Your favorite speakers

[natty_dredd]

Blimey mate, those TDL "References" were the "top-of-the-line" studio monitors produced by TDL. They may be worth a fair bit of money to someone.

Don't think I can blame the room they were used in, it's huge and other dynamics, some larger and Soundlab ULP X stats worked well in that setting . The room has very high ceilings and an appropriate amount of diffusion and absorption treatment. My present Usher BE 10's (+ a pair of Velodyne DD15 +'s) sound wonderful in it and there's sure no sign of any quacking. My suspicion is the crossovers on the References were overly complex and compared to today's lacking in musicality. I did enjoy them though for a number of years - my theory is speakers don't so much break-in as our brains learn to decode different distortions as we become familiar with them. Just a guess.
Anyhow, the References aren't' wasted as when visiting brats aren't' torturing them with their MP3's they get wheeled out into the back yard for parties. I'm one of those old audiophools who won't let anyone get drunk & stoned near my main system. Too many expensive accidents in the past.

Are you serious?

Someone I saw around the web spend some £4K importing a pair of those into the UK! And yours get wheeled out into the garden for parties....??

You need to do them up, advertise them for the equivalent of £3K (4800 AUD says http://www.xe.com) sell them and do some good with the money!

Unless you're quite rich, you're potentially letting a large asset go to the dogs.

People say things like this about them:

You have one of the most extrardinary 3d reference speakers made. They originally cost between 10,000 to 12,000 dollars. I trialed dozens (B & W, Martin Logan, electrostatic, etc.) and selected TDL 10 years ago. Wouldn't trade them for the world. Congratulations on your inheritence.

[natty_dredd]

My current favourites are some Celestion SL700s - really open sound with an odd kind of sonic aura around them where the sound easily floats around the speakers a little instead of obviously coming from the drivers. With other speakers this normally only happens on good material but with the SL700s it happens often like the soundstage is just waiting to break into full 3D.

Others are some Acoustic Energy AE2 Pros - a bit muted in the top end but can give a tactility to some sounds that I can't get on other speakers so far.

Tandberg Studio Monitors were a favourite once but the sound memory is fading. Just remember a lovely rich midrange and good speed.

KEf 107s - I have some but not even heard them (been a project for 4 years, sitting there) they are my favourites on looks alone with the hoods on and I can of course imagine that with the mods I'd do, they will sound fantastic. Reality might spoil things...

[Alec124c41]

Watson Labs Model 10 speakers, designed and built by Mike Wright, creator of the original Dayton-Wright Electrostatics.
These speakers are so transparent, with 15 to 23000 Hz response, easy to drive, forgiving of placement, and built to last.

Cheers,
Alec

Alec - did you used to play Elite (the computer game) back in the day? Just noticed your signature and wondered if it was a reference.

Science fiction books.

Cheers,
Alec

[daytona600]

usher be10 or if i won the lottery gip labs

[GlassWolf]

My favorites..

KEF Reference 104/2 Type SP3128
KEF Reference Three~Two and Four~Two
MartinLogan Ascent and Odyssey

[EdAInWestOC]

1) Rectilinear IIIs - my favorite dynamic speaker I ever owned. Transparent and quick enough to almost be an estat
2) Infinity 2000A - Those RTR estat modules made some damm nice music
3) Magnepan IIIa - Original Magneplanar ribbon magic
4) Quad ESL63 - for all the reasons that have been talked to death
5) Magnepan 3.7 - I have plans on getting a pair of these or the 20.7s if I get really lucky
6) Stax Lamda Pros - yeah they are earspeakers but in the years I've owned them (a present for Christmas 1990) they have been very fine performers

Ed

[Billnot]

My favourites have changed over the years.
When I first heard the ESL 57s I was blown away - better than any wooden box then available (this would have been about 1964 or so). So when I was in a position to do so, I bought a pair, in 1970.

I was totally happy with them until I was subjected to an A/B test with the ESL63s. I arranged a trade-in. This would have been about 1985. In my home environment, I was never 100% convinced of the superiority of the '63s, especially in transparency, but they lasted me until 1999 when I moved from the UK to Spain. They didn't come with me, and I changed to an inherited pair of LS3/5As which I put on Partington stands. I surprised myself by finding them even better at imaging (important to me) than the Electrostatics.

