Best sounding speakers you have ever listen to..

[maximoiglesias]

Of all the speakers that I ever heard in my life the best memories of all is the first set I inherited from my dad in the early 70's.
My dad geve me his beloved Altec Lansing Voice of the Theater in a Valencia baffle and a good friend of the family gave me a Leak 10 w/ch tube power amp and matching preamp with a home made Fisher turntable with a Technics arm w/Shure m-55 cartridge.
I dont recall listening to any better sound than that.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Back in the mid 80's, there was a high end shop in NE Ohio that ran a pair of Polk SDS/SRS flagships through some McIntosh amps. Those were impressive. They also had a set of Klipsch Cornwall's that blew my socks off. Back then, it was all 2 channel audio with big amps. I'm sure there's much better, but nothing has impressed me as much as those did at the time. Those really got me into this expensive mess we call a hobby!

 

[BostonMark]

spearit sound

I listened to a female blues singer (wish I knew the name, it wasn't billie holiday) at a high end store in Boston.

They have a pair of Dali Megaline speakers, and had them running with Krell Monoblock amps, and some other really high end stuff.

The Dalis truly truly made me feel as if I was at the club, and the singer was there in front of a piano. They were the most lifelike speakers I had ever heard.

The salesman told me the total set up price for this stereo was over 100,000, and the Dali's themselves were 40,000 a pair.

 

[hemiram]

I have a friend who's dad is a very rich doctor, and he has a set of the big Infinity Reference Standards. I think they were about 40K back when he bought them 20+ years ago..

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pipeorgansound.com/images/IRS_2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pipeorgansound.com/wall_of_sound.htm&h=1093&w=800&sz=87&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=W8W6wntWedHggM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=110&prev=/images?q=+%22infinity+reference+standard%22&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&as_qdr=all

Six 12" woofers for each side! Amazing bass and so smooth.

He had a whole rack of high $$$ equipment too, the Sequerra (spelled right?) tuner was very impressive.

 

[bpape]

Hard to say. 2 come to mind - just 2 very different sounds.

Avalon Orsiris driven by all Spectral electronics

Wilson WAMM driven by Audio Research SP10 and Rowland amps

 

[highfihoney]

So far the best sounding speaker ive heard has been vintage mcintosh xrt 22 line arrays,i liked them so much i had to buy them & so far i still haven't heard anything much better.

1 MCintosh xrt 22.
http://www.roger-russell.com/xrt22pg.htm

2 Westlake audio.
http://www.westlakeaudio.com/Speakers/Professional_Series/sm-1.html


3 Infinity IRS Beta.
http://gon4.audiogon.com/i/c/f/1156190589.jpg

 

[outsider]

the best sounding speakers I ever heard were B&W 802Ds powered by Krell equipment with Transparent cables.

 

[JoeE SP9]

Recently I heard a pair of Maggy 20.1's. They are the best real world speakers I've ever heard. I have heard the Infinity IRS's and Apogee Grand's. They are both in a class by themselves.

 

[Haoleb]

B&W Signature 800's in tigers eye maple.

Absolutely georgeous. And the sound... well. Lets just say if i had 20k Id have a pair. Driven by Mcintosh.

Hear em at Audio/Video Showroom in santa rosa CA a few years back

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

PSB Platinums..... and i own them! Muha ha ha ha ha

Now if I can just live the next 20 years not hearing anything in the $20,000+ range, I should be cured of my upgradeitis.

 

[Sheep]

PSB Platinums..... and i own them! Muha ha ha ha ha

Now if I can just live the next 20 years not hearing anything in the $20,000+ range, I should be cured of my upgradeitis.

Who says amazing speakers need to cost 20 grand? The best I've heard are the Energy Veritas line. Not expensive by any means, but I wouldn't have anything else, unless it sounded better within a certain price range. I would not pay double the cost for a speaker that sounds 1/5th better.

SheepStar

 

[PENG]

Who says amazing speakers need to cost 20 grand? The best I've heard are the Energy Veritas line. Not expensive by any means, but I wouldn't have anything else, unless it sounded better within a certain price range. I would not pay double the cost for a speaker that sounds 1/5th better.

SheepStar

After listening to the many speakers under 6K, including the Paradigm Signatures I bought the Veritas 2.3i. That was almost two years ago, I have since listened to the B&W 802D and I thought they sound better for sure.

 

[The Dukester]

Buck, I'm with you on those Polk SDAs. I heard those and ALMOST traded/sold my Macs for a pair of them. After an extensive audition in my home, I decided to stay with the Macs, a decision I have never regretted. Those Polks sure did seem to spread out the sound field, however. In the end, though, I just thought they were playing too many games with the signal.

HifiHoney, I had already bought a pair of the Mac XRT20s and have never heard anything else I like better to this day. Where I live, there's not a lot of high end dealers that carry the mega buck equipment (unless you count McIntosh mega buck; I guess it's all relative ) so I have not heard the Wilsons, etc. Of the ones I have heard, I still like my 20s the best. If I find some I like better and can afford them, I'll buy 'em!

Sheep has a point, though, in the point of diminishing returns vs your pocketbook. Several g's is a lot to fork out for 5, 10 or even 15% increase in sound quality...unless your name is Sleestack! You go, brother! I would like to have your A/V budget! I'm glad for you that you do!

 

[Sheep]

Yeah, but I don't get out alot to hear "hi end" speakers. I would, but they're all downtown, and traffic around here is a nightmare.

But, when I judge a speaker, I don't care about bass, that's what subwoofers are for. I car about the mids and treble. I HATE metallic sounding speakers, and I hate that peak in the 1-4Khz range. Having logitech computer speakers, I am all to familiar with it. The Veritas 2.4i's were the first speaker I've heard to get this right (IMO: There, now no one can ***** ). I'm sure theres other speakers out there that have this traight too, but I haven't heard them yet. This is what I look for.

Plus, I like how they look

SheepStar

 

[rtcp]

the best sounding speakers I ever heard were B&W 802Ds powered by Krell equipment with Transparent cables.

Same speakers, except they were powered by Classe monoblocks.

 

[Mort Corey]

In the days before subs became the norm, I really liked the Ohm F series.....no sub necessary either.

Mort

 

[cornelius]

I would really like to hear a pair of Ohm F's someday. I have newer Ohms, two-ways, but I'm curious about the original.

Sheep, go out and listen to as many different types of speakers as you can - both expensive and not. Although the Energys are pretty good (I also hate it when designers bump up the 1-4K range to create more excitement...), you'll get a good idea of what makes a great speaker. You'll probably hear where the Energys actually exceed some of the pricey guys and where they may fail. The trade-offs might not mean a thing to you but at least you'll know what they are!

 

[furrycute]

B&W 802, driven by Musical Fidelity amp and preamp.

 

[gmichael]

I heard a pair on Magnepan 3.6's that a store had set up on their sidewalk so you would have to walk between them to get into their store. Inside I heard a pair of Totem Winds. Very different sound. But both were incredibly clear and real sounding.

 

[jongaro]

top of the line Vandersteens being run by some tube amps and some high end acylic record player. for a 2ch system i think $50k was the retail. wow, it sounded amazing!

the guy who had them, and was an installer, said for the price vandersteen was probably the best sounding speaker for the money... comparing them to speakers that cost way more.