Best Speaker you have ever listened to

[prerich]

What are the best speakers that you have ever listened to?

I have several in that catagory - some I have actually owned - others I wish

Not in any particular order:

B&W 802
Yamaha NS-1000
Custom Bipole switchable speaker using Viva,Audax and ScanSpeak drivers (4way system 2 inch thick baffle - these things sounded magical)!
Martin Logans
Vandersteen 3A
Polk Audio SDA-SRS signatures.
Dunlavy Black Knights
Totems (I don't remember which model)
Snell - Reference A's
Infinity RS (Old school series, Betas, Gammas, Deltas)
Klipsch La Scalas
Dynaudio Confidence Series

Chime in and lets see what your hears have been blessed to hear - you don't have to owned them.

Ones I would like to hear:

Anything by Wilson Audio
Pipedreams acoustics
Advante'guard
Kharma
TAD (pioneer)
JM LAB's BE series speakers Grand Utopias

[Beta Man]

Apogee Grands, doubt I'll ever own them.

and

Thiel CS3.7 one day I'll have some Thiels, but probably not these.

[CptGreedle]

A friend of mine took me to his house to listen to some music (actually I was there to set up his HDTV and PS3 but he had other plans).
The speakers he has costs $26k! (I am not sure but I think that is each). Alas I don't remember the name of them, but they were HUGE, and ultra high quality. He said they were among the best in the world for the price, but went on to mention that there were others even better... (!!!!!)
Still, I think he said they were one of the top 3 best speakers.

I'll see if I can get the name of the brand from him...

[Woody]

7 years ago, Von Schweikert VR7SE.

Electronics were The Marantz 2 ch SACD player.
Audio Research tube am and tube pre-amp.

[MPDIEHL]

#1 Klipsch Corner Horns
#2 Altec A7 (Voice ot the Theater's)
#3 Martin Logan CLX with a pair of Martin Logan Descent Subs

[ground chuck]

definitive speakers, enuff said.

[RUR]

Originally Posted by MPDIEHL

#3 Martin Logan CLX...

Lucky you! Where did you hear them?

I've heard a fair number of uber high-end speakers over the years, the most expensive being Wilson WAMM's. If I could rationalize the purchase, I'd buy Martin Logan Statements.

[CptGreedle]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

A friend of mine took me to his house to listen to some music (actually I was there to set up his HDTV and PS3 but he had other plans).
The speakers he has costs $26k! (I am not sure but I think that is each). Alas I don't remember the name of them, but they were HUGE, and ultra high quality. He said they were among the best in the world for the price, but went on to mention that there were others even better... (!!!!!)
Still, I think he said they were one of the top 3 best speakers.

I'll see if I can get the name of the brand from him...

He says they are called Ariel Acoustics, 20T models. New they list at $28k a pair.
But he mentioned another company (West---something) that has new speakers listed at $40k a pair.

He says Klipsch and others in the same range are not high end.. in his opinion. And by that I think he means compared to his speakers.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

He says they are called Ariel Acoustics, 20T models. New they list at $28k a pair.
But he mentioned another company (West---something) that has new speakers listed at $40k a pair.

He says Klipsch and others in the same range are not high end.. in high opinion. And by that I think he means compared to his speakers.

Gorgeous.... never had an opportunity to listen to them though

http://www.aerialacoustics.com/html/prods.html

[prerich]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

He says they are called Ariel Acoustics, 20T models. New they list at $28k a pair.
But he mentioned another company (West---something) that has new speakers listed at $40k a pair.

He says Klipsch and others in the same range are not high end.. in his opinion. And by that I think he means compared to his speakers.

Those are on my wish list also

[prerich]

Originally Posted by CptGreedle

He says they are called Ariel Acoustics, 20T models. New they list at $28k a pair.
But he mentioned another company (West---something) that has new speakers listed at $40k a pair.

He says Klipsch and others in the same range are not high end.. in his opinion. And by that I think he means compared to his speakers.

He's right, the only Klipsch that are in his class are the larger Klipschorns, and the new Paladium speakers.

[Lucy Diamond]

The best cones were Signets.

The best EVER were a pair of handmade Ribbon speakers from Germany.

Completely sick.

