What is the best speaker you have ever owned ?????
- Thread starter MrAcoustat
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I have a few Hi-fi friends who are xactly like Mr A , if its a box speaker forget about it, silly really , both technologies have there pros and cons. Best to have fun with them, like the time we set up subwoofers with a friends 3.6 and told them they were off ..
No complaints ....
Both topologies have there advantages and disadvantages , personally for me if you like details with proper perspective, point source does a better job. Favor midrange with large scale sizing panels work better. The biggest problem with panel speakers (all of them ) is Percussive energy , or lack thereof vs Dynamic type speakers , biggest advantage, they don't suffer from dynamic compression like point source (single tweeter) box speakers ....
Choose your poison , enjoy the music , its not the Indy 500 there is no checkered flag, not unusual for one mans euphoria to be another's anathema ...(20.1
)Its Audio ..
Regards
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I have not heard all panels...and i have not heard anything bigger than the big reference maggie's from almost 10-15 years ago...CLX is the biggest current-model i've heard...but the visceral impact on deep electronic house was definitely missing.
How Soundlabs and gigantic Apogee Grands/Scintillas/Divas sound...i cannot say. I bet with limitless amplification, pretty damn good. Nevertheless, i love feeling the impact of a kick drum and have so far only heard it with cones.
Speaking about panels, Doug from Dagogo urged us to listen the King Audio's speakers during our dinner at RMAF, his search is over accirding to him. i just had a pair of Maggies (one step below the 20s) and liked them, but in my system instruments were a tad larger than life.
The best speakers I have ever heard by a large margin were MBLs. My favorite box speakers are most any of the larger Harbeths. Surprisingly the best speakers I have owned are my current Klipsch CF3 version 1 speakers. They were only made for one year and due to the fact that they do not have the typical Klipsch sound the design was altered because of complaints from Klipsch dealers. Really wonderful well balanced speakers.
cubdog
cubdog
During the open house here yesterday, a customer asked to hear his Telarc LP of Orff's Carmina Burana, the opening cut. We played it at slightly less but not dramatically less than concert levels through the Sound Lab U-1PXs with the not-yet-available Consummate backplate upgrade, driven by the Atma-Sphere MA-1s. The huge "thwack" of the big bass drum that engulfs you and shakes the concert hall was clearly evident in a natural way, and he remarked how realistic it was compared to what he heard recently at Orchestra Hall (now Symphony Center) with the CSO. No amplifier clipping nor loose bass, either.
Hello Brian. I hope you had a nice gathering. I'm sure your description doesn't do justice to what was actually heard.
cubdog
cubdog
Thank you...just read the website...good stuff (your website and also Sound Labs)
Mr Acoustat
I do understand the love. We may have to remain balanced. I am a panel speaker fan myself. I believe that one of the best speaker on this planet regardless may well be the 20.7. I had the 20.1 and have heard the 3.7 which is as good as advertised and then some more . I also have lately head some box and cone speakers and can tell you with all frankness that things have changed .. A lot. SOme box don't sound like boxes at all there is no hint of "boxiness" in their reproduction.. none ... Try to listen to some of the new speakers coming out and try to remove the bias try to separate what you hear from what you see and you may come with a slightly different stance... I recently heard the Q3 and believe me the purity and absence of "noise" from this speaker is beyond remarkable it is likely unique. No it doesn' have the very big soundstage of the Magnepan and what I remember from the Acoustat but it matches them rather well in most departments.
As for bass the new subs are not "boxy".. If you were to listen to subs like the JL Audio (the whole lime) or the Paradigm or the SVS boxes you may be for a surprise they go low, very low and they go low clean and they go lower with more output that our beloved panels have ever been able to ... and they mate very well with our panels giving us the best of both world... Using multiple subs with panels provides a sublime experience IMO. Not plug and play but worth the hassle.
All that to tell you that I understand the love.. But we have to understand that however we love our wives, Halle Berry and Beyonce are incredibly beautiful and likely more so than our beloved ones ...
