[sxr71]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ingwe /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow. I respectfully submit you have not listened to enough high-resolution, well synergistic systems to make such a claim. BTW, welcome to Head-Fi! Sorry about your wallet!

I agree. Headphones can be very nice and in many ways better, but they simply can't touch the feeling of real imaging that speakers can do. You don't even need very expensive speakers or equipment to get very good sound that can an amazing experience in ways that headphones simply cannot do.

In fact I'd say that the next time head-fiers are looking to make the next big purchase in headphone audio, they should think about buying a pair of speakers or a speaker amplifier instead. A good source can be used for both.

 

[sxr71]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 /img/forum/go_quote.gif While the VR-11 ($150K) would probably be the best speaker in the world for me, I've never heard them. So, the VS VR5SE is the best I've heard. Most of the VS speakers have a balanced refinement without adding any of it's own personality, and the realism of his speakers haven't been matched. I've heard most of the top brands. All other speakers seem colored to me now.

I use the old version of the VR-5 (totally different speaker from the current one actually but still a Von Schweikert) and I have to say that his designs are simply the most realistic speakers I have heard. The first time I heard the VR-5 I told myself that I would beg, borrow or steal to get one and I finally did. I had auditioned a few very expensive systems that simply didn't do it for me. One was a Mark Levinson/Martin Logan system that was incredibly underwhelming for the 100,000+ that system must have cost. I would take my system over that any day and I think the VR-5s are the key.

 

[crashley]

Any discussion about speakers has a huge caveat, price. With that in mind, I found, after a couple months of trying on eBay, a really good deal on some Tannoy Reveal active studio monitors and I'm a week away from pulling the trigger on the matching sub. Rather than pay for an over engineered pair of speakers and then an equally over engineered amplifier, I bought a speaker system with the amp perfectly matched and built into the speaker and then an Art Cleanbox to convert unblanced RCA to balanced XLR, which is the connection mechanism of choice for professional recording studios. The response on these is flat and uncolored and it sounds like I paid 10x what I did. They are not exotic looking but they are beautiful to listen to.

Right now Bill Evans and his trio are working their magic from 1961 and if I close my eyes for a minute, I would swear he's in the room

 

[Know Talent]

B&W N800's are the best I've heard, but I could only afford the N803's...and I still need more powerful amplification to make them sing to their potential.

 

[TheStig]

My favorite has to be The Nautilus, not the 801 or 800 but the snail looking one. When I listened to that a few years back, my jaw dropped and I had a smile on my face all day.

 

[quintron]

Rogers LS3/5a - somewhat a AKG k 501 like sound!