Best speakers you've ever owned.

Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
F30's in their new (probably final) home:
F30.jpg


And the new hotness... don't mind the model, she had just woke up hence the "I gotta pee" look :D

Vannasheaint.jpg
 
John Parks

John Parks

Audioholic Samurai
Sony SS-M7:
1547313312498.png

I got them for a song because nobody at the snooty "high end" store would buy them due to the brand. As I have mentioned elsewhere, my (then) wife needled me incessantly to sell them - 2nd worst mistake of my audiofile life (the 1st being allowing her to convince me to sell my not insubstantial record collection, but hey, I thought I was in love...).

Honorable mention, the JBL Control 5 Studio Monitor:
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I've had these on two separate occasions, mounted on the parcel shelf of two different 1988 Acura Integra Special Editions:
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Man, I loved the 80s! Anyway, these are special speakers - I just may have to find another pair...

I am hoping my newest speakers can take the crown:
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Irvrobinson

Irvrobinson

Audioholic Spartan
Sony SS-M7:
View attachment 27776
I got them for a song because nobody at the snooty "high end" store would buy them due to the brand. As I have mentioned elsewhere, my (then) wife needled me incessantly to sell them - 2nd worst mistake of my audiofile life (the 1st being allowing her to convince me to sell my not insubstantial record collection, but hey, I thought I was in love...).
The SS-M7 and the SS-M9 were Sony of old at its best.
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
A walk down memory lane here gents, thanks.

My Dahlquist DQ-10's were tops until the early eighties when I discovered Magnepan (3.6's),then a 14 year run with Martin Logan. While I'll always have a soft spot for di-poles my current (Revel Studio2's) just might be the 'end game' for me.........

IMG_0616.JPG
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
A walk down memory lane here gents, thanks.

My Dahlquist DQ-10's were tops until the early eighties when I discovered Magnepan (3.6's),then a 14 year run with Martin Logan. While I'll always have a soft spot for di-poles my current (Revel Studio2's) just might be the 'end game' for me.........

View attachment 27781
Holy smokes! Impressive! ;)


Cheers,

Phil
 
Out-Of-Phase

Out-Of-Phase

Audioholic General
A walk down memory lane here gents, thanks.

My Dahlquist DQ-10's were tops until the early eighties when I discovered Magnepan (3.6's),then a 14 year run with Martin Logan. While I'll always have a soft spot for di-poles my current (Revel Studio2's) just might be the 'end game' for me.........

View attachment 27781
I like those cable elevators in the background. Your Revel speakers really sound good now! :eek:
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
I love mine, though mine are walnut finish. How are you liking yours so far?

I initially thought my R500 were the best speakers I've ever owned. That changed when I got the LS50's. Now that I've got Dirac Live tuning-in the R500's to work best in my room, they're back on top!
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Well, the definition of "best" depends on whether it is the relative best or absolute best.
On the relative end, my best speakers were KLH 6V's (the vinyl clad version of the 6's pointing out that there was a time when real wood veneer was the norm and vinyl required special designation). Even after I got better speakers I still always enjoyed these immensely. For the time and within speakers I had access to, these were exceptional. Pretty sure I got them in '74 using money I made flippin burgers at Dairy Queen!
Next came my AR 3a's. I'm not sure they were actually better speakers in the midrange than the KLH's, but the bass was to die for in a period when speakers just did not do much for deep notes (I had a Sansui AU-717 which had the muscle to properly drive the AR's woofer). I have listened to these recently and while the midrange and highs do not compare to modern offerings, I still love the sound of the bottom end. So much that I am considering using them as "woofers" for small bookshelf speakers.
I also need to mention a pair of EPI 100's. I already had the AR's and the KLH's when I got these, and I can't say they eclipsed either, but they were wonderful speakers and I think their tweeter was a step up from either of the other speakers!
None of these were the best on an absolute scale, but they were so good compared to anything else I had heard at the time (the KLH and AR in particular) that I would never realize another speaker that offered the substantial improvement over the SQ I had previously been familiar with! That makes them the best speakers I have owned in the relative sense!
Maybe another way to say it is that these are the speakers that will always be favorites.

