[gz76]

I'm not suggesting any one loudspeaker is 'the best', however, you may like to add the MBL Radialstrahler 101e's to your audition list.

 

[Champ04]

I've heard the MBLs a number of times in all sorts of conditions and I never understood the facination with them. But that just proves how we all like different things.

Dynaudios can really really shine but need proper amplification for it.

The most disappointing, confusing, and obnoxious thing about listening to speakers of this caliber (or any for that matter) is that so few outlets actually know how to set them up properly.
I try to stop by High End stores every time I visit a new city and most of the time I just want to slap the guys running the place. The setups are amateur at best.
And its not like it takes a rocket scientist......................
Just sayin.

 

[Dr.Love]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wodgy /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are no "best" speakers, and you definitely can't judge by price.

This is exactly right. Speakers are totally subjective, find a pair that you like and enjoy!

 

[Lazarus Short]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spacemanspliff /img/forum/go_quote.gif there was some million dollar setup designed by engineers complete with a concrete tunnel system for bass! I mean 5' wide and 6' deep ****ing bass tunnels lol.

I think I remember that one. The bass chamber which held the driver was capped by a slab of granite or concrete. It weighed a ton or two, but cracked when they cranked the volume!

Laz

 

[Champ04]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif Once, at Audio Federation, I heard a fully calibrated Marten Coltrane supreme. At $250,000 a pair, it's perhaps the most expensive in the world.

Now THOSE guys are a trip. I love reading their blog from time to time.
Cant say that I agree with everything they say. Actually, some of it is just plain wrong. Sometimes think they are on something.
-->Radiohead - Amnesiac as their ultimate reference CD???? PUHLEEZE!

But their's is the definitive place to find hirez pictures of any of the HiFi shows over the last few years.
And if you want opinion on the most expensive gear in the world, that's where to find it.

Oh, and the most expensive speakers were a set from Wisdom Audio. $600,000. But as far as I can remember, they only sold 2. Go figure.

 

[Champ04]

Most expensive ever...............

I stand corrected.

http://www.higherfi.com/spkrlist/speakerlist.htm

Funny thing, I've heard several of those on the list. You'd be suprised how many sound like total crap!

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Champ04 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now THOSE guys are a trip. I love reading their blog from time to time. Cant say that I agree with everything they say. Actually, some of it is just plain wrong. Sometimes think they are on something. -->Radiohead - Amnesiac as their ultimate reference CD???? PUHLEEZE!

They're actually right up the hill from me, so it's a fun trip every once and awhile. In my opinion, they're both bat**** crazy, but in a very fun way. We talk about the last 5% here often, they're concerned mostly with the last .01%. They're obsessive over it, in fact.

I've not heard anything higher up than the Coltrane's on that list, but I'm not sure I would want to. Those expensive setups have such unnecessary fanfare more often than not. The nicest thing about using Amnesiac as a reference CD is not having to listen to organ music every time the setup tops 100k. I can't help but wonder who the real market is for those things.

 

[uzziah]

pay the band to crash in your bedroom

 

[JadeEast]

 

[heatmizer]

Good luck eq'ing that mess

 

[krmathis]

There sure might be better speakers out there, but I would take a Final 1000 any day.

 

[java]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pearljam5000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif there are so many speakers and speaker companies out there,it's damn confuisng. what are the best speakers currently available?i ofcourse will not be able to afford them...but it's nice to dream.

Firstly in which room, then with what amp, then what source, then which room treatments ..... etc. etc. etc .................... etc. etc. ...

 

[JadeEast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by heatmizer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Good luck eq'ing that mess

Thats what the Behringer Ultracurve is for.

 

[heatmizer]

That behringer specs out good but
I would use a DBX Driverack IMHO is nicer

 

[milkpowder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus /img/forum/go_quote.gif The best speakers in the world are the ones you like the best until you've heard something that you like better. Then even when you think you've heard them all and have settled on the best of the best, that same company will come out with something better. ...

I completely agree. Well said.

There are simply too many factors that go into sound reproduction apart from speakers that make it near-impossible to pick out the best pair of speakers in the world. Wayne has already highlighted quite a few of those. Hence, even from the speakers I've personally listened to, I cannot say that the most expensive of them all was the best sounding. I won't start naming them all out, but lets just say the Alexandria X-2 and Grande Utopia Be are on that list of "most expensive speakers I have listened to".

If I adhere to Wayne's 'rule' that "the best speakers in the world are the ones you like the best until you've heard something that you like better", then the best speakers in the world for me are the Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario. It is not even close to being one of those exotic multi-hundred-thousand dollar two-tower giants, yet in the right room and paired with the right gear, they sing like none other speaker I've heard. I don't doubt that the 101E sound better, but when I heard it, it didn't touch me like the Amati did.

Comparing speakers has always been something that has challenged me. It is so difficult to get the same speakers in the same room running from common front-end components and it doesn't help that I don't have an exceptionally good sonic memory of things. It is difficult coming out of an audition to remember just what I heard and not what I thought I heard.