✅ *🛒 some of our current favs: **bit.ly/shopwithAR* ✅ *What speakers are in YOUR top 10?* ✅ *This video was created over 2 years ago. If I had it to do over again, I would have included more images.*
Based on nothing other than what I have personally owned: 1. ADS L-series from the 70s/80s (particularly L-1290 and L-1590) 2. Paradigm Performance Series (Atom, Titan, seMKIII line) incredible bang for buck 3. Soundwave Point Source 3.0 4. DCM TimeFrame & CX series (particularly CX-17 and CX-27, like the Paradigms amazing bang for buck) 5. Infinity Crescendo series (particularly CS-3009 which I owned) 6. Phase Technology Premier Collection series with the RPF (rigid polymer foam) woofers, I owned the PC 8.5 7. Magnepan MMG 8. Castle Trent (personally think Castle speakers are overall better sounding British speakers than B&W) 9. NHT SuperZeros or SuperOnes (matched with a sub they sound fantastic) 10. Realistic Minimus-7 (everyone's favorite cheap mini-speaker).
I have Dali MS4’s which were preceeded by B&W 805d’s. I have been very impressed by ProAc Supertowers, Sonus Faber Electa Amators & Aidas, Quad ESL989 & 63, Dynaudio Special 25, Vandersteen 7, Piega 60, and Joseph Audio Pearl.
Legacy Valor and V, PBN Montana Master Reference III, Legacy Whisper XD and Paradigm Persona 9H,Legacy Aeris and Focus SE, Canton Reference 1.2 DC and Magnat Quantum Signature.All this speakers - absolutely superior quality speakers! 👍 True High-End speakers! And for price, absolutely unique speakers - SVS Prime Pinnacle!👍Price only 1600 $,but quality very very high! 👍
Altec Lansing Voice of the theater model 13 all cherry exterior. I have a set I bought them around 1980 I bought them because we were at the Chicago theater they had two speakers and that whole theater Altec Lansing model 13 voice of the theater. When Dracula died I never had my skin crawl so much in my life the next day I own them. I thought I heard him say if there was a list of 10 I couldn't find it.
I grew up with my father's system. He was a home audio enthusiast and he taught me electronics at a very early time in my life. He set aside time to show me how voice coils worked inside the speaker cones and how the enclosure suspended it. I remember going to his friends audio shop and my father buying a set of Bose SE-5 speakers and I helped him set them up. We were blown away by how much sound they made at such a small footprint. Years later I have moved through the rack systems, Paradigm speakers which were my first real speakers(monitor 7) and onward. My first separates were Adcom which i still have one of the amps powering my rear channels. I even worked in higher end audio in the 90's managing and store in my home town. Now I own Spatial Audio open baffle speakers, Pass labs amp, Hegel Preamp, and etc, so I have moved way passed my fathers level but I will still always remember the fun I had learning audio with my father.
Spatial’s have according surrounds right there you are way ahead of the Q. If you look at most drivers they all have these large surrounds. Right there it’s over they can’t be fast enough. I like your choice if speakers. You in the 1% that can actually play music. Everything else plays HiFi which is fine. I prefer to listen to music, a speaker must be able to reproduce Pace- rhythm- timing very few do…
I was at a Stereo show in San Diego 40 years ago and I went into the Cerwin Vega room. They shut off the lights and played a recording of a steam training coming into a station. The recording was fabulous including hearing people walking around, buying tickets for the train, children, etc. The sound just blew me away with the volume and clarity. They then turned on the lights and the speakers were relatively small for the size of the room and the performance.
@@michaellloyd4413 At that time they may have been in wood. There was one system that used linen folding room dividers as the speaker. Very cool at the time but not the best sound system.
You should have kept the picture of the speakers on screen for longer so we can have a look whilst listening to you rather than forcing us to pause the video.
Klipsch. I 've owned Heresy's, Cornwalls, La Scalas, and a set of Horns. They are like being outside at a perfectly-mixed jazz festival with Weather Report or Steely Dan playing. The catch is, you're not outside. As a gigging musician, they are amazingly accurate. Thank you. Great video
In the early 60's my dad (a physicist) designed and had built a custom horn speaker system. The horns were vacuum cast out of magnesium by the honda motorcycle company in Japan where we lived at the time. The center base horn was 4' high and driven by a 600 watt tube amp that my dad made by hand. The midrange horns were three feet square with two horn tweeters mounted above each. The cabinets were custom made by the Y L Acoustic Company in Tokyo. To my knowledge, there were 6 sets of these made. One to Tocheira Honda for doing the casting. We had to remove a wall to get the system into our house. I would love to track these down as my dad sold ours when we moved into a house here in the states where they would not fit.
Quick suggestion for future videos like this. The speaker ypu are talking about should stay on screen for more than a second. No disrespect but I don't think people tune in to se your face 95% of the duration of the video. Leave images of the speakers you're talking about. Thanks
Of all the speakers I've experienced here are my favs: 1) Focal Sopra No. 2 2) Paradigm Persona 3f 3) Martin Logan ESL Impressions 11A 4) B&W 802 D2 5) B&W CM6 S2 6) Martin Logan Motion 40 (this sounds the best to my ears in the entire motion line) 7) Dali Rubicon 8 8) Tannoy Canterbury 9) Polk Audio LSiM 707 (just an easy to listen to speaker, and at the 75% off clearance sale, unbeaten value) 10) Bose Acoustimass (for being the game changers they were)
I did not had contact with a lot of these speakers mentioned but some of the outstanding ones that I have heard over the years and made a big impression were: Meridian M100 Linn Isobarik and Linn Sara Driven by Naim NAP250/NAC 32.5 Acoustat Spectra 2200 (owned) B&W Nautilis driven by Mark Levinson No.33 B&W 800 matrix series (Still own the 804 matrix) Celestion SL600 (owned) Thiel CS2 Magnapan Tympanis' AR-98LS (My first set of speakers) Proac Tablette
The Bose 901s, may not have been the best sounding speaker of all time, but it certainly was a revolutionary design. I think like "pound for pound" for boxers, dollar for dollar speakers, it's gotta be up there! You have to respect the science behind the design, the the emphasis on psychoacoustics of the real world vs the theoretical anechoic chamber measurements, made them great in real life and less so in the lab... which is all that matters, and that's no small feet.
Bose, they always had an interesting approach. Save money on materials, throw money at engineering. At the very least, they're unique. Often quite good. And honestly, if profits are the goal... can't go wrong with affordable materials once the R/D is done.
I have a pair of 901 bought in Germany when in Army . Power them with DBX Power amp that really pushes em there flipping amazing even to this day they love power
@@fiveday592 Profits have to be the goal or you go out of business! Engineering is about optimization. What they deliver is the optimal components in terms of price and performance. I don't want to pay 10 times more for a component that gives me 5% improvement.... some people do... and that's fine... for most, price performance optimization is what's desired.
@@marccastle8326 The German 901's are the best of all, made with exacting tolerances, German capacitors and cabinets made with wood from the Black Forest.
What a joy this was to watch. I was taken back to an experience in the '70s when a salesman took this teenage kid and plopped him down on a sofa in front of a McIntosh-Klipschorn system. I was gobsmacked. A couple of years later I had saved enough for my first set of good speakers,Klipsch Heresy, purchased from the same man. I spent a lot of disposable income in that shop over the years, and that first exposure to quality audio was a formative event in my life.
Those were the good times, when those salesmen knew their business and what they were doing and speaking about, and had the disposition to show interested and potential customers the really good stuff.
The absolute best system that I have ever heard was put together by a concert violinist from the Philadelphia Philharmonic. Powered by a 220 watt Marantz amp and SAE Equalizer driving some JBL C50 Olympus S8R-2s. Because the sound was so intense, it had to be on a concrete floor, as it would shake the entire house. Listened to Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Picture at an Exhibition and the presence was beyond words. This was back in the early 70's.
