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

[asdf1000]

ATC SCM100 ASL (active) 

 

 

[semente]

18 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

Interesting what happens here - it starts with something like live dynamics, but then someone apparently switches something, and it collapses into PA sludge - I tend not to like the "tiny sound" of the latter, 🤪.

Horns are very directional, the tinny sound is probably happening on axis. Awful stuff, but apparently exciting and lively and loud is enough for some headbangers

 

[frederick184]

Original Quad ESL 57's.  I have a pair.  They play loud enough for me in my room and the bass is adequate.  They're not for everyone, I know, but the midrange is fantastic.

 

Colin

[MetalNuts]

The "best" sounding speakers I have owned are:

1. Focal 1008Be

2. Magico S1 MK2

3. Audio Physic Midex.

 

The "best" sounding speakers I have not owned is Crystal Cable Arabesque Glass Speakers.

 

However, I believe my best speakers are yet to be discovered.

[bobbmd]

@Ralf11 your long ago post #180– is that why they called it “all quiet on the western front”??

[bobbmd]

My best sounding speakers are the new ones my CFO allowed me to buy with my ‘last rodeo’/system a pair of Legacy Audio Studio HD monitors— the only other ones I have ever had were Cambridge Soundworks(Henry kloss’s old company) newton tower 500’s model 6s and bi/tri directional s-300 satellites in a quasi 7.1 system

[gmgraves]

On 1/1/2020 at 7:45 AM, semente said:

Horns are very directional, the tinny sound is probably happening on axis. Awful stuff, but apparently exciting and lively and loud is enough for some headbangers

 

The big three-way AvantGarde horns actually sound very good and don’t seem to beam like many horns do. The worst horns I’ve heard are the original Klipshorns, and the Altec-Lansing A7 “Voice-of-the-theater” speakers (which I briefly owned as a teen*. I ended up “donating” them to my high school for the auditorium). They were simply awful. They used the notorious Altec 500 Hz treble horn for the kids and highs. This exponential horn was made from cast aluminum, and if you thumped it with your finger it rang like the bells of St. Mary’s. I’m sure that you can imagine what that did to any musical material that came even close to that horn’s resonant frequency!

 

*These speakers were given to me as the local movie theater was being renovated into a retail space, and they were going to throw the speakers away.

[AudioDoctor]

On 10/12/2016 at 2:43 PM, AudioDoctor said:

The Zu Druid Mk 5s I have now...

 

SO this is what I said in 2016. Has that changed?  Yep, the Sonus Faber Olympica 3 speakers are the new best.

 

I don't hear a lot of speakers.

[Temporal_Dissident]

Probably a pair of B&W 801's powered by a Gryphon class-A amp. 

[AudioDoctor]

5 minutes ago, Temporal_Dissident said:

Probably a pair of B&W 801's powered by a Gryphon class-A amp. 

 

I have heard those driven by a high end VTL set up and they were pretty amazing.

[firedog]

Based on memory (which may not be accurate)

those Infinity IRS towers from decades ago. 

Haven't heard any uber speakers recently, just some very good ones. 

[sphinxsix]

1 hour ago, firedog said:

Infinity IRS

 

Frankly, I think that in case of speakers that tall one should either have a really high ceiling or take care of its reflective qualities..

 

[GregWormald]

SGR Audio MT 3.3—after I set them up in my living room and burned them in.

Active, basically flat from 30Hz-22,000Hz, useable down to 20Hz, 900 watts/channel, 130 kg/channel.

[davide256]

The best speaker I’ve heard in a small room were TAD ME 1’s. 

[Doktor Avalanche]

Best sounding I have owned are my current JBL 4367s. Best I have heard is maybe the big Line Magnetic horns driven by all Line Magnetic monoblocks - didn’t care for them as much the first time I visited the shop but back 3 months or so later and they were great.