Top 3 Speakers You'd Like To Hear

[topspeed]

Through the years, I've been fortunate enough to audition a fair amount of speakers, even statement speaks such as ML Odyssey's, Von Schweikert VR11's, and Wilson WP7's (OK, this isn't a "statement" speaker, but it's still my fave). If you attend the CES or THE, you've heard more than most. However, it's humanly impossible to hear them all.

So, with that in mind, what are your Top 3 speakers you would like to hear? I want you to think about this for awhile and not ramble off a laundry list of gear, which is why it's limited to 3. Your reasons can be anything; from wanting to hear a certain speaker because you're in the market to just simple curiousity. They can be from any era, in production or gone the way of the Do-Do bird. Anything.

Here's mine:

1) Avant Garde Trio and Basshorns: Giant horns look like too much fun to pass up.

2) Apogee Divas: Ugh, as much as I hate to admit it, after reading a review in an old Stereophile, I'd like to know what Flo keeps blathering on about. (I'm never going to live this one down :( )

3) Dali Megalines or Euphonia's: Lordy, these are gorgeous and I want to see if it would be something I'd want to buy (the Euphonia's...I couldn't bring myself to waste that much $$$ on the Megalines).

BTW, this list is subject to change by the hour ;).

[jocko_nc]

Ditto on Florian's setup. I'd really like to hear those...

jocko

[Feanor]

....

1) Avant Garde Trio and Basshorns: Giant horns look like too much fun to pass up.

2) Apogee Divas: Ugh, as much as I hate to admit it, after reading a review in an old Stereophile, I'd like to know what Flo keeps blathering on about. (I'm never going to live this one down :( )

3) Dali Megalines or Euphonia's: Lordy, these are gorgeous and I want to see if it would be something I'd want to buy (the Euphonia's...I couldn't bring myself to waste that much $$$ on the Megalines).

BTW, this list is subject to change by the hour ;).
Karma Grand Ceramique and Ceramique 3 --

http://www.kharma.com/
Aerial 20T --

http://www.aerialacoustics.com/Aerial/html/prods.html

[E-Stat]

So, with that in mind, what are your Top 3 speakers you would like to hear?
1) Avant Garde Trio and Basshorns: Giant horns look like too much fun to pass up.

2) Apogee Divas: Ugh, as much as I hate to admit it, after reading a review in an old Stereophile
Ditto.

3) Sound Lab Majestics with UB-1 subwoofers. Gotta love a nine foot tall full range electrostat along with a matching flat to 26 hz double diaphragm electrostatic woofer! Drive mine with VTL Siegfrieds.

rw

[Florian]

Mine would be the rarest Apogee Grand. Hearing my system is not a problem, many have listend to it. Just yesterday i had a guy over for a listening session and he said that the next thing was a live concert. I am done, no real wishes left. I'll just buy music now :p
Some people should start listening and not reading all these adverts on this site.

-Flo

PS: Dont sweat it Topspeed, after all i am just an IP Adress. Look at my pictzre gallery and you can, if you like read this article and read it carefully and you will understand how they sound like. He quotes unfortunatly a wrong frequency reponse, the real drop off ocurs at 23Hz by 1db and mine are EQ-ed flat to 20Hz with extension to 18Hz.

Search for the ultimate speaker (http://www.apogeespeakers.info/reviews/a_search_for_the_ultimate_speaker_bestofaudio.htm)

[Florian]

... the huge horns from Acapella Audio Arts.

Actually, any of their models seem interesting - plasma/ion tweeter (forgot which) and all.You should come my way then, they showed them last year in Munich at the High End 2005. Was quite good, actually!

[Jimmy C]

... the huge horns from Acapella Audio Arts.

Actually, any of their models seem interesting - plasma/ion tweeter (forgot which) and all.

[GMichael]

Just 3? Oh come on.

1) Ditto on the Apogee's. There must be a reason why Flo gets so hot about them.
2) Maggie 1.6's. I know, these are not the best. But I have heard other maggies and enjoyed them. These are about as much as I would spend on a pair speakers. On my wish list with the mini-mags.
3) Legacy Whispers. They look so cool and the stats are fantastic.
4) Speed won't let me say.
5) Speed won't let me say.
6)
etc.....