Don't pay attention to the negative comments! I really enjoyed this! I have been a musician for 54 years (drummer since I was 7) and have always enjoyed great sounding music! As a kid, I had a few sets of cheap speakers, but my first "real" speakers was a set of Bose 301 bookshelf speakers! Wow, they blew me away! I went to a set fo Bose 802 PA Speakers on my stereo, then Klipsch, back to Bose. Thanks for the info.
Everybody knocks the Bose 901s...i remember setting up a system with the 901s and one of the more powerful SAE amps of the day, the rich guy I set them up for had the big scala klipsh and we A+b them loudness the scala were loud but the 901s fidelity wise were far superior..he did have the proper wall to bounce the 901s into proper atmosphere...they sounded so beautiful...i used to manage a high end hi-fi store back in the 70s
The ESS AMT1 was the speaker that woke me up as an audiophile and I began my journey in 1977. It is still a speaker that I would enjoy today, but difficult to get (in pristine condition that is). Thank you taking me down memory lane today. Best wishes to you.
John Bartel I had the ESS monitors ,huge 110 pound with the amazing air motion transformers . My woofer surrounds rotted and I sold them for parts instead of just replacing the foam. I so regret it
John - agree, I listen to a pair of AMT 3's every day. Heard them played in a demo in a store (HiFi Buys) back in 1978 and impressed then and still am all these years later.
Whatever happened to the Carver Amazing Loudspeaker? I thought it was near top rated back in the day. I bought a used set back then and kept them for awhile until I moved and downsized. This was a couple decades ago, I guess. I _never_ see them on any lists, nor mentioned anywhere. Were they just a fad or something back then? (I did hear later on that the ribbon tweeters on all brands of speakers would need replacing, since they all stretched and lost effectiveness over time. Is this why they're not considered good high end speakers? ).
Re: Bose loudspeakers. My wife has the most discerning hearing I have ever encountered. That is saying something because I was a mix engineer for nearly 3 decades and have 39 gold and platinum albums to my name. I also owned a pro audio store and was a dealer for both JBL and Bose, among many other brands. I did some product evaluation for Bose when the Acoustimass first came out. While evaluating that system at home, my wife commented she couldn't stand listening to them and that they actually gave her a headache! A few months later, I saw a demo kiosk set up in a high end stereo store. The speaker cabinets looked like JBL L100s, but there was no brand identification on anything, just a pair of speakers flanking a video screen and a button that said "Play". It played a series of different video clips with audio all the way from chamber music through rock to ending with the Space Shuttle launch at a very realistic level. This is impressive, I thought, even for L100s. At the end, the cabinets opened their grills to reveal a pair of Acoustimass speakers inside the empty enclosures. Blown away and thinking I would teach my wife a lesson, I brought her to the store. Within seconds of the demo's start, she remarked it sounded as horrible as those awful Bose I brought home, and walked out of the store. The moral to my story is you can only bend the laws of physics so far before some people won't accept it. There is something about all of the processing required to correct for the inadequacy of those tiny drivers and enclosures that literally made my wife nauseous. All that said, the Bose Quintet series is phenomenal by comparison, and not that much larger. Just a really well made, traditional 2-way system with a small woofer and a tiny horn in a reflex cabinet. I have used them in over a dozen budget home theater systems and never had a complaint, not even from my wife!
Rogers ls3/5 pre 1982. The best loudspeaker I have ever heard. No earth shaking bass no cracky crispy highs but pure emotion and a mid range to die for. Till now my number one.
Thanks! All the way from New Zealand, I thank you for your excellent listing of your preferred speakers. 'Specially glad you included the Accousitmas units!, and don't even feel miffed you excluded Tannoy! LOVED the presentation (NO NOTES!) and your obvious love for what you do. Keep trucking... AL🐻
I am currently using Klipsch Heresy III's and they are some of the best I've heard. So I want to fall back into the realm of affordable vintage that I personally own and have great admiration for... Cerwin Vega AT-15 Pioneer CS-911 Rectilinear Lowboy III's These were all affordable ( for me) and sounded great. I have no argument with your list, because I have never heard most of them. Just a budget enthusiast's opinion.
Wondering if you've been able over the years to compare the Klipsch Epic Series Speakers, and where they'd fall in comparison to some of your other high end and large speakers. I picked up a pair of CF3's (moving sale $100!) and haven't been able to integrate them into my system yet. Reviews are good but these seem to have fallen to the curbside of obscurity because Klipsch marketed them wrong. My understanding is they were meant by Klipsch to compete with speakers like the 802's, however Klipsch consumers wanted the heritage sound and the rest were already buying 802's.
@@cjpayne677 Those particular Klipsch you have are actually better than alot of Klipsch gear from that era . Thier pretty good vs alot of speakers in general , I just tried some CF2 ... I have genelec , bla bla Try a big studio class A/B and a tube buffer like a yaqin with Russian tubes Those Klipsch are a little lazy on the top end so make sure you can ramp up the equalization, they have good quality bass and sound in general just need a little caining on the top end with an eq I might actually recommend a d class crown with those and a berringer dsp pro with a Dac .... An A/B like a halfler is going to sound more organic and natural . This is a personal experience with these I'm not guessing at it . They didn't like my sony chip amp as well as the big halfler Hope this helps Use them for what thier good at thier pretty lush and rich sounding
Thanks for the input. I need to start looking for a suitable amp, they do seem power thirsty. I have an old Audio Source EQ-one that also has a spectrum analyzer, I'll likely have that on the CF3's to help with that horn.
In 1978, I bought a pair of Bose 901s Series 3 and 20 years later the foam deteriorated, thank God I taped my receipt to the bottom because after I called them, produced my receipt and returned them to Bose ... back came a new pair of 901 Series 6 and still today, I have not heard a better speaker !!!!
In 1978 I bought a pair of I M F monitor speakers. I have listened to many top end speakers from then until now. I wouldn’t change them for anything. The greatest music experience you could wish for.
Klipsch La Scala. I purchased many speakers over the years out of curiosity. My La Scalas have been in my house, ready to go since I bought them in '83.
My list is all vintage speakers that I have heard and or own. There is no particular order. 1. Infinity IRS Series V 2. Fulton J-Modular / Fulton Premieres (P10 / P12’s) 3. Magneplanar Tympani ID’s 4. Mark Levinson’s HQD Speaker System 5. Sound Labs A-1 6. Fulton FMI 80’s 7. JBL L-100 8. Celestion SL-6 9. Apogee Diva 10. Spendor Ls3/5a
I remember I had AR-M1 and in 94' I bought a 700$ set of Infinity as a kid The 300$ AR absolutely murdered them It goes to show what's popular in reviews doesn't mean much on the ground .