If the home theater world could come up with something that sounds and feels like 2x12 cab with a Celestian Vintage 30 / Celestian Greenback mix, I would be completely set for LIFE.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by prerich

What are the best speakers that you have ever listened to?

I have several in that catagory - some I have actually owned - others I wish

Not in any particular order:

B&W 802
Yamaha NS-1000
Custom Bipole switchable speaker using Viva,Audax and ScanSpeak drivers (4way system 2 inch thick baffle - these things sounded magical)!
Martin Logans
Vandersteen 3A
Polk Audio SDA-SRS signatures.
Dunlavy Black Knights
Totems (I don't remember which model)
Snell - Reference A's
Infinity RS (Old school series, Betas, Gammas, Deltas)
Klipsch La Scalas
Dynaudio Confidence Series

Chime in and lets see what your hears have been blessed to hear - you don't have to owned them.

Ones I would like to hear:

It is actually Vifa.

I have heard too many to mention, but some of the more expensive ones I have heard are Logan's flagships (forget the name), B&W 800 + 802ds, Magnepan flagships, Focal Electra (forget model number, biggest pair), Vandersteen (somewhere in the middle of their line), Thiel (something like 12k/pair), Krell LAT1, Macintosh flagships, and the Paradigm S8. That is all I can remember. I have not done much critical listening to expensive speakers since I bought my speakers 5 years ago.

The recent ones (within 2 years) on my list are the B&Ws, the Focals, and the Paradigm S8.

Oh and Revel speakers like 6 years ago (somewhere around 10k/pair I heard)

[prerich]

Originally Posted by Woody

It is actually Vifa.

I have heard too many to mention, but some of the more expensive ones I have heard are Logan's flagships (forget the name), B&W 800 + 802ds, Magnepan flagships, Focal Electra (forget model number, biggest pair), Vandersteen (somewhere in the middle of their line), Thiel (something like 12k/pair), Krell LAT1, Macintosh flagships, and the Paradigm S8. That is all I can remember. I have not done much critical listening to expensive speakers since I bought my speakers 5 years ago.

The recent ones (within 2 years) on my list are the B&Ws, the Focals, and the Paradigm S8.

Oh and Revel speakers like 6 years ago (somewhere around 10k/pair I heard)

Typo- hand got off the home row (f and v right under each other) thanks for the correction

[jibucha]

Truly Outstanding Reference Quality

Properly set up and implemented; they are almost impossible to beat.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by jibucha

Truly Outstanding Reference Quality

Properly set up and implemented; they are almost impossible to beat.

ooooooooohhh old school Quad - very difficult to beat!!!! Better drive 'em right too !!!!

[richteer]

Originally Posted by jibucha

Truly Outstanding Reference Quality

Properly set up and implemented; they are almost impossible to beat.

Quad 63s are very nice, but they're a bit bass-shy for my tastes. But what they do, they do very well!

[RUR]

Originally Posted by richteer

Quad 63s are very nice, but they're a bit bass-shy for my tastes. But what they do, they do very well!

Over at the ML Club, there are a bunch of folks who firmly believe that the CLS+sub(s) (typically Depth i, due to its flexibility) is an ideal solution and superior to the Summit with its smaller panel. Theoretically, the Quad's could be similarly supplemented.

OT: I settled on the Modwright LS 36.5 pre. Fantastic piece of gear and, IMHO, better than the ARC LS26, which I also auditioned.

[Bluhorizon]

Originally Posted by jibucha

Truly Outstanding Reference Quality

Properly set up and implemented; they are almost impossible to beat.

I've had my pair for 26 years now and the only replacement I would consider are the Quad ESL 2905s. Cannot find a pair in Taiwan to audition however.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by prerich

Typo- hand got off the home row (f and v right under each other) thanks for the correction

LOL, happens to the best of us. On a side note, I loved Vifa when they were around, I used raw vifa drivers (mids + tweeters) in some of my old car audio systems. They also used to use them in the gen 1 Def Tech speakers which I used to love.

Since then they have merged with scanspeak and I think the name Vifa is completely gone.

Audax and scanspeak still have ALOT of their drivers used in some of the nicest speakers in the world, which you probably already know.

You came right into my wheelhouse with vifa, scanspeak, and audax.