The 10 Best Audiophile Speakers List - 2009

**chrisy** · **08-25-09, 08:02 AM**

HomeTheaterReview.com announces its Top 10 Best Audiophile Speakers List for 2009.

I recently read a blog post by a very enthusiastic and well respected AV writer who created a list of "The Top Ten Greatest Audiophile Speakers" for the mighty CNET.com which is one monster of a web publication. While the idea of Top 10 lists is popular in all forms of media from David Letterman to my former publication's Sabremetric inspired list of the Top 100 Rock Bands of All Time - I had to chime in with my own list as I feel that the audiophile business is at a true crossroads today. The old-school, hardcore audiophiles (many of whom are terrible snobs) have made their living almost exclusively supporting antique audio formats and selling mainly to Baby Boomer clients. If audiophila is to be anything other than a niche, geeky hobby in ten years, there needs to be a new crop of music enthusiasts and audio lovers who are from the Gen X and possibly even the Gen Y demographics. Considering how many iPods they have bought to date - I truly believe that there is hope but they need the right list of speakers. To be clear, most audiophile speakers are expensive, high performance, beautiful and keep their value.

HomeTheaterReview.com Best Speaker List - Rules:

Speakers on the list must be currently made.
The speakers must have a modicum of mainstream distribution. Not much - just some.
Listed speakers must play Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane and Rob Zombie as well as/or better than they reproduce any audiophile test SACD or Jazz at the Pawnshop on 180 gram vinyl.
Despite overall price - a listed speaker needs to offer a unique value and/or value proposition.

HomeTheaterReview.com's Top 10 Audiophile Speakers List
(listed alphabetically)

Bowers and Wilkins 802d ($14,000 per pair)
Used in many of the best mastering and recording studios in the world, there may be no higher statement of speaker engineering than the B&W (or Bowers and Wilkins as they call themselves today) 802ds. Like the Wilson WATT Puppy speakers, 802d's have a friendly footprint and can play a host of sources with ease. 802d's are not as easy to drive as Wilson speakers but many like their signature high end better. Which supermodel would you like to marry, sir?

Canton Reference 3.2 DC ($16,000 per pair)
From Germany's largest maker of loudspeakers comes one moo baby moo of a powerful musical statement in the Canton 3.2 DC floorstanding speakers. While priced in the stratosphere for most people, one could argue that you might never need another pair of loudspeakers ever again. Canton's fit and finish makes an S-Class Mercedes look like a Hyundai in comparison - that's how gorgeous these speakers look in your listening room, and they are even better as you bring up the volume.

Definitive Technology Mythos ST ($3,999 per pair)
Slim is in and the Definitive Technology Mythos ST speakers are the Giselle Bundchen of speakers. While 100 percent at home in a balls-to-the-wall home theater system, I have heard the Definitive Mythos ST speakers on low-powered tube amps playing kick- cool Jazz from of all sources, including a Sony Playstation 2, and they sounded incredible. The draw for the Mythos speakers is physically their width and emotionally their sound. They can do it all and for a very fair price.

MartinLogan Source ($1.995 per pair)
Live from Kansas comes MartinLogan electrostatic speakers that pack some of the most deep, energetic and fun-imaging speakers on the market today. The visually translucent panel creates sound without blocking the visual lines in your living room. The MartinLogan sound is legendary and there is plenty of room to grow in their lineup if you have more money to invest, but for $2,000 this could be a first audiophile investment that starts a life-long audio obsession.

Meridian DSP8000 Digital Loudspeakers ($40,000 per pair)
Meridian's DSP 8000's speakers are the top-of-the-line transducer in the English luxury goods company's product lineup. Meridian's footprint is reasonable and their curved lines are downright feminine but it's the internal amps and DSP processing that makes Meridian's flagship speakers so special. Systems can be as simple as having one source component (think: Meridian 800 CD-DVD transport) and the speakers. More complex systems can be configured for 7.1 HD surround and more.

Meyer Sound X-10 Studio Monitors ($30,000 pair and up)
We almost left the Meyer Sound X-10's off the list because of their lack of distribution in the consumer electronics space; however we just couldn't do it. These speakers are far and away the ugliest speakers on the list aesthetically, but no speaker on this best-of list can rock as hard or play as loudly as the Meyer X-10. Designed to be put behind a perforated video screen or used in a studio mastering lab - these powered or "active" horn-loaded speakers can create the most visceral sound you have ever experienced this side of being on stage with Van Halen. They can reproduce movie soundtracks (through a screen) more clearly and more dynamically than 99 percent of all movie theaters you can attend. While not on most audiophile shortlists - put Meyer X-10s on your short list when auditioning Wilson Alexandrias and the JM Lab's Grand Utopias. No other audiophile speaker can reproduce the energy of a real drum kit like the Meyer Sound X-10.