As for CDP vs Music Server I am not sure I get your point. Do you believe your CDP to be superior to the music server you're using or ? My personal experience is that music server surpass most CDP and transports. Also I now listen almost exclusively to digital .. Some LPs are free of the "popcorn" noise as to be nearly silent The operative word is "nearly", CD remains superior in this regard as there is simply a complete absence of noise IME. in LP surface noise may not be objectionable, thus the "nearly" silent expression I used earlier but it is always present. It has to ... I don't think I am talking out of ignorance I have a more than decent TT,arm and Cartridge (Technics SP10, SME IV and Denon cart + Sutherland Phono preamp) and can always hear surface noise on LP .. not on CD though ... I do however listen these days through a Planar ( ) Headphones (HiFiman)
I do understand the love. We may have to remain balanced. I am a panel speaker fan myself. I believe that one of the best speaker on this planet regardless may well be the 20.7. I had the 20.1 and have heard the 3.7 which is as good as advertised and then some more . I also have lately head some box and cone speakers and can tell you with all frankness that things have changed .. A lot. SOme box don't sound like boxes at all there is no hint of "boxiness" in their reproduction.. none ... Try to listen to some of the new speakers coming out and try to remove the bias try to separate what you hear from what you see and you may come with a slightly different stance... I recently heard the Q3 and believe me the purity and absence of "noise" from this speaker is beyond remarkable it is likely unique. No it doesn' have the very big soundstage of the Magnepan and what I remember from the Acoustat but it matches them rather well in most departments.
As for bass the new subs are not "boxy".. If you were to listen to subs like the JL Audio (the whole lime) or the Paradigm or the SVS boxes you may be for a surprise they go low, very low and they go low clean and they go lower with more output that our beloved panels have ever been able to ... and they mate very well with our panels giving us the best of both world... Using multiple subs with panels provides a sublime experience IMO. Not plug and play but worth the hassle.
All that to tell you that I understand the love.. But we have to understand that however we love our wives, Halle Berry and Beyonce are incredibly beautiful and likely more so than our beloved ones ...
As for CDP vs Music Server I am not sure I get your point. Do you believe your CDP to be superior to the music server you're using or ? My personal experience is that music server surpass most CDP and transports. Also I now listen almost exclusively to digital .. Some LPs are free of the "popcorn" noise as to be nearly silent The operative word is "nearly", CD remains superior in this regard as there is simply a complete absence of noise IME. in LP surface noise may not be objectionable, thus the "nearly" silent expression I used earlier but it is always present. It has to ... I don't think I am talking out of ignorance I have a more than decent TT,arm and Cartridge (Technics SP10, SME IV and Denon cart + Sutherland Phono preamp) and can always hear surface noise on LP .. not on CD though ... I do however listen these days through a Planar (
) Headphones (HiFiman)
I like panels as well, but I don't like the look of them. Now I know we buy based on quality of sound first, but I couldn't see myself owning a pair. The aesthetics of them is a real issue for me.
Does anyone truly feel that digital reproduction has zero noise? I contend that all source material has noise associated with it as well as the noise associated with the gear that is playing back the source material. Yes, digital has less noise than analog, but I still hear something there. With digital, you have a electrical, mechanical, and optical system that are all sources of potential noise being added to the signal or riding on top of the signal.
What I think is a real hoot is the the people who profess their hatred of all things analog and appear to be so narrow minded that they have one eye stacked on top of the other. They claim to hate analog, but the truth is the majority of the music in their collection has to have been sourced from analog masters. And yes, to one degree or another, I can hear the background tape noise in digital recordings. Depending on the vintage of the recording and the machine and tape formulations that were used, that will dictate the amount of noise you will hear.
What I think is a real hoot is the the people who profess their hatred of all things analog and appear to be so narrow minded that they have one eye stacked on top of the other. They claim to hate analog, but the truth is the majority of the music in their collection has to have been sourced from analog masters. And yes, to one degree or another, I can hear the background tape noise in digital recordings. Depending on the vintage of the recording and the machine and tape formulations that were used, that will dictate the amount of noise you will hear.
Spectra 66's? One of my customers owns some. Perhaps the best model they made. I dare say if he heard a pair of big Sound Labs with the new backplates he'd be writing a check, though.
For those attending CES and THE Show in January, Sound Lab will be in room 4004 at the Flamingo. I'll be there some of the time, too, so please introduce yourselves.
cubdog, your neighbor John intends to get the new upgrade in his A-1PXs, so you two should definitely get together.
