Brand You Covet

[chorus]

Let's say you were ready to let loose of some cash $15k-$20k and were shopping floorstanders. New or Used.

Room size about 2,500 cubic feet. 14 x 20 x 9

Music preference for Jazz & vocals

Volume preference seldom above 75dB

Sound preference- Must move you. Create magic. Defined soundstage. Time aligned. No ear singe.

Bass- Since bass counts in my book assume you already have and will
continue to use four subs independently powered by on amp. Creates
better listening effect in my experience.

Style: Open baffle, Box, Panel, Horn, etc all may apply.

Which brand/model would you gravitate towards?
I am looking for different peoples impressions
not a reference list.

I will start with one.
Franco Serblin. Accordo Essence. $20k MSRP.
It does not hurt if it is beautiful. Used $10k-$13k

Name yours. No lists. Chose one. If you can't that's okay.

It is perfectly fine if you do not feel qualified
to make a selection within my parameters.

Don't feel obligated to dissect my post.
You may write one of your own instead.

Thanks!

Once I have had some responses I will explain
the reasons I posted this query.

 

[NiagaraPete]

I’d probably go Neumann KH420

 

[AdamG]

MartinLogan | Expression ESL 13A

www.martinlogan.com

https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/expression-esl-13a

 

[dfuller]

Probably Neumann KH420, a couple of subs, and room treatment.

Failing that, ATC SCM50ASL Pros

 

[NiagaraPete]

MartinLogan | Expression ESL 13A

www.martinlogan.com

https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/expression-esl-13a

Those are sweet. I listened to the little brother this summer. Impressive.

 

[fpitas]

TAD2404. Although it's tough to actually find them.

TAD

 

[chorus]

fpitas
Was that made under the TAD or Pioneer label?
Looks a lot like the Altec Lansing Maestro 500s
I owned for a time.
For acoustic guitar they were hard to beat!
Thanks!

 

[Chrispy]

JBL M2s. RBH SVTRs. Salk BePure 3s.

 

[JRS]

I would recommend an audition if you can arrange it of the worlds finest electrostatic speakers made by Sound Labs. https://www.soundlabspeakers.com/

These are not your dad's Quads either. Upper eighties in efficiency, able to absorb huge amounts of power and hit peaks of 120dB (higher for the PA line). The product line has been rearranged extensively since I last heard the 25K Model E top of the line. One can spend over twice that on some of the newer lines.

Definitely my end game as I love panel speakers (especially those dynamically unconstrained.) As much as I respect Martin Logan line I think they are seriously out classed here.

 

[GXAlan]

If you like the Accordo Essence, I would probably suggest the Sonus Faber Stradivari as a better alternative. Just my two cents.

The SF measures better *and* has the Franco Serblin tuning. They are rarely found used and surprisingly go for reasonably large discounts, in part because the present day Sonus Faber has deviated from the original approach of Serblin’s Sonus Faber.

The new designs are beautiful but without the economies of scale that Sonus Faber had, it’s really pricey without an equal jump in performance.

 

[fpitas]

fpitas
Was that made under the TAD or Pioneer label?
Looks a lot like the Altec Lansing Maestro 500s
I owned for a time.
For acoustic guitar they were hard to beat!
Thanks!

That was a TAD professional monitor, sold under the TAD label. TAD was infused with JBL and Altec influence by Bart Locanthi, who was engineering VP at JBL and Altec, then went on to consult for TAD. There he built some of the best speakers of the time (maybe all time), without most of the cost constraints at JBL and Altec.

If I had to pick a direct influence, it would be the Altec 9846:

ALTEC LANSING 9846-8A Specifications ALTEC

Once again, a professional monitor.

 

[mhardy6647]

I'd just go vintage Altec -- probably save a fair bit of the budget, too.

 

[Sal1950]

JBL M2 w/ dedicated Levinson electronics,

or JBL 4367 / S4700 with EQ system and amplification of choice.

 

[Gary_G]

Focal Sopra No3

 

[Sal1950]

I'd just go vintage Altec -- probably save a fair bit of the budget, too.

A pair of awesome & beautiful Flamenco's on US Audiomart relatively cheap. $2,600.
If only ---------------------------

Restored Altec Flamenco w/Orig.16 Ohm AlNiCo Drivers, & Sandcast Altec Green 811s. SOLD to Matt

Own a New Year full of captivating music AND a piece of audio history. Because there's original..., and then there's utterly, totally authentic. During an era when the Valencia/Milano/Flamenco triplets saw numerous running revisions, and hobbyists additionally took their own liberties over the...

www.usaudiomart.com

 

[JustJones]

Which brand/model would you gravitate towards?

With that in mind. Geithain 901K keeping in budget, 801K couple thousand above.

musikelectronic geithain gmbh - ME 801K

 

[mhardy6647]

Well... beautiful underneath the kitsch.

PS Those ain't sandcast 811Bs. At least the one(s) in the pictures in the listing are not.

These are sandcast 811Bs Joseph Esmilla's, in fact.

Is Emilar similar?

After reading positive reviews from members that I respect, I searched for and found some Emilar horns to try. I’m currently getting them ready to replace some 511Bs.

hifihaven.org

That said, probably worth the asking price -- in this day and age.

I do occasionally miss my 846A Valencias -- but mostly because I can't just casually mention, "Yeah, I've got a pair of 846As."

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Dutch & Dutch 8C.

Dutch & Dutch 8c Speaker Review

Dutch & Dutch 8c Speaker Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

For all intents and purposes, they are floorstanders.

 

[MattHooper]

Well, since you asked what I would covet (especially for Jazz) Devore O/Bronze ("20").

These are the blingy version of the Devore O/96. Of all the speakers I auditioned in a mega-speaker search a while back, nothing
quite sounded like the Devore in terms of giving a sense of density, heft, body and presence to the sound. Drums were the most realistic sounding I'd heard and they communicated the impact, feel and dynamics of how a drummer was playing like no other speaker I'd tried. Not that I'd just go recomending them to anyone else - unless you shared my taste. But, again...I covet these:

 

[MarkS]

Sound-Lab A-1. And the four subs go on ebay.