What are the best loudspeakers you have heard?

theres a pair of megaline's on audiogon.

If your pockets are deep.





....and your ceilings are high!

 

Blimey - I was really quite underwhelmed by the Megalines.

 

I love that ad - $35,000 off if you pick up. I'd love to see the shipping crates they're not using!

 

Adam OSS

Seven feet tall, thirty drive units per channel, 3000W of built-in amplification per channel and a price tag of £211,500.

The floor must have been level in the room where I heard them at the Munich High End show this year, as equal amounts of dribble came out of each side of my mouth......

 

I heard them last year at the Munich show. I wasn't impressed. I should have been though as i like Line arrays and Air Motion drivers.

 

BIG difference between last year's demo and this year's. For one thing, they were in a different room this year, one much better suited to a system like that. Of course, getting the polarity of the midrange right this year was bound to improve the sound, too ...

 

Best? I've liked Quad ESl 57s - mid and treble to die for.
Wilsons - a bit "big" but more convincing for organ / orchestral than many I've heard.
Merlin VSMs - astounding for a 2-way.

 

All my favourite speakers have been panels. it's great not to hear the loudspeaker cabinet singing along....

 

Anyone heard the Linkwitz Labs Orion+ ?

 

Not heard the '+'... by which I guess you mean with the added rear tweeters. (One can also go '++', with rear tweeters and a pair of extra subs...) I have a pair of standard Orions, which sound damn fine to me, though I have no reference point with any of the ultra-fi monsters mentioned in this thread. Opinion on the Linkwitz forum is a bit divided about the benefits of the rear tweets, but the majority favour them. I imagine it depends on the room and doubt it would bring benefits where mine are currently situated. Do plan to try it in the fullness of time though, and I'd be interested if anyone has heard them.

 

One of the best speakers I've ever heard are these small babies:

PENaudio Charisma (around € 3200,- a pair)

 

PENaudio Charisma (around € 3200,- a pair)

You are kidding... that's like £2500 for a small pair of speakers. It must have been in a REALLY small room coz those things can't drive a large one...can they?????

 

Having heard these myself they are great speakers. Excellent mid and treble, no real deep bass, but a good illusion, and they do have a separate subwoofer if you need to drive a anything bigger than REALLY small room (what size would that be BTW?)

 

And talking of small speakers.

I've been very lucky and heard what were probably the first production pair of LS3/5a's ever made (yes numbers 001/002). They had a snap to the focus of the music which was amazing.

 

I remember reading a review of those Pen Audio speakers.

I think they'd make a great DIY project - Some Birch Ply, and I recognize the drive units from Wilmslow Audio. I reckon I could get pretty close for about £300. I don't need any standmounts - so shan't.. but all I'm saying the cabinet work looks easy and the drive units are available..

 

That would be amazing,...considering they cost around € 3200,- a pair, here in Holland!

I've heard the PENaudio Charisma's several times at a dealer in my area.
In most cases they were demoed in rather large rooms. (about twice the size of my livingroom)

In all cases they sounded best withouth the subwoofer!
(the dealer himselfs also prefers and recommend them without the sub!)

 

I think £300 is a bit cheap, depending on how much you pay for the drive units. They are SEAS drive units, and you can pay anything from £70-£180 for them, depending on where you go.

Defo £500 though

Thing is though, then you get the bug, and think ... why don't I go active? ... or, what about turning it into a 3 way with a SEAS 12" ? etc

 

You forget the many months (at least) it will take to learn the fine art of speaker design and actually get a good sound form those drive units and box? Many people would never understand the full details of what is quite a technical subject, if they are not that way inclined. Not to mention the cost of good measurement kit, and the need for a suitable place to measure the things.

I think the cost will be a lot more than just the materials, especially if your time is valuable.

If you already understand terms like phase, step-response, power response, impedance, intermodulation distortion etc... then you might find this option more appealing.

 

Tenson makes a very valid point, making good loudspeakers is more than just shoving some commercially available drivers into a box. Crossover tuning is a bit of an art, IMO.

 

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