[mresseguie]

I've recently stumbled upon the existence of a couple pairs of speakers, so I figured I'd mention them here to see if anyone has heard of them or <even possibly> heard them.

Pair number one: Vestlyd 12C or 15C. https://vestlyd.com/collections/all-products

I have not heard them nor even seen them. I don't know anything other than what the website says. There only seem to be European dealers.

Number two: Van Zyl Audio (Texas) https://vanzylaudio.com/

I listened to a Youtube video of these speakers. The sound quality sounded very good considering I don't normally find YT videos to sound exceptional. It was because the audio was so good that I actually emailed the owner/manufacturer to ask him about his speakers. I asked if he planned to display at Pacific Audio Fest. He's considering it.

If I lived anywhere near Garland, TX, I'd probably drive there for an audition. Alas, Oregon (or even Taiwan) isn't exactly in the neighborhood. The speakers are funky looking enough that getting my wife to accept them in the living room would be a challenge.

Number three: A little over a year ago, I became interested in buying a pair of JBL 4343 speakers. These are BIG speakers. I was delighted to hear a pair at the Taipei Audio show that I attended in December, 2022. Unfortunately, a pair of these tend to be very expensive, so I didn't really expect to ever own a pair. Then, I discovered that Troels Gravesen has developed a few different speakers of similar design, which he has named "3WC" series speakers. After much research and dripping of saliva, I decided that I was going to commission a pair of the Faital 3WC-15 speakers - even though I know my wife would practically s#!t her pants in shock at their size. http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/Faital-3WC-15.htm

Just before I initiated the order, I stumbled upon a Canuck Audiomart ad for a pair of smaller, but similar 3WC speakers.
 https://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/650077090-troels-gravesen-sbacoustics-3-way-classic-in-white-oak-replaced-harbeth-super-hl5-plus-xd/

They will be delivered to my home this Thursday or Friday. Unfortunately, I won't be able to listen to them for another 6 weeks. 

What interesting speakers have you seen or heard recently?

Michael

[FullRangeMan]

Its been a long time since I have heard any interesting speakers, there is a flood of boxed speakers with crossovers and tweeters on the market or more of the same. Speakers are built to be beautiful, sound quality does not matter.

[JLM]

The JBL 708P's I owned were the best all around loudspeakers I've ever heard/owned.  Active 2-way with 8 inch woofer and horn loaded compression tweeter in an 11 inch x 13 inch x 20 inch black box.  40 - 25,000 Hz, relatively efficient. 

[mresseguie]

The JBL 708P's I owned were the best all around loudspeakers I've ever heard/owned.  Active 2-way with 8 inch woofer and horn loaded compression tweeter in an 11 inch x 13 inch x 20 inch black box.  40 - 25,000 Hz, relatively efficient.

I recall your posts about these speakers, but I never had a chance to hear any of the speakers in this line. If they were so pleasing, what possessed you to sell them? [I know we audiophiles have been known to sell gear we love only to deeply regret it later. ]

[TomS]

No doubt the Dutch & Dutch 8c's, which I do own. In a single word "amazing". Legitimately full range, clean, very easy and flexible close to the wall placement, and simple to use with just an ethernet input as a Roon endpoint. Nothing else is needed, though I still use a preamp and dac for vinyl.
https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/dutch_dutch_8c/

I also have the Theoretica Applied Physics Bacch4Mac integrated in, which as entirely different topic.

[mresseguie]

Dutch & Dutch 8c....Oh, my... I've heard nothing but great things about these speakers.

I'd love to listen to a pair someday. Or perhaps not. I can just imagine my wife asking me, "What happened to the $13,000 that used to be in our savings account?"  Just kidding. For absolutely certain, she would force me to sell my Daedalus Audio Apollos....and I'm not ready to do that. OTOH, being able to sell my amps and preamp might work....Well, someday I'll find a pair to listen to. Then, I can worry about what I will or will not do.

[mresseguie]

Another speaker that has me intrigued was designed by Scott Hinson and is called the Multiple Entry Horns speaker (MEH). Unless I'm mistaken it is an open source design meaning anyone can build it if they have the woodworking skills.

