Top 10 Most Influential Speakers of the last 50 years!

[William Sommerwerck]

I do not see the Bose 901 as being in any way influential, as the basic design is wrong in almost every aspect, technically and aesthetically. (Whether Amar Bose knew this, and manufactured them anyway, will never be known. But the technical literature Bose published contained gross distortions, if not outright lies.) The speaker that preceded it -- the 2201 -- did have some justification, and ought to be reconsidered, using current DSP technology.

Similarly, the Klipschorn has had zero influence. Yes, there are modern horn-loaded speakers, but they're of much-higher quality. Paul Klipsch apparently thought any horn-loaded driver was inherently superior to any direct radiator, the result being some of the worst speakers I've ever heard.

The obvious omission -- as others have noted -- is the QUAD ESL-57, the first practical full-range ESL. Several companies make "pure" and "hybrid" electrostatics, most-notably MartinLogan. And some people still feel that nothing beats the ESL-57 for naturalness and lack of coloration -- at least in the midrange.

 

[Winkleswizard]

Have never heard them personally, but from observation on the prevalence of AMT drivers today, I have to say ESSLabs AMT 1s should be on the list.

The other that comes to mind is the Design Acoustics DA-10. Not sure they were the first or most popular, but they were my first subwoofer/satellite system. In any case, suggest credit is due to whoever popularized the subwoofer! This may have been Bose, but AM-5s are late 80s and I had already given up my DAs by then...

Ww

 

[William Sommerwerck]

The brain is not working. I completely forgot the Dahlquist DQ-10. As far as I know, it was the first speaker that paid attention to time alignment -- getting the sound from all the drivers to arrive at the ear at the same time. (The original version wasn't ideal, as there were no left and right models. This was corrected later.) It also reduces amplitude and dispersion aberrations in the crossover region.

Almost all modern speakers pay at least some attention to time alignment.

 

[Winkleswizard]

Have never heard them personally, but from observation on the prevalence of AMT drivers today, I have to say ESSLabs AMT 1s should be on the list.

The other that comes to mind is the Design Acoustics DA-10. Not sure they were the first or most popular, but they were my first subwoofer/satellite system. In any case, suggest credit is due to whoever popularized the subwoofer! This may have been Bose, but AM-5s are late 80s and I had already given up my DAs by then...

Ww

According to wikipedia, the real credit for the subwoofer appears to go to Infinity or M&K...

Ww

 

[RichB]

According to wikipedia, the real credit for the subwoofer appears to go to Infinity or M&K...

Ww

I just updated it. Apparently, I invented the subwoofer

- Rich

 

[tonyE]

How about the BBC's LS3/5?

It has begat a lot of great speakers. Currently I own two pairs of Acoustic Energy AE1s. Awesome little speakers. Pricey if bought new but reasonable if used.

I've been looking into AE-2s recently.

I just don't have room for more speakers... but, but...

BTW, my main stereo speakers are Maggie 1.7s. I gave my 12s to my son who loves them. If you have room, and clean power, it's hard to beat them. They don't play loud, but they have bass at low level, which is amazing. You can hear the entire bandwidth without playing them at ear splitting levels.

And they are a pain because they are so beamy, yet they fill the room so well that you can be next door and the sound comes through very natural. You just can't do that with "normal" speakers.

That's what, IMHO, is the main fallacy of "normal" speakers, you have to play them loud to hear the bass and load the room properly.. unless you spend $20K or so and get something with huge woofers and/or lots of small drivers.

Planars are hard to live with on a day to day basis because they look like the obelisk from 2001, but once you turn them on all your doubts are gone.

 

[Blue_439]

I have read this interesting article and I am proud to see that my speakers are on the list of the most influential ones of the last 50 years... Well, almost: the list mentions the JBL L100 Century, which are a consumer evolution of the 4310 Studio Monitors, and my speakers are the 4411 Control Monitors.

I bought them in the mid–1980s, had them completely overhauled (with new boomers [original model] put in) around 2010, and they work beautifully to this day.

I just finished listening to a tape I made on my Revox B77 MK II from various sources, analog and digital, and boy do I love how those speakers sound... Be it Norah Jones, Harry Belafonte, Pink Floyd or Bozzio Levin Stevens... or Rostropovitch’s cello...

 

[DigitalDawn]

Today, Audioholics goes over its top picks for the ten most influential speakers in the American hi-fi market over the last five decades. We'll take a trip down memory lane to look at classics from Acoustic Research, Advent, Bose, and Klipsch among others. We've also got a few speakers in mind that you might not anticipate. Of course, if we missed one of your favorites, make sure to chime in on our forums to let us know who you think deserves an honorable mention.

See: Top 10 Most Influential Speakers of the last 50 Years

Let us know your picks and why.

Great article Gene. I used to own NHT 3.3s BTW.

