Best Speakers that you've heard

[ranjeetrain]

Auditioned: Akai, Sansui, Philips, Samsung, LG, Sony, Bose, Wharfedale, Polk Audio, Yamaha, Telome, PSB, Onkyo, JBL, Infinity, Klipsch, Jamo, Tannoy, Dali, DynAudio, B&W (must be missing a few)

Used: Akai, Philips, Sony, Klipsch, Dali

And the award goes to: :drumroll: Dali Ikon 6

Jamo D 590 was one pair of great sounding speakers. Though when I auditioned it, it was somewhat outside my budget. Good for me, because a few month later I got my hands on a pair of Dali. Outclasses everything around its price range. Also like Klipsches in general. Detailed and emotion-evoking

[warpdrive]

I will only list the speakers that actually made me forget about the speaker, and listen to the music (which is what it is all about)

Thiel 2.3 (IIRC)
3A Reference MM de Capo (bookshelf sized but doesn't sound it)
B&W 800D
Vandersteen 5A
The original Quad ESL with a sub (forget which one)
One of the early 90's Martin Logans (forget the model. It was their top model at the time)

I got a chance to listen to the Klipsch Palladium P-39F last month. These are without a doubt the best sounding speakers I've ever heard. The most striking aspect was the clarity of the mid-range.

Being a bit of a Klipsch fan no doubt clouds my perceptions somewhere inside my head, but I would take these over the B&W 802 etc. any day.

[imbeaujp]

Hello folks,

Here are some useful links regarding the Yamaha NS-1000:

http://www.thevintageknob.org/YAMAHA/NS1000/NS1000.html

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/hfw/olde...hans1000m.html

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speak...1_1594crx.aspx



For many people, this is the best speaker the ever heard I got 6 ns-1000 in my HT setup. Here is a tipical review taken from audioreview:

Summary:
I currently own four pairs of NS-1000M's and am a serious audio enthusiast and collector. I've heard many high end speakers from full ribbon panels and electrostatics to moving coil drivers. I would honestly have to say that Yamaha did build quite possibly one of the worlds greatest sounding loudspeakers ever! I would first like to talk about the build quality. They are absolute tanks! The cabinets are reinforced over and over again with enough dampening material for a 5cft enclosure. The crossovers were built for extreme duty. I could go into detail about the special metallized paper capacitors and other creative features which make them so unique but it would take too long. The 1.2" beryllium dome tweeters are built like the rest of these things, serious! They never stop impressing you with marvelous high frequencies. The 3.5" beryllium dome midranges have that same precise sound as the tweeters. Filling the room with glowing sound you could not even imagine. I find myself closing my eyes when listening to various albums to simulate that live experience. A little info on beryllium, it's lighter than magnesium and harder than titanium. Not to mention it's superior sound propagation. Finally we get to the 12" woofers. Some may think "exotic beryllium dome tweeters and midranges than cheap paper coned woofers, whats up?", Paper is very lightweight and stiff enough to handle most lower frequencies with super fast
transitions and accuracy. The paper cone is the main reason the NS-1000M drops off below 40hz. In later models such as the NS-1000x they used an exotic carbon cone to extend the bass response even lower, but some say the overall sound quality of the woofer was hurt slightly up top. A compromise some are willing to take. The rest of the woofer is built to last with treated cloth surrounds, heavy duty cast aluminum baskets, and large ceramic magnet and voice coil assemblies. There are so many speakers out there I haven't even came close to hearing all of them, but I do have experience with many expensive high end audio pieces. To this day, I really consider the NS-1000M's to be one of the worlds greatest achievements in loudspeaker development. Thats really sad considering they are over 30 years old!

Strengths:
Simply everything . With the proper amplification or setup in general, the NS-1000's will sound unbelievably transparent and create one awesome sound stage. The woofer is light and incredibly responsive, the beryllium midrange throws out sound as if you are really there, and the beryllium tweeter dazzles you with highs that just sing and sing. All the while they are smooth as can be for hours of listening with no fatigue. Truly Phonomimal. Perhaps the biggest strength is there value. I'd put the NS-1000M up against almost any $20,000+ speaker.