For those attending CES and THE Show in January, Sound Lab will be in room 4004 at the Flamingo. I'll be there some of the time, too, so please introduce yourselves.
cubdog, your neighbor John intends to get the new upgrade in his A-1PXs, so you two should definitely get together.
Panels don't lack bass wack , apogee's had such in spades decades ago. What they lack is percussive energy from the upper mid bass thru the mid - high frequency range is the main culprit. Drum snares, steel weight, horn blast , et al , is where it's most pronounced vs dynamic speakers ...
Regards ,
There is digital noise , very apparent going from digital playback to analog playback , those who are very sensitive to it swear off digital as bad as Mr A does to analog ....
Re Maggies ,
their 1.7/3.7 are good deals, not the 20.1 and i have not heard the 20.7, but every time i have heard a 20.1 it was a disappointment and not worth the extra coin over the smaller models and absolutely not competitive at its price point to me ...
Regards ,
mep
I don't hate analog. I do believe that digital is whee it marches and surpass analog. Digital has become so good it will fool the most anti-digital person if he doesnt know what's really playing. I have heard some needle drops and the quality is such that without knowing that it is coming from digital one really can;t tell them apart of course with knowledge the "ahas". "wider soundstage" , "more organic" comments wil spring but the reality is that the best digital is right now virtually indistinguishable from analog ... This says a lot about the transparency of the medium. The great news there is still a lot of room to approach the theoretical limits (and promises) of digital... They are of course higher than the analog media we have at our disposal (Tape , Vinyl)... Some may construct this as an opinion but the theoretical superiority of digital over analog are fact and they have the numbers to back them. I will quickly acknowledge that numbers and measurements do not account (or even explain) for preference.
As for noise it is a part of physical existence so it is always there .. If the recording is all digital, if there i n digital between the notes , the level is too low for our ears.. when there is no sound .... well there is no sound .... music surges from ..nothing ..Not so in any analog I ... In Tapes there is a hiss always there and audible.. Vinyl surface noise is by the very principle of the medium, it relies of friction to produce sound so ... it's signal to noise ratio is lower than either tape or our current digital.. Surface noise is always there ... Not an opinion
Speaking for myself I don't hate analog. I have analog. TO me they sound diferent and I don't miss analog, I think the present and future is digital that's all
Since the thread is about best speaker One has owned .. I repeat it has been the MG 20.1 ... The system improved when I supplemented them with three subwoofers.. I reached below I have heard since several speakers non-planars that I could live with some for a long time ... My search will not automatically be for planar .. Any speaker I choose must surpass the MG 3.7 in all areas ..else ..
I don't hate analog. I do believe that digital is whee it marches and surpass analog. Digital has become so good it will fool the most anti-digital person if he doesnt know what's really playing. I have heard some needle drops and the quality is such that without knowing that it is coming from digital one really can;t tell them apart of course with knowledge the "ahas". "wider soundstage" , "more organic" comments wil spring but the reality is that the best digital is right now virtually indistinguishable from analog ... This says a lot about the transparency of the medium. The great news there is still a lot of room to approach the theoretical limits (and promises) of digital... They are of course higher than the analog media we have at our disposal (Tape , Vinyl)... Some may construct this as an opinion but the theoretical superiority of digital over analog are fact and they have the numbers to back them. I will quickly acknowledge that numbers and measurements do not account (or even explain) for preference.
As for noise it is a part of physical existence so it is always there .. If the recording is all digital, if there i n digital between the notes , the level is too low for our ears.. when there is no sound .... well there is no sound .... music surges from ..nothing ..Not so in any analog I ... In Tapes there is a hiss always there and audible.. Vinyl surface noise is by the very principle of the medium, it relies of friction to produce sound so ... it's signal to noise ratio is lower than either tape or our current digital.. Surface noise is always there ... Not an opinion
Speaking for myself I don't hate analog. I have analog. TO me they sound diferent and I don't miss analog, I think the present and future is digital that's all
Since the thread is about best speaker One has owned .. I repeat it has been the MG 20.1 ... The system improved when I supplemented them with three subwoofers.. I reached below I have heard since several speakers non-planars that I could live with some for a long time ... My search will not automatically be for planar .. Any speaker I choose must surpass the MG 3.7 in all areas ..else ..
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