Remember.The equipment used to drive any speaker, the reflection of the room. The size,and type of music. Equalization, cross Over frequencies. Humidity. Old lady's mood. All effect our musical experience. And of coarse Budget.. back in 79 a Pioneer Super Tuner and the set of Jensen Tri axles mounted in an Impala with an empty trunk was total Bliss after I just got done burning one
Great list. I sold Bose. 301's never ever broke and never ever sounded bad. Not great, but never bad. I started with a pair of AR 4ax two-way speakers while Henry Kloss was still at AR. My friend had four KLH monitors in a quadraphonic system. I would agree with all of your choices. I have heard most of them. I sold JBL and Klipsch. The La Scala's are truly magnificent. I almost bought a pair of Forte's - alas I should have. Celestion Ditton 66 and 662's were very enjoyable and I listened to them for a long time every day at work. When you work in a hi-fi shop you may or may not listen to the very best every day, but you tend to listen to what you like every day. In competition with the Paradigms I would suggest the first Psb Alpha's. I met Paul Barton, their designer, and I owned a pair of them longer than any other speaker I have owned. Like the Paradigms, they didn't do everything, but everything they did was right. One very fond memory comes from being able to pair Wharfedale TSR's with Denon components - particularly some of their class A/B amplifiers, their superb turntables and their giant-killer moving coil cartridge the DL-103. The TSR's made everything sound beautiful. Currently I own a pair of Tannoy Revolution XT 6f speakers which please me very much. They have the high efficiency that brings truly live dynamics to the fore and their dual-concentric design gives them imaging rarely found in dynamic speakers. Thanks for the video. Perhaps let the pictures of the products you are talking about linger longer onscreen. I found the quick glimpse of the B & O's to be a bit frustrating as i wanted to try to drink in the design you were describing. Shalom
After 30 years in the industry….got out 10 years ago…here is my list. Klipsch Klipschorns. They are iconic, having been in production for longer than most people watching this video have been alive. Magnepan SMGa. The introduction for a huge swath of people to planar designs…it was my entry level drug. Infinity IRS. Arguably the first Super Speaker. A behemoth of a system which spawned an entire industry of cost no object loudspeaker products. B&W 801. An icon in the large format speaker line, it did what the KEF 107 failed to deliver on. Dunlavy SC-IV. Probably the first true crossover speaker used in both music production and reproduction. To this day, the SC series remains arguably one of the most neutral, easiest to drive super speakers…I had a set of the SC-Vs and regret selling them 20 years later. JBL L65 Jubal. Quite simply put one of the best tweeters of all time. Effortlessly dynamic. Those driven by the iconic Marantz receiver with the oscilloscope in a friends father’s studio is what led me down the path to a career in CE. A pair is in my living room and my God, they still they don’t disappoint. Sonys Faber Extrema “mini” monitors. I had a pair in a high end store I used to manage for about a week. They left an impression that has lasted a quarter of a century. Nothing I’ve heard since has yet thrown a soundstage like that. Acoustat Model 6s. I had a pair, in my second floor 1 bedroom apartment, in my 20s. They were utterly ridiculous. I loved them.
Whatever happened with the AR3a? They were THE speakers to have in the mid sixties to mid seventies. My family had KLH model 6's quite similar in concept. Acoustic suspension is what 'got me going'.
While my comment is not speaker specific it relates to an experience that I had in 1969. I was in an audio dealership in North Carolina for a demo of Klipsch speakers and the guest of honor was none other than Paul Klipsch! Wow, what a privilege to meet this guy, but what a strange guy he was. He did not seem to be interested at all in things audio, but he had, gosh, I don't know how many wrist watches on his arms so he could tell what time it was in any time zone it the world!
I bought a set of Klipsch KG2 small two way speakers for $200 built in 1985 that are so freaking awesome I just can't explain how good they sound. I have several other speakers and non of them come even close to sounding as good as these little gems.
Kg 5.5 here, will never ever sell them. I absolutely love them. Im in the proces of refurbishing the cabinets an after that will upgrade the crossovers and diafragms
Great review. For me my favorite speaker of all time is the Pioneer HPM-150 paired with a Pioneer SX-1280 silver faced receiver. This was during the big Receiver wars when the Pioneer SX-1980 Receiver dominated the market, the SX-1280 receiver was one notch down from the SX-1980. I still have four Pioneer HPM-150 speakers to this day but they are powered by two Yamaha MX-1000U amplifiers. They were designed by Bart Locanthi who was lead designer at JBL and he left JBL to design speakers for Pioneer during the receiver war era. The pioneer HPM-150 speakers were one of the top speaker designs second only to the HPM-200 speaker, even the drivers all look just like JBL in the HPM-150. They shake the concrete floor and the entire house when I turn them up and produce a wide range of sound. You do not need a subwoofer when these speakers are properly amplified. They can also produce those subtle sounds that everyone loves during movie soundtracks. When I first finished restoring them I was watching the movie Predator late at night and one of the actors whispered "Hey over here" and I swear it sounded like someone snuck up behind me and whispered in my ear! Scared me to death! These speakers have a neat way of throwing sound from that four way design and that super tweeter just sprinkles the fairy dust perfectly to top it all off. These speakers are big and produce massive amounts of sound and are concert loud. The look is definitely 1970s but hey it is what I grew up with and I love them. I have listened to many high end speakers over the years and for a speaker design that is 44 years old I can tell you that they still hold their own. Every time I have someone over and they hear them they all ask the same question. What are those speakers and where can I buy some? Then I have to break the news to them on what it actually takes to get a set of these speakers and restore them. I only wish Pioneer would begin to make them again. Back in 1977 to 1980 they sold for $500 each so they were not cheap back then. Unfortunately today the cost would be high to reproduce them and would make them unobtanium for most consumers.
Hate to say it, but the L100's are ok for heavy rock, but they happen to have more of cultic following despite their mediocre performance especially when it comes to anything that contains any detail such as jazz or symphonic music. Just don't know why it is mentioned here. It is "Iconic" but that is about all. Put it up against a Large Advent (Bullnose) with the non-fried egg tweeter and there is just no comparison. Sorry.
@@jimmy6501 sorry about what...I have no interest in your unsolicited negitive comments. Like I said, i have had them for 40 years and love them,.... I'm sure they have their faults and there are much better speakers out there. Other than that, you can shove your oh so knowledgeable opinion, that no one asked for.
I had three Bose units around my apartment with the bass under the couch. My friends couldn’t believe those little speakers were so throaty. Lol. Thanks for bringing them up, classics for sure.
I love my Maggie 1.7i's. And after hearing your praise of the Crown XLS, I run them now with a pair of bridged 1002's. I'm blown away by the price/performance ratio of both products.
You my friend are my brother from another mother"with no offense", I was there with my Sansui 9090, my buddy was running his Phase linear and we both had ESS Heil ÀMT 44yrs. ago playing Dark Side of the Moon LP, vinyl.
I agree 100%..don't even know how many pairs of speakers I've owned.. and 2 this day none have sounded as good as my first pair I bought.. ESS.. made every album sound great.. pink Floyd dark side of the moon.. and there album animals along with countless others...
My personal favorites: 1.) The Infinity Reference Standard. Way out of my price range but the best sounding speakers I have ever heard. Back around 1980 I had gone to the house of a guy who's father owned large company (thus the deep pockets) and was amazed when I first laid eyes on those gigantic columns. I was even more astounded when he cranked them up. I don't recall exactly what he was using for components but I do remember it was all high end separates. Probably McIntosh or Carver. They needed a lot of power but the precision and clarity of those speakers stood out instantly. 2.) The Klipsch Forte II. Around 1991 when I was finally earning enough money to purchase a decent pair of speakers I spent quite a bit of time going around to the high end audio stores listening to various high end speakers. After much sampling I chose the Klipsch Forte II's, preferring them over even the Klipschhorn. They provide rich, deep bass thanks to their rear mounted 15" woofers and crisp, clear mid's and high's that are precise and yet easy on the ear. I still own them and they are still my primary L R Front speakers in my home theater set-up.
I'm sure what you've heard was the Infinity 1b reference standard. Each channel has 2 towers (total of 4 towers) One tower for each channel has 5 10" woofers the other tower for each channel has ribbon type mid-ranges and tweeters and super tweeters in the back. They're great sounding speakers but very power hungry. I still got those and paired them with Emotiva amps and Bryston amp.
I'm 64, so I have a different historical perspective. I'd include the Bozak Concert Grand, the Rectilinear III, the Altec Valencia (the A7 in living room trim), the KLH 12, the original Advent Loudspeaker from Henry Kloss in 1969, and the Dahlquist DQ-10. I attended the debut of the DQ-10 at Opus One's Forbes Avenue store in Pittsburgh in July 1972. I was 17 at the time and I enjoyed a great conversation with Jon Dahlquist and his business partner, Saul Marantz. The DQ-10 was praised by J. Gordon Holt in Stereophile and by Harry Pearson in the Absolute Sound. It was also used by Dave Wilson in his development of the original Wilson Audio Modular Monitor (WAMM), which sold for $35,000.00 per pair in 1981. Sadly, Dave Wilson passed away from bone cancer in May 2018, but he released his masterpiece, the WAMM Master Chronosonic, which builds on design principles used in the DQ-10. The WAMM Master Chronosonic retails for $685,000.00 per pair and each speaker weighs 900 lbs. (408.23 kg.)
