[JLM]

Good, even great sound should be achievable at some price so for me overwhelming means high value and surprisingly good.

I'd vote for the Clari-T too, but the Teac AL700P (30 wpc, 3 channel Tripath amp) is even more overwhelming (5 times the power at 1/5th the price).  It lacks tight bass, but does so much else right.

Another Red Wine Audio product, the non-battery modded Squeeze Box 3 (at his introductory price of $378) is amazingly good (but with all the postings here it wasn't all that surprising).

My $1600/pair Bob Brines FTA-2000 speakers amaze me for the price.  90 pound, floorstanding mass loaded transmission line, that use the mighty Fostex F200A driver (30 - 20,000 Hz).  The drivers alone are $375 each, but they provide a wonderful sound (not the typical thin/midrange heavy single driver effect).  The bass fills the room with deep, musical bass like only tranmission lines can do.

The Ascend Acoustics CBM-170s are super standmounted speakers for $328/pair.  I bought them for HT (a low priority, so I didn't mind going out on a limb, I picked them up before the e-zine awards.)  Very high content value, wonderful sound down to 70 Hz.  Very musical and image like champs.

[Feanor]

It was many years ago, (circa 1974), that I heard a pair of Ohm F full range Walsh driver speakers.  That was one of the few times I was really astonished by what I heard.  I bought those speakers a year or so later though they were for me at the time very expensive, Cdn$1300.

Foolishly I sold them around 1981 to buy a pair of B&W DM7's.  They were pretty good but since came to regret giving up the Ohm F's very much.

After the Ohm's my next biggest revelation was listening to a pair of Monarchy SM-70 Pro class A monoblock amps about 2 years ago.  They were a huge increase in resolution and transparency as well as bass accuracy over the NAD C270 I was using at the time.  What they proved to me was that there was a world of higher-fi above entry level products.  I didn't buy them but my present Bel Canto eVo which I haven't regretted.

[SCUBADON]

Boston Acustics Receptor AM/FM clock radio.  This thing is about 4"x8"x6".  It has a very good FM tuner, and an amazing 3" speaker.  It sells for $150 at Best Buy.  You will not beleive the sound from this little clock radio!

[Hantra]

The midrange on Quad electrostatics.  Mind blowing IMHO.

Thanks
Bill

Same here.  In fact, the most overwhelming system I've heard was a pair of 989's with the Halcro monos.  

Never really ever heard anything more terrifyingly real.

[Scott F.]

There is one system that has never left my head. It was a pair of Classic Audio Reproductions Hartsfields with the TAD drivers being driven by a pair of DeHavilland 845 SET monoblocks. It was clean, clear, had stunning bass, was lighting fast and had the best dynamics dynamics I've heard.

There is something special about horns and SETs that produce magic (for me anyway). Add a good vinyl rig to the front end and I'm in heaven.

Live (amlipified) music, I'd have to say it was the Blue Man Group Complex tour. They were using the (then) new JBL VerTek VT monitors and the VT subs. I didn't get to peak at the amplification but the amps were super clean without an once of grain. Lord only knows how many watts they were pushing but at the SPLs they were playing (without clipping) it could easily been 20 to 30k watts.

[dave_c]

Avantgarde's driven by full BAT setup at SF HE show 2 years ago.  They turned it up while playing The Wall and when the helicopter flew in it freaked me out.

[Bemopti123]

About 18 years ago I heard the following:

Sumo Athena driving a Sumo Andromeda II, combined with a non descript

CDP, most likely a large Denon unit into

1-Energy 22 Connoiseur (strange, large two way monitor with built in

pedestal)...the sound was very inviting, clear, not harsh at all with

unbelievable bass....

2-Infinity Kappa 9s which produced heart chest pounding bass, also with

some incredibly real, and alive vocals that until this day I have not heard

surpassed in any level.

Recently....around Fall of 2000

A system consisting of

SFL-2 Sonic Frontiers first generation top of the line, with a set of NOS

Amperex white labels

a Nakamichi PA-7 (circa 1988)

with the digital front end being:

A black box Panasonic DVD player as transport into a

Bel Canto DAC-1.0

all driving a pair of Gershman X-1s on a pair of Osiris 24" pedestals...


This system had drive and rhythm to spare, as well as slamm and

emotional involvement that belied the components used.  Someday I might

reconstruct this set up again.  It was one of the MOST satisfying set ups I

have ever put together, all under 4.5K combo used and new.  


and

The single piece of presently owned gear that gets the kudos for best bang

for the buck...I second JLMs assessment for Bob Brines FTA-2000s.  Such

a sound, speed and coherence that puts the notion of shouty midrange and

lack of both ends of the sonic spectrum associated with a single fullrange

driver into a erroneous assessment.  With the right amplification, making

commercial speakers upwards to 5K a fair target for open criticism and

lack of refinement.

