Which are the best speakers you have ever heard?
03-11-2013, 12:58 AM
#226
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I started off with Wilson Watt Pups 5.1 and updated the drivers and tweeters from WP 8. The crossover is also updated. Having gone through multiple amps including Boulder, Levinson and AR, I ended up with a surprising choice. I have settled for now with Esoteric A100 tube amp. The source is SS MPB through Weisss DAC202. I am in a happy place (for now). WP, Tube and digital source come together in an unexpected harmony.
04-14-2013, 12:05 PM
#229
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Funny you mentioned the MBL's. I had a second chance to listen to them at the NYC audio show yesterday. Although I find their imaging to be nonexistent sound quality is amazing.
I also had the opportunity to audition the new Wilson Alexia's powered by some fantastic D'Agostino Momentum mono blocks and his very creative preamp.
Dan was on hand to show off what his equipment can do and I was lucky enough to sit next to Michael Fremer as we auditioned some of his favorite tracks while Peter McGrath sat nearby with a smile on his face. Absolutely fantastic and I am sure we will see some great reviews regarding these soon. To bad they are $47,000 a pair. Very similar in sound to the Maxx 3 without the massive structures.
Another pair I was quite impressed by was YG acoustics the Carmel's were quite good but the Sonja really kicked butt.
Other speakers of interest were the KEF Blades powered by Chord with a fantastic kronos suspension table.
The Martin Logan CLX ART speakers and Martin Logan Descent i subs were on display which I have to admit did very little for me although I was equally unimpressed by the Krell equipment powering them.
A very interesting pair of Waterfall glass Evo speakers caught the eye but were more show than sound and would hate to try to keep them clean.
Although not the best speakers at the show I had to admit for the price point and overall sound the Joseph Audio Pearl 3's in a three channel system and Pulsar speakers were very nice easy on the ears and provided a tremendous sound. I also have to admit for a total of $2980 a pair the Audi Space LS-3/5A with SW-1A subwoofer stand was one of the most creative and economical bangs for the buck at the show and would do well in most peoples systems. My A+ choice for a starter system.
I hate to say the Vivid audio Giya series were not only horrendously ugly but sounded IMO equally as awful and for $58,000 a pair I wouldn't give you $580.00 for them.
I also auditioned the new VPI prototype direct drive table. Very nice but for a base price of $20k I don't see it taking over the market.
There were many overpriced systems there built for people who want unique and different at any cost. Although I can see people gravitating to them for those reasons there were systems costing half to a third less that I felt sounded superior. Not as many systems I would have expected to see for people with a moderate budget. Obviously the industry is leaning towards those who plan on spending $50k or more on a system.
All in all I spent the day listening to some serious systems some costing multiple hundreds of thousands and I came home to listen to my system confident that only one or two I heard that day surpassed my own. I know they have to fight the acoustics of a hotel room but their use of costly gizmos and funky gadgets did little to make a system using cables that cost more than my entire system sound decent. So it shows me you can buy smart and build a very nice system without spending 6 figures and still have it sound great.
I also had the opportunity to see my handy work at the show. I manufactured all the castings for the Palace Hotel and I had heard Leona H had them painted and to my chagrin she did. I was rather upset that we put so much work into making everything perfect only to paint the beautiful brass leaves and center pieces of the balustrade.
BTW I spent the entire night before 5 hours at Madison Square Garden for one fantastic show. Eric Clapton and the 2013 Crossroads Guitar festival. This should be a fantastic DVD when it gets released.
I also had the opportunity to audition the new Wilson Alexia's powered by some fantastic D'Agostino Momentum mono blocks and his very creative preamp.
Dan was on hand to show off what his equipment can do and I was lucky enough to sit next to Michael Fremer as we auditioned some of his favorite tracks while Peter McGrath sat nearby with a smile on his face. Absolutely fantastic and I am sure we will see some great reviews regarding these soon. To bad they are $47,000 a pair. Very similar in sound to the Maxx 3 without the massive structures.
Another pair I was quite impressed by was YG acoustics the Carmel's were quite good but the Sonja really kicked butt.
Other speakers of interest were the KEF Blades powered by Chord with a fantastic kronos suspension table.
The Martin Logan CLX ART speakers and Martin Logan Descent i subs were on display which I have to admit did very little for me although I was equally unimpressed by the Krell equipment powering them.
A very interesting pair of Waterfall glass Evo speakers caught the eye but were more show than sound and would hate to try to keep them clean.
Although not the best speakers at the show I had to admit for the price point and overall sound the Joseph Audio Pearl 3's in a three channel system and Pulsar speakers were very nice easy on the ears and provided a tremendous sound. I also have to admit for a total of $2980 a pair the Audi Space LS-3/5A with SW-1A subwoofer stand was one of the most creative and economical bangs for the buck at the show and would do well in most peoples systems. My A+ choice for a starter system.
I hate to say the Vivid audio Giya series were not only horrendously ugly but sounded IMO equally as awful and for $58,000 a pair I wouldn't give you $580.00 for them.
I also auditioned the new VPI prototype direct drive table. Very nice but for a base price of $20k I don't see it taking over the market.
There were many overpriced systems there built for people who want unique and different at any cost. Although I can see people gravitating to them for those reasons there were systems costing half to a third less that I felt sounded superior. Not as many systems I would have expected to see for people with a moderate budget. Obviously the industry is leaning towards those who plan on spending $50k or more on a system.
All in all I spent the day listening to some serious systems some costing multiple hundreds of thousands and I came home to listen to my system confident that only one or two I heard that day surpassed my own. I know they have to fight the acoustics of a hotel room but their use of costly gizmos and funky gadgets did little to make a system using cables that cost more than my entire system sound decent. So it shows me you can buy smart and build a very nice system without spending 6 figures and still have it sound great.
I also had the opportunity to see my handy work at the show. I manufactured all the castings for the Palace Hotel and I had heard Leona H had them painted and to my chagrin she did. I was rather upset that we put so much work into making everything perfect only to paint the beautiful brass leaves and center pieces of the balustrade.
BTW I spent the entire night before 5 hours at Madison Square Garden for one fantastic show. Eric Clapton and the 2013 Crossroads Guitar festival. This should be a fantastic DVD when it gets released.
Last edited by cobalt; 04-14-2013 at 12:33 PM.
04-15-2013, 04:30 AM
#230
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That would have been an awesome concert. I've only seen snippets of it on YouTube. Need to add it to the 'must buy' list.
I'm sure they'll be scraping off the paint soon enough. That's for sure!
The MBL's need to be setup on the long wall of a large room else everything is higgledy piggledy. The YG's are neat as well. I've not had the chance to listen to the Blades yet but have only heard great things about them.
I'm sure they'll be scraping off the paint soon enough. That's for sure!
The MBL's need to be setup on the long wall of a large room else everything is higgledy piggledy. The YG's are neat as well. I've not had the chance to listen to the Blades yet but have only heard great things about them.