[Early B.]

I think you've arrived at the point where you can commission the build of a pair of statement speakers based on your listening preferences, aesthetics, size, and bad-assitivity. You have all the help that you need right here on AC. 

[Freo-1]

I'm a big supporter of ATC speakers.  They make some of the best drivers available.  They also have excellent distortion and SPL specs.  There's a very good reason ATC speakers are in many of the recording/mastering studios. 

[mresseguie]

I think you've arrived at the point where you can commission the build of a pair of statement speakers based on your listening preferences, aesthetics, size, and bad-assitivity. You have all the help that you need right here on AC.

Howdy, Early B!

You are absolutely correct. I may just follow your advice, but I get to have some fun along the way as I discover interesting speakers which just might fit my needs as well. Whichever pair of speakers I finally decide upon will reside in my flat in Taiwan. For a couple of security reasons, I wish to avoid spending a lot of money on my vacation system so long as there remains a possibility it could fall victim to sticky hands during my absence. [sticky = stolen by an extended family member...Yeah. That is a possibility. ]

If we lived here full time, I'd be much more willing to have 'forever' speakers in the living room. Kit speakers can be very good quality sound-wise and can be built here to save a lot of money. Importing anything audio runs the risk of being hit with a 21% import duty in addition to outrageous shipping charges. 



Michael

[FullRangeMan]

I think you've arrived at the point where you can commission the build of a pair of statement speakers based on your listening preferences, aesthetics, size, and bad-assitivity. You have all the help that you need right here on AC.

+1.
I would add this speaker would be matched to your favorite amp.
To small tube amps 16Ω speakers is a easy load (the way to go), 8Ω speaker are suited to SolidState amps IMO.

[richidoo]

I've been basking in the luxurious and inspiring marketing universe of Genelec this past two weeks. Wooden rowboat with monitor as passenger on Finland lake. Friends camping and laughing with the monitor hangin around beside the campfire with them. Surround mastering studios right out of architectural digest with a cloud of dozens of $5000 monitors in orbit around his head. Hundreds of short testimonial videos by famous users. Even Amir from ASR, who hates everything and everyone, blew his wad over their flagship monitor (the one in the rowboat.) Erin reviewing their small model "excellent!"

I was hiding behind "too bad there's no dealer in my city so I can't hear them" when I saw a Genelec marketing video from 3 years ago of their US marketing guy brought 3 models to a local recording studio/music store about 20 miles away from me. They still use the Genelec in their Studio A and their motto is "try before you buy, call us and we'll find a way to get it into your system" Oh shit! This is getting dangerous! So I called a friend who has heard just about every high end cutting edge constant directivity design of the last decade but he uses something else, so I was hoping he would say hell no Genelec is shit! But he said he heard it long ago but doesn't remember details. 

Now I'm to the point of desperation where I'm counting how many pairs of speakers I already have, and what will I do with them if I get more. Why do I need different speakers? Why do I need so many speakers? What's wrong with the pairs I already have? Maybe sell them all because these new ones are better than the others? Maybe sell it all and buy a _____ instead. I was once happy with Radio Shack Minimus7 and little stereo Onkyo receiver, what happened to me?

Fortunately, my wife remembered I mentioned Genelec to her, and she saw a video on my feed with the picture of the ugliest Genelec setup you can imagine, and asked me in horror, "is that what you're thinking about getting?"
Relieved, I said, "yeah those are ugly AF right?"
"Yes, they are ugly AF." 
My wife, the one constant voice of reason in my life, among the din of devils in my ear. Do it! Do it! Do it! 

Now, after 2 weeks of saturation marketing exposure I think the fever is starting to subside a little, but now I kinda want to call them to see about a demo. What can it hurt? Hmm this feels kinda familiar, Deja Vu?

[TomS]

I've been basking in the luxurious and inspiring marketing universe of Genelec this past two weeks. Wooden rowboat with monitor as passenger on Finland lake. Friends camping and laughing with the monitor hangin around beside the campfire with them. Surround mastering studios right out of architectural digest with a cloud of dozens of $5000 monitors in orbit around his head. Hundreds of short testimonial videos by famous users. Even Amir from ASR, who hates everything and everyone, blew his wad over their flagship monitor (the one in the rowboat.) Erin reviewing their small model "excellent!"

