Towers of Power: A Look at the Best Super Speakers

[gene]

There is no replacement for displacement” is an adage among automobile enthusiasts that holds up just as well in the audio world. Big sounds, in both amplitude and frequency wavelength, need big speakers to be properly reproduced. And for high-fidelity big sound, size alone will not do; a speaker will also need good design and high-quality components, which brings up the cost. And if you want it to fit in with your home decor, the speaker will need a reasonable footprint and nice finish, which also adds to the cost.

This article is a small roundup of some big speakers, and not inexpensive ones either, but a life-like sound demands life-size speakers.

Read: Towers of Power: A Look at the Best Super Speakers

Do you agree with our list? If not, tell us what speaker you think should have been there.

 

[rmk]

It is good to finally have an article written about some true full range loudspeakers. I grew up listening to my fathers large Klipsch Heresy's and have been chasing the memory of that sound ever since I got serious about audio and home theater 15 years ago.

I own three of the least expensive of these speakers as my LCR's (JTR 215RT's) and seriously considered and demoed another (M2's). I know I could happily live with any of these mega speakers and if WAF were a consideration, I might have chosen differently but for my use (hidden behind an AT FP screen), the massive JTR's are a perfect fit. Simply put, they give me the most dynamic and coherent audio experience I have had. I am running them virtually EQ free in my treated HT room and to my ear, they are equal to or beyond anything I have heard in terms of sound quality and quantity.

The automobile analogy used in the review is appropriate. It's like having a very fast, superb handling, high performance car. From incredible dialog clarity on talky movies to a full blown, rock out concert experience, it is all there at my disposal. This class of speaker is (IMHO) the only true cure for upgradeitis.

Here is what the 72" tall monsters would look like if they were visible (they aren't

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Nice. Gotta love giant towers with giant dynamics and power.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Lets not forget Salk's Soundscape series - priced about middle to higher end of this pack, they pack some serious specs for true fullrange speaker, SS12 for example is 19Hz - 20KHz (+/- 1.5db), plus their unique look and top notch (optional) finish materials.

 

[its phillip]

Lets not forget Salk's Soundscape series - priced about middle to higher end of this pack, they pack some serious specs for true fullrange speaker, SS12 for example is 19Hz - 20KHz (+/- 1.5db), plus their unique look and top notch (optional) finish materials.

The SS12 are very nice but their sensitivity is very low compared to the rest.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The SS12 are very nice but their sensitivity is very low compared to the rest.

Yeah I agree. The Salk SS12's sensitivity of 86dB/2.84V/m is extremely low compared to these "power towers" (93-99 dB/2.84V/m).

In terms of Dynamics, I'm not sure the SS12 is any more dynamic than Revel Salon2, B&W 800D, KEF 207/2, etc.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

The SS12 are very nice but their sensitivity is very low compared to the rest.

Power is cheap nowadays

 

[ski2xblack]

Power is cheap nowadays

Don't forget the other benefits reaped at normal domestic volumes that Gene mentioned in the article, "...not only can they stay clean at enormous loudness levels, they also remain extremely linear at moderate levels." Quite true. It also makes a bit more sense than flogging less capable drivers with enormous power in a rather futile attempt to replicate the same thing. Modulation distortion, compression, all that sets in about 10db higher levels with any of the speakers in the article than it would with the mentioned Salk speaker.

 

[Montucky]

Great article. I don't care what they popular opinion is these days (Bose cube speakers?! HA!); I will ALWAYS love hudge towers. Keeping my eye on the prize. Not gonna be totally happy until I finally nab a pair of the Status Acoustics 8T towers. You selling yours, Gene?

 

[3db]

Im bringing a list of Canadian tower monstersto this thread from manufacturers that Im suprised never get mentioned.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Great article. I don't care what they popular opinion is these days (Bose cube speakers?! HA!); I will ALWAYS love hudge towers. Keeping my eye on the prize. Not gonna be totally happy until I finally nab a pair of the Status Acoustics 8T towers. You selling yours, Gene?

