Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard

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mort

Im just curious to hear what A/Cer's were blown away by. Include amps if you so desire and where you auditioned them. For me I have experienced so many over the years Including Wilson Audios Flagship Alexandria 25's , B&W Nautilus and Nautilus scm1's along with the 800 series over the years. I wont forget the maggies Particularily the 20.1 system. Mcintosh impresed me with their 2000 watt xrt2k combined with their largest amp's. Because of the unanimus A/C  support of VMPS and Salk I have in the past three years had listinings, the song towers particularily impressed. It is still not hard to decide, I love Martin Logans particularily the most impresive speakers I have listend to would be the Prodigy's or Odysseys. Any electrostat they produce even there entry level designs sound spectacular. Mabey it's that electrostat sound, Imaging, sound staging and attack that grabs me, I am sold. I have never listend to the statement e-two's but would pay good money to hear them.

Audiophiliac

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Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #1 on: 6 Mar 2010, 06:10 am »
I have my short list from the years. In no particular order,

B&W Silver Signature
Krell LAT-2
Wilson MAXX 2
Vandersteen 1, 2, 3, etc
Martin Logan Prodigy
Zu Druid MKIV

mfsoa

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #2 on: 6 Mar 2010, 12:39 pm »
Can't recall the exact model, but if other Ravers see this the'll know.

Ascendo, I think the C2 model?  At Audio 202 in Far Hills NJ.

And now Brett says he has much better electronics in front of them.  :o

Yowzers

-Mike

2bigears

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #3 on: 6 Mar 2010, 02:45 pm »
 :D  Ascendo C8's are all the talk ???? big sales right now.... :thumb: :D

nature boy

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #4 on: 6 Mar 2010, 03:05 pm »
Best I have heard are Vandersteen Model 7's. 

NB

zybar

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Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #5 on: 6 Mar 2010, 03:35 pm »
Not sure if they are "the best", but the Magico M6's were pretty darn good...

I have heard them on multiple occasions at Goodwins and have walked away wondering how I can get my system to sound like that.

http://www.ultraaudio.com/opinion/20090301.htm

George

mcullinan

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #6 on: 6 Mar 2010, 03:37 pm »
Ascendo M-S

jtwrace

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toobluvr

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #8 on: 6 Mar 2010, 03:39 pm »
Can't recall the exact model, but if other Ravers see this the'll know.

Ascendo, I think the C2 model?  At Audio 202 in Far Hills NJ.

And now Brett says he has much better electronics in front of them.  :o

Yowzers

-Mike

I didn't hear the Ascendos when I was there,  I was on a mission.   8)   But Brett tells me my Sunny's are his speaker of choice to simply relax into music, and what he would personally own.

Maybe a sales pitch?     :scratch:  :o   :thumb:

mcullinan

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #9 on: 6 Mar 2010, 03:41 pm »
Interesting... Lots of German speakers.

jtwrace

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Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #10 on: 6 Mar 2010, 03:42 pm »
Interesting... Lots of German speakers.

Like cars, they know how to design / build stuff.   :drool:

jackman

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #11 on: 6 Mar 2010, 06:45 pm »
I've heard several and it's hard to pick a favorite.  Large Wisdom Adrenaline speakers with Krell and Rowland amps at my crazy cousin's house (cousin through marriage, not technically related).  They sounded big and impressive but the music choices were not to my liking.  Also, these were my first exposure to high-end speakers in a home setting.  I'm not kidding about the "crazy".  This guy was married to my cousin (she is a sweetheart with two beautiful kids) and without her knowlege or consent he completely wiped out her 401K, stopped paying morgage (foreclosed last year), stopped making car payments (it was reposessed) and spent over $75K on the most kick-ass system I have ever seen in a home.  Don't know where the system is or where he is (probably living in the boxes those speakers came in) but I know several other cousins who would like to get their hands on him (different story!).  He might have been crazy, and will never be a contender for "dad of the year" but he put together a great sounding system. 

