Which brand makes the best quality loudspeakers?

[highfigh]

It's because as you get older each year is a smaller percentage of your life so seems to go faster. When your 10 a year is 10% of your lifetime! At 40 it's only 2.5%. That's my hypothesis as to why times seems to go faster as you get older at least.

I think it's because our attention span returns to that of a child.

 

[Luminous White]

Half of what is on this list really shouldn't be. B&W are good speakers but overrated and a trap for noobs. ML electrostats can be nice, but their motion series is forgettable. Klipsch and SVS are Chinese investor products. PSB is fine but nothing special, Polk is junk. Paradigm is a solid speaker but not that exciting. Now Revel deserves it for sure, that Harman research is legit, JBL sort of but not like Revel. Now then other than Revel if you want to be wowed than what needs to be on this list is Totem Acoustic for their 3D soundstage and phase accuracy, and as well for making the fastest and most robust dynamic driver that might exist in their Element series. Sonus Faber for creating one of the most intimate experiences with the human voice you can imagine, as well as an out of this world cabinet design just as beautiful to the eye as it is to the ear. Lastly Wisdom Audio for all around chart topping technical performance in almost every category, think Magnapan but with almost none of the cons. A true planar design but with excellent off axis response, tonal balance, true to life accuracy, and it does all of it while hiding in your wall and losing nothing for it, and that right there deserves serious praise.

 

[Pogre]

Half of what is on this list really shouldn't be. B&W are good speakers but overrated and a trap for noobs. ML electrostats can be nice, but their motion series is forgettable. Klipsch and SVS are Chinese investor products. PSB is fine but nothing special, Polk is junk. Paradigm is a solid speaker but not that exciting. Now Revel deserves it for sure, that Harman research is legit, JBL sort of but not like Revel. Now then other than Revel if you want to be wowed than what needs to be on this list is Totem Acoustic for their 3D soundstage and phase accuracy, and as well for making the fastest and most robust dynamic driver that might exist in their Element series. Sonus Faber for creating one of the most intimate experiences with the human voice you can imagine, as well as an out of this world cabinet design just as beautiful to the eye as it is to the ear. Lastly Wisdom Audio for all around chart topping technical performance in almost every category, think Magnapan but with almost none of the cons. A true planar design but with excellent off axis response, tonal balance, true to life accuracy, and it does all of it while hiding in your wall and losing nothing for it, and that right there deserves serious praise.

Well to be fair, this thread is 10 years old now, lol. I agree we're missing some good names in the op tho.

 

[NINaudio]

Half of what is on this list really shouldn't be. B&W are good speakers but overrated and a trap for noobs. ML electrostats can be nice, but their motion series is forgettable. Klipsch and SVS are Chinese investor products. PSB is fine but nothing special, Polk is junk. Paradigm is a solid speaker but not that exciting. Now Revel deserves it for sure, that Harman research is legit, JBL sort of but not like Revel. Now then other than Revel if you want to be wowed than what needs to be on this list is Totem Acoustic for their 3D soundstage and phase accuracy, and as well for making the fastest and most robust dynamic driver that might exist in their Element series. Sonus Faber for creating one of the most intimate experiences with the human voice you can imagine, as well as an out of this world cabinet design just as beautiful to the eye as it is to the ear. Lastly Wisdom Audio for all around chart topping technical performance in almost every category, think Magnapan but with almost none of the cons. A true planar design but with excellent off axis response, tonal balance, true to life accuracy, and it does all of it while hiding in your wall and losing nothing for it, and that right there deserves serious praise.

Sorry, you lost me at "fastest driver". Unless you meant like Andretti or Fittipaldi?

 

[Luminous White]

Sorry, you lost me at "fastest driver". Unless you meant like Andretti or Fittipaldi?