[Bernd]

Well I thought about it and it didn't hurt a bit.

1) Avalon Eidolon Diamond-Anything that looks that good has to sound sublime.

2) Perigee Definitive- I just would like to hear them

3) ART Emotion Silver Signature- The cost no object upgrade to my new speakers. P.O.A.

The power of music gives you wings

Bernd

[Geoffcin]

BTW, this list is subject to change by the hour ;).

1) Pipedreams

2) The big Martin Logans

3) The Manger speakers with "bending wave" tech

[topspeed]

Flo,
Thanks for the link, but I like to listen with my ears, not my eyes ;). Stats are the beginning, but by no means are they the end.

GM,
My buddy just bought Whispers so I'll be auditioning them within the next few weeks or so. These were also something I wanted to hear...and now I get to :).

[Florian]

Yups, Stats are the beginning but not the end. Thats why i dont have stats :p
Your welcome to stop by for a listen, if your ever in germany.

-Flo

[Mr Peabody]

In my area I have been fortunate enough to hear the top of the line Dynaudio, Martin Logan's and B&W's.

Off the top of my head here's my 3:
1) Avante Garde, I have yet to hear a good sounding efficient speaker and these costing $25k and up surely have my curiosity.
2) Something toward the top of the Wilson line to see if they live up to the buzz.
3) Top of the line Audio Note. Can anything really sound like $225k?

Don't scurge me, tie for runners up. Merlin, again curiosity. Klipschorns or La Scalla's to see if Klipsch actually did make a speaker that I could tolerate.

[RGA]

In my area I have been fortunate enough to hear the top of the line Dynaudio, Martin Logan's and B&W's.

Off the top of my head here's my 3:
1) Avante Garde, I have yet to hear a good sounding efficient speaker and these costing $25k and up surely have my curiosity.
2) Something toward the top of the Wilson line to see if they live up to the buzz.
3) Top of the line Audio Note. Can anything really sound like $225k?

Don't scurge me, tie for runners up. Merlin, again curiosity. Klipschorns or La Scalla's to see if Klipsch actually did make a speaker that I could tolerate.

Mr. Peabody. Well you know there are at least THREE people in my area who have flown all the way to England for holidays with the main priority of listening to Audio Note gear at Peter's house. Flights are a cheap investment. Peter owns a set of Avante Guardes which he purchased for research purposes -- he has owned or still does own Apogee Scintilla's, Acoustats, Beveridge systems, various Lowthers, Quads and pretty much every and any high end speaker that has been built over the last 40 years. The man is a collector as well as an audiophile. You may be able to hear all three on your wish list though perhaps not the Wilsons, to audition in an A/B comparison.

Wilson though should not be too difficult for you to locate. Sound Plus here carries Wilson's Sophia which I heard. If you've heard the Gershman Acoustics X-1/Sub one you can pretty much expect the same thing -- though I think the Gershman's at about 1/4 the money (and nicer looks to boot) sounds better from a music standpoint.

The $125k E version is made to order (you pay up front and then wait about a year for it) so I should gather that you would have to go to his house to hear it. And to put it bluntly -- for that kind of money I would want the owner himself to play it for me. There is over $40,000.00 worth of silver in the loudspeakers so you are not going to run into them very much.

That speaker set-up would be on my list of want to auditionsas well as would be Peter's Snell A/III and perhaps a big lowther.

[Geoffcin]

The $125k E version is made to order (you pay up front and then wait about a year for it) so I should gather that you would have to go to his house to hear it. And to put it bluntly -- for that kind of money I would want the owner himself to play it for me. There is over $40,000.00 worth of silver in the loudspeakers so you are not going to run into them very much.

That speaker set-up would be on my list of want to auditionsas well as would be Peter's Snell A/III and perhaps a big lowther.

