[BigStig]

I've heard a lot of systems. From a good friend's B&W 801's powered by mid-five-figures worth of line conditioners, sources, amps, and cable that has regularly brought me to tears, to the local 'boutique' audio shop's $100k Dynaudio setup (great, but $100k?), to various Paradigm, Martin Logans, other B&W's (6xx & 7xx), Energy, Vienna Acoustics. Through Klipsch, Polk, Sony, Yamaha, & Bose systems. Probably a few other brands I've forgotten about. Not even close to everything, but I've heard quite a selection.

My home system consists of Axiom speakers powered by an Emotiva amp. Specifically: M80V2's, a VP150 center, and M22 rears powered by the Emotiva LPA-1. An SVS PCi+ 20-39 sub holds down the low-end. For the money, I couldn't be happier with my system. From cracking the plaster in my den with cannon fire from a 19th century frigate, to capturing the delicate, ethereal nuances of a Stradivarius's decay, to producing a wide and deep soundstage from a large orchestra, and to the snap of a snare drum from a jazz recording. It's all great. Zero regrets. If my house burned down today I'd buy the same gear again with the insurance money.

 

[johnnylexus]

I have a pair of Wilson Audio Sophia's in my rec room. They are wonderful sounding. I spend most of my time with cans however ... I've had a hard time pulling myself away from the Cary/W5000 headphone experience.

 

[Faust2D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Pak /img/forum/go_quote.gif Avantgarde Duo. Which I will hopefully have in the near future.

What amp did you hear them with? I did not like them and found them to be somewhat colored. I believe I heard them with some single-ended tube amp. Odeon La Traviata on the other hand were great.

 

[RobR]

Small room, small budget, I listen to Sonus Faber Concertino's.
Whenever the lottery comes in, I will be auditioning the Guarneri's.

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faust2D /img/forum/go_quote.gif What amp did you here them with? I did not like them and found them to be somewhat colored. I believe I heard them with some single-ended tube amp. Odeon La Traviata on the other hand were great.

He was using a pair of 300B monoblocks custom built for him, they're supposed to be very linear sounding. I've heard them on multiple occasions, the most recent (actually not so recent

) was an all day listening session.

I know his world class sources also helped with my very positive impressions.

Colored, I suppose, but I've never heard anything that is perfectly neutral. What I did like about the speakers was they had incredible dynamics, great imaging, detail galore and there were no frequency anomalies that I could detect (which I'm quite sensitive to), or more importantly for some, perfect integration between the bass, mids and highs.

edit: I suppose I should add that this wasn't a setup thrown together haphazardly. It took him several years of research, and a custom (large) dedicated listening room for everything to come together.

 

[Faust2D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Pak /img/forum/go_quote.gif He was using a pair of 300B monoblocks custom built for him, they're supposed to be very linear sounding. I've heard them on multiple occasions, the most recent (actually not so recent ) was an all day listening session. I know his world class sources also helped with my very positive impressions. Colored, I suppose, but I've never heard anything that is perfectly neutral. What I did like about the speakers was they had incredible dynamics, great imaging, detail galore and there were no frequency anomalies that I could detect (which I'm quite sensitive to), or more importantly for some, perfect integration between the bass, mids and highs.

They sounded nice no doubt about it, detailed , fast and very musical. Few things that were discouraging to me was a slightly aggressive upper mids, kind of in your face sound that comes fully horn loaded systems and slightly unfocused bass. I was not expecting this from 15K speakers. I guess it might have been a component matching issue.

Did you try S.A.P. speakers? I like them a lot. Still slightly colored but the midrange is to die for.

 

[eeagle]

My favorite speaker is the Polk SDA (Stereo Dimensional Array) series produced from 1982 till the end of 1991. Now only available used and found regularly on ebay; still commanding close to their original price or higher. They have received rave reviews from the audiophile community and from consumers.

I regularly listen to my 180lb 5ft SDA SRS 1.2's (27-20000Hz -3db) and they never fail to delight. When others are home I find myself plugged into Sennheiser HD 580's since with a 1000 RMS Watt max rating the SDA speakers can be really demanding of your full attention.

