Super 6 Alnicos. They have exceptional clarity and tonal fidelity. A very refined speaker that is capable of playing full orchestral pieces easily.

 

I worked with Louis Chochos of Omega regarding the crossover point. They came to me with the lower drivers crossed over at 500hz. When I suggested that this seemed like a very sensitive point due to being in the middle of the fundamental range of both the female and male voice as well as a lot of instruments he agreed. He had originally started with 200hz and based on my feedback has decided to change this model back to 200hz. He sent me two replacement inductors free of charge since I am handy with DIY and now I get the full clarity of the Alnico with plenty of dynamic range and low end punch.

 

The Omega Alnico's are great and Louis is exceptional to work with.


"Don't Believe Everything You Think"

System

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