Best Loudspeakers for Rich Timbre?

cd318,
I wasn't implying that tube gear would help in getting rich timbre. I was agreeing that the whole chain of gear must be taken into consideration. 

You can swap out speakers until you run out of patience and won't get rich timbre if what is upstream of it is not up to par. If you can get as accurate as you can a set up, rich timbre should be one of the results.

All the best,
Nonoise

@prof , yes live v recorded demos would be a great way to show off loudspeakers.

Gilbert Briggs (Wharfedale) used to do this back in the 1950s in absolutely huge arenas like London's Festival Hall.

Surely someone big like B&W could do something similar now.

cd318

I'm somewhat puzzled by the fact it seems no one (or no speaker manufacturer I'm currently aware of) is doing the live vs reproduced tests for their speakers.  (With the exception of the occasional live musician brought in for some audio shows).

John Dunlavy claimed this was fairly routine when testing the success or not of their speaker designs.

@nonoise , I agree wholeheartedly that what comes before the loudspeaker matters. When it comes to vinyl sources. you have to get as good a turntable as  you can.

However when it comes to digital sources, amplifiers (SS) and cables, I'm firmly in the Peter Aczel camp.

I also live in fear that I will eventuality just give up and end up listening to vinyl via a pretty tube amp and high efficiency speakers. By then no doubt fully convinced the entire industry took a wrong turn some 60 years ago and have been duping us all in the process ever since.

@prof , I guess times are hard and margins are tight. Still there must be someone out there with the budget capable of organising this. 

A live piano recital behind a curtain would be a pretty stern test for any speaker. Or perhaps the pianist could just mime upon the switch to recorded sound, (presumably on tape).

As long the hands were hidden from view, it wouldn't matter too much if the pianist was in vision or not.