Hap and I are the same age and the better speakers from our age were actually better. I used DQ10 with dual subwoofers and a Threshold. I would add a fully kitted out Naim DBS system. The Sequerra Metronomes were fantastic. The large Maggies. The Linn saras active were really fun. B&W 801's ML Monoliths. All were better than the average speaker today and if one were to match them with the best contemporary sources and amps watch out.
Classic and time tested setup that gets you all the way there for a fraction of Modern prices. Plus old sx 50 series Pioneers and those JBLs are kings of design style.
You missed out on maybe the most iconic speaker company ever TANNOY. Their duel concentric drivers are pure magic and have stood out for over 50 years. B&W make great speakers but their progress has slowed over the years. Their Silver signature speakers from the 80s was their best speaker they ever made and is still better than their current models except for their 90s nautilus that they still make today.
I’ve owned three pairs of Tannoys over the decades. All been excellent, currently running a pair of Tannoy Revolution XT6F. Best speakers I’ve ever owned.
now is this the Realistic , co. If so they made some affordable receiver's and not all but pretty good Speaker's too. not all though. just some, back around mid to late 70s and early 80s too.
The best speakers I've ever heard were B&W's. This was in the mid 80's in West Germany. The man and his wife were young, no furniture, not much of anything, they were both audio junkies. They put all their money into their speakers and a power amp. No preamp, no cd player or tape deck, they just had a portable boom box with a cd player. They refused to buy a component until they could afford the one they absolutely wanted. We went over to his house and kind of laughed to ourselves (we were all military) at how this guy thinks his boom box is going to put a decent single through his system. We were all floored. It literally sounded like a grand piano was in the middle of this guys living room. The Speakers were about the size of Heresy's and the Amp I can't remember, it was around 2,000.00. I want to say Argon, something like that. And I remember that the speakers and amp were 4,000.00 together. This is mid 80's. It was amazing. To this day I've never heard anything like it. They didn't even have a TV, no vcr or laserdisc or Nintendo, no commodore computer :) just their 3 components and a bunch of CD's. There was no American TV at the time or internet, audio was a big hobby for many.
Personally, I really enjoy Andrew’s “take” on speakers. You can hit pause and stare at the (silent) picture if you want, but Andrew is really informative and educational, as well as friendly in his reviews.
It strikes me that there's a few lists here being conflated into one: a) The 10 best loudspeakers I've owned b) The 10 most influential loudspeakers I've owned c) The 10 most memorable loudspeakers I've owned But the "10 best loudspeakers of all time", I don't think, is the appropriate title.
I still own my 802d. Loved them every minute I have owned them. Sadly I moved house and I still have them in storage. I have been torn if I should sell them or just keep them in storage.
If I may add some key speakers that should be in the 'all time best'. Firstly, and perhaps the biggest omission, the BBC LS3/5A the original reference speaker. Also missing was the Quad Electrostatic ESL57, considered by some to the best speaker ever. KEFs (104/2) are mentioned elsewhere. Tannoy Westminster with dual concentric drivers. Sonus Faber Cremona. Linn Kans. Meridian active (various) and ACT active monitors.
I know how young you are, but that does not excuse you from forgetting the Daddy of "time alignment" the DQ10 by Jon Dahlquist!! My dream job during college in Baltimore was at a Stereo/Combo music store. One side for guitars, the other for Serious Stereo circa 1976. The DQ10 scratched all the high end itches I had at the time as did the JBL 100 predecessor, the DQ10 more so for me. We carried Philips so the powered mini monitors of the day by them were on hand. I ended up owning the Dahlquist and the Philips! Dual powered three-way monitors had a life all their own. by the way, I only recently let the DQ10s leave my home. I installed all the updates over the years and finally released these wonderful puppies to a grateful young man at our yard sale here in Houston. The above is my story and I'm sticking to it.
I’m still the original owner of a set of 1979 KEF Model 105 Series 1 speakers, this model was the choice used by Nelson Pass for his critical listening evaluations. ‘Nuff said, I’ll never sell or replace them, hence you missed a major milestone in historical loudspeakers.
I am an old geezer and I have to say that I find it heresy (pun intended) that you did not mention Klipschorn speakers in your video. A speaker that can reproduce low C from a pipe organ (32 Hz if memory serves) without distortion is something very rare. The original Klipsch speakers are also very efficient and do not require hundreds of amps to function properly. I was first introduced to them over 40 years ago. We met a guy in Tower records who had a set of Klipschorns with a Klipsch Heresy as a center speaker. They blew my mind. We ended up getting a set of the Heresy speakers for our new home in 1979, and loved them. A few years later I decided to upgrade. I found the Lascala's a little bright and decided on a set of Klipsch Cornwalls. With 15" woofers, they sound much closer to the sound produced by the Klipschorns. Obviously, I like base. Cornwalls are large, but not nearly as large as the Klipshorns. Other than price, the only drawback to the Kipschorns is that they should be put in a 90 degree corner because they use the walls as an extension to enhance the base. I still have the Cornwalls and play them regularly. Rumor has it that Paul Klipsch was not a fan of Bose speakers. I also got a Bose system to work with my Sony Trinitron TV. The base was good but the mi-drange pales in comparison to the Cornwalls. I suspect that you won't get many responses from people who have had the same speakers of 40 years.
At least he did mention Klipsch! Obviously he was describing speakers that were important to him at the time/changed his life, not the "best of all time", since he did include the Bose.... I've had my VMPS Tower II's for, hmm, approaching 30 years, so close but not 40. Better low end extension (rated -3dB 22 Hz so probably even better in smaller rooms) than the Klipsch but not the ultra-efficiency. These got a great review by Audio's Cordesman. I built a set to save money but the designer came to my house to do the final tuning! I've never felt the need to spend the large sums needed to exceed what these will do. Robinson has no doubt seen so many hundreds or thousands of speakers that he would only have become "Top 10" enamored of VMPS by seeing designer Cheney's demos at the various audio conventions, where they were said to be remarkable.
@@tripjet999 I stand corrected. I actually do know the difference. As a septuagenarian, I find that the gray matter allows stupid mistakes more frequently than were allowed in years gone by. Spell check does not catch these kinds of errors. Stupid mistakes aside, I still think Klipsch heritage speakers are one of the best purchase decisions one can make.
I’ve had my Klipsch Heresy speakers for 40 years. I A/Bd them with the JBL L100s for a while in the store. Every time I turn them on I am grateful for my choice!
My favorite loudspeaker system I had was the Apogee Duetta Signature's driven by Krell mono blocks. Nothing ever came close to that. It all had to go when we had kids.
The Klipsch La Scala. It can do anything. Great stereo speaker, but we used a pair of these along with some sub woofers as the mains for our band. The JBL L-100 is a studio legend. My favorite two.
Hey man great video! I see a lot of negativity in these comments, but you did a great job so don't let it get to you. Just a heads up for future videos tho! (Some suggestions): You may want to -add some copyright free background music to these types of videos to keep the energy up -give prices and more stock photos or personal photos of the audio equipment you're reviewing -maybe time stamp each speaker you spoke about in the description so people can get to it easier
The best High End Speakers of All time are in no special Order: ALTEC Voice of the Theater series, JBL Paragon, QUAD ESL, Mirage M1, B&W 801, Apogee Grand, Martin Logan CLS, Magnepan 3.6, HALES SS2, Avalon , Wilson Puppies, Dunlavy SC4, Thiel CL3, B&O 8000, MBL 101, AudioNote AN-E, Von Sweickert, Vandersteen CS2, Nelson PASS Rushmores, etc.
I still have the Bose Acoustimass Series, which I bought about 18 years ago! Still sounds amazing! Will be upgrading to something else when we move some day soon.
I agree, in my price range I thought they were the ultimate when I was a young man. I've heard the L-100's at radio stations I worked at and they're excellent too. Most of the rest are way out of my price range, they're something to dream about if I win the lottery.
I worked at a hifi store for over a decade. Bose 901s were synonymous with buyer's remorse. I constantly heard stories of people saving up to buy a pair only to be let down.
Ok but when you’re doing a video of what you’re favorite speakers are don’t you think that it would be a good idea to show more of the speakers for a millisecond than 90% of the video showing you?
