KeithR's "Dream Speaker" Search

[morricab]

The JBL "setup" I referenced:

View attachment 50671

Well I wouldn’t say those speakers have no potential but not in that system and/or setup. The latest Levinson stuff to my ears sounds terrible regardless of what speakers I heard it on (they were all Harmann int.).

 

[Folsom]

They sound muted, don't they?

 

[Barry2013]

Thanks Alex
Are you sorted for Friday night or will you join us for dinner at a nice Italian?

 

[Doktorfuture]

I also like Acapella Ion tweeters .

If I had bought vintage or Line Magnetic horn system, then I would consider adding Acapella Ion tweeters to it.

I had been happily using Lanshe 4.1 since 2007.

Lansche has a better integration with mid and midbass than Acapella speakers.

I found Lansche bass quite tame. I agree with you integration is very good. My Acapellas (high violoncello ii mk ii) sort of turn to mud as u go down in frequency.

I rate the Tweeter at 10/10, midrange 6.5/10 and bass 3/10.

So I crossed the bass over electronically to GR research open baffle subs (10/10) and now the weak point is the midrange -- still very good overall but it is, apart from dispersion coherency/consistency between the drivers, the weakest link.

I'm not sure how to make it better so I started looking at planar and some oddball designs like SoulSonic.

 

[Rob181]

I'm not sure how to make it better so I started looking at planar and some oddball designs like SoulSonic.

I have not heard the SoulSonic speaker personally - but geez I would like to - it ticks all my boxes from a design viewpoint.

My understanding is - there is nothing oddball about the sound.

 

[asiufy]

Thanks Alex
Are you sorted for Friday night or will you join us for dinner at a nice Italian?

Oh I'll join you guys! What are the plans?

 

[Barry2013]

Great!
See post 42 Munich High End " 2019
Lovely family run Italian nice and central - not just a pizzeria.
Will book a table for 8.00pm.

 

[marty]

Keith,
Wow. 34 pages of suggestions and recommendations, you must be going crazy. I'll add my (unpopular) 2 cents then. I have yet to hear any horn speaker that was satisfying and moreover, a true full range speaker. Some impressive midrange horn speakers are out there but that does not a speaker make, at least for me. The AXPONA show hardly convinced me otherwise. I thought the Avantgarde's I heard were horrible, and same was true for all other horns heard at the show. (Frankly, I've heard Klipsch La Scalas sound better than anything at the show). But as you know, this is clearly a case of vanila, chocolate strawberry. "You pays yer money and takes yer choice" holds just as true today as when I heard Paul Heath first say it 40 years ago. . For 50K, there are a number of speakers out there that are attractive. I've never been a fan of YG, but the Hailey 2.2 was very impressive at AXPONA in a small room. Wilson Alexias are also in that price range, as are the Magico S5 MKII, another fine speaker descended from the "new" Magico sound of the M-Pro's (versus their original "fry your ears on their tweeters" sound of earlier models). If you have the room, there are even a number of Wilson Alexandria S2's out there in the LA area that can now be had comfortably under 50K. Good luck and have fun.
Marty

 

[bonzo75]

Keith,
Wow. 34 pages of suggestions and recommendations, you must be going crazy. I'll add my (unpopular) 2 cents then. I have yet to hear any horn speaker that was satisfying and moreover, a true full range speaker. Some impressive midrange horn speakers are out there but that does not a speaker make, at least for me. The AXPONA show hardly convinced me otherwise. I thought the Avantgarde's I heard were horrible, and same was true for all other horns heard at the show. (Frankly, I've heard Klipsch La Scalas sound better than anything at the show). But as you know, this is clearly a case of vanila, chocolate strawberry. "You pays yer money and takes yer choice" holds just as true today as when I heard Paul Heath first say it 40 years ago. . For 50K, there are a number of speakers out there that are attractive. I've never been a fan of YG, but the Hailey 2.2 was very impressive at AXPONA in a small room. Wilson Alexias are also in that price range, as are the Magico S5 MKII, another fine speaker descended from the "new" Magico sound of the M-Pro's (versus their original "fry your ears on their tweeters" sound of earlier models). If you have the room, there are even a number of Wilson Alexandria S2's out there in the LA area that can now be had comfortably under 50K. Good luck and have fun.
Marty

Marty, Please correct if wrong, but the two main horns you have heard are the Sadurni and David's vintage ones. Is that correct?

