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What are the best speakers you have ever heard? - Page 2

post #31 of 70
2/18/08 at 2:02pm
A decade ago, I was shocked to find out how great the cheap/little NHT Super Zero. Nowadays, a lot of cheap and good speakers.
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post #32 of 70
2/18/08 at 4:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cschang View Post

TAD Reference One


http://blog.stereophile.com/ces2007/011407tad/

Oh man...those are cool. You actually got to hear them? Time for a mini-review!!!
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post #33 of 70
2/18/08 at 4:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuance View Post

Oh man...those are cool. You actually got to hear them? Time for a mini-review!!!

I heard them at CES 2007(with Randybes). At CES 2005 I heard the TAD Model-1...its predecessor.

Apparently at CES 2008, they had a bookshelf version of the Reference One. I hope I get a chance to hear it one of these days.
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post #34 of 70
2/18/08 at 5:43pm
Dunlavy SC-IVs w/ McIntosh power. They were improperly placed in a poor room because their steward, my best friend, valued looks over sound.
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post #35 of 70
2/24/08 at 9:19pm
focal utopias, power with a krell amplifier......pure bliss
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post #36 of 70
2/24/08 at 9:22pm
Hales Transcendence 8 powered by Krell amp and an Audio Research front end. I heard these back in the mid 1990s or so and it still sticks in my mind.
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post #37 of 70
2/25/08 at 9:17am
I haven't auditioned much truly high end speakers, as it is a very limited market here, but did hear Focal FUtopia BE and was amazed by them. From the real world, I would say Monitor Audio GS20's are the best I have heard.
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post #38 of 70
2/25/08 at 9:48am
Rather than ask what the best speakers are that I've heard, I would ask what was the best system. The room makes a huge difference.

At CES, decades ago, I heard cymbals coming out of Dr. Hill's Plasmatronics and they sounded absolutely real. (I hear real cymbals everyday, and I know what they should sound like.) I've also heard many Audio Research demos that were spectacular, with high-end Infinity speakers. Other "best" systems include a stunning combination of AR electronics and Acoustat Model Twos. None of these systems would play very loud, but within their limitations, they were excellent.
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post #39 of 70
2/25/08 at 9:59am
The ones that I remember making the biggest impression on me were the Ohm A's, demoed at CES many years ago when the were first introduced. Amazing sound stage and full range response in a radically new (at the time) design. For an in-home system, I had a buddy using Quad ESL63's, stacked 3 per channel, along with a huge DIY sub, that was also pretty impressive.
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post #40 of 70
2/25/08 at 10:47am
Legacy Audio Whispers
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post #41 of 70
2/25/08 at 11:32am
Quad electrostatic speakers!

Mike
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post #42 of 70
2/25/08 at 1:38pm
Mike Lavigne's room and system.

And Dynaudio Evidence Masters. I have never heard a speaker before or since create a full-sized drum set like that, I swear to god the kick drum was in the room.
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post #43 of 70
2/25/08 at 2:46pm
Revel Salons driven by ML gear in NYC when I lived there. With the introduction of the Salon2's - I've been watching the prices of the 1's come down to where I may seriously consider a pair. I'm just not sure there's a signifigantly better speaker at any price, but I certainly haven't heard everything.....
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post #44 of 70
2/25/08 at 2:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Scarpelli View Post

Rather than ask what the best speakers are that I've heard, I would ask what was the best system. The room makes a huge difference.

I've also heard many Audio Research demos that were spectacular, with high-end Infinity speakers.


I worked at Audio Research for a short time. My favorites were the Wilson Watts/Puppies with an AR integrated amp, and of course the golden ear room, where the Infinity Reference Standards were driven by a pair of 300 W reference monoblocks, an SP whatever preamp, and CD-2 cd player. Pure magic.
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post #45 of 70
2/25/08 at 3:23pm
Sonus Faber Stradivari but the $$$ doesn't meet the WAF.

http://www.sumikoaudio.net/sonus/prod_stradivari.htm
LL
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post #46 of 70
2/25/08 at 4:11pm
Vandersteen 5a's
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post #47 of 70
2/25/08 at 6:33pm
For me it has to be B&W Nautilus that I heard at member anthony moody's place in new york almost 6 years ago. I also loved the ML statements heard at a showroom in phoenix almost 5 years ago.
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post #48 of 70
2/25/08 at 7:08pm
When I heard the AR-LST in 1972 I thought that they were the best speakers that I ever heard. Hell, I was a kid easily impressed.

Until I listened to a pair of Ohm F's in 1974. The power required was equally impressive.

Until I heard a pair of Infinity floorstanding monsters with that silver ice cream cone shaped tweeter, 12" woofers, the works, that was around 1975.
Weather Report sounded awesome on them.

Until I heard a pair of Dahlquist DQ-10's...........WOW, 1982?

