[SoundGame]

I understand that a number of well-known speaker companies tend to design on the basis of careful testing that came out of the National Research Council.

Wikipedia:..."the NRC has been highly influential in the field of audio. A great deal of research at the NRC has gone into the designs of many popular speakers from Canadian speaker manufacturers like PSB Speakers, Energy Loudspeakers and Paradigm Electronics. Some of their research has also influenced speaker designs around the world."

There is more about this on the Axiom site:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/NRC.html

Dave

Yes, that's true Dave, though Energy is no-longer "Canadian" bought out by Klipsch a number of years back with the Canadian production line closed and moved to China.  I don't believe with the current Energy lines that there is much stict adherance to the NRT learnings.  My Dad does own a pair of Energy Pro22 Reference Monitors, built here in Canada in the mid/late 80's about 10 minutes from my home.  They still do sound quite wonderful - especially in the mid-range.

[Sasha]

Yes, that's true Dave, though Energy is no-longer "Canadian" bought out by Klipsch a number of years back with the Canadian production line closed and moved to China.  I don't believe with the current Energy lines that there is much stict adherance to the NRT learnings.  My Dad does own a pair of Energy Pro22 Reference Monitors, built here in Canada in the mid/late 80's about 10 minutes from my home.  They still do sound quite wonderful - especially in the mid-range.

Had a pair of Energy Pro22, just wonderful.

[Rclark]

Magnepan MG 1.7's - mate them up with a good sub or two and it seriously approaches state of the art.

james

Don't forget the quintessential giant killer, the Magnepan MMG. Heck I've seen it several times listed as such in magazines.

[JLM]

I think "little" when the term giant killer comes up, so here's a couple of suggestions:

Paradigm Active 20's (no longer made  ).  For the same $1600 price they easily matched the Studio 80, but had amps built in.  Very dynamic, flat frequency response, and mind blowing bass from a 2-way standmount.

Ascend Acoustics CBM-170's.  $350/pair, standard finish is crummy, but the overall value extreme.  Very musical, image like champs.  Of course you'll need to add a sub (Ascend bundles with Rythmik subs).

[ronman]

I started off with a set of Paradigm Studio 60's (v.4). Then I demo'd the Paradigm S8's against them for a laugh. A week later I bought those same S8's coz they were that good. Great big piano black totum poles as some of my mates call them. Still got the S8's, but I stripped out all the factory wiring and replaced it with Audioquest Rocket 44 (left the original cross overs alone). What a lovely affordable upgrade the wiring change made. You keep hearing about "veils" being lifted, well the rewired S8 went from "hmmmm...lovely" to "wow that is good". Got the matching Paradigm Signature ADP's and center channel which were also rewired. If I knew how to add photographs in here I would post a picture of the system. 

[Mag]

To post a picture click on the image icon below the letter B. Then select your picture by selecting browse and open image file on your computer. Then click upload, when done, click preview to see if photo uploaded. If everything is good, click Post.

[racerxnet]

For a measly $2500.00 used, the Infinity RS1A cannot be beat at 10x the price. Deep bass down to 25 hz.Replacement Emims from Graz if need for future proofing. Great imaging, separation, and holographic reproduction if set up properly.

MAK

[ronman]

Thanks Mag !!     Left the camera's at work. Will post a photograph tomorrow!

[vegasdave]

For a measly $2500.00 used, the Infinity RS1A cannot be beat at 10x the price. Deep bass down to 25 hz.Replacement Emims from Graz if need for future proofing. Great imaging, separation, and holographic reproduction if set up properly.

MAK

Wow, that's a lot of speaker for the money.

[joey116]

For a measly $2500.00 used, the Infinity RS1A cannot be beat at 10x the price. Deep bass down to 25 hz.Replacement Emims from Graz if need for future proofing. Great imaging, separation, and holographic reproduction if set up properly.

MAK

Are these the same pair that you are selling on Audiogon ?

[vegasdave]

[jimdgoulding]

The following wet my whistle for my size room from least expensive to the most I'm willing to pay, Fritz carbon driver two-way stand mounts, DeVore Gibbons Nines, Reference 3A Grand Veenas.  If money were no option I'd throw in a '55 Lotus Elite if I could find one, too, with the money I saved from buying super elite stuff.  I pity the fool who can't find musical nirvana in a speaker for less than 8k.  If I had a bigger room, I'd have a listen to some Mag 3.7's, also.  I'm not stuck on a particular method.

Later, as I was uncorking another vino I had an afterfart.  Apologies for generalizing.  A problem for forums is that we may not all have the same tastes in music or anything else for that matter.  I don't listen to music generally that requires a clean reproduction or dynamic swings of, say, 120spl, but you may.  Or, subterranean bass, but you may.  Again, apologies for generalizing.  Ya'll be cool.   

[DaveNote]

A problem for forums is that we may not all have the same tastes in music or anything else for that matter.

Amen to that!!!

That is a fact about all forums, and this one is not immune to the insidious conviction held by some members that they are holders of eternal truths.

Many thanks for the reminder that in audio equipment, as in music, everyone has different preferences and needs, and that the benefit in forums is to share those differences.

Dave

[Rocket]

Hi,

I would second Dennis Murphy's Philharmonic 3's which sell for $1600US and use a raal ribbon.  Unbelievable at that price.

Cheers Rod

[ajayrav]

ACI Sapphire XLs.  Just love these speakers....For around $1600 that I paid, these were a steal.

Ajay

[srb]

I would second Dennis Murphy's Philharmonic 3's which sell for $1600US and use a raal ribbon.  Unbelievable at that price.

The Philharmonic 1 is $1600 and uses a Fountek Neo3 ribbon.  The Philharmonic 2 substitutes a RAAL for the Fountek and is $2000.  (The Philharmonic 3 with a ScanSpeak Revelator woofer and custom cabinetry is $3000)

Steve

[rmurray]

 I would still like to have those old Voice of the Theater units by Altec-Lansing.

[ec]

Back in the 70's the Dynaco A70's were the "giant killers".  I think they sold for $88 pair back in the early / mid 70's.  My dad had a pair.  I grabbed another two pair from my uncle and used these vintage speakers for a 5 ch set up for my first home theater in the late 90's early 2000.  These speakers were good and still highly sought out today.  I knew they were good when I replaced them with a three letter brand speaker that gets talked about here a lot,  Yes the new speakers were "better" but surprisingly not as much as I would think considering they are three decades newer and a few thousand more.

[JfTM]

Speaking of the NRC; Radius.

And, although no link that I'm aware of to the NRC, of course Minimus 7s.

[chrisby]

I'm with JLM - "giant killers" makes me think of tiny & cheap - so a short list of commercial products would include in no particular order EPI 50, small Advent, little Tangents (can't remember the model#), Spica SC50i (well, not so relatively cheap at the time), and certainly not least Dynaco/SEAS  A25s  ($80 ea when first introduced in '69 - cheaper than some of the stands on which they might have be placed) 

of course some of us DIYers would say "anything I build"