Spot price for silver is about $9.50 a Troy Oz. So these speakers would have to have about 4,210. troy oz of silver in them, or about 289 US lbs. Are they working speakers, or a metal investment? I assume all this silver is for mass loading, as I can't see any other need for it. I suppose it would work better than sand given the density of silver. Of course you don't have to polish sand.

[Mr Peabody]

Thanks, I'll put that on my "to do" list:) That is the "to do" list right after I win the lottery. It is sincerely a trip I'd love to make though and I'm sure it would be very enlightening.

Was Peter the one who died at CES? I remember the name sounded Japanese but I thought Audio Note was a British company.

[Mike Anderson]

1) Wilson Alexandria X-2
2) Magnepan 20.1
3) Florian's Apogee Divas

[Florian]

Thanks, I'll put that on my "to do" list:) That is the "to do" list right after I win the lottery. It is sincerely a trip I'd love to make though and I'm sure it would be very enlightening.

Was Peter the one who died at CES? I remember the name sounded Japanese but I thought Audio Note was a British company.No, the person who died was the actual designer, brains, founder and genius maker of the AN Ongaku and did not sell or make the speakers from Audio Note UK

[Geoffcin]

Much easier to mass load the cabinets with.

[RGA]

Spot price for silver is about $9.50 a Troy Oz. So these speakers would have to have about 4,210. troy oz of silver in them, or about 289 US lbs. Are they working speakers, or a metal investment? I assume all this silver is for mass loading, as I can't see any other need for it. I suppose it would work better than sand given the density of silver. Of course you don't have to polish sand.

No this is the cost not just of the silver but the cost of forming the silver

"AN-E SOGON, between 35 and 45 kgs of 99.99% pure silver foil contained in the approximately 60 x 3.3uF silver foil capacitors, the couple of silver wires chokes used, plus the 7 meters plus SOGON (there's that word again!) speaker cable used to connect to the external crossovers, drivers contained in hand made enclosures using the best AA grade veneer available coated with 8 layers of hand polished piano lacquer..../...Just for the record, the price you quote is the spot price for silver in bars, not for foil, for your information the cost of specially heat treated 73 mm wide 0.023mm thick silver foil is far far higher than that, more like $ 350.00 - $ 500.00 a kilogram, dependent on quantity. Then the foil has to be wound into capacitors, assembled with copper casing, mylar film, and terminated with silver wire lead outs, because of the sheer weight of the silver foil, the wastage is high, about 25-30% (because of the height and weight of the stack on 1 in every 4 caps on average the stack collapses when it is taken off the machine)."

[Florian]

Oh come on RGA, the Audio Note stuff is seriously overprized and one of the most controversial products in the entire HIFI realm along with the Red Clock. Its great that they use so much silver etc.. but charging over a 100 Grand for silver, 2 drivers and a normal wooden cabinet is just out of this world.

[RGA]

Thanks, I'll put that on my "to do" list:) That is the "to do" list right after I win the lottery. It is sincerely a trip I'd love to make though and I'm sure it would be very enlightening.

Was Peter the one who died at CES? I remember the name sounded Japanese but I thought Audio Note was a British company.

No. Kondo-San the founder and original proponant of Silver passed away at the CES. Peter Qvortrup is not a design engineer. He is a music lover and was a dealer who put the money up and was the distributor for Kondo-San and then became his partner. Peter decided which products would be sold which designs Kondo was making sounded best and put Audio Note on the map. Peter hired another very good designer by the name of Andy Grove who developed with Peter the no sampling DAC which Kondo copied later when the two men split in the late 1990's due to philisophical and financial arguments. You can read about it here http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=general&n=36887&highlight=audio+note+japan+Peter+Qvortrup&r=&session=

You can listen to the Kondo Ongaku and the new AN UK Ongaku at Peter's house and determine for yourself which Ongaku sounds better. Kondo, from pictures of his plant uses the AN E to voice his products but AN UK has the rights to the Snell designs. Kondo then made speakers called the Ruthy series but they have not been well received and as such he used another company's speaker at this year's CES. Andy Grove has been commisioned out to design amplifiers by other companies such as Quad. Peter Qvortrup listens and is the ultimate decision maker - Grove is the guy who implements and does the designing and they actually were responsible for making improvements in the Japanese plant such as quality control. Grove is from what I can determine the guy who creates the technical follow-thru of what Peter wants to be the result. Comnpanies need more than great designers - they also need a keen sense of the market which is why very rarely can one person operate a successful audio company by himself -- people bring different talents to the table.

