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What are the best speakers you have ever owned and why?

I just recently recieved my long awaited Shahinian Diapason 2’s from Vasken And they are absolutely spectacular! This got me thinking about my long journey to get here. Bless my wife for putting up with the many many many speakers that have passed through. The lifelong saga began with Magneoan MG 1’s back in college which were replaced by Dahlquist DQ 10’s. Then we traveled down a long road of speakers and systems. Magnepan Tympanis, Misson 770, Randall Rsch DQ10’s, Quad ESL single and stacked, Acoustat II, rogers LS3/5A’s, Linn Isobarik’s (2 pairs) B&W 801 Matrix, Hales Signature, Martin Logan Monolith2, Apogee Scintilla (1 ohm) Apogee Full Range, Theil SC 5A, Egglestonworks Andra, B&W Nautilius 801,Quad 63 and some I’m sure I forgot! Each speaker had its virtues and flaws but oh what a fun and a times frustrating trek! I think I have finally found my speaker to take me to retirement they do everything that I value wonderfully . They are detailed without sounding so, very dynamic, they have great low end reach, power and detail, are open sounding like a planner, their tonality and timbre seem spot on and they sound wonderful on any kind of music. Tell me about your journey!
hamr

Showing 4 responses by prof

prof
1,741 posts
 
@richopp
It was not until we hooked up Magnepan products that we finally realized that NO box or HORN or ELECTROSTATIC or RIBBON or any combination of these reproduced sound as accurately as Magnepan products. 

How did you actually determine this?
I ask because audiophiles, many of whom have wide experience listening to different speakers, often disagree on which speakers are more "accurate" based on their own subjective impressions.And it also depends on "accurate to what?"  An "Absolute Sound" type of accuracy to the sound of live unamplified music? Or accurate in a technical sense (which would involve measuring distortion).



prof
1,741 posts
 

I've really enjoyed all the speakers I've owned.   And it would seem a bit arbitrary to believe one of them was "the best."  But if I absolutely had to give that prize to a single speaker, it would be the Thiel 3.7s I owned.They had an essentially neutral character that did not rob the tone of beauty but allowed an organic sense to come through.  They through a massive sound stage with the best I've owned, but with greater imaging density and precision.  And they were more "invisible" coherent and controlled from top to bottom than any speaker I've owned.

prof
1,741 posts
 
richopp


Ok, thanks for the details.

I like the sound of maggies and used to hear them a lot, but admittedly it's now been years since I've been able to hear them.

It can be tough trying to figure out among audiophiles which speakers are most accurate in terms of reproducing live sound, because all speakers compromise somewhere, and someone may be more sensitive to that area of compromise over another.

I've been interested in live vs reproduced sound for as long a I can remember, so I've always been comparing them.   (I work in post production sound and record live sound all the time).   I've mentioned before on the forum how I made recordings of instruments I play, that family members play, and of family members voices, which I'd use to do direct live-vs-reproduced comparisons through various speakers.  It was always fun and illuminating.


prof
1,741 posts
 
richopp

Keep doing what you are doing, go down to your dealer and listen to a pair of Maggies--the new ones are all over the place with the number of panels, etc. (I personally prefer multiple panels per side) but make your own decisions.

I've been at this for a little while now, 4 decades of high end audio and 3 decades of sound recording and post production.... but thanks for the encouragement. ;-)
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