Which brand makes the best quality loudspeakers?

Who makes the best speakers

  • Aperion Audio

    Votes: 22 3.1%
  • Axiom Audio

    Votes: 18 2.6%
  • B&W

    Votes: 155 22.0%
  • Harman (JBL, Infinity, Revel)

    Votes: 156 22.2%
  • Klipsch

    Votes: 107 15.2%
  • Martin Logan

    Votes: 59 8.4%
  • Paradigm

    Votes: 80 11.4%
  • Polk

    Votes: 40 5.7%
  • PSB

    Votes: 24 3.4%
  • RBH Sound

    Votes: 42 6.0%

  • Total voters
    703
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Looks like they might be doing a high end copy of Axiom's current lineup (towers/center). M80 and VP180, just custom drivers and enclosures. I just can't stand dual tweeters, especially in a center channel. The 8" woofers used in the Brystons are based on the Axiom EP400 subwoofer driver. I would have liked to seen truncated tweeters to get them as close together as they can. I also think they should have used a MTTM WWW for the tower instead of TTMMWWW. I can't understand at the price they are going for they should have been able to find a high powered single tweeter, unless they don't care and want the wow factor.


Bryston subwoofer model is triple 8" drivers, 3 way monitor 8", 5.25" and tweeter, and of course the center is same as tower just all scrambled around.
Agreed and look at the section on tweeters in my article comparing an inexpensive Dayton Titanium tweeter with low power handling vs the top of the line expensive Scan Speak tweeter with high power handling and low Fs.

IMO, at this price point, SOTA drivers should be used all around not just the woofers and mids. Though waasaab claims the manufacturer told him the tweets in this speaker are not the stock drivers so we won't know till someone dissects and measures a pair.

Identifying Legitimately High Fidelity Loudspeakers: The Drivers — Reviews and News from Audioholics
 
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haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Spartan
Why would they put multiple mids and tweeters if it's not solely to increase the dynamic range, I can't see how this setup can be good for SQ at all, or am I wrong?

Dynaudio uses multiple tweeters too in the Confidence range but only one of them covers all of the passband, and it's in a way to control dispersion characteristics,and here it works...

but in the case of these speakers I'm utterly skeptical .-)
 
whasaaaab

whasaaaab

Junior Audioholic
Why would they put multiple mids and tweeters if it's not solely to increase the dynamic range, I can't see how this setup can be good for SQ at all, or am I wrong?

Dynaudio uses multiple tweeters too in the Confidence range but only one of them covers all of the passband, and it's in a way to control dispersion characteristics,and here it works...

but in the case of these speakers I'm utterly skeptical .-)
Trust me when i saw Bryston speakers i was like com eon stick to amps do what you do best. But then isat down and then a smile came on then a grin then a huge grin :D

I was very surprised as i mentioned earliar and they sounded better then some speakers i heard that cost thousands more. Also i said it could have been the room as well for the other speaker manufacturers.

These are now on my list
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
No Salk Sound? Given how popular their products seem to be, that's an obvious omission
I'm guessing there are 300+ Paradigm owners and 200+ B&W owners on Audioholics. :D

You think there are more than 50 Salk owners on Audioholics forum? :D

I'm betting there are more KEF owners than Salk. And KEF isn't listed either.

It's pretty much a race between B&W & Paradigm. :D
 
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Spartan
Because it's most B&W and Paradigm owners around here doesn't mean they make the best speakers.

If you talk about affordable speakers I would wouch strongly for "System Audio"

IMHO Any Audio Physic or Audiovector speaker easily betters comparable B&W speakers but that's only my personal opinion :p
 
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whasaaaab

whasaaaab

Junior Audioholic
Because it's most B&W and Paradigm owners around here doesn't mean they make the best speakers.

If you talk about affordable speakers I would wouch strongly for "System Audio"

IMHO Any Audio Physic or Audiovector speaker easily betters comparable B&W speakers but that's only my personal opinion :p
We also want the speakers to be good at home theatre as well not just music. The two speakers mention are just good for music. We all know hometheatre speakers are generally good for music and musical speakers are not as good for hometheatre.

