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Your Favorite Loudspeakers of all time whether you owned them or not

The most incredible and indescribable sound (Except for the sound of Jets launching from the deck) I have ever heard. I couldn’t bring myself to leave the room. But the price certainly put these far out of my reach. A man can dream and if I ever hit lottery these would be mine! :p

1697736563600.jpeg
 
Original Apogee Full Range Loudspeaker

Avalon Eidolon

Dutch & Dutch 8Cs

And a version of Dynaudio's then flagship speaker I heard in the mid 1990's (Don't remember model)

Those were the only super speaker's I've ever heard. I've heard all the electrosstatics (Quad '57 and '63; Roger West vers., ML's; Koss; Stax), heard premium Infinity's (not IRS, but RS-1s); Revels (Gem and Salon 1's and 2's); Thiels; Vandersteens; B & W Nautilus; Porizelli Pipedreams; Beveridge Electrostatics; Dunlavys; Magnapans; lower range Apogees (Scintillas, Divas); Carver Ribbon; Wilson Watt/Puppies and Maxx's.

Many of then sounded like very good speakers, but not magic. Most of them sounded like two or three separate speakers made from expensive drivers that could play very loud but in two, three or four distinct voices. For me the ones I'd consider paying over $10k for, were those four speakers I;ve listed, because they were the only ones that seemed able to render a plausible illusion of real musicians playing in a real room.
 
Spendor BC-1 - the first real hi-fi speakers that I owned and driven at the time by a DIY Lindsey Hood 10W per channel class A amplifier (showing my age here).
 
Jamo R909

I've no idea what they sound like, but I think they look great:

1697759759654.png



I also once heard a set of Magnepan, no idea which model, but similar to these:

1697759889823.png


I didn't listen for an extended period or compare to anything else, but I really liked the odd effect of quite a punchy and solid sound coming from something so seeminly insubstantial.
 
In order of preference:
Infinity IRS
Apogee Duetta
Eminent Technology LFT-8
Infinity Monitor Jr (First normal speaker I heard that imaged well - I learned a lot from it's design.)
 
AdamG247 said:
The most incredible and indescribable sound (Except for the sound of Jets launching from the deck) I have ever heard. I couldn’t bring myself to leave the room. But the price certainly put these far out of my reach. A man can dream and if I ever hit lottery these would be mine! :p

View attachment 319979
Click to expand...
I remember listening to an early version of these in the mid 1980's... I always felt it got the bass wrong - it seemed disconnected from the midrange/highs - made bass singers sound more like lowered baritones - just was never quite right.

The all electrostatic CLS on the other hand, was totally fabulous... SPL contrained in the bass of course, but what was there was just perfect!
 
AdamG247 said:
The most incredible and indescribable sound (Except for the sound of Jets launching from the deck) I have ever heard. I couldn’t bring myself to leave the room. But the price certainly put these far out of my reach. A man can dream and if I ever hit lottery these would be mine! :p

View attachment 319979
Click to expand...
I listened to these (if those are the ESL 15A) and the sound was horrible. A total overblown bass in an empty untreated (new) room at the local dealer, and the sales rep said that they had calibrated the bass module. Even with 4dB less bass it was unlistenable. I don't understand how they hoped to sell the speaker with such a bad demo.

OTOH I listened to the CLS 1 many years ago and this was fascinating, as long as my head was within 2 cm of the sweet spot.
 
Back in 1979 or so I was browsing in a small HiFi shop and their demo system was playing Yes - The Yes Album (track: The Clap) - and I remember vividly the sound from the speakers. Naim Isobariks.

In that same year, I bought a pair of Realistic Mach 2 speakers from the local Tandy shop in Oxford, UK. I used these for several years, and then decided to modify them quite extensively with slightly larger cabinets, a bass port and a completely redesigned crossover - I also replaced the horn drivers with a Philips tweeter and a Sony bass unit used as midrange. To me (and most people who visited my home) those speakers sounder superb. Sadly long gone now.

Some years later (1983 or so), a friend of mine had a pair of RTR speakers (model unknown) but I seem to recall they were either 2 or 3 way floorstanders. They had an impressive sound too.

Naim Isobarik.

1697836276824.png
 
Ino audio i64s and i32s

B&W 801 (early version)
TAD reference one
Respons grand
Revel salon
 
In no particular order (only as they come to my aging memory) …

Talon Audio Khorus (owned)
Linkwitz Orion (owned) and 521 (auditioned)
JBL 590 (own)
Revel Salon 2 (auditioned)
D&D 8C (auditioned)
Clarysis Minuet (auditioned)
Diptyque Reference (auditioned)
Legacy V System (auditioned)
Legacy Aeris (auditioned)
Soundfield ”Frankenspeakers“ (long story, but effectively prototype demos) (auditioned)
Acora VRC-1 (auditioned)
Acora SRC-2 (auditioned)
Piega Master Line Source (auditioned)
Credo Cinema LTM (auditioned)
Stenheim Alumine 3 (auditioned)
Magico A5 (auditioned)
Wisdom Audio Infinite Wisdom Grande (heard these in 2002 at CES and still the experience is etched in my memory, incredible and a $600k price tag back in 2002!)
 
Grumpish said:
Spendor BC-1 - the first real hi-fi speakers that I owned and driven at the time by a DIY Lindsey Hood 10W per channel class A amplifier (showing my age here).
Click to expand...
Have a mid-70's pair that I adore. Have tried various McIntosh tube and solid state amps with it, and the speakers sound great no matter what. Decided to try my Ayima A07 TPA3255 amp today, and it's also a wonderful match. Of all of my speakers(and I have many) these might be the best sounding of all of them.
 
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