 

[604 8G]

Today, Audioholics goes over its top picks for the ten most influential speakers in the American hi-fi market over the last five decades. We'll take a trip down memory lane to look at classics from Acoustic Research, Advent, Bose, and Klipsch among others. We've also got a few speakers in mind that you might not anticipate. Of course, if we missed one of your favorites, make sure to chime in on our forums to let us know who you think deserves an honorable mention.

See: Top 10 Most Influential Speakers of the last 50 Years

Let us know your picks and why.

Today, Audioholics goes over its top picks for the ten most influential speakers in the American hi-fi market over the last five decades. We'll take a trip down memory lane to look at classics from Acoustic Research, Advent, Bose, and Klipsch among others. We've also got a few speakers in mind that you might not anticipate. Of course, if we missed one of your favorites, make sure to chime in on our forums to let us know who you think deserves an honorable mention.

See: Top 10 Most Influential Speakers of the last 50 Years

Let us know your picks and why.

Altec model 19 is very efficient detailed and natural sounding for home use .

 

[604 8G]

Today, Audioholics goes over its top picks for the ten most influential speakers in the American hi-fi market over the last five decades. We'll take a trip down memory lane to look at classics from Acoustic Research, Advent, Bose, and Klipsch among others. We've also got a few speakers in mind that you might not anticipate. Of course, if we missed one of your favorites, make sure to chime in on our forums to let us know who you think deserves an honorable mention.

See: Top 10 Most Influential Speakers of the last 50 Years

Let us know your picks and why.

Altec model 19 .

 

[604 8G]

I would agree with the B&W 800D & 802D because their street prices (especially used) is "affordable" and they look amazing and sound pretty good.

The other group of speakers I find to be most influential are the towers with built-in LFE subs like Def Tech, Golden-Ear, RBH, etc.

Altec model 19 are my favorite

 

[Echolane]

I was both surprised and pleased to see Bose 901s on your list. They were the first speakers of any kind that I owned and I thought they sounded great! No wonder, as I had them paired with a Pioneer SX-1050 at 120 wpc. The SX-1050 was my first stereo system purchase and I will add that I still own that Pioneer and recently dragged it out of the closet where it had been stored for about 30 years and it sounded so good I had it refurbished and it is now the star player in my TV system stereo.

But there’s a story to my Bose speakers because they were DIY and I hope you will enjoy reading about how it was done. It was 1977 and I had just purchased my first stereo gear, the already mentioned Pioneer SX-1050 Stereo Receiver and I needed some speakers. Luckily for me I happened to learn of a group of about 10 people at my company who wanted to make their own Bose 901s. They had engineering blueprints of the speakers and equalizer. One of the ME engineers at the company had taken apart the speakers and the equalizer, drawn up exact specs for both, including a parts list which included names of the companies that Bose used to acquire parts for manufacturing the speakers. I leapt at the chance and my brother and I joined the group. I was the only female.

We borrowed some machinery in the company fab shop where I worked and programmed it to cut the MDF particle board to the exact sizes needed and then to make the many double stepped circular cuts to fit the speakers properly. There were 10 of us making 13 pairs of speakers. That meant we cut 234 holes for speakers! We were chided about the particle board dust that had settled everywhere in spite of our best efforts to clean up after ourselves!

We spent the next weekend gluing our speaker cabinets together and setting the speakers in and wiring them. The following weekend we put the equalizers together. I took two pairs of speakers home with the intention of fitting them with beautiful hardwood veneer and selling the second pair, but it never happened. The plain particle speakers, thankfully MDF and not regular particle board, graced my living room for more than ten years. I thought they sounded terrific. After all, they were paired with the powerful 120 wpc Pioneer and could handle all the power with ease.

The speakers were finally displaced by my purchase of Quad ESL-63 electrostatic speakers and Quad amp and preamp. The speakers hung out in my garage until about 2000 when I gave them away. The Pioneer went in my closet for about 30 years until I took it out several years ago to use in my TV system. I liked it so much I had it refurbished and it is now running the audio side of my TV system. I wouldn’t dream of giving house room to those Bose speakers again but they did serve me well and I had a terrific time making them.

. If your speaker list weren’t limited to just American made speakers, the Quad speakers would surely make the list of most impactful speakers.

 

[cpp]

68 years old here, back in the day had a pair of AR-4's and the KLH Five. Not bad , back in the day.

 

[Kingnoob]

I was both surprised and pleased to see Bose 901s on your list. They were the first speakers of any kind that I owned and I thought they sounded great! No wonder, as I had them paired with a Pioneer SX-1050 at 120 wpc. The SX-1050 was my first stereo system purchase and I will add that I still own that Pioneer and recently dragged it out of the closet where it had been stored for about 30 years and it sounded so good I had it refurbished and it is now the star player in my TV system stereo.