As the fellow here who went from Mark Levinson's/ Cello big ass system to an AN level 5 system noted that Mark Levinson while a good designer was a terrible businessman and he's into his third company now. The current Mark Levinson for example is not a Mark Levinson design - in a way he lost his own name to financial difficulty and when he was bought out the name went with it. He is now making Red Rose or something.

[drseid]

1) Lumen White Diamond Light (or any Lumen White speaker)
2) Legacy Audio Helix
3)Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage

---Dave

[Pat D]

I can think of a few innovative designs I'd like to hear and these would be on the top of my list.

1. The GedLee 'Summa.' Earl Geddes is an expert on small room acoustics and he has some interesting and plausible ideas.

http://www.gedlee.com/
http://www.gedlee.com/Summa.htm

2. Linkwitz Labs 'Orion.' Another design by a real expert, which is said to sound excellent.

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/

3. VMPS Audio new speakers with the Constant Directivity Wave Guide. Brian Cheney seems quite proud of his latest effort. Well, I'd like to hear some of his other models, too.

http://www.vmpsaudio.com/

[Florian]

Hello Pat.

I have a VMPS RM30M and a VMPS 626R here and can only suggest that you satay far away. I had nothing but problems, with build and sound quality. I am getting a fully loaded RM30M with the CDWG but have offered it for sale already to get some small Apogee's for my parents.

-Florian

[Garrardman]

1. Duntech Crown Prince
2. B&W Nautilus
3. Wilson Watt

[swgiust]

Bose 301's

Fluance fx-htb

Anything from Theater Research.....

[GMichael]

There's one in every crowd.

[topspeed]

Bose 301's

Fluance fx-htb

Anything from Theater Research.....
Eat beans for lunch and that should give you a pretty good facsimile.

[Pat D]

Hello Pat.

I have a VMPS RM30M and a VMPS 626R here and can only suggest that you satay far away. I had nothing but problems, with build and sound quality. I am getting a fully loaded RM30M with the CDWG but have offered it for sale already to get some small Apogee's for my parents.

-Florian
Thanks for your opinion, Florian, but there's no harm in auditioning (assuming I can find any to audition). Besides, your taste in speakers seems to be somewhat different than mine.

[Florian]

Thanks for your opinion, Florian, but there's no harm in auditioning (assuming I can find any to audition). Besides, your taste in speakers seems to be somewhat different than mine.Well, audition is fine ;-) My taste are properbly pretty close to yours if you like live music uncolored. Now the optics, price and WAF plus room might be different.

-Flo

[dennymack]

I'm a newbee, so the names you all know and have heard are all just names to me. I have heard wonderful things about electrostat/planar speakers, and I would love to sit down for a nice listen. I would also like to here some of the higher end bi/di/and omni-polar speakers. The ideas behind these are intriguing, and it is tough not to have a sonic memory to attach to them.
So I guess:
Mirage floorstanders,
Magneplanars or Martin Logan (whatever model, I just wanna know what folks are raving about!)

And I want to here the Aerialacoustics Model 9T again. Kevin at Fred's Sound of Music in Portland sat me down for a listen to these, really let me enjoy them. He knew I was in the market for some basic speakers, he just wanted to share the love, and give a music lover a memorable experience.
If I had not been hooked on the audio arts before that, there was no question afterwards. The best analogy I can think of is from 1986, seeing and hearing my first GSXR motorcycle. I knew I could never get bikes out of my blood after that experience. Decades of passion and enjoyment come from that one afternoon.
So thanks to all of you who share your passion, whatever it is for.

