What does one purchase after owning horns?

Soundlab ESL speakers are what you may be looking for. They are a point source speaker with perfect top to bottom integration.

This will most likely require an amp change also however.

Soundlab A1's and up can be quite dynamic with a little effort.

First and most important is they need lots and lots of good power to really come to life.I have 600 watts of SS power per side that delivers 2400 watts into 2 ohms.This alone has my M1's really singing.

Second is I modified the backplates with far better parts and bypassed the brillance control. Huge improvement in dynamics. These M1's now have it all .

Soundlab's don't seem to get much attention these days and I am not sure why. To my ears they play natural sounding music that is effortless and almost magical. They can play at concert level volumes and offer unrestrained bass down to 20 htz without a hint of coloration or overhang etc...At least in my room:-)

Top to bottom cohesiveness is stunning and makes for a wall of sound that is often breath-taking.

If at all interested I highly suggest an amp capable of putting out what I mentioned above.

I tried OTL amps on my M1's and while they worked and sounded quite nice, these speakers need gobs of power from an amp that can handle impedence swings from 2 to 40 ohms to sound dynamic and best.

Have fun on your search!

Inna,

You are somewhat right. Used Soundlabs can be had for $7000 - $12,000. My amp cost me $1500!

With regard to SS amps that work well with Soundlabs at a reasonable cost I suggest the following used amps.

Sunfire Signature 600x2
Parasound JC1's
Cary MB500 monos

Some say the Innersound ESL amp.

I am sure there are many others I have not heard.

Goodness my Soundlabs sound anything but flat. I have owned some very dynamic box speakers and one horn speaker and my Soundlabs have more live music impact.

I guess my room and gear makes the difference and perhaps many have never really heard Soundlabs in a properly set up room and system.

I have heard the King Sound and Magie ESL's and understand what you folks mean by flat, but my SL's certainly don't remotely sound that way.

Duke is a great guy and I came very close to buying one of his speakers. I bet they are great based on all the positive remarks. I did talk to him at lenght on the strenghts of his speakers vs Soundlab M1's and decided on the Soundlabs.

Many great choices indeed and it can be fun to listen to several and decide. I suggest listening to some M1's as part of your decision.

Br3098

So true! One must listen before buying to make up their own mind.

Hopefully the comments we make help narrow the list to a workable few to sample.

ESL's are to large for recording studios as we all know. That is the only reason we don't see them. Soundlab's are simply to big. Come on.....

ESL's are however used to reproduce live sounding instruments in orchestras on a large stage.

Seems we all have opinions/experiences that another seems to disagree with. I find Shadorne's comments to be far off the mark regarding Soundlab speakers at least. Oh well, I guess that is what makes us all individuals.

What is gold to one is tin foil to another based on preferences, hearing ability, past experiences and in some cases ignorance - not having actually experienced a said product.

Most, not all recording studios, would not use a speaker 7-8 feet tall by 3-3.5 feet wide that needs 5 feet or more dead space behind it.