Check out the very active Polk Vintage forums form more information:http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faust2D /img/forum/go_quote.gif They sounded nice no doubt about it, detailed , fast and very musical. Few things that were discouraging to me was a slightly aggressive upper mids, kind of in your face sound that comes fully horn loaded systems and slightly unfocused bass. I was not expecting this from 15K speakers. I guess it might have been a component matching issue. Did you try S.A.P. speakers? I like them a lot. Still slightly colored but the midrange is to die for.

I haven't heard the S.A.P. speakers.

The upper midrange hotness you mentioned is what I was referring to when I said I was particularly sensitive of (I really dislike headphones and speakers that emphasize this region to sound more "aggressive" or "detailed"). So I didn't hear any of this with my friend's Duos. I suppose most of his gear leaned towards the analog side of sound, since he is a die hard vinyl fan. But it sounded very coherent even with his CDP.

Any other recommendations for speakers I should hear would be helpful (no recommendations for Martin Logans or B&W, not a fan

). I'm in no hurry to buy the Duos, in fact I missed out on a killer deal for a pair since the seller only offered local pickup

 

[Skylab]

Another B&W Nautilus vote here (but not for you I guess J-Pak

). I have the N800 Signatures, and they are phenomenal sounding. I love headphones, and the way my life is, I get to spend more time listening to headphones than to the big B&W's. But there are plenty of ways in which no headphone could ever hope to compete with the experience of listening to music on the big Beemers.

 

[Wilashort]

Ha!, my favorite and best speakers were an Altec Lansing VS3151 5.1 speakers (its sounded better (less in the bass) than any logitech before of year 2004), the sound was excellent for his cheap price. The music sounded energetic with those. The mids and highs were clean and crisp (sound better than my DT770pro/80 in this aspect but without the detail) but the quality of the bass was a lot to be desired; has distortion after of 50% of the volume (in moderated bass heavy songs) and was bloathed in comparison to my DT770pros and obviously without the dept and extension compared to the headphones. I had to sell them because in my house, the sound bothered to others, and was since then that i search alternatives as headphones (In the past, i didn't like headphones for his "reputation" to sound boxy (what naïve i was) and bad in comparison to my speakers ), and was when i ended to this site a year ago (thanks to google) finding alternatives to replace my speakers.
Since then i first buy the DT770pros because of the fame of bass monsters, but at first (and even before of what i did buy the Arietta amp) i was dissapointed. Then and when i did see a review of the Beyer DT990 2005 (and "2006" too) edition and the appreciation thread, i buy the DT990, and until now this is my history hehe.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eeagle /img/forum/go_quote.gif My favorite speaker is the Polk SDA (Stereo Dimensional Array) series produced from 1982 till the end of 1991. Now only available used and found regularly on ebay; still commanding close to their original price or higher. They have received rave reviews from the audiophile community and from consumers. I regularly listen to my 180lb 5ft SDA SRS 1.2's (27-20000Hz -3db) and they never fail to delight. When others are home I find myself plugged into Sennheiser HD 580's since with a 1000 RMS Watt max rating the SDA speakers can be really demanding of your full attention. Check out the very active Polk Vintage forums form more information:http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28

I beat you to it - post 3

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showpo...88&postcount=3

Thanks for the forum link!!

 

[nelamvr6]

I really love my B&W 804S's. But I have to say that the best speakers I've ever heard were the B&W 802D's.

I wouldn't be able to use them in my small apartment, for that the 804S's are a much better fit. And also the $12k price tag is a bit steep for my budget.

But man do they sound GOOD!

 

[ueyteuor]

klipsch rf 7

the best thing about speakers is you can feel the music through your body, not only the ears

 

[MaloS]

Hm...I cannot yet say what would be my favorite speaker, but I know I prefer speakers to headphones now, even if given the most high end headphone system. My new VMPS monitors should be hooked up this weekend =]



Oh, and I love how all Stax fans absolutely have planars as speakers of choice =] (I personally am choosing hybrid, not quite even planar speakers).

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaloS /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh, and I love how all Stax fans absolutely have planars as speakers of choice =] (I personally am choosing hybrid, not quite even planar speakers).

It's very hard to go back to dynamics when you've heard a proper planar setup. Electrostatic speakers are going to be my next obsession now that I'm near the end of my headphone collection.