[dennymack]

I'm a newbee, so the names you all know and have heard are all just names to me. I have heard wonderful things about electrostat/planar speakers, and I would love to sit down for a nice listen. I would also like to here some of the higher end bi/di/and omni-polar speakers. The ideas behind these are intriguing, and it is tough not to have a sonic memory to attach to them.
So I guess:
Mirage floorstanders,
Magneplanars or Martin Logan (whatever model, I just wanna know what folks are raving about!)

And I want to here the Aerialacoustics Model 9T again. Kevin at Fred's Sound of Music in Portland sat me down for a listen to these, really let me enjoy them. He knew I was in the market for some basic speakers, he just wanted to share the love, and give a music lover a memorable experience.
If I had not been hooked on the audio arts before that, there was no question afterwards. The best analogy I can think of is from 1986, seeing and hearing my first GSXR motorcycle. I knew I could never get bikes out of my blood after that experience. Decades of passion and enjoyment come from that one afternoon.
So thanks to all of you who share your passion, whatever it is for.

Dennymack

Upstairs system:Yamaha htr 5540 receiver, Infinity SM 152 mains, Boston Acoustics CR57 surrounds, hd5 center.
Downstairs: $40 Knackered old yamaha cr 840, $10 no-name portable cd player, $30 boston acoustics A70's from an old theatre. $20 Philips turntable with nifty touch sensative light for control buttons and a saphire needle. Lots of fun for a C note. (Do I have the cheapest system here?)

[Pat D]

Well, audition is fine ;-) My taste are properbly pretty close to yours if you like live music uncolored.
-Flo
Yeah--that's what we all say! ;)

[filecat13]

It would be nice to hear some of the speakers that appear in a lot of the lists, though not the Bose or Theater Research, of course! My approach would be to audition with a mind toward actually being able to afford what I heard.

With that in mind:

Revel Ultima Salon with Revel Ultima Sub 30

JBL K2 S9800

Pass Labs Rushmore

[muziekfreak]

What would i like to hear....mmm nothing really. I just follow my own path without making the mistake "the more mony it cost the better" I don't really have "wet avalon sentinel dreams"

I'm very satisfied with what i have so far. The future who can tell i had a period in my life wearing off about 12 pair speakers in the year. I'm a little bit tired of that :cornut:

[Mark111867]

Ok, I'll take a stab at it. I would like to hear the following:

Totem Rainmakers
Monitor Audio Silver RS1
Magnepan MMG

I know these aren't "crazy" extravagant, but nontheless, I would still like to hear them.

[musicman1999]

ok i will get in on this

1.jm labs utopia grande
2. sonus faber --any of the top line models.always wondered if they sound as good as they look.
3. martin logan statement.

we have no local sonus faber dealer so that will be a problem,we have a martin logan dealer but they keep little stock,and they keep only mid line utopias but they sound great.
thanks
bill

[andy_c]

Thanks for your opinion, Florian, but there's no harm in auditioning (assuming I can find any to audition). Besides, your taste in speakers seems to be somewhat different than mine.

I also had a pair of RM-30M, which briefly replaced some Magnepan MG-III that I had for 20 years. I kept the RM-30s for about four months. I hated them. The combination of the poor dispersion of the ribbons with the (quasi?) first order crossover gave very poor driver integration. I was always acutely aware that I was listening to individual drivers rather than an integrated system. Small changes to the position of my head resulted in large changes in the perceived sound quality. This is also supported by measurements of the frequency response, which vary greatly in the crossover region with changing off-axis angles.

The strong point of these speakers was the bass, even though the RM-30 doesn't go nearly as deep as the cheaper RM-2 and some of the other VMPS speakers. By tuning the bass with the putty on the passive radiator, a deep and powerful, yet natural bass response can be achieved.

As far as sheer brain power of the designer, I think my vote goes to Earl G. on this one. I'd love to hear the Summas, and the Orions as well. I heard that Earl was at the RMAF last year, so I'm sorry I missed that. If he will be at the next one, I'll definitely go.