Paul K

[bubba966]

Sonic Impact Sound Pads slapped onto a FedEx large shipping box.

For $20 a pair they're easily the best bang for your buck speakers I've ever heard.

I couldn't believe how good a damn cardboard box can sound...

Uh DIY electrostatic speakers..... Cardboard plus transformers   .

Do they really make music?

Yes, they do.

Had a friend over once. Played some track off a Sarah Mclachlan disc that she liked w/out telling her what was hooked up for speakers. I had the "FedEx speakers" just sitting on the floor hooked up with the nasty little piece of like 28ga wire that came with the soundpads.

After she'd told me that she'd never ever heard that sond sounding so clear before (clear anough that she'd heard things that she'd never been able to hear before).

So she points at my M&K's as what speakers were being used.

Nope I told her.

After a minute or so she looks at me like I'm trying to pull one over on her as she sees no other speakers in the room. I tell her that she just listened to the pair of FedEx shipping boxes that were sitting on the floor.

She doesn't believe me.

I start up the same track again.

She still doesn't believe me.

I hand her one of the "speakers".

Then she finally believes me.

I tell 'ya, if they would've blended with my subs better I might've gotten rid of my speakers and replaced all 7 of them with the Sound Pad/FedEx combo...

[Bill Baker]

There is something special about horns and SETs that produce magic (for me anyway). Add a good vinyl rig to the front end and I'm in heaven.

 Amen to that! I am becoming a big horn fan. Never thought I would. There is just a special magic with the right combination of horns, SET and vinyl.

[Blackmore]

Mine was Murray Kahn's 1981 system in Bayport, NY.  Oracle table, Linn arm, Win strain guage cartridge, handmade preamp for the cart., Luxman amps, Fulton gold cables and Fulton Premiers.  He was shaking the house with a recording of Edward Tarr playing baroque trumpet concertos with harpsichord and bassoon continuo.  If you know those recordings, you'll know how loud it must have been.  

Single piece would be VH Teflon and Oil caps in Scott F.'s Korato preamps.  Nothing has had such a dramatic effect on his system.  (and I'll include his new turntable. Scott will definitely argue about that one   )

[Scott F.]

..... Single piece would be VH Teflon and Oil caps in Scott F.'s Korato preamps.  Nothing has had such a dramatic effect on his system. (and I'll include his new turntable. Scott will definitely argue about that one )

I've got to agree about the VH caps, especially the Teflons. Granted those things are damned pricey but it really is like somebody came in a replaced my system with a completely different one. The Oilers are cool too, not quite as revealing as the Teflons but they have loads of character.

Hey, are you diss'n my turntable?  

[The13thGryphon]

Three systems come to mind...

1) Wisdom Audio Adrenaline Rush series speakers, powered by Jeff Rowland 300 series monoblock amps and Synergy pre, with a Wadia 861 as the source. This was the most incredible system: smooth, yet detailed and exciting at the same time; fantastic extension on both ends. This was the mosy dynamic and transparent system I've ever heard. WOW! That's the only thing I can think of to describe the experience. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open.

2) B&W Nautilus 802's, powered by a Conrad-Johnson tupe amp (I can't remember whether it was the CAV-50 or MV-55 at this point), with a C-J PV-10 pre, and using a Rotel RCD-991 or Rega turntable/Koetsu combo. This system was just plain lush. It was warm, and smooooth, and I recall just melting into a puddle of mush while listening to this rig. The bass wasn't as tight as I'd ultimately like, but who could complain with all that liquid warmth surrounding you?

3) Magnepan MG-20.1 speakers, powered by monster Mark Levinson No. 33 monoblocks and a ML 32 Reference pre, using a Mark Levinson 390S Compact Disk Processor. I felt like crying it was so good. This system made me stop thinking about the gear, and just want to listen to album after album. I forgot to listen to specific parts and instruments on my test disks, and just submerged in the music. Perfect... or as close to it as I'll ever hear. Not the most dynamic... not the lowest bass or highest highs, not the most transparent... just musical, lifelike, emotional.

[rblnr]

About twenty years ago, as I was just getting into this all, heard a pair of speakers called Phase Research Little -D's.  Time phased, ribbon tweeter/mid, polypro woofer, transmission line cabinet -- a very large bookshelf.  They just blew everything else away in the store, and brought me substantially closer to the live music that got me into it in the first place. I think the designer went on to found Clements.

Easier for me to be overwhelmed then.  Hooked since.