Which brand makes the best quality loudspeakers?

[Lars Jackson]

Afraid it's impossible to say! All is hove a good frequency filter you use. Heard expensive three-ways that the sound is not so good, if you say. I prefer a two-way where you can use a serial filter in an easy way. The best I've heard was from my former boss Bo Hansson. The speaker is called Leira. The last ones were called Leira2 and the company Rauna.

Do you know what the boxes are made of?

 

[Jamie Smith]

Klipsch all the way. Few reasons are they are loud and in your face when you want them to be, they sounds super good when wanted a softer, crisp, detail sound, unreal for movies at a loud volume or low. So you get the best of both worlds with klipsch and other speakers are hard to compete with that.

 

[lovinthehd]

Do you know what the boxes are made of?

I do now. Interesting, wonder if that is a diy possibility now....

 

[KenM10759]

Klipsch all the way. Few reasons are they are loud and in your face when you want them to be, they sounds super good when wanted a softer, crisp, detail sound, unreal for movies at a loud volume or low. So you get the best of both worlds with klipsch and other speakers are hard to compete with that.

Fine for movies but a lot of us use their systems more for music and don't care for the "in your face" sound of Klipsch horn tweeters.

I'm sure it's been said here many times but I'll reiterate. There is no one best quality speaker brand for everyone or even a large group of people. We all have different ears, rooms, budgets and goals. We all have different levels and criteria for how we judge quality. This is why I didn't select any brand listed in the poll.

 

[Jamie Smith]

That is true. I am just going on what I've heard and I would put my RF800s against any other speakers. It also got alot to do with the amp you are running them off of. I've heard $14,000 2 channel systems and I still think mind sounds better. It's a better over all low, mid and high sound. Again this is my ears Hahahaha.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Fine for movies but a lot of us use their systems more for music and don't care for the "in your face" sound of Klipsch horn tweeters.

I have a set of RF62IIs, and the problem isn't the horn tweeter. It sounds fine. The problem is that Klipsch designs their speakers with a classic "saddle" response curve, that sounds more exciting but isn't accurate. For HT use, and I use them in an HT-only system, they actually sound pretty damned good. For music, I'm an accuracy fanatic, and the RF62IIs would never cut it.

 

[KenM10759]

Klipsch did do a better job with the tweeters in the RFxx-II series, for sure.

 

[MarkSLR]

I went to a very nice audio store, listened to KEF Blades and B&W 802 Diamonds and Magico M5's. Magico was the best of the bunch by far. The Diamonds were second. Never heard an enclosed speaker that sounded like that it was eye popping amazing!

 

[KenM10759]

So did you buy them? I would hope they sound extraordinary. They are 3x the price of the KEF Blade.

 

[BarthrenK]

My Watkins Generation 4 are the best speakers I have ever owned.
The quality is unlike any I have heard before. Wish they were in the poll! Listening to music and my huge classical vinyl collection is how I unwind after work. www.watkinsaudio.com

 

[rojo]

My Watkins Generation 4 are the best speakers I have ever owned.
The quality is unlike any I have heard before. Wish they were in the poll! Listening to music and my huge classical vinyl collection is how I unwind after work. www.watkinsaudio.com

Kingsport, huh? I live like 20 minutes from their store. Who knew there was an ID speaker company so nearby? I've got some unfavorable preconceptions about their dubiously simple 1st order crossover (Dennis Murphy addresses this in an essay hosted on salksound.com) and likely tuning below the Fs of the woofer (marketed as "extended bass tuned mode", reinforced by the speaker's impedance graph), but I would still be curious to hear them if I get a chance. What did you pay for your Watkins speakers, if you don't mind to share?

 

[BarthrenK]

The sound sold me in the first listening session.

 

[KenM10759]

The sound sold me in the first listening session.

Not a good frame of reference in that, sorry. It would be easy to say that if all you'd been hearing to that point was a HTIB or plastic computer speakers on the desktop. Quite another if your mains at the time were a pair of Wilson Alexx.

 

[choombak]

Ascend Acoustics CMT-340 SE sounded the best (fantastic 3D soundstage, better imaging, very good instrument separation, and crisp highs) as compared to SVS Prime bookshelf and Klipsch RP-150M.

 

[musichal]

I love Klipsch speakers, and have Khorns and Fortes, but the question posed is seriously flawed. I also love many of the other brands on the list, having owned several. They all have strengths and weaknesses. The question really is this: "From the highly restricted list of speaker brands below, which is your favorite?"

Thing is, I don't listen to a brand, never once heard one; I listen to a speaker. Some will reply 'house sound' but that isn't a speaker either.

 

[KenM10759]

I don't think the question is seriously flawed. It was posed to incite debate, and has done so admirably.

I appreciate the way you put it, listening to speakers rather than brands. I'm getting to point with my system that I no longer even wish to listen to speakers. I want to listen to music.

 

[pretzel logic]

I would think a vast majority of us have only heard a sliver of the available loudspeakers that are available today. I have heard most but not all of the poll speakers and several that are not on the list. Also, value needs to be considered. I've heard some 6k speakers that sound better than 12k speakers. I would have to say the speakers I currently own, Aerial Acoustics 7T's have a very high build quality and sound fantastic so they would get my vote. The best speakers I ever heard (and I've heard 100's) are no longer made. Martin Logan Statement e2. They were also way out of my price range, somewhere in the 6 figure range.

 

[musichal]

I don't think the question is seriously flawed. It was posed to incite debate, and has done so admirably.

I appreciate the way you put it, listening to speakers rather than brands. I'm getting to point with my system that I no longer even wish to listen to speakers. I want to listen to music.

Good point. I think you meant 'elicit' but that's just quibbling. Not lookin' for an "Audiofight."

However, in all fairness, the OP asked about speakers. Yes, I listen to music, and I love to discuss that subject even more than gear.

 

[Quilope]

My vote is for Ascend Acoustics, here. They have set the bar rather high at their price-point, from what I've seen.

 

[Good4it]

Just got 2 Revel M22s and like them a lot.

Great sound stage.