The only thing I am afraid of with a lot of these power towers is the weight. Right now my SX-T2/R has a combined weight of about 150lbs each tower. But if I have to move them around, I can easily move each 75lb section, instead of one big 150lbs piece.

Some of these giant towers (not just the ones mentioned here) are 200-400lbs each.

I bet the new RBH SV-831/1212 will be 240lbs each tower combined (with each half being 120lbs). Even that scares me.

 

[gene]

Great article. I don't care what they popular opinion is these days (Bose cube speakers?! HA!); I will ALWAYS love hudge towers. Keeping my eye on the prize. Not gonna be totally happy until I finally nab a pair of the Status Acoustics 8T towers. You selling yours, Gene?

No I will probably take mine to the grave

 

[3db]

From Focus Audio

GENERAL
- Time Coherent
- Dispersion Coherent
- Frequency Response: 15 Hz to 23,000hz +/-2db
- Sensitivity: 90db
- Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms
- True Dynamic
- Tonal Accurate

TECHNOLOGY
- Engineered, designed, and manufactured by Hansen Audio
- Sound wave diffraction distortion elimination technology
- Acoustically inert

TERMINAL CONNECTIONS
- High current pole terminal
- Decreased transition resistance

WEIGHT - 780 lbs. (In Crate)

SIZE
- Height: 75 inches
- Width: 25 inches
- Depth: 31 inches

 

[its phillip]

For the price of those Hansen speakers you could buy a pair of every model listed in the article and have $140,000 left to buy them all over again (and after that you'd still have ~$40k left).

I dunno about the pricing of those Focus speakers

 

[3db]

For the price of those Hansen speakers you could buy a pair of every model listed in the article and have $140,000 left to buy them all over again (and after that you'd still have ~$40k left).

I dunno about the pricing of those Focus speakers

I hear you.. Hansen comes across as very uppity.. I sent them an email suggesting they publish some sort of frequency response and other specs for their speakers and I now see that they are doing this. However I got no response back from them one way or the other. They look like very capable true full range speakers.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

From Focus Audio

GENERAL
- Time Coherent
- Dispersion Coherent
- Frequency Response: 15 Hz to 23,000hz +/-2db
- Sensitivity: 90db
- Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms
- True Dynamic
- Tonal Accurate

TECHNOLOGY
- Engineered, designed, and manufactured by Hansen Audio
- Sound wave diffraction distortion elimination technology
- Acoustically inert

TERMINAL CONNECTIONS
- High current pole terminal
- Decreased transition resistance

WEIGHT - 780 lbs. (In Crate)

SIZE
- Height: 75 inches
- Width: 25 inches
- Depth: 31 inches

Sorry, man. Cut off sensitivity to qualify is 93dB/2.83V/m. 92dB doesn't qualify.

 

[lsiberian]

Power is cheap nowadays

If you gotta fill a really large room it starts to add up.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If you gotta fill a really large room it starts to add up.

Not only that, but can the 86dB/2.83v/m speaker handle all that power (to reach sound level) before thermally overheating and frying?

For example, a 86dB/2.83v/m speaker at 5 meters and 105dB would require about 2,000 W. Even if you had the amps for it, can the speaker handle that power?

A speaker @ 94dB/2.83v/m at 5 meters and 105dB would require about 300 W.

 

[shadyJ]

Also consider that half the speakers in the article are self-amplified, so no external amp needed. They have very generous amounts of power too. And while they are large, they are also manageable by one person (well, perhaps not the JTR speakers), whereas some other monsters like the Hanson speakers, you need some kind of forklift to move those things around.

 

[Eng-399]

I would love to open the jbl speaker cabinet and look at how the crossover was designed and the speaker. For 10k I wonder how the cabinet is built to and how much bracing is used to.