In 1981 I bought a pair of celestion ditton 551, and have had a love affair since then. A lightning strike blew a tweeter and burnt a hole in my crossover. They have been fixed and still bring me joy.
Maybe this just shows how old I am, but here are my thoughts on the most influential speakers. Clearly the JBL L100's are a multi decade iconic speaker. It was broadly categorized as a "west coast sound". The speaker that shook up the audio hi-fi industry was the AR3 followed by the AR3a. This speaker owned the market and for good reasons. It wasn't the size of a refrigerator, yet could reproduce the lower register of a pipe organ. It was a 3-way design with adjustable mid & high frequency levels on the back, and it had a dome midrange & tweeter. It took years for other speakers of reasonable size to catch up, and two of those models were also from Henry Kloss. He created and marketed the KLH & Advent speakers. Huge value for good sound in their time. What inpressed you about the Martin Logans, the Quad ESL 57 had in rich abundance. I heard them twice and they were knock your socks off amazing for their day. They still would be good if they were mid & high frequency only transducers, augmented by a solid capable subwoofer. Starting with the multi-panel model 1 right through to the LRS today, Magneplanar designs from Magnepan have a sound so sweet, you would slap your momma for ... well maybe not, but close. They're great value for the images they reproduce, and probably the most conservatively sold multi-decade loudspeaker, still sold through dealers today. So if you like electrostatics and don't want the British Quad 57's, there's the huge, but iconic, KLH Model Nine electrostatic loudspeakers. Some have gone so far as to say they're the best loudspeakers manufactured, no matter the price. I can't begin to suggest I can confirm or deny that. I've never heard them. I have heard other expensive loudspeakers, including the top of the line model for Sonus Faber, the Aida. I can't place them in the top 10 most influential, but if I might suggest, Sonus Faber make some of the most beautiful furniture and shape of speaker designs. I couldn't justify buying any of these giant speakers I mentioned, the Aida is certainly big and heavy, but like their other models, wow! They're gorgeous to look at. Sorry, shapes and curves catch my eye. One more comes to mind. It has impressed people for decades as a speaker with realistic presence midrange, neutral and balanced. Articulate but not in your face. The Rogers/BBC LS3/5a speakers created a number of design ideas in small, neutral, perhaps somewhat reserved by some accounts. So, I don't know if they're possible candidates for your top 10, but they're definitely at least good runner ups.
That’s awesome on your Bose story! Growing up my grandpa had a Bose Acoustimass system in his living room which led me to my love for speakers and along the way I’ve collected a few myself!
Seriously yeah, and you can turn them up. Bought my last "set" ten years ago as I became…Disabled and in chronic pain. Still have it. Klipsch and ONKYO in basement.
Photographers have a long-standing piece of advice about what's the best camera, & I feel that it could be very relevant for hi-fi speakers as well: *The best loudspeakers are the ones you have.* For photo takers, getting the shot is always paramount & the same should go for listeners. If the alternative is missing out on great music, whatever you have is the best device you could ever want.
In 1990 I bought my Bose Acoustimass 5 Series II Speaker. Many years later I bought a used second pair for my large living room. Until today I use them with a Marantz Stereophonic Receiver Model 2275. I put both subwoofer together in a corner to get more base.
What do you think about the Bob Carver Sunfire? I have one, freshly rebuilt, and it's pretty dang awesome. However I don't have much reference with other hi-fi equipment, just a good musician's ear. So I'm just wondering. I know Carver is a bit of a pariah, but idk.
Bob Carver.....great memories....better amps!! Decades ago I owned two Carver M400 amps that i bridged together to give me over 600 watts RMS that I fed into cheap 50 watt rated Scott speakers. Try as I might, I could NOT blow those speakers! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS “TOO MUCH POWER” .
Good list, well thought out....I think that ignoring AR, specifically the AR 3 is a miss. Back in the 60's, 1 of every 3 loudspeakers sold was an AR speaker so, like the Bose, you may not like the AR 3 but you can't ignore it's signifigance. I'd also make a similar argument about Quad...either the 57 or the 63. Also tough to ignore the Vandersteen 2 series just on the basis of longevity. Others you could make a good argument for, Thiel 3.6's, Dynaco A25 and the Dahlquist DQ-10...
The reason why I fell in love with audio was because of Bose. I know I am going to get flak because of this and thant's ok. The first time I listen to a Bose system was the Lifestyle 10 back in 91. The store was Fedco. I also watched a demo on laserdisc of T2 I was 13 at the time and fell love with Laserdisc as well. They sold others like Sony, panasonic, etc. From that point I was inspired by audio and technology. Good times.
Shouldn't speakers produce sound waves exactly matching the electrical signal coming in? I mean, when I buy a painting and I want to cover it with glass to protect it, I do not paint the glass some color because I like it. I would like to see it as the painter did. Clear glass. Clear speakers which shouldn't add anything but reproduce the electrical signal.
I had a pair of Cannon loudspeakers in the 1970 s twelve inch woofer paired with an Akia 400 watt amplifier. Today I have a pair of Cerwin vega loudspeakers, 15 inch woofer incredibly heavy speaker box like 74 lbs each. They have max input of 400 watts they are paired with a 400 watt Yamaha amplifier. The bass is amazing, the highs and mid range is very clear. I'm glad I live out in the country , no neighbors for miles. I enjoyed your video, I'm still old school grew up in the early seventies. To be honest have not heard of some of the brands you mentioned.
Andrew, you are so young... KLH Model Nine Acoustic Research AR-3a Infinity Servo Static I(A) Rogers/BBC LS3/5A Thiel CS-3 Magnepan Timpani-IVa Wilson Audio Watt+Puppy Infinity IRS V B&W Matrix 801 S2/3 KEF LS50 Wireless (Mostly chronological order).
Paul Homchick The Infinity Servo Static 1A is the speaker I heard at CES CONVENTION Chicago 1974 And in 1978 I bought Infinity QLS-1’s AND THEY STILL BLOW ME AWAY !!!
Heard the ss1’s at University Stereo in Palo Alto in 1973. Bought the Timpani 1D’s instead. I was in audio heaven. Sounded great in my parents living room. Not so great in my dorm room. Replaced them with Large Advents!
@@gerryk3114 The SS1 was Infinity's first product and launched the company. Infinity went on to bring us many innovations in speaker technology. All of their best speakers were just riffs on the SS1, a servo controlled woofer and dipole planar mid & highs. I have a pair of RS1b which will be my forever speakers.
i get where you are coming from but I honestly don’t see the difference . Sound is so subjective and at the end of the day you need to that speaker that not only sounds good but provides a impressionable experience on the music you love listening to . A speaker that makes you want to listen more that’s the best speaker. 😊
Byron, your take is like my introduction to DCM Timeframes. I didn't know what they were but I kept going through the buttons and they sounded great...to me. Still have a pair in the room across from me. 😻
I' still have a pair of L-100s purchased in 1977. First LP I played was Deep Purple "Made in Japan" and it sounded freaking AWESOME and the speakers are in GREAT condition. Orange foam grille faded a long time ago and brown fabric grille my wife bought just isn't the same. Where can I buy an "original" looking orange foam grille? Thanks!
I owned first first generation of Bose Acoustimass speakers, and really wasn't all that impressed with their sound. The best speakers that I ever heard, and this was back in the 1970s, were the Klipschorns: very large, very heavy, very expensive (currently about $16,500 a pair), and extremely efficient (105 db with a 1-watt input). These speakers went into production before I was born, and I'm 68 years old. Their bass in so strong and so clean that it rivals any concert that you've ever likely attended. Higher frequencies are equally good. Klipsch made and still makes, as far as I know, sound systems for movie theaters, so you may have heard some of their work before.
Thanks for a great video! What is your opinion of the Bose 901 Series of speakers? My dad has a pair of 901 Series 1 paired with its original Bose equalizer and a Rotel Amplifier. They sound absolutely insane to me.