For me it was the one thing I heard that I felt was actually so, otherwise I agree the term is overused. Even with removing that descriptor is it objectively one of the most robust and overengineered designs I've ever seen. No crossover, full range woofer that plays high and rolls off into the tweeter just using a first order, a fantastic handoff that makes the speaker disappear.

 

[ToniScot]

Hello) As for me, Klipsch makes the best speakers. I found a very interesting article on the top 10 speaker manufacturers. Top three are Bose, JBL, Klipsch. Of course, this is a subjective opinion, but it was interesting to read.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Hello) As for me, Klipsch makes the best speakers. I found a very interesting article on the top 10 speaker manufacturers. Top three are Bose, JBL, Klipsch. Of course, this is a subjective opinion, but it was interesting to read.

Sorry, but this seems like an ad campaign. NEVER is Bose on top of any speaker list. Unless it’s curated by a sales department. Also never heard of “mynewmicrophone”. I’ll have to have a look.

 

[trochetier]

None listed! Magnepan imakes the best speakers. Best bang for the bucks IMO.

 

[Movie2099]

Hello) As for me, Klipsch makes the best speakers. I found a very interesting article on the top 10 speaker manufacturers. Top three are Bose, JBL, Klipsch. Of course, this is a subjective opinion, but it was interesting to read.

blasphemy! Maybe top 3 garbage speaker manufacturers.

 

[Trebdp83]

Sorry, you lost me at "fastest driver". Unless you meant like Andretti or Fittipaldi?

He lost me when he used “than” in place of “then.“

 

[lp85253]

He lost me when he used “than” in place of “then.“

Agreed.. You make light of it , but, a functioning understanding of the language is kind of a core principle of arguing in discussion.. It's disregarded more often than can be counted on forum boards...which makes me wonder about the collective education level...

 

[Eppie]

When you get down to it, the question is rather esoteric. How many people actually get to hear what is 'best'? In the end, we get the best that we can afford from what is available in our area. I ended up with Paradigms as they were best bang for the buck. I heard B&Ws that sounded better but were simply out of my price range. Martin Logans would have been great but not suited to the size and shape of the room. For some of the other brands listed I would have to fly to another city to audition them, so I can only rely on someone else's subjective opinion, and let's remember that speaker preference is very subjective.
Having said that, the best speakers I ever heard were a friend's Magnapan 3.5R driven by a pair of Odyssey Mono Extremes connected directly to a battery powered DAC. That was audio nirvana for me. He had a Dianna Krall album that sounded like the band was 20 feet in front of me, live. Unfortunately I would have to buy a new house to try and get the proper acoustics for that setup.

 

[Sadie42]

What price point? Tough to do apples to apples with including cost.

 

[Mikado463]

When you get down to it, the question is rather esoteric. How many people actually get to hear what is 'best'? In the end, we get the best that we can afford from what is available in our area. I ended up with Paradigms as they were best bang for the buck. I heard B&Ws that sounded better but were simply out of my price range. Martin Logans would have been great but not suited to the size and shape of the room. For some of the other brands listed I would have to fly to another city to audition them, so I can only rely on someone else's subjective opinion, and let's remember that speaker preference is very subjective.
Having said that, the best speakers I ever heard were a friend's Magnapan 3.5R driven by a pair of Odyssey Mono Extremes connected directly to a battery powered DAC. That was audio nirvana for me. He had a Dianna Krall album that sounded like the band was 20 feet in front of me, live. Unfortunately I would have to buy a new house to try and get the proper acoustics for that setup.

All good points to which I agree. Myself I'm lucky enough to be less than a 45 minute drive from one of the top audio salons in the country (Overture Audio, Wilmington, De). They have hosted some amazing North American introductions of some of the top speaker brands / models in the world. Each and every time while I was wowed by half million dollar systems it just further re-enforced my appreciation for what I had and could afford.

Eppie, I agree with you on what you heard with Magnepan and also what Sadie points out with respect to 'price points'. FWIW in the 5-10k arena the Maggie 3.7i is at the top of my list.