Large Magnepan MG20.1's in a dedicated room.  Never heard these with rock or contemporary music, just jazz and classical.  Also, the owner was older and he played music at lower levels than I typically do.  Midrange response was the best I have ever heard. Ever.  Bass was better than I expected and overall sound was magic. If I ever have a house big enough (oh, and the $$$) for several systems, that house will have a dedicated Maggie room.  They might not sound like live music (they sounded "bigger" than live music) but I love the way they sound.

Bambergaudio Series 5's (I think that's what they call the new model).  The ones I heard at Steve's house driven by his MASSIVE (I'm not joking about this) Class A, DIY versions of Pass amps (they have giant CNN machined aluminum plates and each amp weighs over 100 lbs) were truly amazing and memorable.  I remember where I was sitting when he hit "play" on the CDP.  Phil B knows how to make speakers that sound great from top to bottom.  The bass on these speakers is what really stood out but the mids and highs were as holographic as I have ever heard.  I have similar speakers and thought they sounded pretty darn good, but Steve's system sounded much better.  We listened to jazz, blues, rock and they never sounded less than stellar, even at very high levels. For the money, I have not heard anything that compares to the speakers I heard that day.  I still can't figure out why these guys don't get more exposure because they make excellent speakers. :scratch:

mort

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #12 on: 6 Mar 2010, 07:09 pm »
Ascendo M-S
interesting All of the Ascendo line seem to share a version (exept for the wave guide, same spects) as the ribbon tweets in my sunfire cinema ribbon dou's a tweeter developed by Sunfire based on the amazing loudspeaker ribbon by Bob Carver. $35-$75 on partsonline. That loudspeaker retails for $45000!!

John151

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Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #13 on: 6 Mar 2010, 07:23 pm »
1) Magnepan 3.6
2) Nomad Audio Ronin

Nuance

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #14 on: 6 Mar 2010, 07:25 pm »
Vandersteen 5A's.  I wish I could hear the 7's. 

mcgsxr

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #15 on: 6 Mar 2010, 07:29 pm »
Genesis Model 1.1 in Taipei in a music store (!) amazed me, with big Usher ss amps.

Maggie's on VTL tube amps were a moving experience too.

Dynaudio Evidence Temptation with Cary amps and front end was nice in a local store.


TheChairGuy

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #16 on: 6 Mar 2010, 08:12 pm »
Maggie 3.6's at CES/The Show a few years ago. 

I cannot remember the gear before it, but man it made nice sound  8)

I owned modded MMG's at the time...and it was there I realized the difference(s) were pretty substantial between the real ribbon tweeter 3.6 (and 20.1) and the lower end of their series with quasi-ribbons.

What gorgeous, heavenly sound it was :guitar:

John
« Last Edit: 7 Mar 2010, 03:24 am by TheChairGuy »

nonoise

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Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #17 on: 6 Mar 2010, 08:31 pm »
Tonian Classic 12.1 S at Acoustic Image in Studio City, Ca. It was at a gathering of the LA/OC Audiophile Society (I am not a member). I went to meet Tony Minasian (the designer) and retrieve my CD I had left there when I demo'd the TL-D1s  (which I bought) and was blown away, seduced, lulled and captivated when I heard the Classics. Needless to say, I stayed there for the better part of a couple of hours. Those PHY drivers are the finest I've ever heard.

2bigears

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #18 on: 6 Mar 2010, 08:53 pm »
 :D  some of these speakers are north 50 grand....the Maggie 3.6's are 5 grand and i do like them as they are in my basement with 1.1KW's feeding them.a good source makes them sing sweet without a doubt.highs and mids to kill for,not bad for a 20 year old design.you do need a sub or two if your rockin'. :thumb: :D


jakelieb

Re: Name the finest pair of loud speakers you have heard
« Reply #19 on: 6 Mar 2010, 09:01 pm »
Quad ESL-2905 with BAT electronics and Merrill turntable with Dynavector arm and cartridge.