No highs, no lows.......must be Bose. I saved a guys house from freezing up in below zero weather, next day he gave me 4 901 VI , so I went out and bought a 1000 watt Yamaha . The Bose ate it up eventually . it was fucking amazing for me since I'd never had the privilege of hearing a high end system before. I still have them and my wife still bitches , I tell her " THIS IS LISTENING LEVEL!!!! ITS NOT TOO LOUD!!" wanna buy some pristine Bose 901 series 6 with eq?
AR3s and KLH were before your time. They are still Classics. Large Advents were next for Henry Kloss. They are a Classic too. Brought hi end audio to the masses.
Surprised the Bose 901's aren't on the list. Sure, they had their flaws but wow, such iconic speakers and somewhat magical. To me, Advent loudspeakers are the best for those wanting to by a pair of amazing speakers for less than $200 today. Just make sure the caps aren't leaky.
ESS AMT-1B speakers with the Heil Air Motion Transformer tweeters. The sound stage from these is incredible. When I heard them for the first time in college in the early 1970's, they were way out of my price range. Ironically, a number of years later I came into possession of four Cannon TLS (Translinear Systems) Model 1032's and recently found out that this brand of speaker was designed and manufactured by ESS. I have owned them for over 30 years and had to redo the foam surrounds on the woofers a few years ago. They were made in the USA and after finding out they were made by ESS, I noticed a little red sticker on their backs printed "ESS 1."
A friend has owned a pair of ESS AMT-1B speakers since the mid 1970s. Unbelievable speakers, everything sounds better through them. I've wanted a pair for decades. Well in 2021 I bought a pair of ESS RMII-6 LE. I can't find anything to fault them with, well they're not bi-wireable.
How come you only show the speaker for one second literally one second. and then we get to look at your face the rest of the time. people want to see the speaker more than they want to see you I am sorry. Most people want to see the speaker more than they want to see you. Other than that well done video
Andrew, nice list. From my experience I would add the Rectilinear III, IMF Studio, KEF 105 Series II, OHM F, and Canton Reference 5. Keep up the good work.
@@andrewrobinsonreviews if you get the chance, try to hear IMF speakers from the late 70s early 80s. The larger ones were Transmission line speakers with unbelievable accuracy. The cabinet was designed to be the length of 1/4 wave guide so the bass was sonically in cadence with the mid and highs. If you closed your eyes with these playing a quality recording it seemed as though the room became the cabinet. Very interesting and different. It was not only surreal but true to the acoustic engineers intent. The mids that were used on the larger units where the same mid drivers used in the legendary BBC Kef monitors that where specifically designed to be tonally accurate to a humans voice. These were used alot in studios. The tweeter drivers where silk and also the same T-27 drivers used in the BBC Monitors. They also had a super tweeter that would keep the highest audible sounds precise when used with the chosen Tweeters. Dr Fried was a really eccentric visionary that truly doesn't get any recognition for his achievements and it's truly a shame. After years of experimenting and engineering under the name of IMF he also developed another brand called simply Fried. He has some interesting designs such as building a house around a TLS cabinet, he designed a system that consisted of a coffin shape that used an 8 in driver with 2 satellite speakers that would do things that were unreal. As a fellow audiophile that enjoys learning as much info as I can, I would highly recommend you at least take a look at this as it consists of seriously impressive achievements and if you can pick up a pair of larger cabinets on the cheap ,you really should give them a go. Review and sell if your not impressed. I am going to predic that a pair of the RSPM or TLS 80 ii will Possibly best most of your list
Nice to see Klipsch on list had a pair lascalla from the 70s recently sold almost 50 years later for same price bought for. Amazing loud speakers in my 60 plus years nothing has come close .
✅ *🛒 some of our current favs: **bit.ly/shopwithAR*
✅ *What speakers are in YOUR top 10?*
✅ *This video was created over 2 years ago. If I had it to do over again, I would have included more images.*
Based on nothing other than what I have personally owned:
1. ADS L-series from the 70s/80s (particularly L-1290 and L-1590)
2. Paradigm Performance Series (Atom, Titan, seMKIII line) incredible bang for buck
3. Soundwave Point Source 3.0
4. DCM TimeFrame & CX series (particularly CX-17 and CX-27, like the Paradigms amazing bang for buck)
5. Infinity Crescendo series (particularly CS-3009 which I owned)
6. Phase Technology Premier Collection series with the RPF (rigid polymer foam) woofers, I owned the PC 8.5
7. Magnepan MMG
8. Castle Trent (personally think Castle speakers are overall better sounding British speakers than B&W)
9. NHT SuperZeros or SuperOnes (matched with a sub they sound fantastic)
10. Realistic Minimus-7 (everyone's favorite cheap mini-speaker).
Acoustic research or kef.
I have Dali MS4’s which were preceeded by B&W 805d’s. I have been very impressed by ProAc Supertowers, Sonus Faber Electa Amators & Aidas, Quad ESL989 & 63, Dynaudio Special 25, Vandersteen 7, Piega 60, and Joseph Audio Pearl.
Legacy Valor and V, PBN Montana Master Reference III, Legacy Whisper XD and Paradigm Persona 9H,Legacy Aeris and Focus SE, Canton Reference 1.2 DC and Magnat Quantum Signature.All this speakers - absolutely superior quality speakers! 👍 True High-End speakers! And for price, absolutely unique speakers - SVS Prime Pinnacle!👍Price only 1600 $,but quality very very high! 👍
Altec Lansing Voice of the theater model 13 all cherry exterior. I have a set I bought them around 1980 I bought them because we were at the Chicago theater they had two speakers and that whole theater Altec Lansing model 13 voice of the theater. When Dracula died I never had my skin crawl so much in my life the next day I own them.
I thought I heard him say if there was a list of 10 I couldn't find it.
1:00 Paradigm Atom / Mini-Monitor
1:50 Magnepan 1.6
2:58 MartinLogan CLS II
3:56 Klipsch La Scala
5:07 JBL L100
6:07 Bowers & Wilkins 802D
7:38 Tekton Design Pendragon
10:23 B&O BeoLab Series
12:35 Wilson Audio Sophia
14:32 Bose Acoustimass Series
I grew up with my father's system. He was a home audio enthusiast and he taught me electronics at a very early time in my life. He set aside time to show me how voice coils worked inside the speaker cones and how the enclosure suspended it. I remember going to his friends audio shop and my father buying a set of Bose SE-5 speakers and I helped him set them up. We were blown away by how much sound they made at such a small footprint. Years later I have moved through the rack systems, Paradigm speakers which were my first real speakers(monitor 7) and onward. My first separates were Adcom which i still have one of the amps powering my rear channels. I even worked in higher end audio in the 90's managing and store in my home town. Now I own Spatial Audio open baffle speakers, Pass labs amp, Hegel Preamp, and etc, so I have moved way passed my fathers level but I will still always remember the fun I had learning audio with my father.
Hi may I ask which Hegel preamp model do you have ? i have the old and cheap P2A
Quite transparent but a little sharp
Regards gino
@@gino3286 I have the P20
@@harleyguy071 hi thanks Much better unit I see Regards gino
Spatial’s have according surrounds right there you are way ahead of the Q. If you look at most drivers
they all have these large surrounds. Right there it’s over they can’t be fast enough. I like your choice
if speakers. You in the 1% that can actually play music. Everything else plays HiFi which is fine. I prefer
to listen to music, a speaker must be able to reproduce Pace- rhythm- timing very few do…
I blinked and missed the picture of the speaker. 😂
Yes, but you can pause and rewind which is what I did. CIAO
@@albertsword2560 you didn't get it
I was at a Stereo show in San Diego 40 years ago and I went into the Cerwin Vega room. They shut off the lights and played a recording of a steam training coming into a station. The recording was fabulous including hearing people walking around, buying tickets for the train, children, etc. The sound just blew me away with the volume and clarity. They then turned on the lights and the speakers were relatively small for the size of the room and the performance.
Cerwin Vega's! One speaker system I would love to own IF they were in REAL WOOD enclosures. By far loud & pristine clear regardless...
