What are the best loudspeakers you have heard?

Westlake TM3's
Tannoy Westminster Royals
Funktion 1's
Bose 601's

Tee hee just kidding with the last one:D
 
I keep trying expensive convential speakers; just borrowed some £9,500 Wilson speakers but I always return to my Quad electrostatics -they're not perfect but I feel that other speakers just miss out on something that the Quads take for granted. Just when you think you've found a convential speaker that is near perfect it'll do something to the music that it shouldn't do because of the way it's made and no tweaking of placement, electronics or cables will change. I've had them several years now and I still sometimes listen to them with absolute disbelief of the detail and intamacy they provide without even trying. like all good speakers, you have to live them with to appreciate them - a two hour audition in a hifi shop isn't enough - probably why so many people are unfairly dissmissive. Best speaker on the planet for three and a half grand - their loss!
 
pixies said:
I keep trying expensive convential speakers; just borrowed some £9,500 Wilson speakers but I always return to my Quad electrostatics -they're not perfect but I feel that other speakers just miss out on something that the Quads take for granted. Just when you think you've found a convential speaker that is near perfect it'll do something to the music that it shouldn't do because of the way it's made and no tweaking of placement, electronics or cables will change. I've had them several years now and I still sometimes listen to them with absolute disbelief of the detail and intamacy they provide without even trying. like all good speakers, you have to live them with to appreciate them - a two hour audition in a hifi shop isn't enough - probably why so many people are unfairly dissmissive. Best speaker on the planet for three and a half grand - their loss!
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There's some going for a lot less than that in the classifieds.
 
Dev said:
and Titian's speakers but can't remember what they were called and they had separate subs anyway.
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FYI the speakers and the subs are considered to be together (System 16). They weren't made to be used seperately. Also consider that the electronics that was connected to them, when you were here, wasn't working properly. :D

regards
 
magnaplanner typanni think how its spelt heard some years ago at heathrow penta hotel.
followed by
lindley quad57 rebuild by peter lindley you have to hear these not normal stacked quads.
avantguarde trios can be a bit in your face but very realistic
impulse h1 s
audionote E sp s
 
titian said:
FYI the speakers and the subs are considered to be together (System 16). They weren't made to be used seperately. Also consider that the electronics that was connected to them, when you were here, wasn't working properly. :D

regards
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Thanks Titian. I guess I shouldn't hear them now, I'd be even more envious:D.
 
SMEagol said:
In a standmount I found the JBL Ti2k could really party, and make you ears bleed with a surprising amount of bass. They need the dedicated stands though which are not that thick on the ground.

I like the Horning Agathons for strings and voice. They have a real delicacy to them and fill a room with music rather than blasting tunes out of two directions. They do require servicing though as the magnets suck in all manner of crud that gets stuck between the moving coil.

Love my quad esl 57's with Townshend supertweeters it adds another dimension to an already great design. Awesome with the right amps (Only selling as my new flea power amp can't cut it)

my friend in hifi says the Verity Sarastro 2 loudspeakers are the best he has ever heard, and they look the nuts.
(I'd have to live in a hostel to afford them)
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Agreed on the Horning Agathons, I heard these recently when listening to new amps and would gladly have come away with the speakers instead. Just out of interest has anyone heard the Aristoteles from the Horning range as they may be more suited to my room size.
 
hi-fi evangelis said:
magnaplanner typanni think how its spelt heard some years ago at heathrow penta hotel.
followed by
lindley quad57 rebuild by peter lindley you have to hear these not normal stacked quads.
avantguarde trios can be a bit in your face but very realistic
impulse h1 s
audionote E sp s
Click to expand...

Hi hi-fi evangelis

I knew Peter Lindley about 15 years ago. What an amazing guy and a real gentleman. He did rebuilds on classic valve amps Quad ,Leak ,Radford,Tva etc as well as having his own speakers . however when is wife died he went of the rails a bit and i lost touch with him . Does anyone know if he made it or is he dead as i suspect ? He was one of those rare talents that needed a guiding hand to keep him on the straight and narrow(a role his wife had).

Regards D Louth
 
For the lower end of the market I've not heard better than the Aurausal [?] ali full range driver jobies .....

I could easily live happily ever after with a set if I had too.
 
Dev said:
Tell him I hate him!, and wish I was there with you guys instead of working on this beautiful sunny day.
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You'd hate it. Had a BBQ outside with the family, came in listen to a couple of things then when it got dark watch the Drummers of Kodo on his new 100inch screen, full whack (literally) into his subs, phew. No Dev you'd hate it.

Oh better make this on topic.
Tannoy Westminsters are so wrong but so right. As are ESL57's. I well remember a room jammed with Wilson Sophia with full on AR valves. That was yummy.

Oh and the best was Living Voice AirForce and AirScouts driven by a prototype Border Patrol 300b with a Marantz CD63KI. Who says you need expensive CDP's?
13.jpg
 
I love my current Quad 57 ESLs, and I've owned Martin Logan CLS2z full range stats and Electrostatic Research Vista II stat hybrids - both fantastic speakers. My old Avantgarde Unos and Kharma Ceramique 3 weren't exactly chopped liver, either! :D

But my all time fave must be big MBL 'radialstrahlers'. I've only heard them at Shows but ... Ooooh, I want them real bad - but no way can I afford them or the room to put them in! :(
 
Quad ESL63 PRO version with silver capacitor mod (currently using these)
Sonus Faber Extrema
QLN (the older pyramid shaped speaker) really, not kidding!
Alison One (under-rated yet can sound astonishing)
Quad ESL57 if you can get them set up right in your room
 
It is fashionable on internet Forums to claim to NOT like Wilson Audio speakers but if I had the room size and the money to buy them, I would have a pair of System 7s in a flash. In racing green.
 
Martin Logan CLS-2Z. Best midband....
Nola Baby grand Reference....best scale/ soundstage
Revel Ultimate salon.....Awesome bass.
 
aah yes - love that early living voice system. So cheap and easy to copy if you drop the Vitavox S2 out of the equation too. Top stuff!

Having a big enough room is the main reason not to do so of course :)

Also, looks like Dali 104's next to them - the predecessor to Living Voice Auditorium/Avatar. A great second hand buy if you can get a pair for a few hundred quid... rare I know...but..

I agree to on ESL57s and large Tannoys (GRF's and Autographs in my case). I love what they do, but they will always be a curate's egg for me.


LiloLee said:
You'd hate it. Had a BBQ outside with the family, came in listen to a couple of things then when it got dark watch the Drummers of Kodo on his new 100inch screen, full whack (literally) into his subs, phew. No Dev you'd hate it.

Oh better make this on topic.
Tannoy Westminsters are so wrong but so right. As are ESL57's. I well remember a room jammed with Wilson Sophia with full on AR valves. That was yummy.

Oh and the best was Living Voice AirForce and AirScouts driven by a prototype Border Patrol 300b with a Marantz CD63KI. Who says you need expensive CDP's?
13.jpg
Click to expand...
 
in no particular order:

ATC SCM300ASL PRO
ATC SCM200ASL PRO
ATC SCM150ASL PRO
ATC SCM100ASL PRO
Acoustic Energy AE1 MK3 Signature/ Reference Series
1980's Realistic mini monitors (about £50 in 1989).
 

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