Paradigm Atom V5 ($250 per pair)
Dollar for dollar you can't beat the Paradigm Atom bookshelf speakers from Canada. For barely any investment, you can have clear, dynamic and resolute sound that will trash the similarly priced "warehouse store" competition. In the world of entry-level sound, few can touch the Paradigm Atom speakers in terms of value. I've blind A-B tested them (behind speaker cloth) versus more expensive bookshelf speakers, with the Atoms being the clear winner.

PSB Alpha B Bookshelf Speakers ($249 per pair)
We need to gush for the PSB Alpha speakers just like we did the Paradigm Atom v5 speakers, as both are killer, low-cost Canadian options for people looking for audiophile sound without an exotic budget. The PSB Alphas sell better today than when Paul Barton released them nearly two decades ago. The Alphas are a fantastic speaker product with a true cult following.

Revel Concerta F12 Floorstanding Speaker ($1,200 per pair)
Revel is Harman's (parent of JBL, Lexicon, Mark Levinson etc.) top of the line speaker brand and thanks to the power of outsourcing speaker manufacturing from Southern California to Mexico, we get affordable bookshelf speakers that sound an awful lot like their $20,000 per pair Revel Ultima Salon 2 speakers without the sexy finish and 10x price. For pure audiophile systems the Revel F12s will take esoteric playback sources and make sweet music. For Blu-ray based home theaters, you are going to struggle to find more audiophile goodness than these speakers at their price.

Wilson Sasha WP ($26,900 per pair)
Don't ask me why Wilson changed the name of the most successful high end audio speakers of all time, but the new Sasha WP loudspeakers represent the ninth level of amazing refinement for David Wilson's recording monitors. With over 8,000 pairs of WATT Puppies on the market today ranging in historical retail price from $10,000 to $28,000 per pair - the speaker offers tremendous value to go along with their prodigious cost. These advantages include the idea that Sasha WPs use very little power from your amp, have a tremendous wife-friendly footprint, thus can gain acceptance into a real-world living room. Wilson speakers also come in some of the best looking finishes anyone has ever seen. And lastly they sound incredibly good for everything from 24/192 studio tracks to hashed out MP3s on a 14 year old's iPod.

Disclaimer:
These lists are designed to start discussion and provoke thought on the topic. Please feel free to post speakers that you think could have made the list and or should have made the list below. We look forward to hearing from you as we had dozens of other speakers that we could have posted here but couldn't because this is a 10 speaker list.

Source: HomeTheaterReview.com

**patchesj** · **08-25-09, 09:09 AM**

Umm... Thiel 7.2s (, they are not making them anymore..)?? 3.7?

**mjb1023** · **08-31-09, 04:22 PM**

Sorry, The Paradigm and PSB are nice little speakers but hardly "Top 10 Audiophile Speakers" as the list contends. They should be on a "Top 10 Best Value for the Money Audiophile Speakers" list.
I would add at least the 20.1 or 3.6 from Magnepan, The MBl 101E and the Focal Utopia EM.

**Greedy** · **09-13-09, 01:08 AM**

Has to be tough to pick the "10 best" of anything!

Greedy

**akan101** · **09-18-09, 01:52 PM**

Agree with you.Its pretty hard to select one. All are very good. Difficult to select #1

**conchyjoe7** · **09-18-09, 02:12 PM**

I think my Eggleston Works Andras are right there with the best! Paul Schaffer of Late Night, Dave Letterman (I'm sure due to Paul's recommendation) and Bob Ludwig one of the worlds finest mastering engineers are all among the many Eggleston owners as well. Ludwig's are The Ivys, but at ~$250,000 a pair; they're just a tad rich for me...a VERY large TAD!

Cheers.

**Kal Rubinson** · **09-18-09, 02:16 PM**

Quote:

conchyjoe7 wrote:

Ludwig's are The Ivys, but at ~$250,000 a pair; they're just a tad rich for me...a VERY large TAD!

And, of course, some TADs should be on the list, too.

**conchyjoe7** · **09-18-09, 03:01 PM**

True Kal, oh so true...but am I mistaken to count you amongst owners of Egglestons?
I can't get over how much better my entire system sounds since my quadruple open heart bypass earlier this year!