Weaknesses:
Not a weakness by any means, but the woofer does drop off past 40hz, but from 40hz to 500hz these paper cone woofers are amazing and solid as a rock! Truly accurate bass with no exaggeration like others. Any serious system should use a subwoofer to pickup the extremely low frequencies anyway.

[ranjeetrain]

Ah, these Yammies remind me of Tannoy Kingdoms

[Rusty_man]

I must say in my case and without doubt B&W 802D are the best speakers i have heard. Surreal price for a pair regarding my salary but it was great to listen to those for a very short hour.

[rubbersoul]

I myself have B&W speakers. 802's which I am very happy with the sound quality and the pure clarity of the speaker.
Everything is a matter of what your ear hears and what you can afford.

[Rusty_man]

Indeed great speakers. I have B&W 602S3 but am upgrading to 805s let´s see where that will lead me. For now 802d is way out of my league.
I just hope 805s are ok as i haven´t yet had the chance to listen to them.

nice to see that you have nice taste rubbersoul.

[Funkmonkey]

So far, my favorites are the Totem Hawk. I am still auditioning so this post may have to be edited later, and I have only been listening inside my price range, and the Hawks are just over the high end (new), but they really impressed me. I have yet to purchase a really good set of Mid-Fi speakers, but have been listening to many. I have been somewhat of a low-Fi guy, el-cheap-O, until now. I was afraid that I would get hooked, before, and now I am sure of it.

[rubbersoul]

Rusty_man wrote:

Indeed great speakers. I have B&W 602S3 but am upgrading to 805s let´s see where that will lead me. For now 802d is way out of my league.
I just hope 805s are ok as i haven´t yet had the chance to listen to them.

nice to see that you have nice taste rubbersoul.

I must admit I made a big error on typing my last post. I have the 804's not the 802's. They are out of my league also. I apologize.
The 805's are a great speaker. You will be very happy with them. There clarity is unbelieveable.
You are moving up.
Congratulations

[rubbersoul]

Totems are a fantatic speaker. I always make it a point to listen to there demostrations at the Home Theater Show. I was tempted to buy a system myself, however my room is fairly big and did not think they could handle my enviorment. Beautiful and well made and always sounded impressive.
congratulations

[Rusty_man]

Well i really am not looking anymore. 805s will be my choice. Have to find a suitable sub for them. Rotel rb 1080 will drive the speakers along with a rsx 1057 receiver. i thought about a pre stereo only for music but i think that by using this combination i will be able to get a versatile combo hoping for an upgrade in sound quality over my 602s3 that are being used with a 9 year old sony es receiver. By doing so i am able still to enjoy some movies over rsx 1057 and great stereo from rb 1080. It´s funny because the more av setups move further with new deconding processors and stuff the more i love listening to stereo sound. Kind of funny i guess. Friends if you have any advice feel free on doing so, i will apreciate it. Thnkx all.

Best speaker I have heard////my own RBH T2,,,,followed by my old Khorus X mk II
jared

[yourgrandma]

I just listened to a pair of B&W 802d's. That was pretty nice. Strangely, I wasn't blown away as I was expecting to be, but the sound just sort of crept up on me. They sound exactly the same at all volume levels. A little warmer than I was expecting, though. Now I just haveto convince B&W that I'm loaded and get them to fly me out to England to hear some Nautilus'.

[grapenuts]

Besided my own, The absolute best sound I've heard were a pair of Martin Logan Summits powered by two Pass Labs X600.5 monos....It has ruined my theater for me, but it was an amazing experience.

