The Ultimate

[expose11]

Perhaps this is for another thread, but in order to choose the ultimate speaker, would not the type of music or movies be a huge factor?
You are mainly paying for good looks after a certain price point right?
If you are a Led Zepplin/Fifth Element listener/viewer then why would you pay more for speakers then the Pile/Marshall amps/speakers LZ playes through. For crap sake, the recording studio does not have speakers that cost as much as a pair of B&W's.
So what are we talking here. LOOKS. Looks sell those $10,000 speakers. Nothing more. Well, perhaps a marketing placibo too.
All the speaker company's talked about in this thread are great. All the speakers sound great. They also sound different. And they all look very different.
What are the ultimate speakers? There are none. Its like asking what is the best color.
Dont get me wrong, this is a great thread because it sparks opinions and great conversation.
IMHO the best speakers are the ones that the concert played through or the movie sound editor used to edit the movie through. Get me a set of those and now we are talking ultimate.

 

[Sleestack]

Uhhh. No. You are not just paying for looks. Not saying you can't get a great speaker on the cheap, nor am I saying that expensive means good, but I've certainly never heard a cheap speaker that can do what the Epiphanys or Andra IIs do. Furthermore, many studios use very high end speakers, including Egglestons and B&Ws. Aslo PA systems are often not so great and meant to produce voulme more than anything else. As for needing different types of speakers for different types of music... personally, I use slightly different speakers for my HT than I do my 2 channel, but both are excellent for any type of music you throw at them.

Perhaps this is for another thread, but in order to choose the ultimate speaker, would not the type of music or movies be a huge factor?
You are mainly paying for good looks after a certain price point right?
If you are a Led Zepplin/Fifth Element listener/viewer then why would you pay more for speakers then the Pile/Marshall amps/speakers LZ playes through. For crap sake, the recording studio does not have speakers that cost as much as a pair of B&W's.
So what are we talking here. LOOKS. Looks sell those $10,000 speakers. Nothing more. Well, perhaps a marketing placibo too.
All the speaker company's talked about in this thread are great. All the speakers sound great. They also sound different. And they all look very different.
What are the ultimate speakers? There are none. Its like asking what is the best color.
Dont get me wrong, this is a great thread because it sparks opinions and great conversation.
IMHO the best speakers are the ones that the concert played through or the movie sound editor used to edit the movie through. Get me a set of those and now we are talking ultimate.

 

[VS540]

Yeah I agree with Sleestack. PA speakers are meant to fill a large venue, not be the final say in good sound.

Once you've spent some time with some of the high end speakers that have been mentioned, you'd understand it's not about just looks.

 

[highfihoney]

You are mainly paying for good looks after a certain price point right?
If you are a Led Zepplin/Fifth Element listener/viewer then why would you pay more for speakers then the Pile/Marshall amps/speakers LZ playes through. For crap sake, the recording studio does not have speakers that cost as much as a pair of B&W's.
So what are we talking here. LOOKS. Looks sell those $10,000 speakers. Nothing more. Well, perhaps a marketing placibo too.

your way off base,b&w speakers are in lots of recording studios world wide & have replaced jbl as studio reference speakers.

there is so much more to a world class pair of speakers than price,granted some of the price in high end speakers goes to pay for the exotic finish (not unlike quality furniture) but the prices also reflect the engineering that it takes to design,the use of above average drivers that are many times manufactured to a builders specs,the price also reflects the fact that most high end speaker manufacturers are a cottage industry compared to the assembly line mass market speakers that are much cheaper.

any quality designed gear weather it be speakers,amps,preamps or whatever will sound good but for a manufacturer to design gear that sounds/performs better than just good it takes engineering & design plus the added cost of the highest quality parts available.

this whole placebo thing is out of hand.

 

[Khellandros66]

Absolute Best Money can buy

Definitive
BP7000sc
CLR3000
BPXV/P's or BP7004tl for rears
SuperCube Trinity

Martin Logan Electrostatics

or

Triad Platinum LCRs
Triad Gold InWall Surrounds
SVS PB12-Ultra

~Bob

 

[Sleestack]

Absolute Best Money can buy

Definitive
BP7000sc
CLR3000
BPXV/P's or BP7004tl for rears
SuperCube Trinity

Martin Logan Electrostatics



~Bob

I had the Definitive Tech setup.... it was good, but not anywhere near being great. It handles HT duties with ease but is not a very good setup for music IMO.

