The greatest speakers ever?

[RickS]

Unfortunately I don't know but I assume so

This is ASR, you need more than assumptions!

From the b&w website...

 

[Pearljam5000]

Did the OP (you) initially start this thread as a part of a "price is no object" purchase decision-making research, or as a question about the validity of Kristi's hubby/bf claims?

I wanted to know what people considered as the greatest speaker ever made

 

[kma100]

I wanted to know what people considered as the greatest speaker ever made

Why does he say it is the best?

 

[xanalog]

I wanted to know what people considered as the greatest speaker ever made

Thank you.
Would a pair of B&W Matrix 801 -even at 2nd version- be still considered a competitive model against the SOTA offerings of the 21st Century?
I recall their original price was north of $4k (not including trucking fees), and it was THE speakers to lust for.
Though, I only heard them for a 10 minute session @the end of 1970s, I think.
Like lusting for [say] a Ferarri Lusso... even though you've never driven one!

 

[Pearljam5000]

Why does he say it is the best?

It's one of the best he's heard I think

 

[kma100]

Did you delete the link to the video? I guess I am a bit lost with the intent of this thread...is this a reaction to the video, or just a thread asking about "the greatest speakers ever"?

 

[RickS]

Thank you.
Would a pair of B&W Matrix 801 -even at 2nd version- be still considered a competitive model against the SOTA offerings of the 21st Century?
I recall their original price was north of $4k (not including trucking fees), and it was THE speakers to lust for.
Though, I only heard them for a 10 minute session @the end of 1970s, I think.
Like lusting for [say] a Ferarri Lusso... even though you've never driven one!

Good point and had comparable thoughts. Not sure if @Pearljam5000 meant one speaker model or a set of best speakers. Could use clarification and possibly a thread title and/or OP adjust.

How much perception and/or subjectivity is allowed? Only passives or actives as well?

 

[xanalog]

I'd say the Nautilus is the greatest and most iconic speaker ever made

Those ginormous Nautilii need an IP69+ rating, along with a lock-n-chain and an insurance policy!
I'll take the Watt/Puppies, instead: At least, they could be paper-trained!

Where did the video go?

 

[Pearljam5000]

I del

Good point and had comparable thoughts. Not sure if @Pearljam5000 meant one speaker model or a set of best speakers. Could use clarification and possibly a thread title and/or OP adjust.

How much perception and/or subjectivity is allowed? Only passives or actives as well?

You can edit the original post/Thread title any way you want, to make it more logical.
Again, sorry for the language barrier.
Im pretty much open to any opinion by anyone.
Active, Passive, objective, subjective
Everything is welcomed

 

[RickS]

Good point and had comparable thoughts. Not sure if @Pearljam5000 meant one speaker model or a set of best speakers. Could use clarification and possibly a thread title and/or OP adjust.

How much perception and/or subjectivity is allowed? Only passives or actives as well?

Thanks, but think it is important here to understand whether your purpose was more for fun or more serious. I really do not think there is one greatest speaker, so the thread title is fine as it is plural. When your later post said “greatest speaker ever made”, became more problematic. Will chalk it up to language challenges. Even native English speakers often require clarification.

 

[xanalog]

When your later post said “greatest speaker ever made”,

@RickS, He did have a question mark at the end of the title/heading.
Sorry, I was only trying to get an understanding if the Q pertained to the [now gone] video.

Again, sorry for the language barrier.

No worries, mate!
English has been broken for eons!

 

[MattHooper]

Why are people referencing Andrew Robinson in this thread? Seems the OP is just asking a question for the forum ? (or did I miss something?)

(BTW, Robinson says the Bang and Olufsen Beolab 90 active speakers with DSP are the most impressive speakers he’s ever had to review).

Of course, given the variety of speaker designs and what anybody is looking for from a speaker it’s a mugs game to declare the greatest speaker.

But my hunch is that, for my criteria, the MBL X-Treme speakers, in the right set-up, would be the closest to Nirvana and sonic realism realism that I can think of.

I’ve never really experienced though a really big set of Horn speakers that might do some things better.

 

[dfuller]

Seems the OP is just asking a question for the forum ? (or did I miss something?)

No, that's pretty much what he does.

Anyway: no speaker has had more hit songs go through it than the NS10. By somebody's metric, that makes them the greatest speaker ever.

The NS10 is a POS.

 

[dshreter]

I haven't watched the video, but can recall quite well that almost forty years ago the WATT/Puppy very quickly became a standard for comparison. And several generations of ballpark-similarly-priced loudspeakers since then arguably were measured against the WATT/Puppy yardstick, whether literally or figuratively. So generations of designers had to wrestle with how to do better than whatever iteration of the WATT/Puppy was on the market at their time.

And I don't remember many three-way speakers before the WATT/Puppy that were a effectively two-way speaker with a matching subwoofer (whether in the same enclosure or separate, and using the subs as stands was quite elegant).

Whether it's the "greatest speaker ever" I'm not equipped to judge, but I think it was an extraordinarily influential loudspeaker.

Totally agree with this. The WATT/Puppy basically defined the high end room for a long time, finished in an automotive gloss paint and paired with mono block amps. To me it’s the top icon of audiophile designs even if it is not the technical king of the hill.

 

[Chrispy]

Hard to know let alone everyone on a forum having had a chance to try all of the speakers out there. Don't see any point in putting any one pair on the top of the pyramid, tho

 

[xanalog]

Andrew Robinson in this thread?

There was a youtube video about the Wilson speakers (by him) but I guess lacking an explanation to go w/the link; it DQ'd!

I originally asked OP what he was trying to achieve by the post, since there was a post early this year, similar to this.
Someone was asking what speakers members would recommend, because he had some sort of a slush-fund of ~$20k[?] which he wanted to spend on a pair.
I was to lazy to search for that post, so I had asked OP...

 

[Chrispy]

There was a youtube video about the Wilson speakers (by him) but I guess lacking an explanation to go w/the link; it DQ'd!

I originally asked OP what he was trying to achieve by the post, since there was a post early this year, similar to this.
Someone was asking what speakers members would recommend, because he had some sort of a slush-fund of ~$20k[?] which he wanted to spend on a pair.
I was to lazy to search for that post, so I had asked OP...

Well, I doubt I'd ever put anything from Wilson at the top of the list.

 

[Bleib]

Probably something like this. Ino Audio pi120s with extra bass support to cut down distortion to minimum. Built for total neutrality

 

[Chrispy]

View attachment 466135
Probably something like this. Ino Audio pi120s with extra bass support to cut down distortion to minimum. Built for total neutrality

That's all the room you have?

 

[Steven Holt]

Ah yes, the greatest speakers ever!! What a question!! But no worries, I have the answer -- THE SONY SSCS5'S -- WITH EQUALIZATION!!!