But there’s a story to my Bose speakers and I hope you will enjoy reading it. It was 1977 and I had just purchased my first stereo gear, the already mentioned Pioneer SX-1050 Stereo Receiver and I needed some speakers. Luckily for me I happened to learn of a group of about 10 people at my company who wanted to make their own Bose 901s. They had engineering blueprints of the speakers and equalizer. One of the ME engineers at the company had taken apart the speakers and the equalizer, drawn up exact specs for both, including a parts list which included names of the companies that Bose used to acquire parts for manufacturing the speakers. I leapt at the chance and my brother and I joined the group. I was the only female.

We borrowed some machinery in the company fab shop where I worked and programmed it to cut the particle board to the exact sizes needed and then to make the many double stepped circular cuts to fit the speakers properly. There were 10 of us making 13 pairs of speakers. That meant we cut 234 holes for speakers! We were chided about the particle board dust that had settled everywhere in spite of our best efforts to clean up after ourselves!

We spent the next weekend gluing our speaker cabinets together and setting the speakers in and wiring them. The following weekend we put the equalizers together. I took two pairs of speakers home with the intention of fitting them with beautiful hardware veneer and selling the second pair, but it never happened. The plain particle speakers graced my living room for more than ten years. I thought they sounded terrific. After all, they were paired with the powerful 120 wpc Pioneer and could handle all the power with ease.

The speakers were finally displaced by my purchase of Quad ESL-63 electrostatic speakers and Quad amp and preamp. The speakers hung out in my garage until about 2000 when I gave them away. The Pioneer went in my closet for about 30 years until I took it out several years ago to use in my TV system. I liked it so much I had it refurbished and it is now running the audio side of my TV system. I wouldn’t dream of giving house room to those Bose speakers again but they did serve me well and I had a terrific time making them.

. If your speaker list weren’t limited to just American made speakers, the Quad speakers would surely make the list of most impactful speakers.

Must been in bad shape or worn out Bose speakers to just give them away . I’m sure you could had sold them for a decent amount to someone..
Way better then there cube speakers .
Still cool story never thought anyone built those speakers themselves..

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Echolane]

Must been in bad shape or worn out Bose speakers to just give them away . I’m sure you could had sold them for a decent amount to someone..
Way better then there cube speakers .
Still cool story never thought anyone built those speakers themselves..

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Glad you enjoyed my little story of my diy 901s. Our project happened over 50 years ago and I still remember it with great pleasure. It was huge fun. Not to mention all the money it saved me.

I gave one pair to my boyfriend at the time, around 1990 maybe. . I gave the other pair to my husband’s son and family, probably around 2003. When I gave them away they were perfect. No sign of wear and tear but still plain clad in the plain old particle board, though it was MDF particle board which is quite nice looking. I’ve no idea what’s become of either of the pairs. But I don’t really care anymore. I love my Quads.

 

[carewser]

"Klipsch chose bass extension and efficiency at the expense of enclosure size"

Huh? None of the Klipsch Heritage series (La Scala, Forte, Klipschorn, Cornwall, Heresy) produce deep bass. My $350 Audioengine subwoofer produces deeper bass than the Klipschorn. Efficient? Incredibly. Deep bass? Nope

 

[Kingnoob]

"Klipsch chose bass extension and efficiency at the expense of enclosure size"

Huh? None of the Klipsch Heritage series (La Scala, Forte, Klipschorn, Cornwall, Heresy) produce deep bass. My $350 Audioengine subwoofer produces deeper bass than the Klipschorn. Efficient? Incredibly. Deep bass? Nope

I hope someday I can afford those legacy speakers they must sound spectacular/ are the Klipch horns really better at bass them a quality subwoofer?
If so that’s amazing

 

[carewser]

I hope someday I can afford those legacy speakers they must sound spectacular/ are the Klipch horns really better at bass them a quality subwoofer?
If so that’s amazing

You somehow deduced the exact opposite of what I was saying which was that none of the Klipsch Heritage series produce deep bass-even the biggest, most expensive pair of the series-the Klipschorns don't produce really deep bass

 

[TLS Guy]

You somehow deduced the exact opposite of what I was saying which was that none of the Klipsch Heritage series produce deep bass-even the biggest, most expensive pair of the series-the Klipschorns don't produce really deep bass

No they did not produce really deep bass as they were highly sensitive. Amp powers were low back then, with 20 watts being a lo of power. There is an inverse relationship to bass extension and sensitivity.

The Klipschorns did produce fairly deep bass if placed right in the corner. In a horn speaker the bass extension is determined by the dimensions of the horn mouth. So placing then in the corner adds to the dimension of the horn mouth.

 

[carewser]

The Klipschorns have a frequency response of 33hz-20khz which is normal for a $1000 pair of floor standing speakers except here in Canada the Klipschorns are $22,000/pair which, as efficient as they are, I could never justify