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What's your speaker IQ, and the best speaker?

Please forgive the fact that this is a direct overlap of the popular "The best speaker you ever heard?" thread. However as much as I love the original thread, far too many of the respondents do not list what other speakers they have auditioned, severely limiting the value of that particular answer. For example if you say, "The Dunlavy SC-V are the best speaker bar none" and all you ever heard before that are whatever was at Best Buy, it is hard to give that opinion a lot of weight. But if you say, "The Dunlavy SC-V are the best speaker bar none" and I've listened to Von Schwiekert VR-11s, Avalon Eidolon Diamonds, and the entire Wilson line .. well then NOW you're saying something.

So in my perfect world, the posts would go something like: "Krix Equinox, Rogers Studio 1a, Quad 12L, Quad ESL989, ATC SCM 20SL, Kef C40s, most of the Thiel line, but I have to say far and away the best speaker I've ever hear is ..."

Forgive me again, but I guess this also overlaps the popular "Personal speaker evolution" thread! However if this topic takes on any traction, I think it can be a perfect marriage of the other two threads and very valuable resource.

Try to answer by listing the speakers first, so that when the answers post they will be seen in the 1st line of the post and anyone browsing the thread can then click on those answers that mention speakers that he/she is interested in.

This could be fun, thanks!
studioray
nrenter's avatar
nrenter
691 posts
 
This is still a ridiculous thread. When you listen to a "speaker", what are you really listening to? The room? The power cord on the CD player? The brilliant pebbles? The cryo'ed CD-R? The broken-in tonearm wire? The NOS tubes? The salesman?

It cracks me up to think about someone stepping into a dealer and asking to hear a particular speaker. Then after that customer leaves, someone stepping into the same dealer asking to hear a particular CD player. Both customers hearing the exact same system. Both customers thinking they heard what they came to hear.

Unless you are able to compare different speakers in the same system / same room, you have no idea what you're hearing. Just my opinion. YMMV.
semi
646 posts
 
Speakers I have owned:

Energy C22
Spica TC-50
Sonus Faber Electa Amator 1
KEF Reference 3
Merlin VSM SE
Genesis VI
Sonus Faber Extrema
Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy 5.1
ProAc Response 1.5
Totem Acoustic Model 1
Acoustic Energy AE1 .Signature
Usher S-520
Dynaudio Audience 80
Hales Revelation 1
Dynaudio Confidence 5
Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home
Sonus Faber Grand Piano
B&W 802 Nautilus
Tannoy D80
Tyler Acoustic Lynbrook
Dynaudio Contour 3.3
Revel M20
Sonus Faber Cremona
Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor
Sonus Faber Amati Homage
Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage
Usher X-718
Sonus Faber Concertino Domus
Sonus Faber Electa Amator 2
Usher BE-718
Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento

Some as short as 2 weeks (like Wilson W/P 5.1) because I could not live with the sound, most last over a year. The longest ownership were Dynaudio Confidence 5, Sonus Faber Extrema, and Sonus Faber Amati. Currently own Amati, BE-718, and Guarneri Memento.

I have also heard numerous world class speakers at length, not including speakers heard at show:

MBL 116, 111, 101E
Aerial 20T
Gryphon Atlantis
Avalon ISIS
Avantgarde Duo & Trio
Dynaudio C4 & Temptation
Elac FS609 X-PI
Usher BE-20
Sonus Faber Stradivari
Egglstone Andra 2
and many others I can't remember.

If I need to buy a pair of speakers tomorrow, my money will be on Usher BE-20. It has the most incredible leading edge transit attack among any speakers I have heard. Most people talking about trailing edge, or "air", of any instrument during playback. I assume the BE drivers are so fast you don't hear as much trailing edge and therefore some people thought BE-10/20 were dry sounding. But if you can get past the thought and learn to appreciate what real music should be like, the leading edge strike reproduced by Usher BE-10/20 are so addictive I haven't found anything, regardless of the price, that can compete.

I have read in a thread on Audiogon BE-10/20 can be further improved by changing out the cross over parts.
tawaundabomb
38 posts
 
Some speakers I have owned because the list is to long:

Paradigm Atom
Paradigm Monitor 5
Wharfedale Diamond 8.1
AR S20's
Boston Accoustic VR10
Wharfedale Evo 40
Kef Q1
Tannoy MercuryX 2
B&W 303
B&W 602 S3
Accoustic Energy Aeigis Evo 1
Monitor Audio Bronze 2
Monitor Audio Bronze 4
Monitor Audio Silver 1
Ohm Walsh 2
Jungson beauty Detty 3
Aurum Cantus Leisure 3
Polk Lsi 15
Epos els 3
Epos M12.2
Totem Dreamcatcher
Totem Model 1 sig
Totem Arro
JM lab Colbalt 816S
Jm Lab Elecra 906
Oddysey Epiphony

The best speakers I've heard are as follows a star was great sound 2 stars is the best experiences I've heard superlative and non forgettable:
Aerial Accoustics 7b
*Aerial Accoustics 10t
**Aerial Accoustics 20t
B&W 802 Nautilus
B&W 805 Signiture
*Dalaquest DQ 10
*Infinity IRS Beta
Infinity Overture 3
Green Mountain Callisto
*Proac Tablelite 8
**Dynaudio Confidence C1
Vienna Accoustic Struass
*Rogers Ls3/5a
Pinnacle ac650
Focal Utopia Be
Focal Micro Utopia
*Jm Lab Electra 926
Magnapan SMG a
Magnapan 1.6
*Magnapan 3.6
**Magnapan 20.1
*DCM Time Window
Defintive Technology Mythos ST
Revel F52
**Revel Saloon
**Legacy Audio Whisper
Meadowlark Kiestral
Quad 57,63,989,988
Salksound HT-3
Stacked Advents
Paradigm Studio 100 V2
*Totem Mani 2
Odyssey Loralei
Harbeth Compact 7ES-3
Spender S8e
Gamut L-3
*NHT 3.3

This is what I own now:
Wharfedale Diamond 8.1
Magnapan SMGc(modded x-over)
Epos M12.2
av123 Onix XL-S(Ninja mods)
Infinty Beta 20
Eltax Monitor 3
av123 Strata Mini
and my newly aquired baby the Era Design 5,a amazing speaker at any price,their price is downright rediculous for what they offer
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