More recently, I have to mention the Paradigm Signature S-2 as my first really, really good speaker (although a little hot on the high end - the Be tweeters had the highs and Paradigm flaunted it! - I never really considered them harsh or too bright, but they definitely are bright speakers). My Focal Solo6Be monitors offered a level of accuracy I had not previously experienced and the high end of the Be tweeter beat out Paradigm's! Looking to upgrade from the Solo6's, I moved to the Focal Twin6's.
I also have to mention my Martin-Logan Vista's which are smaller electrostats, but capture most of the electrostatic magic when used in my bedroom. My Phil3's were fantastic speakers once we set them up in TheWarrior's LR, so much so, I sold them to him (they did not suit my LR because of a 5 foot deep alcove I had behind the right speaker that muddied the sound reflected from the open back of the speakers-reflected sound from the right had to travel 10 feet farther than reflected sound from the left). My LR was the only proper room to fit the Phil3's so they had to go:(.
Philharmonic BMR's work fine in that room and aside from missing the wonderful TL bass of the Phil3's the BMR are amazing and I'm not sure they give anything up to the Phil3's in the mids and highs!

The RBH T1/Ref's are an interesting speaker. Tested Blind, they are not so special, but sighted, they are amazing speakers. I can't help it! I am a human being and if a speaker excites me to perceive higher SQ because of how it looks, why should I forfeit that? I won't recommend these speakers because the actual SQ is not as good as my my subjective sighted perception leads me to believe. Plus, it is a mute point since they are no longer in production. I did find adding 1.5dB at 16kHz improved my blind impression of them quite nicely - which is strange on its on since I can no longer hear 15kHz at all and 14kHz is well suppressed, but somehow I definitely hear the +1.5dB @ 16kHz (on Denon EQ) improvement when blind A-B'ing against other speakers. The top end performance of the Scanspeak 9500 tweeters (3 per speaker) as compared to Be, RAAL, or the Canton Vento ceramic tweeter was the biggest short-coming of the RBH and the simple EQ did a lot to bridge the gap!

Last, I must mention the Canton Vento 820.2, which I find wonderful for their size (and the $600/pr I paid for them). The Philharmonic BMR has had the most comparison time against them and I have concluded the BMR is definitely a better speaker. However, for stuff like a jazz trio with female vocals (Norah Jones, etc) the Vento's are wonderful. They have a bass hump that requires a sub to avoid. The FR is not flat, but it is incredibly smooth with a gradual ramp-up as the frequency increases from mid-range to highs. A-B'ing the Vento's side-by-side with the BMR's with a full orchestra in play reveals the raised highs, but something like chamber music generally plays well on them. I think a big part of why I have to give a shout to the Vento's is they are such a small box (about the size of the Pioneer BS-22's) but put out incredibly good sound - it defies expectations!

Interestingly, the tiny Vento's, when compared blind to the huge RBH T1/ref's did not give away the size mis-match (at 10' away). I did not have the sense that one was significantly larger or smaller than the other!
 