B&W speakers agre awesome for music and hometheatre, there are many good speakers that are not mentioned above in the poll and me expeirencing some of them recently had my eyes open over the experience.

Highe end cost vs low end cost i heard it all at the show and some of the lower costing oes soudned way better than the ones costing tripples times as much. Also the show had more speakers geared to 2 channel audio then mix of HT and Music.

One speasker that I fell in love with was the user speaker which reminded of B&W 800 series but to me sounded much better. Usher dancer series ranging from $10K to 20K i heard 3 of them and they blew me away they were breath taking and gorgeous.

There is one article out ther about there berilyum tweeters they were using back on 2009, the dancer series that i mention use diamond tweeters. Other than that raving reviews about them. There were moe speakers that sounded good everytime i say i will post it i dont get the time to do it. I am at work now on break
 
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3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
We also want the speakers to be good at home theatre as well not just music. The two speakers mention are just good for music. We all know hometheatre speakers are generally good for music and musical speakers are not as good for hometheatre.
Lets just say good speakers are equally adept in music and HT. That's why I chose PSB as they had to fulfill both roles.
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
We all know hometheatre speakers are generally good for music
Not necessarily the case at all. Music has a lot of timbral and resolution demands that home theater may not. Since HT may have more dynamic range, there can be many factors thrown away in the process.

and musical speakers are not as good for hometheatre.
Again not necessarily the case at all.
 
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Spartan
It's wrong to say that speakers are good for music or they are good for HT
You have good speakers and you have bad speakers, all speakers do more or less imposed limitations that may be disclosed more or less by different types of material.

System Audio and Audiovector come from extremely skilled speaker designers that do have a clear path to how to get the best performance out of the products, especially I do have extremely regards for Ole Witthøft of System Audio that started making his own speakers in 1984 simply for the reason that he could not find good enough speakers on the market. All the products is based on the same recipe with small bass drivers where there is a constant fight to decrease the weight of the moving mass and a permanent research on how to improve the dynamics and airflow of drivers. Result being speakers that are extremely open, dynamic and alive and revealing, and they don't break the budgets.

I would not be surprised if these are the best price/$ speakers available out there :p

This is a masterpiece:
http://www.system-audio.com/_en-GB/products/floor standing speakers/SA explorer master/SA explorer master
 
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AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
but that's only my personal opinion :p
Exactly. Apparently over 230+ people (& counting) disagree with your personal opinion. :D

Everyone has a different opinion. And they are all as valid as yours and mine.

Here is the thing. We all know the room, placement, and setup of the speakers is crucial. Yet most of us audition speakers at stores that aren't optimal and we form our personal opinions.

I used to think the same of B&W. My 1st and 2nd impressions of them were both at the dealers. My 3rd impression changed because the dealer did a better job with the setup, placement, etc.

But more importantly is how great they sound in my own system.

Have you ever heard the 802D in your own system? I rest my case. :D
 
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Spartan
Exactly. Apparently over 230+ people (& counting) disagree with your personal opinion. :D

Everyone has a different opinion. And they are all as valid as yours and mine.

Here is the thing. We all know the room, placement, and setup of the speakers is crucial. Yet most of us audition speakers at stores that aren't optimal and we form our personal opinions.

I used to think the same of B&W. My 1st and 2nd impressions of them were both at the dealers. My 3rd impression changed because the dealer did a better job with the setup, placement, etc.

But more importantly is how great they sound in my own system.

Have you ever heard the 802D in your own system? I rest my case. :D
§ 1, I'm always right
§ 2, If I should occasionally be incorrect, refer to §1

I know how tricky placement is, I spent 3 months once just to find correct placement for my Duntech’s in one occation, and they ended up in a position I never imagined would be advantageous but in the end a position far from the front wall, close to sidewalls and with extreme angling provided spectacular end result. This would only work for one particular combination in this room and a particular seating arrangement.