Now I've moved back to the UK, my interest in vinyl, which never disappeared, has been reignited, and I have had the chance to audition some decent kit. What have taken my breath away in the last couple of months have been a pair of ex-dem Tannoy Revolution Signature DC6Ts which I picked up for £450. Compared with the LS3/5As they have a better bass (no surprise) but they can also be very delicate in quieter passages, and they image like hell.

If you'd have told me forty years ago, when it was Electrostatics or nothing, that I'd end up liking a pair of Tannoys, I'd never have believed you.

But something that none of us can change, and which I think is the cause of much of the difference of (equally valid) opinion is the Mark 1 ears with which we have either been blessed or cursed.

[Jim Leach]

I've had quite a few different speakers of the years (Hales Concept 5's, Magnepan MG1.6's, and lots more...), but my current ones are my favorites, Thiel CS2.4. Give them enough current and they can just flat out sing! Stunning to watch them disappear right in front of you.

I have their predecessors, the 2.2s and I LOVE them. I think Thiel does not get the credit he deserved when you look at what he created...

[Jim Leach]

I loved my Advent Heritage speakers enough to buy two replacement woofers recently because the foam surrounds rotted away. I still had two original boxed woofers that the friendly people from Recoton sent me for free some years ago. So now all four low/mid speakers have been replaced. I know the Advents will not get much respect either, but I like them. I suspect that something better will blow my budget and I hesitate to buy small speakers on stands - I prefer something more substantial, floor standing.

I had old Advent Legacy (floor standing) speakers and I did a couple simple mods that really improved them. I used them for MANY years until I got Vandersteen model 1's (which I have replaced with Thiel 2.2's).

1) If the speakers are identical (as mine were) yet the tweeter dome is not in the center line of the cabinet (as mine was not), 'flip' one of the tweeters over and the image will snap into sharper focus. Placement (toe-in etc.) was critical with these too.

2) make sure the tweeters are at ear level. Even though these were 'floor standing' I used high-tech milk crates for mine. Non-resonant plastic ones...

3) replace all internal wire with silver. Worth the money.

4) replace all crossover caps. I used Wondercaps which I think are no longer available. The original ones were really poor. This made the sound quite a bit more pleasant!

5) if you haven't already, ditch the grille cloth and frame! The plastic can resonate and it does no favors in the imaging department when not resonating.

They sound good stock, and are rather efficient too. With these mods, you could be happy for another decade or two with them, and for not a lot of money!

[Jim Leach]

And I wanted to revive a brand I did not see mentioned at all in here.

Back in the eighties when I was putting my first 'real' system together, the shop I visited (sound and music in Northampton Mass) used to sell Snell speakers. The ones I really liked were the C-4 model. They had an adjustable rear-firing tweeter and worked well in all the rooms they set them up in (WAY out of my price back then). Nice veneer work on them too.

Now I never see them on the secondary market, and also never hear them mentioned. Did anyone buy them??? Any impressions compared to all the speakers that have come along since?

[jackfish]

How about Magnestand modified Magnepan 20.1s, a pair of Rythmik F15HP subwoofers, and ungodly expensive components to drive them? Haven't heard them but sure would love to!

[Jim Leach]

I wanted to make a comment about my experience with Klipsch speakers as well.

Before I got the Vandersteens, I was doing a lot of speaker shopping. During that time I listened to a few Klipsch designs, below, in and above my price point. I discovered (in the poor acoustics of the store) that I preferred the Klipsch speakers on 'live' recordings- that is, recordings of live performances. Those horn tweeters added a level of 'reality' to the sound and you really felt like you were at a concert.

The down side was (for me) that with a good studio recording, they sounded a bit 'honky' to me. You could tell they were horns in there. I was comparing to Polk speakers at a similar price point, and learned the Polk speakers have their own problems as I continued to audition speakers (and ultimately why I did not buy Polks in the end).

Anyway, my conclusion is that the Klipsch speakers are very lively (perhaps too lively, dependent on your source material) rather than neutral, and for me, and my schizophrenic musical variety, that just wasn't going to work.

[slr9589]

Have had all kinds over 35 years.The Bob Crite Cornscallas are the best i have ever had. highly sensitive,wide response,....i love them

[Aural Addict]

Most people will say what they own... I'm no different. Considering my speakers are the best sounding I've heard, and they are entry level for Focal, I really wish I could hear some Utopias.....!