The best 5 speakers that you have had

[emoonie]

Thanks Ron. Have also been fascinated with your thread as the culmination continues

 

[emoonie]

Nice Journey.

I would like to have had Diva but settled at Duetta sig for monetary reason on 1989.

Thank you. I do feel fortunate. Duetta Signatures are incredible speakers in my opinion and give up very little to their big brothers.

 

[mainelotus]

1. Merlin 2b
2. Essence Topaz 6
3. Essence Amethyst 10a
4. Essence Amethyst 10a reference (currently using)

 

[Gregadd]

I am like the guy who kept marrying and divorcing the same woman.
.1 Martin Llogan CLS1
2. Martin Logan CLS 1
3. Martin Logan CLS1
4. Magnepan MG1
5. Martin Logan Aerius (Yes I married her little sister)
6. Vandersteen 2ce

 

[Argonaut]

I am like the guy who kept marrying and divorcing the same woman.
.1 Martin Llogan CLS1
2. Martin Logan CLS 1
3. Martin Logan CLS1
4. Magnepan MG1
5. Martin Logan Aerius (Yes I married her little sister)
6. Vandersteen 2ce

Have you considered CLX’s ?

 

[Gregadd]

I no longer have the space.

 

[Argonaut]

I no longer have the space.

A pity as I suspect that you would like them .

 

[Vinylleroy]

Martin Logan CLS 1 with 2 Vandersteen subs, driven by Primare 928 monos.
Martin Logan Statement E2 driven by 2 Krell FPB 600 C
MBL 101 E with Martin Logan Statement E2 sub-woofer towers, driven by MBL 9011 amps.
Back to full set of Martin Logan Statement E2 driven by MBL 9011 amps.
Honorable mention to my most used speakers, a pair of very smooth and forgiving Sonus Faber Cremona Auditors with Vandersteen subs, driven by Primare 928 monos, playing TV sound trough a OPPO. All speakers are still around !

Hi Lagonda,

I'm in a bit of a split off what to do. And you might be capable of giving me the right advise when I look at your speakers. ;-)

Currently i'm running a set of Elipson 1303 FT speakers with my Unison Research S6MKII tube amp. Looks like a bit of a weird combination when you look at the sensitivity of the speakers, but it sounds great. I'm running these for +/- 7 years now and I'm starting to look at different speakers, as the Elipson's are from the '80s. I learned that I'm not all for the 'new high-end sound' with lightning fast details, but more of a musical sound lover. Whatever that means.... but you might get what I mean. ;-)

So, at the moment I can buy a set of SF Cremona's (not the M) speakers, but I'm also waiting for the keys of our new home. I think i'll move in may. Ideally I would wait for me to move to my new home so I could try-out the cremona's there, but at the same time I think the Cremona's will be gone/sold in may and I won't be able to buy them anymore.

You can't fix this challenge for me but I'm curious to know how good you think the Cremona's are, eventhough you are using the Auditors. Could you tell me more about them?

Thank you in advance.

Leroy

 

[Lagonda]

Hi Lagonda,

I'm in a bit of a split off what to do. And you might be capable of giving me the right advise when I look at your speakers. ;-)

Currently i'm running a set of Elipson 1303 FT speakers with my Unison Research S6MKII tube amp. Looks like a bit of a weird combination when you look at the sensitivity of the speakers, but it sounds great. I'm running these for +/- 7 years now and I'm starting to look at different speakers, as the Elipson's are from the '80s. I learned that I'm not all for the 'new high-end sound' with lightning fast details, but more of a musical sound lover. Whatever that means.... but you might get what I mean. ;-)

So, at the moment I can buy a set of SF Cremona's (not the M) speakers, but I'm also waiting for the keys of our new home. I think i'll move in may. Ideally I would wait for me to move to my new home so I could try-out the cremona's there, but at the same time I think the Cremona's will be gone/sold in may and I won't be able to buy them anymore.

You can't fix this challenge for me but I'm curious to know how good you think the Cremona's are, eventhough you are using the Auditors. Could you tell me more about them?

Thank you in advance.

Leroy

The Cremonas are forgiving in the treble, nice on voices, you can play badly recorded pop and rock without hurting your ears. I like them a lot, i play my Auditors with subwoofers. I bought a pair of Cremona M floorstanders for my mother, they have a decent bass output in a fairly large room, and are just beautiful to look at, a little more sparkling in the treble, but still pleasant. Both have fantastic tone on violin pieces ! I can not tell you how your tube amplifier will handle the Cremonas, i have used good 80- 150 Watt solid state amplifiers on mine.