[Pat D]

I also had a pair of RM-30M, which briefly replaced some Magnepan MG-III that I had for 20 years. I kept the RM-30s for about four months. I hated them. The combination of the poor dispersion of the ribbons with the (quasi?) first order crossover gave very poor driver integration. I was always acutely aware that I was listening to individual drivers rather than an integrated system. Small changes to the position of my head resulted in large changes in the perceived sound quality. This is also supported by measurements of the frequency response, which vary greatly in the crossover region with changing off-axis angles.

The strong point of these speakers was the bass, even though the RM-30 doesn't go nearly as deep as the cheaper RM-2 and some of the other VMPS speakers. By tuning the bass with the putty on the passive radiator, a deep and powerful, yet natural bass response can be achieved.

As far as sheer brain power of the designer, I think my vote goes to Earl G. on this one. I'd love to hear the Summas, and the Orions as well. I heard that Earl was at the RMAF last year, so I'm sorry I missed that. If he will be at the next one, I'll definitely go.
Thanks for your comments. I have never heard any of the VMPS speakers but some of them certainly have their fans, so I would like to hear some of them But the Summas and the Orions are certainly at the top of my list for innovative designs.

Of the speakers I have already heard, my current favorites are Paradigm's Signature Series, which are simply superb.

[armyscout42]

THE EXPERIMENTAL KHARMA 2 MILLION DOLLAR LOUDSPEAKERS THAT HAD 30 CABINETS JUST IN ONE SIDE (LEFT) AND ANOTHER 30 (RIGHT) MADE IN 1992 AND TESTED IN 1994....YOU GUYS CAN LOOK THAT UP...IT WAS TESTED IN A HUMONGOUS MANSION...I FORGOT THE NAME....ONLY ONE WAS EVER MADE TO PRODUCE TO MOST REALISTIC SOUNDSTAGE AT CONCERT LEVELS IN A HOME...
I THINK THE AMPLIFIER WATTAGE, STACKED WAS 30, 000 WATTS RMS PER CHANNEL...
THE NUMBER TWO IS GERMAN PHYSIKS GAUD FLAGSHIP using the DDD DRIVER OR BENDING WAVE DESIGN from the walsh coherent line source...AT WHOPPING 1000LB EACH...FORKLIFT ANYONE?

GENESIS FLAGSHIP THAT RESEMBLES THE VINTAGE INFINITY flagship RS SERIES THAT COST $60K in the 80's


NOTE: THE KHARMA that costed $2 million in 1994 WILL BLOW ANY HIGH END SPEAKER AWAY AT ANY LEVEL....it wasn't intended for consumer USE, it was a DARE by audio engineers and experts to the founder of kharma to see IF SUCH DESIGN WAS POSSIBLE? some extremely WEALTHY investor DARED him and INVESTED ON THIS PROJECT. I can only imagine how it sounded!!!!

The GERMAN PHYSIK'S GAUD IS MORE POWERFUL than any of the other high end speakers mentioned here, far more (excluding the kharma) that can hold thousands of wattage rms. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FOR $225K ?
next to that is the LORELEY AT $95K some lucky guy bought one for $29k used at audiogon a month or so ago....from what i read since I OWN OHM WALSH 2xo's,
the GERMAN PHYSIK'S create a 3 dimensional LIFE LIKE IMAGERY MORE THAN ANY HIGH END SPEAKER ON THE MARKET PERIOD! Both flagships are HUGE!

[armyscout42]

THE EXPERIMENTAL KHARMA 2 MILLION DOLLAR LOUDSPEAKERS THAT HAD 30 CABINETS JUST IN ONE SIDE (LEFT) AND ANOTHER 30 (RIGHT) MADE IN 1992 AND TESTED IN 1994....YOU GUYS CAN LOOK THAT UP...IT WAS TESTED IN A HUMONGOUS MANSION...I FORGOT THE NAME....ONLY ONE WAS EVER MADE TO PRODUCE TO MOST REALISTIC SOUNDSTAGE AT CONCERT LEVELS IN A HOME...
I THINK THE AMPLIFIER WATTAGE, STACKED WAS 30, 000 WATTS RMS PER CHANNEL...
THE NUMBER TWO IS GERMAN PHYSIKS GAUD FLAGSHIP using the DDD DRIVER OR BENDING WAVE DESIGN from the walsh coherent line source...AT WHOPPING 1000LB EACH...FORKLIFT ANYONE?

