Which speakers gave you the *wow* factor?

[mhardy6647]

 

[Doodski]

View attachment 209961

Is this new? The oak cabinets beside the VOT seems to be new as well as the full size horns.

 

[Bugal1998]

Infinity Systems Composition Overture 3 was the first speaker to wow me and fuel an interest in audio.

Steinway Lingdorf Model D for its unique open baffle and diffuse presentation. Not something I'd care to own, but it was a 'wow' experience in it's own way.

JBL M2. Refinement and most importantly, fun! Host a rave... in hi-fi!

 

[FrantzM]

My 708Ps still give me that 'Holy Shit these are amazing' feeling regularly.

Working toward that same feeling from the same speakers. I’ve been wowed a few times back in the days. Presently regularly bowled over by a pair of $250 subwoofers and s pair of thee 708 little brothers, the LSR308.

The more I fine tune my current, modest system, the more I think about diminishing returns. I will (eventually) acquire the 708, but before that, I will acquire an additional and better sub to add to my 2 Dayton SUB-1500, the HSU-VVTF-2Mk5 and the Audyssey PC app; I know it is for just one receiver and if you change receiver you'd have to talk/court/beg Audyssey to transfer the license but...
Set-up is key in the Wow factor then comes the intrinsic qualities of the speakers among those good directivity... and smooth FR... then... Set up. Set up and set up.

Peace

 

[Digby]

View attachment 209756View attachment 209757
Crown ES-224, 1972

They look like they may also improve your mobile phone/wi-fi signal, if you ever tire of using them as speakers.

 

[Brian6751]

Klipsch Cornwall IV

 

[mhardy6647]

Is this new? The oak cabinets beside the VOT seems to be new as well as the full size horns.

Not mine. Gary Kaufman's Altec A5 topped with 1505 horns/288 drivers and using Jean Hiraga's crossover design -- and a split Altec 210 cabinet (each half-210 loaded with a 515B) serving as subwoofers (it's all relative).

Altec 210 Split

I've acquired an Altec 210 cabinet, and plan to split the cabinet to make it more manageable. I'd appreciate comments from others who have done this, and specifically how the dealt with the center braces and the physical cutting. Thanks! - Gary

www.audioheritage.org

I absolutely love the sound of these, but they're too big for my room and I'd have to sell a kidney (or two) to afford a pair of 1505 multicells.

 

[Doodski]

Not mine. Gary Kaufman's Altec A5 topped with 1505 horns/288 drivers and using Jean Hiraga's crossover design -- and a split Altec 210 cabinet (each half-210 loaded with a 515B) serving as subwoofers (it's all relative).

Altec 210 Split

I've acquired an Altec 210 cabinet, and plan to split the cabinet to make it more manageable. I'd appreciate comments from others who have done this, and specifically how the dealt with the center braces and the physical cutting. Thanks! - Gary

www.audioheritage.org

I absolutely love the sound of these, but they're too big for my room and I'd have to sell a kidney (or two) to afford a pair of 1505 multicells.

Vintage Altec stuff is so much fun. It's fun to look at and wonder just how good does this gear go?

 

[bo_knows]

To start, I lived in Las Vegas and attended CES for many years (from Alexis Park to the 31st floor in Venetian). I heard most of the hi-end speakers throughout the years.

The first time I was truly impressed was when auditioned Dynaudio Evidence Master speakers in a large room. Speakers were positioned approx. 12-14 feet apart and driven by Krell monoblock amplifiers. The room was dark and I don't remember seeing any room treatments besides a large and heavy curtain in the front of the room (this was circa 2005). I don't remember the name of the dealer but the place was located in Tarzana CA. I brought my own cd (HDCD Sampler volume2) and listen to "the Vikings" (the second track on CD). Dynamics, imaging, scale, and bass were outstanding. After that, Marten (not sure what model) and KEF Blade 2 were the ones that got me to say "Wow".

 

[rpki]

PMC EB1 blasting AC/DCs "Touch too much"
Years before the Quadral Titan
The KEF Blade playing at the Munich High End in a fairly big room with lots of foot traffic and still sounding great.
Huge MBL System with earth shaking bass
For a PA System: Big Funktion-One System.

 

[cookiefactory]

KEF Blades. My local dealer had them set up in a room and I immediately noticed how "integrated" the sound was. Mind you at this point in time I had no background on the Blades (or KEF speakers in general) so I only learned about their design philosophy afterwards. I was also impressed with their low end output and actually asked if there were subs present. I ultimately ended up buying different speakers but the Blades were impressive.

 

[DavidMcRoy]

It’s a long list, and most if them are now extinct:

Beveridge Electrostatic
Quad ESL57 (which I own)
Quad ESL63 USA Monitor
Acoustat 2+2
Martin-Logan CLS
Rogers LS3/5A (shown with some guy for scale)
Magnepan 1.6 Q/R (which I own)
KEF Q150/Jamo 8” X2 and 10” X1 powered subs, stacked with a 12” M&K powered sub (which I cobbled together with DSP for use until my Maggie 1.6 Q/Rs get a factory rebuild)

I just realized that all but two are electrostatic or planar magnetic (but those are all a bear to set up optimally.)

 

[orangejello]

Fuselier. Bought the fusilier 5’s in the late eighties. They wow’ed everyone that heard them. They just disappeared. followed by the Basic 6 (which eventually wound up in the home of a blind musician friend who proclaimed that they were the clearest speakers she had ever heard) and the the Basic 8’s. Finally gave up on them when I heard real bass at John Dunlavey’s factory. John Fusilier had excellent aesthetics when he made his choices in speaker design. One of a kind in a small niche of aficionados. His work made fueled my interest in audio. I’ve hears some amazing and expensive stuff. But Fusilier’s work was the first that made me forget about equipment and just marvel at the sense of floating music emanating from disappearing speaker. RIP John. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...designer-engineer-all-around-good-guy.836506/

 

[jeffbook]

In the mid 1970's - Dahlquist DQ-10
In 2002 - Linkwitz Orion, followed by both the Linkwitz LX-521 and the Linkwitz LXstudio.

 

[fineMen]

removed

 

[MattHooper]

"Wow" moments that left a lasting impression:

First encounter Quad ESL 63

MBL 101D Radialstrahlers

Waveform Mach 17 speakers

 

[Vince2]

For me, it was the kef reference 104, I worked all summer to afford them. Soon after the Phillips compact disc came in production, and collecting cd's became a hobby. The combination of the kef speakers and the new source of audio were wow. More recently, the thiel cs 3.7 marked a new milestone, and satisfied my search for upgrading.

 

[HammerSandwich]

1994ish Dunlavy 4s. Walked into Scottsdale's Esoteric Audio when they were playing near the back & immediately heard the clarity & balance. Which was quite astonishing, because Gary had Celine Dion on. I do not enjoy her noises, but the sound quality was instantly obvious. Clearly better than the Watt 3/Puppy 2 combo in the big-spenders' room, or anything else I'd ever heard.

And when you move to the sweet spot, boy, Dunlavies are massively more impressive.

 

[Rotiv]

If it wow me it is deceiving me that's my experience.

 

[NeoZs99]

A d&b audiotechnik system in a small theater. I have no idea what model those speakers were.. but the sound was glorious