 

[Vinylleroy]

The Cremonas are forgiving in the treble, nice on voices, you can play badly recorded pop and rock without hurting your ears. I like them a lot, i play my Auditors with subwoofers. I bought a pair of Cremona M floorstanders for my mother, they have a decent bass output in a fairly large room, and are just beautiful to look at, a little more sparkling in the treble, but still pleasant. Both have fantastic tone on violin pieces !

Thank you for your reply.
You never felt the urge to get the Cremona instead of the Auditors? I read that the Cremona is more of the 'old SF sound' and that the M has more push in the mid-high and high field.

 

[Lagonda]

Thank you for your reply.
You never felt the urge to get the Cremona instead of the Auditors? I read that the Cremona is more of the 'old SF sound' and that the M has more push in the mid-high and high field.

I have the early Cremona Auditors stand speakers, and use them as part of my TV room setup, the subs are integrated into my equipment "rack" , full range Cremona are to big in that position for me. I think the M designation is for the later model with a different tweeter and crossover, they come in a full range and stand model too, they look almost identical.

 

[Fishfood]

1) Mitsubishi Diatone 2S-305
2) Quad ESL-57
3) Harbeth Monitor 30 Anniversary
4) ClairAudient 2+2
5) Magnapan MGIII

 

[Fishfood]

I no longer have the space.

This is my problem too

 

[thomask]

1. Merlin 2b
2. Essence Topaz 6
3. Essence Amethyst 10a
4. Essence Amethyst 10a reference (currently using)

Many people had listened to Merlin but not to
Essemce speakers.

Could you give more detailed opinion on your experience on Essense speakers?

 

[thomask]

I have the early Cremona Auditors stand speakers, and use them as part of my TV room setup, the subs are integrated into my equipment "rack" , full range Cremona are to big in that position for me. I think the M designation is for the later model with a different tweeter and crossover, they come in a full range and stand model too, they look almost identical. View attachment 105419 View attachment 105420 View attachment 105421

I look forward to listening to MBL 101 after 15 years hiatus tomorrow at Seoul Audio Show.

Cremona sounds musical to my memory.

 

[Lagonda]

I look forward to listen to MBL 101 after 15 years hiatus tomorrow at Seoul Audio Show.

Cremona sounds musical to my memory.

I love the sound of my MBL 101's, i feel a little guilty not using them at the moment, but i need the big room for the Statements now. I will maybe set them up in a 40"x17" room i have above my garage, but not having double sets of quality amplifiers is a limiting factor at this moment. If my listening room had a more symmetrical layout in both ends, i would have set them up in each end, with amplifiers in the middle !

 

[jonathanhorwich]

1. Levinson HQD system (despite faults magical midrange and highs)
2. Dunlavy SC IVa (brilliantly coherent speaker only missing the transparency of modern speakers)
3. TAD Reference One's (amazing speaker)
4. Quad 57s (by Electrostatic Solutions and still own them as midrange reference)
5. Horning Eufrodites (my studio reference as highly detailed, fast, efficient and tonally neutral)

 

[thomask]

1. Levinson HQD system (despite faults magical midrange and highs)
2. Dunlavy SC IVa (brilliantly coherent speaker only missing the transparency of modern speakers)
3. TAD Reference One's (amazing speaker)
4. Quad 57s (by Electrostatic Solutions and still own them as midrange reference)
5. Horning Eufrodites (my studio reference as highly detailed, fast, efficient and tonally neutral)

I had listened to other speakers than Levinson HQD.

Could you give more detailed idea how Levinson sounds.

 

[jonathanhorwich]

The HQD I had used 6 mono ML-2 Levinson Class A amps on lows, mids, and highs. The general sound of the mids (two Quad 57s on each channel) and highs (Decca tweeters) was magical. But the bass was Harley subwoofers which were huge, slow, and somewhat muddy. With great subs as we have today it would have made a huge difference. The system did not image as well as the best and of course did not have huge dynamics. But tonally it killed. And had a big sound unlike a single pair of Quad 57s. All in all, magical, despite limitations as above.

 

[213Cobra]

1/ Zu Definition 6
2/ Zu Druid 6
3/ Zu Definition 4
4/ BBC LS3/5A "doubled" ala the Absolute Sound Double Advent System from 1975
5/ Tie between Quad ESL "57" and KLH Nine

Honorable Mention: ProAc EBS

Phil