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davidscott

davidscott

Audioholic Ninja
Well, the definition of "best" depends on whether it is the relative best or absolute best.
On the relative end, my best speakers were KLH 6V's (the vinyl clad version of the 6's pointing out that there was a time when real wood veneer was the norm and vinyl required special designation). Even after I got better speakers I still always enjoyed these immensely. For the time and within speakers I had access to, these were exceptional. Pretty sure I got them in '74 using money I made flippin burgers at Dairy Queen!
Next came my AR 3a's. I'm not sure they were actually better speakers in the midrange than the KLH's, but the bass was to die for in a period when speakers just did not do much for deep notes (I had a Sansui AU-717 which had the muscle to properly drive the AR's woofer). I have listened to these recently and while the midrange and highs do not compare to modern offerings, I still love the sound of the bottom end. So much that I am considering using them as "woofers" for small bookshelf speakers.
I also need to mention a pair of EPI 100's. I already had the AR's and the KLH's when I got these, and I can't say they eclipsed either, but they were wonderful speakers and I think their tweeter was a step up from either of the other speakers!
None of these were the best on an absolute scale, but they were so good compared to anything else I had heard at the time (the KLH and AR in particular) that I would never realize another speaker that offered the substantial improvement over the SQ I had previously been familiar with! That makes them the best speakers I have owned in the relative sense!
Wow the "New England sound" That brings back memories. I owned some New Advents in 1979 then some Allison 6 speakers in 1982 when I moved into a small apartment. Pretty good sound for the $$.Henry Kloss and Roy Allison two of the true pioneers in home speaker development.
Thanks.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Wow the "New England sound" That brings back memories. I owned some New Advents in 1979 then some Allison 6 speakers in 1982 when I moved into a small apartment. Pretty good sound for the $$.Henry Kloss and Roy Allison two of the true pioneers in home speaker development.
Thanks.
I was going to wrap up my post, but then ended up coming back and doubling the size of it after you read it - talking about my later best speakers (which come closer to being absolute best speakers)!
 
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davidscott

davidscott

Audioholic Ninja
I was going to wrap up my post, but then ended up coming back and doubling the size of it after you read it - talking about me later best speakers (which come closer to being absolute best speakers)!
Yeah I moved on also - first to some Polk 7bs that had such great mids but couldn't handle a lot of power because the tweeters would fail. Finally some DCM Time Windows that I had until 2010 or so. Best speakers I ever owned but after another move I now own some Infinity Primus 363s which sound pretty good but not like the Time Windows. Thanks again
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
My favorite speakers to listen to in the system they're in are Dennis' MBOW1 3-ways. There's something about that OW1 tweet with the bottom end of the bass cab plus the two DIY subs (nearfield) that works. They're sort of like a sealed version of the Plil line with the dual cabs.

The ST's are too far away from the subs which don't have the same oomph as the DIY'ers so the system isn't as engaging.

Never done a side by side comparison. Don't have to. My fun meter is flawless.
 
D

dandunham

Audiophyte
I know many don't like the sound of bipolars but the best speakers I have owned to date are the Deftech BP20's and BPX2's for surrounds and BP2000 center. oh yes, a sunfire 2 for sub. I have had these for over 20 years and haven't found anything that would make me part with large sums of cash to upgrade yet. As for the speakers I really fell in love with, (Carver amazing loudspeakers gen 2 I think) they were just to big and unwieldy for the available space and finding a good center would be tough not to mention the massive presence those things had. At any rate I haven't auditioned speakers in a while so maybe it's time to start. has anybody listened to the newer Sunfire's?
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Philharmonic BMR's work fine in that room and aside from missing the wonderful TL bass of the Phil3's the BMR are amazing and I'm not sure they give anything up to the Phil3's in the mids and highs!
Heard it said before... the guy that let me audition his Phil 3s said there are some things he likes the BMRs better for. Not complaining about the 3s in any way, and I think I might understand. The BMRs are impressive!
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Heard it said before... the guy that let me audition his Phil 3s said there are some things he likes the BMRs better for. Not complaining about the 3s in any way, and I think I might understand. The BMRs are impressive!
I will add... I am very eager to get them in my room. 4 months if I'm lucky. ;) And if these perform on par with what I heard at Mr.C's house. Hell. I can't imagine having a complaint at all.
 
speakerman39

speakerman39

Audioholic Overlord
One of the better sounding speakers that I have owned would have to be the Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary speakers. If they had a bit more low end extension, then I would have not sold them off. Living in an apartment it is better for me (as well as everyone else) to keep it 2 CH. No need to get myself evicted. Just note that I kept the Wharfedale Diamond 220's b/c they had enough low end for my musical needs. :)

Cheers,

Phil
 

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