 

[Eppie]

All good points to which I agree. Myself I'm lucky enough to be less than a 45 minute drive from one of the top audio salons in the country (Overture Audio, Wilmington, De). They have hosted some amazing North American introductions of some of the top speaker brands / models in the world. Each and every time while I was wowed by half million dollar systems it just further re-enforced my appreciation for what I had and could afford.

Eppie, I agree with you on what you heard with Magnepan and also what Sadie points out with respect to 'price points'. FWIW in the 5-10k arena the Maggie 3.7i is at the top of my list.

The city I'm in is big enough to have two hifi shops with some pretty high end gear, but you can only have so much inventory at that price point, and let's face it, there is a lot of high end gear out there to choose from these days. I'm only 2 hours from Toronto, so I could make the drive to some of the big hifi shops there, but my room is too small to warrant big speakers or more amplification. Could maybe go to smaller or mid-size towers like Tekton or Totem but at that price the wife factor comes into play. The towers at Best Buy did not cut the mustard. Listened to Energy, Polk, Klipsch and others but the Paradigms were far superior even in bookshelf size.

Another issue unique to some is the perils of a basement setup. We have a high water table that requires a sump pump to keep the basement dry spring and fall. It's high enough to put 4 or 5 inches of water in the recroom (which is why I have a battery backup pump in addition to the regular one). Point being, in a minor flood my bookshelves and electronics are safe off of the floor. I would hate to have $5k-$10k in a pair of floor standing speakers and come home from holiday to find them water logged! One more reason to move I guess.

 

[cpp]

ELAC is meegin from this list as well, and they make a pretty nice speaker for the dollars spent.

When you get down to it, the question is rather esoteric. How many people actually get to hear what is 'best'? In the end, we get the best that we can afford from what is available in our area. I ended up with Paradigms as they were best bang for the buck. I heard B&Ws that sounded better but were simply out of my price range. Martin Logans would have been great but not suited to the size and shape of the room. For some of the other brands listed I would have to fly to another city to audition them, so I can only rely on someone else's subjective opinion, and let's remember that speaker preference is very subjective.
Having said that, the best speakers I ever heard were a friend's Magnapan 3.5R driven by a pair of Odyssey Mono Extremes connected directly to a battery powered DAC. That was audio nirvana for me. He had a Dianna Krall album that sounded like the band was 20 feet in front of me, live. Unfortunately I would have to buy a new house to try and get the proper acoustics for that setup.

Agree who determines what's best, and at what price point and using what gear to drive those speakers and in what room using who's music.

 

[Mikado463]

ELAC is meegin from this list as well, and they make a pretty nice speaker for the dollars spent.


Agree who determines what's best, and at what price point and using what gear to drive those speakers and in what room using who's music.

agree on ELAC and its value at its price point for sure but never would they be considered 'the best quality loudspeaker'. Truth be told only a few on this list, now 10 years old, would truly qualify.

I think a new poll / thread might be in order so as to evaluate speakers at various price point segments.

 

[cpp]

agree on ELAC and its value at its price point for sure but never would they be considered 'the best quality loudspeaker'. Truth be told only a few on this list, now 10 years old, would truly qualify.

I think a new poll / thread might be in order so as to evaluate speakers at various price point segments.

They started off, low and slow and now , they got speakers by ELAC that cost $70K

 

[Mikado463]

They started off, low and slow and now , they got speakers by ELAC that cost $70K

interesting, I had not paid attention to that line of speakers from ELAC. 70k puts them in elite company from the likes of Wilson, Magico to name but a few. I doubt that Crutchfield or Audio Advisor will be selling that many !

 

[cpp]

interesting, I had not paid attention to that line of speakers from ELAC. 70k puts them in elite company from the likes of Wilson, Magico to name but a few. I doubt that Crutchfield or Audio Advisor will be selling that many !

But Crutchfield does carry the lower lines.