@@michaellloyd4413 At that time they may have been in wood. There was one system that used linen folding room dividers as the speaker. Very cool at the time but not the best sound system.
You should have kept the picture of the speakers on screen for longer so we can have a look whilst listening to you rather than forcing us to pause the video.
Klipsch. I 've owned Heresy's, Cornwalls, La Scalas, and a set of Horns. They are like being outside at a perfectly-mixed jazz festival with Weather Report or Steely Dan playing. The catch is, you're not outside. As a gigging musician, they are amazingly accurate. Thank you. Great video
In the early 60's my dad (a physicist) designed and had built a custom horn speaker system. The horns were vacuum cast out of magnesium by the honda motorcycle company in Japan where we lived at the time. The center base horn was 4' high and driven by a 600 watt tube amp that my dad made by hand. The midrange horns were three feet square with two horn tweeters mounted above each. The cabinets were custom made by the Y L Acoustic Company in Tokyo. To my knowledge, there were 6 sets of these made. One to Tocheira Honda for doing the casting. We had to remove a wall to get the system into our house. I would love to track these down as my dad sold ours when we moved into a house here in the states where they would not fit.
Great story. It put another audio hardware treasure hunt image in my head, had to tear down a wall to fit it in.
Quick suggestion for future videos like this. The speaker ypu are talking about should stay on screen for more than a second. No disrespect but I don't think people tune in to se your face 95% of the duration of the video. Leave images of the speakers you're talking about. Thanks
Was thinkin the same thank you
Of all the speakers I've experienced here are my favs:
1) Focal Sopra No. 2
2) Paradigm Persona 3f
3) Martin Logan ESL Impressions 11A
4) B&W 802 D2
5) B&W CM6 S2
6) Martin Logan Motion 40 (this sounds the best to my ears in the entire motion line)
7) Dali Rubicon 8
8) Tannoy Canterbury
9) Polk Audio LSiM 707 (just an easy to listen to speaker, and at the 75% off clearance sale, unbeaten value)
10) Bose Acoustimass (for being the game changers they were)
I did not had contact with a lot of these speakers mentioned but some of the outstanding ones that I have heard over the years and made a big impression were:
Meridian M100
Linn Isobarik and Linn Sara Driven by Naim NAP250/NAC 32.5
Acoustat Spectra 2200 (owned)
B&W Nautilis driven by Mark Levinson No.33
B&W 800 matrix series (Still own the 804 matrix)
Celestion SL600 (owned)
Thiel CS2
Magnapan Tympanis'
AR-98LS (My first set of speakers)
Proac Tablette
The Bose 901s, may not have been the best sounding speaker of all time, but it certainly was a revolutionary design. I think like "pound for pound" for boxers, dollar for dollar speakers, it's gotta be up there! You have to respect the science behind the design, the the emphasis on psychoacoustics of the real world vs the theoretical anechoic chamber measurements, made them great in real life and less so in the lab... which is all that matters, and that's no small feet.
I've heard a set of 901s. They were quite loud. Right up there with Cerwin Vegas I think.
Bose, they always had an interesting approach. Save money on materials, throw money at engineering. At the very least, they're unique. Often quite good. And honestly, if profits are the goal... can't go wrong with affordable materials once the R/D is done.
I have a pair of 901 bought in Germany when in Army . Power them with DBX Power amp that really pushes em there flipping amazing even to this day they love power
@@fiveday592 Profits have to be the goal or you go out of business! Engineering is about optimization. What they deliver is the optimal components in terms of price and performance. I don't want to pay 10 times more for a component that gives me 5% improvement.... some people do... and that's fine... for most, price performance optimization is what's desired.
@@marccastle8326 The German 901's are the best of all, made with exacting tolerances, German capacitors and cabinets made with wood from the Black Forest.
What a joy this was to watch. I was taken back to an experience in the '70s when a salesman took this teenage kid and plopped him down on a sofa in front of a McIntosh-Klipschorn system. I was gobsmacked. A couple of years later I had saved enough for my first set of good speakers,Klipsch Heresy, purchased from the same man. I spent a lot of disposable income in that shop over the years, and that first exposure to quality audio was a formative event in my life.
Those were the good times, when those salesmen knew their business and what they were doing and speaking about, and had the disposition to show interested and potential customers the really good stuff.
would the Bose 901's be considered? those things could fill a room
...just as quickly as they empty it!
The absolute best system that I have ever heard was put together by a concert violinist from the Philadelphia Philharmonic. Powered by a 220 watt Marantz amp and SAE Equalizer driving some JBL C50 Olympus S8R-2s. Because the sound was so intense, it had to be on a concrete floor, as it would shake the entire house. Listened to Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Picture at an Exhibition and the presence was beyond words. This was back in the early 70's.
Bose 901 in 70's was pretty amazing, the Acoustimas also for its size, interesting no mention of the Advent speakers.
My brother bought a pair of La Scala back in the late 80s or early 90s and still has them today. Can't wait to tell him.
Don't pay attention to the negative comments! I really enjoyed this! I have been a musician for 54 years (drummer since I was 7) and have always enjoyed great sounding music! As a kid, I had a few sets of cheap speakers, but my first "real" speakers was a set of Bose 301 bookshelf speakers! Wow, they blew me away! I went to a set fo Bose 802 PA Speakers on my stereo, then Klipsch, back to Bose. Thanks for the info.
Everybody knocks the Bose 901s...i remember setting up a system with the 901s and one of the more powerful SAE amps of the day, the rich guy I set them up for had the big scala klipsh and we A+b them loudness the scala were loud but the 901s fidelity wise were far superior..he did have the proper wall to bounce the 901s into proper atmosphere...they sounded so beautiful...i used to manage a high end hi-fi store back in the 70s
I still have my JBL L100’s I bought in 1974. I still love them after all these decades.
They’re great. Thank you for watching.
The ESS AMT1 was the speaker that woke me up as an audiophile and I began my journey in 1977. It is still a speaker that I would enjoy today, but difficult to get (in pristine condition that is). Thank you taking me down memory lane today. Best wishes to you.
John Bartel I had the ESS monitors ,huge 110 pound with the amazing air motion transformers . My woofer surrounds rotted and I sold them for parts instead of just replacing the foam. I so regret it
Ess amt is in my top 10 list also, hard to beat except midrange is light.
John - agree, I listen to a pair of AMT 3's every day. Heard them played in a demo in a store (HiFi Buys) back in 1978 and impressed then and still am all these years later.
ESS still makes a range of AMT loudspeakers as does ELAC.
Whatever happened to the Carver Amazing Loudspeaker? I thought it was near top rated back in the day. I bought a used set back then and kept them for awhile until I moved and downsized. This was a couple decades ago, I guess. I _never_ see them on any lists, nor mentioned anywhere. Were they just a fad or something back then? (I did hear later on that the ribbon tweeters on all brands of speakers would need replacing, since they all stretched and lost effectiveness over time. Is this why they're not considered good high end speakers? ).
Re: Bose loudspeakers. My wife has the most discerning hearing I have ever encountered. That is saying something because I was a mix engineer for nearly 3 decades and have 39 gold and platinum albums to my name. I also owned a pro audio store and was a dealer for both JBL and Bose, among many other brands. I did some product evaluation for Bose when the Acoustimass first came out. While evaluating that system at home, my wife commented she couldn't stand listening to them and that they actually gave her a headache! A few months later, I saw a demo kiosk set up in a high end stereo store. The speaker cabinets looked like JBL L100s, but there was no brand identification on anything, just a pair of speakers flanking a video screen and a button that said "Play". It played a series of different video clips with audio all the way from chamber music through rock to ending with the Space Shuttle launch at a very realistic level. This is impressive, I thought, even for L100s. At the end, the cabinets opened their grills to reveal a pair of Acoustimass speakers inside the empty enclosures. Blown away and thinking I would teach my wife a lesson, I brought her to the store. Within seconds of the demo's start, she remarked it sounded as horrible as those awful Bose I brought home, and walked out of the store. The moral to my story is you can only bend the laws of physics so far before some people won't accept it. There is something about all of the processing required to correct for the inadequacy of those tiny drivers and enclosures that literally made my wife nauseous. All that said, the Bose Quintet series is phenomenal by comparison, and not that much larger. Just a really well made, traditional 2-way system with a small woofer and a tiny horn in a reflex cabinet. I have used them in over a dozen budget home theater systems and never had a complaint, not even from my wife!
