Best Speaker you have ever listened to

[prerich]

Originally Posted by colofan

I build my own currently on "set" 15 I keep changing and adjusting based on the best drivers available.

I use an active crossover system cutom built but I am checking out the digital systems since I can get finer control on the phase response.

The room is as important as the system you play in it. Some money spent on room treatments is money well spent.

You build your own speakers (DIY'r)? That's neat!!!! I had a DIY person in Virginia build my subs back in 1996 and they have been in my system ever since (two 15 inch subs)!!!! The same person built the 4 ways that I described in my original post (I eventually bought them - but I sold them later for the opprotunity to own the Polk Audio SDA-SRS's - selling them (the 4 ways) was one of my many mistakes - wife didn't like them because they had no grills and looked like granite). You say you use the best drivers available - which ones are your preference and do you design your own crossovers - if you don't, where do you purchase your crossovers?

[welwynnick]

I used to work in a high end hifi shop, and became very familiar with Quads, Apogees, Martin Logans and Magnaplaners. The only speakers that really left any impression were Audiostatic electrostatics. They weren't neutral or balanced or all those things that big B&Ws and Kefs are like, but they were more transparent than anything else. It's what I've been aspring to ever since, so I now have Finals, which aren't quite the real thing.

The best speakers at the moment are probably the big MBL Radialstrahlers.

Nick

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by welwynnick

...
The best speakers at the moment are probably the big MBL Radialstrahlers.

Nick

I would love to hear a pair of those some day. I don't want to know how much they cost though

[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.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by HDJK

I would love to hear a pair of those some day. I don't want to know how much they cost though

They're (the MBL 101) about $50K. Their big brother (the Reference) is ~ $100K.

[RUR]

Originally Posted by richteer

They're (the MBL 101) about $50K. Their big brother (the Reference) is ~ $100K.

The dual-stator X-treme version (below) sell at higherfi.com for $180K.

[savage1984]

RUR, is that the speaker with and without the shell?

[kalkin84]

Best i've ever heard were Focal Grand Utopias. Had a friend that worked at a shop that carried these.... oh man they sound good. With dollar vs. Euro fluctuations i think they go for about $150,000 a pair these days.

Like most focal things these need some of the best electronics our there to sound their best. I heard them on Krell monoblocks with some immense wire (think it was Transparent, but don't know).

And no i don't have them

[RUR]

Originally Posted by savage1984

RUR, is that the speaker with and without the shell?

Nope, that's the separate base tower. Here's a very brief article from Bornrich.org

Hi-end audio reaches another extreme with these new $180,000 MBL X-treme Speakers that demonstrates the highest standards of perfectly balanced acoustically brilliant sound. The MBL 101X uses two of MBL�s unique vibrating element omni-directional drivers from the 101E, one suspended and inverted above the other, mounted on a massive platform made from carbon fiber, aluminum, steel, acrylic, and wood. Deep bass is provided by a separate tower, which stands more than 6 feet tall and houses four proprietary 12� subwoofers. The luxury speakers have been designed to radiate sound in all directions, creating more natural sound replication in all ranges to let you enjoy the concert feeling in the confines of your home. The entire system requires roughly one month of build and test time. AudioJunkies report that the 101X system will be officially launched at CES.

http://www.bornrich.org/entry/audiop...reme-speakers/

[savage1984]

Originally Posted by RUR

Nope, that's the separate base tower. Here's a very brief article from Bornrich.org


http://www.bornrich.org/entry/audiop...reme-speakers/

wow... one month of build and test time.... I mean those speakers cost more than most serious luxury cars.... A sweet ass mazeratti or some insane speakers... tough choices!!

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by richteer

They're (the MBL 101) about $50K. Their big brother (the Reference) is ~ $100K.

Ah, it's not so bad then

[RUR]

Originally Posted by HDJK

Ah, it's not so bad then

Easy now, you're still saving up for headphones.

[radagast]

Infinity Servo-Statik 1A. When they were bench tested in an audiophile magazine, the freqeuency response graph was so flat, it looked like a graph for an amplifire, except for a little bump around the crossover for the subwoofer.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by radagast

Infinity Servo-Statik 1A. When they were bench tested in an audiophile magazine, the freqeuency response graph was so flat, it looked like a graph for an amplifire, except for a little bump around the crossover for the subwoofer.

You went waaaaaayyy back with that one Great classic set of speakers, back when Infinity was foreal about speakers!!!!

[RUR]

Originally Posted by prerich

You went waaaaaayyy back with that one Great classic set of speakers, back when Infinity was foreal about speakers!!!!

Indeed, the IRS V was one of the finest speakers ever made.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by RUR

Easy now, you're still saving up for headphones.

Psst, don't tell anyone

[welwynnick]

Originally Posted by richteer

They're (the MBL 101) about $50K. Their big brother (the Reference) is ~ $100K.

Here's part of a review of the MBL Radialstrahler 116/121/111RC 5 Channel Surround Sound System in UltimateAV. It goes on......

Before we get to tonal balance, dynamics and the like, let's get one thing clear: throw away any superlatives you may have read about other speakers' abilities to create "acoustic bubbles," "seamless three-dimensionality" and the like. Nothing I've heard through the years comes close to what these mbls produce in terms of space, "acoustic bubbles," " three dimensionality", "seamlessness" and other oft-written surround sound criteria. The sound was everywhere and coming from nowhere. Yet when image specificity was called for it was there, where it belonged.

http://ultimateavmag.com/speakersyst...bl/index1.html
http://www.mbl-germany.de/english/start.html

I think that's where the state-of-the-art is at the moment. I get the impression that the electronics are necessarily very good, though not better than everything else like the speakers.
Nick

[prerich]

Originally Posted by RUR

Indeed, the IRS V was one of the finest speakers ever made.

+1 This is true but the Servo Statiks are even older - First speaker that Infinity ever made if I'm not mistaken! The IRS V's are planar/ribbon speakers with Servo subs (a whole lot of them) The Servo-Statiks were a pair of actual electrostatic speakers with a servo subwoofer. Both were and still are dynamite (if you can find a functional pair to hear) !!!

[richteer]

Originally Posted by RUR

Indeed, the IRS V was one of the finest speakers ever made.

Agreed. My, how the mighty have fallen... :-(

[prerich]

Originally Posted by richteer

Agreed. My, how the mighty have fallen... :-(

I still have three Infinity RS-6B Kappas that I use if anything happens to my Snells (had to do this when my Snell Tweeters got hit by lightning - now I have back up parts for my classic speakers. I took the Snells down and put the Infinity's up until I could replace the tweeters. I don't know which one I like the best - RS-6B's have the best top end, Tied in the midrang, Snells go lower and have a more neutral sound).