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What speaker/ monitor gave you the most "I never heard that before" moments?

phoenixdogfan

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My first OMG moment was hearing the Rogers LS3/5 as at a shop in Milford Ohio in 1978. I had read Aczel's review in the Audio Critic in which he compared them to the Beveridge 2SW which sold for an astronomical (in 1978) $5328. He called the LS3/5as "close to the best at a much lower price", and said that if you took those "shoeboxes" into any audio store and asked them to be compared to the best multi kilobuck speakers the store had, you would "make an enemy for life." On the strength of that review I betook myself to Audiophile Sound Gallery on a day when everything was closed because of the blizzard of January 1978 in Cincinnati. Anyway, I drove carefully and made it there. I already had bought KLH 17s and EPI mini towers, so I had some experience in the current HiFi music scene.

The speakers didn't look like much compared to my KLH 17s let alone my EPI minitowers. Just some nondescript boxes in a walnut finish. Maybe the finish was nicer than what was available for a KMart blue light special, but not much more. I had brought in my copy of Joni Mitchell's Blue album, and the guy put it on what I later learned was a Lin Sondek LP 12, cued it to play "Carrie" and my jaw dropped to the floor.

I've been an audiophile ever since. Needless to say I bought those speakers.
 

posvibes

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I have a pair of ELAC 3 way floorstanders that I bought around 30 years ago, when ELAC was a company that was German owned and manufactured in Germany. The speakers were designed by Wolfgang Seikritt and though not even then, top of the ELAC range, they were a very well designed speaker, the EL-100's.

My previous speakers had been the Magnepan SMG's.

Every time I put the ELAC's back into the system just for the sake of nostalgia, I wonder why I ever bought another pair of speakers. They still give me the same sense of satisfaction I had back when they were new and their sound is just to my ears correct.
 

Mr. Worf

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For me : A pair of Magnat Quantum Signature I've heard in Europe… Simply amazing !
Hi Kit,
I live in the Netherlands and Iown a pair of them heavy noisemakers (piano black gloss). Can you tell me what it is that struck you about them? To me, they look more impressive than they sound (probably also due to my room acoustics/electronics).
 

steve59

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My Vienna acoustics Beethoven's that I bought after about 12-15 years in with my kef r105/3 were amazing. The kefs actually measured better but for some reason that I found with the VA's was a flat response drowns so much of the subtleties in music. Some tones overpowered others and the VA's unraveled the music and added a dimension that wasn't there before
 

Spocko

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Walking into an acoustically treated "high end" dealer showroom to listen to a pair of well sorted out Totem Mani monitors after leaving a Bose Acoustimass demo at Best Buy . I was floored and haven't looked at Bose since. HOWEVER, looking back, I'm wondering how much of that was the Totem speakers and how much was the room treatment of the dealer? Hmmm...
 

weasels

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B&W Matrix 801 S2.

I had never heard anything better than a boombox or kenwood stuff from Sears. Absolutely ruined me for all the stuff I had at home or in my car. Everything had to go.
 

Orfanik

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Hi Kit,
I live in the Netherlands and Iown a pair of them heavy noisemakers (piano black gloss). Can you tell me what it is that struck you about them? To me, they look more impressive than they sound (probably also due to my room acoustics/electronics).
Hey Mr. Worf, glad to meet you…

Well, let's say that comparatively to other competitors within the same area, they sounded the best and by far… First feeling after sitting in front of them gave way very quickly to being in front of a realistic stage. Huge bass without ant subwoofer while the highs are really sweet and detailed… The sound with weight… But I remember they showed that a few inches difference in the placement could transform the soundstage image in a rather big amount … Don't forget they need space around and between them and the listener. A very big dynamic which seems endless… well what could I tell more… Impressive

Ah yes, you probably need a powerful amp to drive them… ;)
 

Snarfie

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A pair of Vandersteen model 1B speakers after moving them around for 5 days an using room correction. An staging sound i never heard before.
 
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Thunder22

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Paradigm Reference active Studio 40's ver.2. Sadly Paradigm discontinued this line. I could only afford the passive version and really like them (still use them to this day), but I still think about that active version.

Recently I've been considering making them active. We'll see.
 

Plan9

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Although massively panned by the measurements here on ASR, Magnepans are still my favorite. 1.7's were the first Magnepans I heard.
MMG's for me, my first planar experience bringing the "hidden" jazz trio into the room in front of me.
 

Dialectic

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listen to highly directional speakers in an acoustically dead room with an upper-midrange/lower-treble boost (Yamaha NS-10 in a highly damped control room gives something of this kind of effect). This will sound awful, but you'll hear maximum detail vs any sane/desirable speaker/room setup.

This is what I do, albeit with no upper midrange/lower treble boost. Sidewall/floor/ceiling/backwall absorption heightens the 3D effect of BACCH.
 

NYfan2

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The best I ever heard are a set of Magnepans with incredibly expensive amplifiers. I guess it must have been the Magneplanar MG-III it's more then 20 years ago. After that I stopped going to audio shows because I realized that this kind of music systems were way beyond to what I could affort at the time. Picked up the hobby again recently. Although I still like to own a set of Magnepans I now am aware that I don't have the space in my house to place them decently.
 

Moonhead

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AVI DM12 with sub.
underestimated actives from UK.
 

Hon

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For me, I still go back to the Spica TC-50 giving me my first "holy crap!!" high-end experience with holographic imaging. at the time it was just mind-blowing

Yes! I kept mine for a long time and still regret letting them go. Back in that day, you could actually go around to somewhat local audio shops and listen to stuff. If I remember correctly, the speakers were paired so closely that they had coded entries on the back label identifying mutual characteristics to be matched in the case of service requirements.
 
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