The thing that a speaker brand sells well doesn't mean they make good speakers (no offense intended)
It means they make popular speakers which is not the same as high quality speakers

The Vienna Acoustic Mahler transforms from a mediocre speaker with the Electrocompaniet AW180 to sensational if you hook up Electrocompaniet Nemo poweramps, then you can question, do you have good speakers or amplifier?

No, I never auditioned B&W with my own gear, if I get a chance I will be happy to do so :p
Can I borrow your speakers for a while? :d

I never had a pleasure listening to any B&W speaker at any point in my life, that means that I may be more fuzzy than any of you 230+ B&W owners out there, or it can mean that I never heard them with any good amplifiers or in a good room setup.

Fact is that I don’t like 99% of the speakers that I auditioned, it’s only very very few products out there that I find to be accurate, I believe most speakers out there are not very transparent and linear and accurate

It’s also strange to me how B&W totally changed strategy to their design some years back, either they have been wrong for a long time or they are wrong now. They previously made the 800 series using extremely complex filters with a gazillion components, there were so much correction in there that electrons would have a hard way to find their way to the driver voicecoil, probably killing all chances for dynamics, unless you had a 2000W amplifier.... suddenly they totally changed going to simple first order filters, contradicting what they previously claimed were correct way to make filters, so when a producer suddenly change direction stating that mostly everything they did before is wrong, can you really trust them?

It would be interesting to bring my own electronics to the store and audition the speakers, once upon a time I brought my own speakers to the store for comparison too, probably some of the store owners since then starting to look away when I get there because it's too much job demoing for me :D

I agree with you mate, we should have an open mind :D
 
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AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I agree with you mate, we should have an open mind :D
Do you live in Norway?

I know I'm slow, but it just amazes me how I'm typing away in the North America and you are typing away in Europe, someone else in Africa, South America, Asia, and Australia. Anyone in Anarctica ? :D

Open minds all around the world. :D
 
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Spartan
Do you live in Norway?

I know I'm slow, but it just amazes me how I'm typing away in the North America and you are typing away in Europe, someone else in Africa, South America, Asia, and Australia. Anyone in Anarctica ? :D

Open minds all around the world. :D
Yes I live in Norway :-D

There is an Australian and Norwegian zone in Antarctica and there are also people stationed there, any B&W owners there... LOL :D
 
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Spartan
If you find secondhand Meadowlark speakers you'll be in for a treat :p
 
S

sailingsearge

Audioholic Intern
Klipsch for overall product line

Klipsch Thx Ultra 2 George Lucas used in his home theater, My RF83 system was amazing for music and surround, Klipsch horn play amazing music, and my new Klipsch Quintets are amazing! I've owned the Def Tech 600's, and I've hear the B&W M-1's, but for the price and quality, Klipsch were the best.
I believe Klipsch now owns Paradigm, so that settles that argument. All the Polk Audios I've owned fall apart. Martin and Logan speakers are excellent, but draw way too much energy for the speaker they are.
 
H

HTKamikazee

Audioholics Sheriff
I think most of the arguments here are biased in some way. Maybe because those brands are most on this forum have or maybe they are just fatal victims of something brilliant called marketing. If we are to take marketing as the main reason, then Bose should win any contest and they should be considered the best brand/speakers in the world. Which OF COURSE is the worst lie of all time!!!. I have non of them, but from what I've read, I would have to vote for RBH & Harman (Revel line). Just my 2 cents!!!.

Pd.
Gene, I sent you a message some days ago. Did you get it?. I'm Jose from Puerto Rico.
 
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hyghwayman

hyghwayman

Audioholic
Ascend Acoustics should be on that list. At the price points they hit, there are very few speakers that are engineered as well as them. They have proven quantifiable and subjective performance from 3rd parties. From a build quality perspective their crossovers are built to a MUCH higher standard than a lot of their competition. Overall build quality is excellent. As from a durability and quality control perspective you rarely hear of any issues with their products.
Not on the list but change the above mentioned speakers to the Pioneer FS-51's designed by Andrew Jones and the rest of what MinusTheBear said.

SP-FS51-LR Floor Standing Speaker
 
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