[chadbang]

I'm almost 100 percent certain my next speaker will be Thiels. I think I'm going to try find a pair of 3.2s inexpensively. But I'll compare them with 3.6s first, thanks to your input. I've heard they have the same clean open midrange and share some attributes with Spicas that way - which are my current favourites.

 

[immtbiker]

Vienna Acoustics Strauss & Beethovens, sound better than the B&W Nautilus 801's and 802's to my ears.

 

[AdamZuf]

Y.G Acoustics, made by a guy here in israel that invited me to his lab. he sells a pair for $20,000, and he consider it very cheap.. to his words, they are really better then any Nautilus, which i never heard. they sounded crap with a bit less then good recordings.
they sounded heaven with a very good recording - the cello was tons heavy with its sadness, and had a real body that were bigger then a real cello only because of the amplification factor, i believe. imaging and depth to behind of the speakers ware insane.
they were MUCH faster then any headphone i have heard. i mean, i was thinking: "this is like %5 faster then what it should be, what's up with the source?"

if i had the money, i still wouldn't get them only because they are so unforgiving much more then anything i heard. too much hi-fi for my taste, is still want to enjoy music

 

[Canuck57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joelongwood The "best" I ever heard were in my house for all of about 2 weeks. I brought home a pair of Altec Model 19 speakers.....each about the size of a rather stout refrigerator. The sound, using Dynaco tubed equipment was incredible. And man, could they play LOUD and CLEAR! Unfortunately, my wife laid down the law......it was me or them. Well, I'm still here. Today's speaker listening (rare these days) occurs with a pair of Klipsch Forte. They have a traditional horn sound reminiscent of the Altecs. Close, but no cigar. PS....It's a helluva lot easier bringing headphones into the house.

I was picking up a second pair of large Advents (to double stack) I bought from a guy and had a listen to his Altec Model 19's...I know what you mean, they're amazing speakers, they sound effortless, the lows blend in well with the mids and highs and they're so clear. I have Klipsch Fortes as well...like you say close but no cigar...and you're right it's kind of hard for the wife to not notice new speakers!

 

[Sleestack]

Well, I loved my Eggleston Andra IIs so much, I bought five of them. They have perfect transparency through the mids, just the right amount of air in the highs and with 2 12" woofers in a 220 lb sealed enclosure, provide controlled bass that extends below 20Hz. They are incredibly balanced speakers that can handle any task with ease.

I also love my 2.2. channel setup. I wasn't that crazy about the Epiphany's alone because they could not deal with low frequencies well at all. After I paired them with TACT W210 corner load subs crossed at 250Hz, the setup provided mid and low range dynamics like no other speaker setup I've heard .The Epihnay's handle highs like a speaker with a mile of tweeters should... perfectly. The key is in the TACT room correction, but for anyone who hasn't heard corner load subs, it really opens your ears to what proper low frequency response and timing can mean for a system.

Other speakers that I really enjoyed were Piega C8 Limiteds and B&W 800Ds.

As always, manipulating room acoustics is key, especially for low frequencies.

 

[Thaddy]

I just heard some Martin Logan electrostats driven by a bunch of Krell gear last night at a Tweeter. It wasn't bad, but it could have been better. I thought it sounded kinda bright though, which was a major dissapointment.

 

[Sleestack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thaddy I just heard some Martin Logan electrostats driven by a bunch of Krell gear last night at a Tweeter. It wasn't bad, but it could have been better. I thought it sounded kinda bright though, which was a major dissapointment.

I've never like any of the MLs I have heard. Some people swear by them. You could have also been hearing a bad recording or room.

 

[Thaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleestack I've never like any of the MLs I have heard. Some people swear by them. You could have also been hearing a bad recording or room.

Yeah you could be right, but first impressions count the most

 

[Sleestack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thaddy Yeah you could be right, but first impressions count the most

Very true. I think many people audition speakers in bad environments or with poor recordings, which can result in a gross mirepresentation of the way a speaker sounds.

 

[XxATOLxX]

Its too hard to choose and the name eludes me. Especially at an audio show where your ears become fried from listening to hundreds of setups.

Therefore I will go with the JosephAudio RM25si speakers.

 

[Joey_V]

Best speakers I ever heard had to be the Wilson Maxx2 powered by Halcro DM68 monoblocks.... $150,000 system just floored me flat!

Runner ups have to be the following, in no particular order:
- Wilson Sophia powered by VTL electronics
- Martin Logan Summits powered by Rotel RB1090 and Classe 400
- Wilson WP7 powered by even more expensive VTL electronics
- BW 802D powered by Rotel RB1090
- BW803D powered by Rotel RB1090

OK speakers:
- Onix Reference 3 powered by Dodd monoblocks
- Sonus Faber Concerto/Concertino
- Martin Logan Mosaics powered by Rotel RB1070
- Polk LSi series (15/9)
- Onix Reference 1
- Onix Rocket 850S
- Raw Acoustics LS8
- Paradigm S2
- Thiel 2.4C
- Paradigm S8
- BW 804S/703
- JM Labs 918 Focal

So-so speakers:
- Polk LSi7
- Axiom M22
- BW 60x series
- Any Klipsch speaker (RF35/RB25/RB15/B2/F3/F2/F1... etc...)
- Von Schweikert VR4jr powered by DK electronics

Meh speakers:
- Athena speakers
- JBL speakers
- Infinity Primus
- Polk Monitor series

Bleh:
- Yamaha speakers (NS series)
- Infinity Beta

 

[tom hankins]

Heard the Thiel CS7.2s last week....really nice. So nice I bought a pr., hopefully they will be here by next friday.

 

[Jbucla2005]

I haven't had to pleasure of hearing a lot of really good speakers but the best I heard was Vandersteen 2Ce's. I thought the overall presentation was very life-like, especially timbre of instruments was very convincing. Very black background, too. Overall presentation is on the dark side. Pretty much made my jaw drop when I heard them.

 

[immtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joey_V Best speakers I ever heard had to be the Wilson Maxx2 powered by Halcro DM68 monoblocks.... $150,000 system just floored me flat!

I have a friend with this exact system except he has Watt Puppy 7's in the rear and a Watchdog sub and a Watch center in a dedicated home theater room. The Halcros and the Maxx2's in 2 channel mode with dCS equipment have the most incredible mids and swetest highs I've ever heard but the bass was lacking with the sub turned off. The room was really over-dampened but for the money the Wilson's bass was disappointing. Also, as per Wilson's instructions...you had to space the speakers in one position only (I believe 9.2 feet) and you had to be triangulated an exact amount of feet away. That's a very limited sweet spot for the money.

The Focal Grand Utopias (not the BE's) that another friend of mine has with Jadis components allow you to sit anywhere in the room and still hear a pretty accurate soundstage.

With every pre-2005 Martin Logan that I've spent some serious time with (from $2700- $12K) if you moved the slightest bit the soundstage falls apart.
Impossible for more than 1 person to use as a home theater.

 

[darkninja67]

Hales Transcendence 8. I recall just sitting there real quite with big grin on my face.