[jamvanman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif In terms of absolute success, reputation and respect I don't think that there is a single loudspeaker which can touch the Quad ESL 57.

Interesting. I was quite disappointed with the Quad's also having heard a lot about them. Personally, I prefer the sound of the Magneplanar MG20s to the Quad's and for slam, the Wilson Sophia's (haven't heard any of the bigger Wilson speakers).

 

[tbonner1]

Davidny
Thanks for the story.

I did not think any of the Levinson "projects" after he sold his company aspired to his original mission. Many of the Red Rose music products are rebadged chinese goods such as the Arum Cantus speakers. They are musical, but the price is what bothers me.

He told me in the 70's his products were like Patek watches

ne of the few things mortals could buy that were designed and built with a cost no object approach. How is that for elitist thinking?

 

[DavidNY]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbonner1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Davidny Thanks for the story. I did not think any of the Levinson "projects" after he sold his company aspired to his original mission. Many of the Red Rose music products are rebadged chinese goods such as the Arum Cantus speakers. They are musical, but the price is what bothers me. He told me in the 70's his products were like Patek watches ne of the few things mortals could buy that were designed and built with a cost no object approach. How is that for elitist thinking?

Mark is an idea person. Fortunately for him he had many bright engineers designing his equipment at MLAS and Cello which are still coveted today by some audiophiles because of their exceptional design and workmanship. But his more recent efforts, Red Rose and Burwin Bobcat, leave much to be desired.

One of the fun things about this hobby is the people you get to meet.

 

[UltimaNoctis]

The Snell THX Music & Cinema reference Towers designed by Kevin Voecks in 1998 for George Lucas. used in the KSS $6 million cinema.
 
Best speakers in the world.
 

 

[trevorlane]

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/270280/stop-recommending-gear-you-ve-never-heard-rant-warning

 

[tws1]

Surely, this is why this thread is on a headphone forum
 
There are way too many variables with speakers! Room type, how well they are set up, flooring material, air density, bass traps (whatever these are), and now concrete tunnels.... At least all headphone lovers have to deal with is an amplifier and cans, maybe the cable...
 
+1 for the rant about recommending gear you have never heard!The best speakers are any that sound amazing to you, but look like a million dollars!

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbonner1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Davidny Thanks for the story. I did not think any of the Levinson "projects" after he sold his company aspired to his original mission. Many of the Red Rose music products are rebadged chinese goods such as the Arum Cantus speakers. They are musical, but the price is what bothers me. He told me in the 70's his products were like Patek watches ne of the few things mortals could buy that were designed and built with a cost no object approach. How is that for elitist thinking?

Mark is an idea person. Fortunately for him he had many bright engineers designing his equipment at MLAS and Cello which are still coveted today by some audiophiles because of their exceptional design and workmanship. But his more recent efforts, Red Rose and Burwin Bobcat, leave much to be desired.

One of the fun things about this hobby is the people you get to meet.

 
I have only read a single interview with Mr Levinson, and I have to say that he came off as something of a hypocrite in print. He claimed that some cable manufacturers should be in jail for fraud based on the claims they make about their insanely priced products (no argument from me), but that sounded a tad 'rich' (!) coming from a man who seems to consider that his name alone is worth an extra 10K on any component he chooses to bestow it upon.
 
 

 

[preferred user]

Every body knows it's Bose      

 

[wuwhere]

I heard ML's Cello system back in the mid-'90s at his Manhattan place. Still the most impressive system I've ever heard. Not an ideal room. No room treatments. After that I never believed in room treatments again.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

The Snell THX Music & Cinema reference Towers designed by Kevin Voecks in 1998 for George Lucas. used in the KSS $6 million cinema.
 
Best speakers in the world.
 

 
No they are not. They might be the biggest and the loudest, but that doesn't mean anything. In my personal experience, the Arrakis is untouchable. Andy Payor is a genius, and you hear that in every Rockport, right down to the most basic models. You only need a single pair, not 16 and ten hundred billion watts of power so you can play the Matrix bullet sequence and blow people's eardrums out.
 
There are also a few others that I think are near the top - NOLA's Reference series, Tidal, and though I have not heard them, Magico - based on reputation.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I'll throw in with Linkwitz' Orion3. Linkwitz genuinely knows his stuff and has subjected the design to relentless review and evaluation.

You have to DIY them, but there's significant measurements and hard data backing them up.

 

[Frank I]

I have never heard a best speaker in the world. I have owned many great high end speakers. DCM Time Windows,Genesis V, Revel,PSB,Magneplanar and B@W and now Omega's. They were all great speakers. I have heard Genesis 11, Revel Salon., Avolon Eidolon, YBA,Wilson and many others. In every system they were all great the best system I heard was the Genesis !! being driven by a Cat preamp, Cat Mono  block triode amps, Theta Generation V with a n Accuphase transport in an acoustically treated room. I was in the room with the musicians. But the Best term referred to the entire system, There is no best speaker in the world there are many many great speakers but if not setup with the proper electronics they will not sound anything more than average.

 

[FoxSpirit]

I wanna pitch the Quadral Titan on behalf of the absolutely best price/performance ratio. Plus the ribbon tweeter makes for an excellent emission-characteristic (is that the english word?) so the ceiling is much less influental than with a regular round-emission tweeter. Sure, it's no Grande Utopia or the likes but we are talking about a really, really good speaker.
Generally I find Quadral to offer an incredible P/P ratio when compared to many other manufacturers. *glares at Dynaudio and B&W*
 
But to be honest, the really, really best no-holds-barred speaker still is this:
http://www.royaldevice.com/custom.htm
 
I promise

 

[FinBenton]

Im quessing some 100k€ Genelec big studio monitorsetups which are carefully tuned for the room and equipment, cant get much better than that.

 

[El_Doug]

$5k speakers in a proper room will trump any $ speakers you put in your untreated, hardwood floored, square-shaped family room with a cutout in one wall, a glass door in the other, and a crooked ceiling