GENESIS FLAGSHIP THAT RESEMBLES THE VINTAGE INFINITY flagship RS SERIES THAT COST $60K in the 80's


NOTE: THE KHARMA that costed $2 million in 1994 WILL BLOW ANY HIGH END SPEAKER AWAY AT ANY LEVEL....it wasn't intended for consumer USE, it was a DARE by audio engineers and experts to the founder of kharma to see IF SUCH DESIGN WAS POSSIBLE? some extremely WEALTHY investor DARED him and INVESTED ON THIS PROJECT. I can only imagine how it sounded!!!!

The GERMAN PHYSIK'S GAUD IS MORE POWERFUL than any of the other high end speakers mentioned here, far more (excluding the kharma) that can hold thousands of wattage rms. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FOR $225K ?
next to that is the LORELEY AT $95K some lucky guy bought one for $29k used at audiogon a month or so ago....from what i read since I OWN OHM WALSH 2xo's,
the GERMAN PHYSIK'S create a 3 dimensional LIFE LIKE IMAGERY MORE THAN ANY HIGH END SPEAKER ON THE MARKET PERIOD! Both flagships are HUGE!

[armyscout42]

FOR EVERYONE'S INFO....CHECK www.exoticaudio.org and I'M SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO HEAR ANY OF THESE VERY EXPENSIVE AND EXOTIC LOUDSPEAKERS ON THIS SITE....ENJOY!

[Florian]

Dear Mr.Army, your post is even to arrogant for my taste. And acording to some people i am the Nr.1 arrogant jerk on this site! So take a seat in the line behind me :cornut: You shouldnt post speakers over 800$ here otherwise some (not all) members get upset and will argue to the death a Paradigm 40 vs. a Genesis 1.1 and talk about personal preference.!!

I can agree on the Kharma, eventough we both know that we havent heard it yet. Speakers listed there like the Dunlavy SC-V, Martin Organ, NFR 345R, Genesis 1.1 or IRS-V are all statements. But for instance the Apogee Grand, Fullrange and DIVA, Martin Logan Statement, Prodigy, Soundlab U1, Perigee Definitive, Acoustat 2+2's etc.. is on paar with everyone of these systems. Some of them are better in some areas and some are worse.

This is what i am talking about, when i say "Reference".

Thanks for a good post!

PS: If you wanna hear some of the gear on this site, let me know my friends own a bit of that. *Goldmund, Jadis, IRS, Dulavy, Apogee, Krell Reference, Kharma and Etallon ;-)

[Dusty Chalk]

O'Heocha D2-ISO-5XCT
Kharma Ceramique (couldn't care less about the million dollar system)
JBL K2 S9800

Ones that I've already heard, otherwise would be in this list:

Focal Grande Utopia (local dealer)
Nearfield Pipedreams (local dealer)

#4's:

Martin Logan top-o'-the-line
McIntosh ridiculous system

[MikeyBC]

Since I own PSB's i'm curious to see if the PSB Platinum 8T is a really true high end speaker or not.

#2 would be the B&W Nautalis 800D or 801D's

And I am curious about electrostats, ribbons and planars... so # 3 would be those Apogee Diva Reference of Florians. I was impressed with a set of Acoustat Spectra 22's so I can only imagine how transparent and revealing the Divas sound.

Oh Yeah....the Proac D100 too !

[tparker66]

I would like to hear the B&W Nautilus,Wilson Grand Slams ,Genesis Advanced Technologies 5.2 loudspeakers.I would want to hear these with the biggest baddest BAT AMPS and Preamp,Sony SACD Reference Player and a DVD-Audio Pioneer Elite with Audioquest Interconnects and decent 12 guage speaker wire.Plus I would want to hear what they sound like on a state of the art turntable and a excellent cartridge with Blueback LP's

[patpong]

1. Apogee Grand 2. Avantgarde Trio 3. Westlake...