 

[Audioholics]

You are mainly paying for good looks after a certain price point right?

If you don't involve the room into the equation you are. Though price and quality certainly do not always equate, so we'll just assume price on quality speakers.

 

[Buckle-meister]

What are the ultimate speakers? There are none. Its like asking what is the best color.

Red.

 

[rolski]

Red.

Black :-
Every year, without fail, those-who-are-in-the-know make some proclamation about "xyz is the new black". What was wrong with the old black is what I want to know, and if "xyz" is so cool, why will they be talking about the "new black" in 1 years time and not the "new xyz".....?

 

[rolski]

Back on-topic....

1) B&W Nautilus
2) B&W 800D
3) B&W 801D

I personally have the B&W 802D's, which are used in a lot of the recording studios that can't quite afford a full suite of 2) & 3) above....

 

[masak_aer]

The ultimate: Bose Acoustimass 5 Series? ...hhehehee]
Why hasn't anybody mentioned Bose?.. Oh sorry, they are great as my lousy H/K speaker stand.

Buckle:
When i see B&W Nautilus, I literally drool all over...They are indeed a masterpiece. With Black as the color....what more can you expect?

 

[jaxvon]

B&W not in studios? What are you smoking? The B&W 801 is one of the most popular monitors in classical recording studios. Alan Parsons uses a full 5 speaker setup of B&W 802s for his monitoring. But don't take my words for it, have a look at a picture:

That's the picture of the main control room at Abbey Road studios. Here's the ajoining article:

http://www.bwspeakers.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/local.news/ObjectID/E2E27837-BF8E-4EA5-8BB92B1FFCB15967

Here's another studio:

 

[treetownal]

I haven't heard these, but for sheer coolness the avantgarde trios could give a man nocturnal emissions.

<img src=http://www.avantgarde-acoustic.com/img/dyn/gallerie/1108139521420cde01c6883.jpg>

 

[Sleestack]

And a picture of Eggleston Andra IIs at work at Crest Studios in Hollywood:

Having spent the last week with the Andra IIs, I can say they have everything I've been looking for a .1 matching speaker setup.

 

[RMK!]

And a picture of Eggleston Andra IIs at work at Crest Studios in Hollywood:

Having spent the last week with the Andra IIs, I can say they have everything I've been looking for a .1 matching speaker setup.

Are these for your music only system? They look incredible. I noticed a pair for sale in Carmel on Audiogon. I must resist this temptation.

 

[Sleestack]

Are these for your music only system? They look incredible. I noticed a pair for sale in Carmel on Audiogon. I must resist this temptation.

I'll use them in a HT setup, but my primary focus is 5.1 music, so I chose to go with 5 identical speakers. They excel in HT as well, but I feel that if you really spend significant time listening to 5.1 music, 5 identical speakers work best. I'll pick up 2 of their Fontaine IIs or Rosas to complete the 7.1 setup. Make sure you go with Andra IIs and not the original Andras.... they are significantly different speakers. In any case, whether its's for 2 channel, 5.1 music or HT, these speakers do not dissapoint.

 

[RMK!]

I'll use them in a HT setup, but my primary focus is 5.1 music, so I chose to go with 5 identical speakers. They excel in HT as well, but I feel that if you really spend significant time listening to 5.1 music, 5 identical speakers work best. I'll pick up 2 of their Fontaine IIs or Rosas to complete the 7.1 setup. Make sure you go with Andra IIs and not the original Andras.... they are significantly different speakers. In any case, whether its's for 2 channel, 5.1 music or HT, these speakers do not dissapoint.

Five Audra II"s for your HT? That is amazing. Since these have 12" woofers and are capable to 20Hz are you going to be using a sub? Perhaps a DD-15 or two.

 

[Sleestack]

Five Audra II"s for your HT? That is amazing. Since these have 12" woofers and are capable to 20Hz are you going to be using a sub? Perhaps a DD-15 or two.

2 DD -15s for LFE duties. When playing 5.1 or 2 channel music, I run the Andra II's full range. Sometimes I'll cross them over at 40 Hz and send the sub 40Hz signals to the DD-15, but it isn't really necessary.

 

[Potzi]

Hehehe nice

 

[Davemcc]

Hehehe nice

So what have you learned in the past two years?