Where to begin ....

 

Years back, I worked with some of the folks behind Apogee speakers. I liked them, although I prefer a really nice set of electrostatic headphones these days...

 

Too each their own. They made a huge impact on the market when they first came out. Sound was OK but the wall of sound effect was something older design average consumer priced speakers didn't really offer. Back then it was more about sound than sound stage. Today both are important. My cousin loved his and won't part with them. They made a small room feel large but didn't work well in larger rooms. Heck Bose made a huge name off the initial design and manufacture tons of newer home theaters and wave radios off the concept. I gave my son the smaller wave for his B-day when he was younger and he still enjoys it. For crappy components it makes for a full sound.

Could never get used to head phones. Sound was good but didn't give you the full impact of listening. Bass needs to be felt as much as heard.

 

LOL... It doesn't happen often( agreeing with bob ) but i do like the sound of 901's with there E/Q and Bose amplifier..

Not hi-fi by any means and nothing near to reference speakers, but they had there own sound and back in the 70's it was a lot of music ...

Best suited for playing music while entertaining , it's not your sit and listen type speaker .



Best Speaker systems I have ever heard ? there are a few ... hard to pick one winner ..if there is such a thing !!!

In no particular preference and broken down by topology here are a few that i thought were standouts at the time :

Dynamic Speaker:

Probe Audio labs Martinet , Wilson audio Grand slam, watt5/puppy5,
( i have not heard any of his newer models ) Avalon Acoustics , JM labs Grand utopia , Utopia, B&W 800, 801 series 1- 3, Sonus Faber Amator,


Electrostatics/ribbons panel speakers:

Sound labs AE1`,Acoustats , Quad ESL-57 ( modified , Levinson QD system and stacked PK 's ) Genesis Gen1* , Infinity IRS beta, Apogee Reference, Apogee Diva.. Magnapan* 1.6 & 3.6 ( modded )


* The smaller genesis speakers are horrible IMO

* Maggies are so horrible in stock config, makes it very difficult to recommend.. Modified they are very good indeed..the 1.6 is quite possible the best sound per dollar speaker ( under 2000) available on a budget and much better with inexpensive mods and subs ..

Horn Speakers :

I have heard supposedly the best of this genre, Jadis,Tannoy, Avante Garde, Kilpsch corner horn et al .. none really worked for me , some sounded good , just not my type of sound ...

 

The next ones on my wish list are probably in the Salk Veracity series. I need the antique Advents (thrice rebuilt) in my analog room to die again...

Also a Magnepan fan.

 

A few years back, some original 901s were uncovered at Bose and sold at an employee auction sale. It was amazing how coveted those speakers still were.

 

I had the 901's at one point. They were good for a while, just were missing a well defined soundstage due to them sending out signals on all angles. Never was able to reach the true "holographic" sound with my Carver gear with the 901's until I went to conventional speakers, which were my a/d/s M12's.

One thing I've got to give Carver, he really acheived a wide and deep soundstage when set up correctly. I still have that Carver stack and the a/d/s's.

 

Home Theater system is Martin Logan from 2000.

Back in the late 70's I sold lots of Bose 901's with Pioneer rack mount Spec 1 amp and pre amp. Wish I had that set up today!

I have a very early set of 501's and 301's in the garage / Porsche room.

 

901's were very sort after and rare in the UK in my day along with Quad radiators. I still have a pair of 1984 Nightingale NM1's, (edit, NOT Odyssey, they stole the name) relegated to rear surround (criminal) my Mission Cyrus is still running when I go alalogue althought I have it out for new pots right now.

The Linns I also brought with me from Blighty are my favorite tho

 

No you won't. It's refreshing to hear someone talk about their old Boses and ARs instead of waxing lyrical about the capabilities of the Nanodollar X system with nuclear tweeters.

One of the best demos I ever heard was a Bose Demonstration (in quadrophonic) back in 1974. Santana's Abraxis, the bells were all around you.

If I did have the $? Dynaudio Evidence Masters. But then again I could buy a new Cayman Interseries straight from Napleton for that much change.

 

I have a pair of Apogee Duetta Signatures that we bought new in 1991 from Golden Grammophone in Akron, Ohio. Still sound amazing to my untrained ears. If you sit in the sweet spot and put on a good classical cd, you can hear the players in correct position. Having to position them so far from the back wall (in our room) was a bit of a hassle, but the sound is wonderful.

 

^^ Good speakers for sure ...

 

Yeah, I was friends with a perfusionist at the Cleveland Clinic (my college roommate who lived with us while he went to perfusion school there) and one of the other perfusionists there had a stereo system that literally cost more than his house. He had the top of the line Apogees and he coached us into getting the Signatures. This man was such an audiophile, he came over to our house many, many times over three months as he positioned the speakers for us. We have never moved them and, in appreciation, gave him our (extensive) vinyl LP classical collection as we replaced them with CDs. Wish I still had all that vinyl :-)
Most people can't believe how good they sound when they visit and we crank up the stereo...

 

Someone mentioned listening to movies... if you want the authentic theatre sound there is nothing better than these:



I am setting these up in my basement music room for a band PA / home stereo combo. The specs on these are probably crappy but they have a certain PRESENCE.

 

What are those things? Electrovox "Voice of the Theater" maybe?