 

[KeithR]

Keith,
Wow. 34 pages of suggestions and recommendations, you must be going crazy. I'll add my (unpopular) 2 cents then. I have yet to hear any horn speaker that was satisfying and moreover, a true full range speaker. Some impressive midrange horn speakers are out there but that does not a speaker make, at least for me. The AXPONA show hardly convinced me otherwise. I thought the Avantgarde's I heard were horrible, and same was true for all other horns heard at the show. (Frankly, I've heard Klipsch La Scalas sound better than anything at the show). But as you know, this is clearly a case of vanila, chocolate strawberry. "You pays yer money and takes yer choice" holds just as true today as when I heard Paul Heath first say it 40 years ago. . For 50K, there are a number of speakers out there that are attractive. I've never been a fan of YG, but the Hailey 2.2 was very impressive at AXPONA in a small room. Wilson Alexias are also in that price range, as are the Magico S5 MKII, another fine speaker descended from the "new" Magico sound of the M-Pro's (versus their original "fry your ears on their tweeters" sound of earlier models). If you have the room, there are even a number of Wilson Alexandria S2's out there in the LA area that can now be had comfortably under 50K. Good luck and have fun.
Marty

Hey Marty, thanks for the comments. This thread really ballooned but that's because my audition timeframe has taken longer than anticipated. The YG Sonja 2.2 is actually my favorite full range speaker that I've auditioned over Wilson, Gamut, and Rockport - reviews of each are buried in the thread

I've just had trouble scoring a well setup horn demo (Cessaro) and perhaps expressed my frustrations a bit much. I'm leaning toward just eliminating horns from the equation, but the Long Beach show is in 6 weeks and may have something. Sometimes what's meant to be is meant to be - if that isn't horns, so be it.

 

[PeterA]

I think the length of this thread is a testament to the interest level in the topic, our curiosity to follow Keith in his quest, and our eagerness to learn what speaker he eventually decided to buy. We all have our favorites, and Keith is doing his research with deliberation. I am confident that he will make the right choice for him. It is a fun read.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Too bad you're not hearing the Liszts, Keith. In lots of ways, they're my fave horns.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I like the Liszts too, but not as much as I like the Avatons.

For me it takes a pretty elaborate horn system (e.g., Cessaro Gamma or Zeta) for horns to equal and exceed some of what I hear from other designs. Putting it another way, I feel that less ambitious horn systems don’t display what can be so wonderful about horns.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ron, the Avatons were seen once at a show. I'm not sure they're even a commercial enterprise. Have you ever seen a review or user report?
They might have sounded great at Munich, but lack of visibility suggests not a real world product.

At least the Liszt is a fully realised product. And for what it's worth, Ron, our demo on Tron 211s was not that good.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ron, the Avatons were seen once at a show. I'm not sure they're even a commercial enterprise. Have you ever seen a review or user report?
They might have sounded great at Munich, but lack of visibility suggests not a real world product.

At least the Liszt is a fully realised product. And for what it's worth, Ron, our demo on Tron 211s was not that good.

Why do I care whether some third-party reviewer heard these things? I heard them myself! They are amazing! And by the way one of the magazine reviewers wrote that he was floored by them.

I don’t understand your assumptions and speculation. Manolis will be happy to make Avatons for you if you want to buy a pair.

The only Cessaro Zeta that existed at Munich was the pair Jeroen bought from Ralph. Now Ralph is working on a second pair for someone.

Anybody who wants Avatons can order them.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Hey Ron, you have yr finger on the pulse it seems.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Not really, but I love those Avaton speakers!

If someone’s main musical interest is jazz rather than vocals I would recommend the Avatons over the Rockport Lyra (and I love the Lyra).

 

[Rob181]

This is a pretty impressive You Tube listen

 

[morricab]

H

Why do I care whether some third-party reviewer heard these things? I heard them myself! They are amazing! And by the way one of the magazine reviewers wrote that he was floored by them.

I don’t understand your assumptions and speculation. Manolis will be happy to make Avatons for you if you want to buy a pair.

The only Cessaro Zeta that existed at Munich was the pair Jeroen bought from Ralph. Now Ralph is working on a second pair for someone.

Anybody who wants Avatons can order them.

I was actually not impressed with the Avaton and thought the Anima a much better sorted out product.

 

[morricab]

Ron, the Avatons were seen once at a show. I'm not sure they're even a commercial enterprise. Have you ever seen a review or user report?
They might have sounded great at Munich, but lack of visibility suggests not a real world product.

At least the Liszt is a fully realised product. And for what it's worth, Ron, our demo on Tron 211s was not that good.

For me the main problem with Cessaro is their poor showing at hifi shows. Seems very hard to get them setup well...Living Voice sounds far better at shows (than anything else, IMO).