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.

[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)

[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.

[Memnoch71]

There's a local shop that has the B&W Nautilus speakers on display, they are incredible.

[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

[richteer]

Wow, good question!

In no particular order: Apogee Divas, Apogee Duetta II Signatures, my Spendor SP1/2s, Wilson Audio WATTs & Puppies, Stax electrostatics, Sonus Faber Electas, various Martin Logans, and (I think) a pair of Maggies.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Memnoch71

There's a local shop that has the B&W Nautilus speakers on display, they are incredible.

You're referring to the "Shells" ? I listened to them.... I didn't put them in the "Top" but they certainly sound amazing.

[DavePS3]

Tannoy Churchills. Holy mother of God...

[mustang-gt-2002]

yamaha's performance series. NS-777 dual 8" woofers, 5" midrange, 1" waveguide horn. frequency response 30Hz-35kHz. input power 100W RMS 250W MAX. 6 Ohm and 53.7 lbs. each (heavier then my 46" LCD HDTV 49.2 lbs.) ordering the NS-c444 and 4 of the NS-333 to go with them.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by mustang-gt-2002

yamaha's performance series. NS-777 dual 8" woofers, 5" midrange, 1" waveguide horn. frequency response 30Hz-35kHz. input power 100W RMS 250W MAX. 6 Ohm and 53.7 lbs. each (heavier then my 46" LCD HDTV 49.2 lbs.) ordering the NS-c444 and 4 of the NS-333 to go with them.

What I wouldnt give for speakers that weigh 54lbs.

My center bowed the top of my rear proj set.

[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.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by RUR

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.

Statements!! those are the ones I heard. The flagships right?

[RUR]

Originally Posted by Woody

Statements!! those are the ones I heard. The flagships right?

Used to be, but not made in a few years. There's a pair on A-gon right now for ~$70K. CLX is sort of a mini-Statement, and I'm waiting for them to arrive in dealerships. They look mighty tempting....


Statements:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....lan&1216331319

and CLX:

[m_tyson]

listened to some Alexandria X-2s in an acoustically treated room. sounded incredible. looks made me feel like i was getting an x-ray or mri done.