I was hiding behind "too bad there's no dealer in my city so I can't hear them" when I saw a Genelec marketing video from 3 years ago of their US marketing guy brought 3 models to a local recording studio/music store about 20 miles away from me. They still use the Genelec in their Studio A and their motto is "try before you buy, call us and we'll find a way to get it into your system" Oh shit! This is getting dangerous! So I called a friend who has heard just about every high end cutting edge constant directivity design of the last decade but he uses something else, so I was hoping he would say hell no Genelec is shit! But he said he heard it long ago but doesn't remember details. 

Now I'm to the point of desperation where I'm counting how many pairs of speakers I already have, and what will I do with them if I get more. Why do I need different speakers? Why do I need so many speakers? What's wrong with the pairs I already have? Maybe sell them all because these new ones are better than the others? Maybe sell it all and buy a _____ instead. I was once happy with Radio Shack Minimus7 and little stereo Onkyo receiver, what happened to me?

Fortunately, my wife remembered I mentioned Genelec to her, and she saw a video on my feed with the picture of the ugliest Genelec setup you can imagine, and asked me in horror, "is that what you're thinking about getting?"
Relieved, I said, "yeah those are ugly AF right?"
"Yes, they are ugly AF." 
My wife, the one constant voice of reason in my life, among the din of devils in my ear. Do it! Do it! Do it! 

Now, after 2 weeks of saturation marketing exposure I think the fever is starting to subside a little, but now I kinda want to call them to see about a demo. What can it hurt? Hmm this feels kinda familiar, Deja Vu?

Do it

[mresseguie]

I've got two updates. The first is about a Chinese speaker that I learned of just yesterday. The company name behind it is Paiyon (pronounced 'pie yawn'). They (or their one of their suppliers) has developed a clone of the famous ATC mid-dome. [I have no idea if this clone is wonderful sounding or a turd. It looks like the ATC mid-dome.]

Link: https://www.china-hifi-audio.com/paiyon-hifi-audio-speaker-c-60/paiyon-p83-hifi-passive-bookshelf-loudspeaker-8-inch-audiophile-speakers-pair-p-2452?zenid=sv2earr0miadfvm3tv9eivk1f7

The second update concerns the pair of Troels Gravesen speakers that I bought. They were delivered about 3 weeks ago. I'll post photos in a day or two, so you can see what they look like. All I can say is "I'm so f@cking glad I insisted they be shipped with full insurance." Yeah. Let that sentence echo through your mind.

The seller shipped them in the same shipping containers from when he bought the speakers. With a modicum of care, the speakers should have arrived without incident. However, based on the photos of the containers that arrived at my address, someone at the shipping company must have thrown them off a second story balcony in order to destroy the original packaging. That same someone repackaged the one of the speakers in what can only be described as a Frankenstein container. Your imagination cannot prepare you for how this speaker was delivered. The other speaker was loosely placed in an oversized cardboard box that was rated for 45 pounds - even though the speaker weighs 60 pounds.

The seller has been fantastically helpful with pushing the shipper to accept responsibility for causing the damage. I anticipate receiving a full refund soon. I'll find out in a couple weeks if they can be repaired or if they're junk door stops.

[bacobits1]

Awww sorry Michael. Always the worse case scenario on shipping anything.

[JLM]

Still enjoying my Buchardt A500SE/Primare SC15 setup.  The Bucharest are 7" x 14" x 11" sealed cabinets, containing a 0.75" large waveguide loaded tweeter, a front Purifi 6.5" mid/woofer, and a rear mounted 6.5" Purifi woofer in a separate enclosure.  The A500SE's are active monitors, connected via wireless or XLR.  Rated 25-40,000 Hz, baby Kii Three's, they include a DAC, EQ, and "Master Tunings".  The SC15 is a streamer and wireless transmitter. 

[Jon L]

There is apparently one for sale currently 
https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1chat7y/comment/l23pldi/