**Kal Rubinson** · **09-18-09, 03:03 PM**

Quote:

conchyjoe7 wrote:

True Kal, oh so true...but am I mistaken to count you amongst owners of Egglestons?

Nope. I have the 802Ds that are on the top of the list.

I did really enjoy hearing Bob Ludiwg's system, though. Very impressive.

Quote:

I can't get over how much better my entire system sounds since my quadruple open heart bypass earlier this year!

I can imagine that most things are more enjoyable for you now. Best of luck.

**conchyjoe7** · **09-18-09, 03:08 PM**

Thanks Kal...truly thanks, and not just for the good wishes, but for the excellent column you write. I read every one and have for a loooooong time. Hush, we don't want to give away how long we have been around.

Cheers.

**recruit** · **09-18-09, 03:11 PM**

The B&W 802D are incredible speakers, some of the best I have listened to...would of been nice to see Wilson Benesch in that list...

**animeshon** · **09-21-09, 12:43 AM**

I commented on this article when I first read it. There are a lot of great speakers in the market nowadays, and limiting the list to 10 doesn't really do it justice. BG Corp is a planar ribbon speaker company based in Carson City, Nevada and their entire line is great. I was given a demo of the Z-1 bookshelf speakers at a dealer show and it blew me away. Enough so that I signed on to be a dealer based solely on those bookshelves. I also favor System Audio speakers out of Denmark, think Dyne Audio only much better and far less expensive. Many speakers could have made the list, unfortunately it was limited to 10.

**daniel** · **10-13-09, 11:41 PM**

We should always take lists like this one with a grain of salt.

They listed the Martin Logan Purity.
The Vantage are better than the Purity.
the Summit are better than the Vantage.

Should I continue?

p.s. I own Martin Logan Vantage.

**azuaro** · **10-17-09, 01:00 AM**

I guess that we all have very different sensibility to different frequencies...

10 Top Speakers for 2009? To me this statement "sounds" more like marketing than anything else...You will not hear about the the top 10 for 2009 again in 2010 or afterwards...

How about mentioning the 10 Top Speakers of ALL TIMES?

I have the Swans 2.2's that won the best of the best at the CES in Las Vegas in 2003, these speakers recently replaced my JBL Cinema Sound 4732 set...These JBL were excellent but the Swans' have no comparison in a large theater...We had a set of Vienna's that were also very good, but again, I have not heard or seen anything with as much ambience, as accurate and as true as the Swans 2.2's....A wall of sound from these 7 ft. tall speakers that carry (each speaker) 32 tweeters, 16 mid range and 4 woofers....Not cheap though...

Regards,

AZUARO
Flathead Lake, MT

**rcarlton** · **10-17-09, 09:40 AM**

I've only heard the B&W 802d with a McIntosh system...sounded good, but too polite for my tastes. My Khorns blew them out of the water for soundstage and ability to make the music come alive. For that matter LaScala IIs did the same thing. They should have been on the list.

**DVDIT** · **10-31-09, 05:21 PM**

I love my Revel Performa HT setup. Combined with my JL Fathom Sub, Onkyo 886 and NAD M25, I am where I want to be in the audio department. It took me 10 years and many speakers, amps and pre/pro swaps. While the journey was expensive, both time and money wise, I couldn't be happier with the end result.

**Kal Rubinson** · **10-31-09, 05:45 PM**

Quote:

rcarlton wrote:

I've only heard the B&W 802d with a McIntosh system...sounded good, but too polite for my tastes. My Khorns blew them out of the water for soundstage and ability to make the music come alive. For that matter LaScala IIs did the same thing. They should have been on the list.

If you like Khorns, I am not surprised at your reaction to the 802Ds. I feel the same way...........in reverse. Chacun a son gout!

**Jon Liu** · **10-31-09, 06:42 PM**

Klipsch Horns make me feel like the back of my head is being shined. Interesting enough, I used to be big into horns, but something changed and now I cannot handle them for too long.

**Drizt** · **11-02-09, 09:17 AM**

Thanks for doing the list. Its always interesting to view others opinions on such a very subjective topic.

I have had the privilege of hearing the 802D's many times at Norpus' house with his famous 2x18" IB sub woofer giving them extended "awesome" bass capability. He then upgraded to SGR Octagons which IMHO were a significant step up.

Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

I believe there is always something better out there, or coming. Otherwise there would be no point in new speakers being developed.

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