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Most beautiful speakers in the world ?

Count Arthur

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I have 40 years of Magnepan and Quad ESL ownership experience. I’m a retired audio production professional and I’m extremely picky. Planar speakers can be coaxed to work well, but it’s extremely and I mean extremely difficult to do. The way they interact with the room is a nightmare. I do find them all quite beautiful.

Among the alternatives, I have enjoyed concentric-driver designs, having owned Tannoy and KEF. My current front LCR speakers in my Dolby Atmos 7.5.4 system are a triad of KEF Q150s, DSPed to within an inch of their lives to tame their crazy cabinet resonances.
So, how do you "coax" panel speakers to work well? Does this mean that you have to design the room around the speaker; have a room that is a suitable size and shape, use acoustic panels, etc?

I assume dipoles have similar issues.
iu
 

TheBatsEar

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D

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So, how do you "coax" panel speakers to work well? Does this mean that you have to design the room around the speaker; have a room that is a suitable size and shape, use acoustic panels, etc?

I assume dipoles have similar issues.
iu

I found those speakers stunning, hoping they were big, and saw this :

DS7_Lifestyle_2_190823_154357.jpg


Thought that was it until I realise they were not the same. This is the cute & small edition.
 
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DavidMcRoy

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So, how do you "coax" panel speakers to work well? Does this mean that you have to design the room around the speaker; have a room that is a suitable size and shape, use acoustic panels, etc?

I assume dipoles have similar issues.
iu
Placement and toe-in are hypercritical and you have to do tons of experimentation with room treatment. A must, in my experience, is a diffusion structure directly behind each planar speaker, carefully placed between the speaker and the wall behind it. I found that an arrangement of 3 PVC tubes about 3” in diameter and about 6ft. tall, arranged vertically in a row parallel to the rear of the speaker worked well. They were secured at the top and bottom and spaced a few inches apart. I built some based on a commercial product that might still be around. As I implied, some pretty extreme measures must be taken to “control” the rear wave. It takes a lot of fine-tuning.
 

adLuke

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Considering we're hardly discussing the 'most beautiful speakers ever'
I would like to point out the JBL Ti K series. To me absolutely astonishing.
There was a post on the forum by @jororaitchev about a DIY project he did.
To me they are some of the most beautiful speakers design. And they don't sound bad either!
index.php

This is his picture. And below his post.
Kudos to @jororaitchev for his achievement.
 

Bleib

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Again not the prettiest but I like the look of the Canton Karat 20 in white. 1987 - 1990
IMG-20210416-174315.jpg
 

muad

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Considering we're hardly discussing the 'most beautiful speakers ever'
I would like to point out the JBL Ti K series. To me absolutely astonishing.
There was a post on the forum by @jororaitchev about a DIY project he did.
To me they are some of the most beautiful speakers design. And they don't sound bad either!
index.php

This is his picture. And below his post.
Kudos to @jororaitchev for his achievement.
You sir, have a type!
 

TheBatsEar

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G|force

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Axo1989

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I like those, no wonder he is grinning. I hadn't heard of Hoffner before.

Less rectilinear but also good to look at: LIBER|8 dipoles with (unfinished) DSUB15 ripole sub: in the works from SOUND|KAOS.

23.jpg
 
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