[superchad]

Out of the hundreds of speakers I have heard (yes hundreds as I travel to the Hi-Fi shows and such) I would have to say the MBL line which is insanely priced sound great but a real world honest to goodness hi-end speaker that sounds best to me is the Vandersteen 5A, powered woofers 11 and bass EQ to tune to your room along with first ordercrossovers, time and phase correct....this speaker is amazing!

[yourgrandma]

Wilson WattPuppies sounded pretty nice today. Oddly, I prefered the WattPuppies to the Maxx. I think the room had a lot to do with that. The Maxx were run off all Audio Research gear. A 200 watt amp on each channel. The WattPuppies were run on Ayre gear. I also listened to the Martin Logan Summit, but they were a bit outclassed by the $28,000 WattPuppies and the $50,000 Maxx. I would have checked out some Magneans, but I was short on time. I plan to revisit the store, though. The people working there were fantastically kind, nothing like what one has come to expect at such a high end retailer. The guy helping me was actually happy to hear some of my unusual demo material, and put to bed my use of lossless tracks on an iPod as demo material. Side by side with a CD was more of a difference than I would have imagined.

I only had time for a couple albums, but those Wilsons, as much as people like to knock them, sounded pretty nice to me.

[conchyjoe7]

I too am a huge fan of the Wilson WATT/Puppy, and like you; prefer it to the MAXX...also an absolutely terrific speaker. Trust me on this...people that disparage Wilson speakers have usually either: a. Not heard them, or: b. Cannot afford them (and that's a LOT of people), or if they can are just too "frugal" to buy them. My first encounter with the WWP was at a Stereophile High End show in Los Angeles in ~1990, and I was immediately smitten. I've heard them as well as many other incredible speakers since then, but with each iteration Wilson (IMHO) keeps geting closer and closer to as perfect as a speaker will ever be. In other words: MY top ranking speaker on the planet, and to those that disparage them:
Cheers,
Konky.

[alan monro]

Danny the best speakers i have heard . All speakers sound good in their place . Rock concert spkrs sound great at a concert , the speakers at a jazz gig sound great . My mates speakers in his HT sound great . As to the best i have heard , is a very hard question . Alan Monro .

[mdrake]

Maybe we should change the name of this thread to "Best Setups That You've Heard" I have heard really good speakers sound awful in a bad setup and mediocre speakers sound awesome in really good setups. I don't think there is one magic component, wire or speaker but that it is the combination of all parts working as one that creates a great setup. Of course there are exceptions. As far as best speaker that I have heard I would have to give the node to the Magnepan 3.6.

Matt

Hi, they were the not so known GERMAN PHYSICS Loreley mk III.
I listened to the top version, the one with carbon DDD driver, with two top Burmester monoblock and top cd player and pre also by Burmester, even if the best results i listened to had obtained with an analog tape recorder...

As you see in this brochure they are big and 925 lbs of weight. (EACH!!)

And, listen, they are not the TOP model, which is the Gaudi, of course more expensive and bigger 1584 lbs of weight each...

[superchad]

Those GP Gaudi speakers make my near 6ft tall 310lb each speakers look like a bookshelf speaker!
I hear 2 of the GP speakers and they are great........and for that money they better be!
The Vandersteen 5A has my vote simply because it has to be the best speaker with the most features for the money, powered woofers 11 band adjustable bass EQ tuning, First Order Crossover, Time and Phase correct and Richard Vanddersteen is a very nice guy to hang out with and talk to, if you want straight talk share a dinner or even a phone call with Richard as he is very honest and blunt, I wish more Hi-End manufacture's were like him.

[frosti7]

My friend has some really nice VMPS Tower II
Amazing full-range sound

[ringbearer3791]

Well, I haven't heard a lot of the speakers that seem to be getting so much love in this thread, but the best I've ever heard had to be a pair of Snell XA90s.

[drdoan]

I haven't heard too many super expensive speakers, but, of the speakers I have heard at length, I will put my vote on the SVS-SB-01's for the best value in speakers, and, the Vandersteen 5a's for the best speaker I have heard. Dennis