Until I heard a pair of Celestion SL-6000's in 1992.

Until I was mesmerized by a pair of B&W 801's.......damned expensive. I stopped frequenting stereo shops and moved onto other pursuits.
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post #49 of 70
2/25/08 at 8:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sterankoman View Post

When I heard the AR-LST in 1972 I thought that they were the best speakers that I ever heard. Hell, I was a kid easily impressed.

Until I listened to a pair of Ohm F's in 1974. The power required was equally impressive.

Until I heard a pair of Infinity floorstanding monsters with that silver ice cream cone shaped tweeter, 12" woofers, the works, that was around 1975.
Weather Report sounded awesome on them.

Until I heard a pair of Dahlquist DQ-10's...........WOW, 1982?

Until I heard a pair of Celestion SL-6000's in 1992.

Until I was mesmerized by a pair of B&W 801's.......damned expensive. I stopped frequenting stereo shops and moved onto other pursuits.

Ohm and Infinity owned the 70s
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post #50 of 70
2/25/08 at 11:48pm
Monitor Audio PL300.
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post #51 of 70
2/26/08 at 5:26am
The more time I spend listening to my new Cambridge Audio S30s, the more I think that they might be the best I have heard. They are unquestionably the best minimonitors I have heard as well as the best speakers up to 10X the price and/or 8X the size. For the size and price, they are nothing short of miraculous.
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post #52 of 70
2/26/08 at 6:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PULLIAMM View Post

The more time I spend listening to my new Cambridge Audio S30s, the more I think that they might be the best I have heard. They are unquestionably the best minimonitors I have heard as well as the best speakers up to 10X the price and/or 8X the size. For the size and price, they are nothing short of miraculous.

CA are known for their great sound at budget prices. I hope they will add more models to their speaker line up in the near future.
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post #53 of 70
2/26/08 at 7:11am
The most $$ system I've heard was the reference system at Sound by Singer in NYC. The speakers were JM Labs Grand Utopia's.

Honestly they didn't blow me away... might have been the recording lacking though.

The 70mm print of 2001 a Space Odyssey I saw at the Orpheum Picture Palace in Sydney Australia takes the cake for best sound... but I don't know what the speakers were.

http://www.orpheum.com.au/tour-orpheum.htm
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post #54 of 70
2/26/08 at 9:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lwien View Post

Long, long time ago, I heard an Andre Segovia recording on vinyl through Infinity Servo-Static 1a's with 10 Decca Ribbon Tweeters mounted on top.

You could hear the pick sliding off the strings. You could hear him breathing. You could almost hear the strings being compressed before he struck them. Almost brought tears to my eyes. Have not heard anything like that since.


If you heard the pick sliding off the string, you heard something that was not there. Segovia finger picked.
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post #55 of 70
2/26/08 at 9:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex solomon View Post

CA are known for their great sound at budget prices. I hope they will add more models to their speaker line up in the near future.

No doubt they will add more models if the S30s are profitable. It is hard to imagine how they could improve on them, though (other than by making a model suited to much larger rooms.)
Get past the bias induced by their size and price, and the S30s are simply stunning. Counterintuitively, bass and dynamics are among their great strengths.
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post #56 of 70
2/26/08 at 9:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PULLIAMM View Post

The more time I spend listening to my new Cambridge Audio S30s, the more I think that they might be the best I have heard. They are unquestionably the best minimonitors I have heard as well as the best speakers up to 10X the price and/or 8X the size. For the size and price, they are nothing short of miraculous.

I thought B&W 705's were or was it Mirage or Def Tech I am confused?
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post #57 of 70
2/26/08 at 9:59am
Klipsch Synergy
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post #58 of 70
2/26/08 at 10:09am
OBVIOUSLY none of you have ever heard Kirsch Super Edition Gold Speakers fed by Macintosh 5001 amps and a super hi-end mbi pre-amp
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post #59 of 70
2/26/08 at 10:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by longfellowfan View Post

I thought B&W 705's were or was it Mirage or Def Tech I am confused?

You are mixing up the best I have heard with the best I have owned. Until the S30s, those were different.
(Edit: I forgot to add that I bought the S30s as a fun alternative, a change of pace from my Omni 350s. I expected the Mirages to remain my long-term favorites, and was totally shocked to discover how insanely great the S30s sound. At the very least, I thought they would be bass-shy, which is most emphatically not the case.)
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post #60 of 70
2/26/08 at 12:26pm
WE field coil 1" throat treble compression driver and horn over WE field coil 2" throat midrange compression driver and Altec 511 horn over semihorn-loaded Altec 515 reflex bass system. Triamplified with six 1w WE SE triodes through WE iron. Crossovers in the 600 ohm balanced lines.

Transcendent. Speechless. Biggest, most focused image I've ever heard. And that on analog sources.

Tom Brennan, where are you, man?
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