You mean that you have your name on a bunch of records, not records to your name.
What doe your wife think of other classic Speakers such as the Acoustic Research AR-3a or the JBL L100, or the Original Advent or the KLH series?
What about the Klipschhorns? Or volti audio? I have some of the original Belles and still love them
Rogers ls3/5 pre 1982. The best loudspeaker I have ever heard. No earth shaking bass no cracky crispy highs but pure emotion and a mid range to die for. Till now my number one.
I completely agree. I had a pair with Satterberg Woofers. They made bad recordings listenable and good recordings come alive.
Thanks!
All the way from New Zealand, I thank you for your excellent listing of your preferred speakers. 'Specially glad you included the Accousitmas units!, and don't even feel miffed you excluded Tannoy! LOVED the presentation (NO NOTES!) and your obvious love for what you do. Keep trucking... AL🐻
thank you so much!
I am currently using Klipsch Heresy III's and they are some of the best I've heard. So I want to fall back into the realm of affordable vintage that I personally own and have great admiration for...
Cerwin Vega AT-15
Pioneer CS-911
Rectilinear Lowboy III's
These were all affordable ( for me) and sounded great.
I have no argument with your list, because I have never heard most of them.
Just a budget enthusiast's opinion.
Wondering if you've been able over the years to compare the Klipsch Epic Series Speakers, and where they'd fall in comparison to some of your other high end and large speakers. I picked up a pair of CF3's (moving sale $100!) and haven't been able to integrate them into my system yet. Reviews are good but these seem to have fallen to the curbside of obscurity because Klipsch marketed them wrong. My understanding is they were meant by Klipsch to compete with speakers like the 802's, however Klipsch consumers wanted the heritage sound and the rest were already buying 802's.
@@cjpayne677
Those particular Klipsch you have are actually better than alot of Klipsch gear from that era .
Thier pretty good vs alot of speakers in general , I just tried some CF2 ...
I have genelec , bla bla
Try a big studio class A/B and a tube buffer like a yaqin with Russian tubes
Those Klipsch are a little lazy on the top end so make sure you can ramp up the equalization, they have good quality bass and sound in general just need a little caining on the top end with an eq
I might actually recommend a d class crown with those and a berringer dsp pro with a Dac ....
An A/B like a halfler is going to sound more organic and natural .
This is a personal experience with these I'm not guessing at it .
They didn't like my sony chip amp as well as the big halfler
Hope this helps
Use them for what thier good at thier pretty lush and rich sounding
The pioneer HPM series were great and affordable too.
Thanks for the input. I need to start looking for a suitable amp, they do seem power thirsty. I have an old Audio Source EQ-one that also has a spectrum analyzer, I'll likely have that on the CF3's to help with that horn.
In 1978, I bought a pair of Bose 901s Series 3 and 20 years later the foam deteriorated, thank God I taped my receipt to the bottom because after I called them, produced my receipt and returned them to Bose ... back came a new pair of 901 Series 6 and still today, I have not heard a better speaker !!!!
66fstbk2 there are better speakers. I have had a pair of 901 for almost 50 years. I like them and they can be fun but they have short comings.
66fstbk2 Ibought 901s in series 1 .Never deteriorated to his day. Still sound great.
In 1978 I bought a pair of I M F monitor speakers. I have listened to many top end speakers from then until now. I wouldn’t change them for anything. The greatest music experience you could wish for.
Peter heywood Me too. Last gen Professional Monitors (they were the tls 80 to the RSPM VIIs). Decades of happiness.
Klipsch La Scala. I purchased many speakers over the years out of curiosity. My La Scalas have been in my house, ready to go since I bought them in '83.
My list is all vintage speakers that I have heard and or own. There is no particular order.
1. Infinity IRS Series V
2. Fulton J-Modular / Fulton Premieres (P10 / P12’s)
3. Magneplanar Tympani ID’s
4. Mark Levinson’s HQD Speaker System
5. Sound Labs A-1
6. Fulton FMI 80’s
7. JBL L-100
8. Celestion SL-6
9. Apogee Diva
10. Spendor Ls3/5a
Nicole Kucera
Love my INFINITY QLS-1’s !!!
I’ve had them since 1978
I remember I had AR-M1 and in 94' I bought a 700$ set of Infinity as a kid
The 300$ AR absolutely murdered them
It goes to show what's popular in reviews doesn't mean much on the ground .
Remember.The equipment used to drive any speaker, the reflection of the room. The size,and type of music. Equalization, cross
Over frequencies. Humidity. Old lady's mood.
All effect our musical experience. And of coarse
Budget.. back in 79 a Pioneer Super Tuner and the set of Jensen Tri axles mounted in an Impala with an empty trunk was total Bliss after I just got done burning one
Old ladys mood is a huge factor. Rarely addressed but all important.
Great list.
I sold Bose. 301's never ever broke and never ever sounded bad. Not great, but never bad.
I started with a pair of AR 4ax two-way speakers while Henry Kloss was still at AR. My friend had four KLH monitors in a quadraphonic system.
I would agree with all of your choices. I have heard most of them. I sold JBL and Klipsch. The La Scala's are truly magnificent. I almost bought a pair of Forte's - alas I should have.
Celestion Ditton 66 and 662's were very enjoyable and I listened to them for a long time every day at work. When you work in a hi-fi shop you may or may not listen to the very best every day, but you tend to listen to what you like every day.
In competition with the Paradigms I would suggest the first Psb Alpha's. I met Paul Barton, their designer, and I owned a pair of them longer than any other speaker I have owned. Like the Paradigms, they didn't do everything, but everything they did was right.
One very fond memory comes from being able to pair Wharfedale TSR's with Denon components - particularly some of their class A/B amplifiers, their superb turntables and their giant-killer moving coil cartridge the DL-103. The TSR's made everything sound beautiful.
Currently I own a pair of Tannoy Revolution XT 6f speakers which please me very much. They have the high efficiency that brings truly live dynamics to the fore and their dual-concentric design gives them imaging rarely found in dynamic speakers.
Thanks for the video.
Perhaps let the pictures of the products you are talking about linger longer onscreen. I found the quick glimpse of the B & O's to be a bit frustrating as i wanted to try to drink in the design you were describing.
Shalom
After 30 years in the industry….got out 10 years ago…here is my list. Klipsch Klipschorns. They are iconic, having been in production for longer than most people watching this video have been alive. Magnepan SMGa. The introduction for a huge swath of people to planar designs…it was my entry level drug. Infinity IRS. Arguably the first Super Speaker. A behemoth of a system which spawned an entire industry of cost no object loudspeaker products. B&W 801. An icon in the large format speaker line, it did what the KEF 107 failed to deliver on. Dunlavy SC-IV. Probably the first true crossover speaker used in both music production and reproduction. To this day, the SC series remains arguably one of the most neutral, easiest to drive super speakers…I had a set of the SC-Vs and regret selling them 20 years later. JBL L65 Jubal. Quite simply put one of the best tweeters of all time. Effortlessly dynamic. Those driven by the iconic Marantz receiver with the oscilloscope in a friends father’s studio is what led me down the path to a career in CE. A pair is in my living room and my God, they still they don’t disappoint. Sonys Faber Extrema “mini” monitors. I had a pair in a high end store I used to manage for about a week. They left an impression that has lasted a quarter of a century. Nothing I’ve heard since has yet thrown a soundstage like that. Acoustat Model 6s. I had a pair, in my second floor 1 bedroom apartment, in my 20s. They were utterly ridiculous. I loved them.
Ks are super speakers!!
Whatever happened with the AR3a? They were THE speakers to have in the mid sixties to mid seventies.
My family had KLH model 6's quite similar in concept. Acoustic suspension is what 'got me going'.
My first real system in the early 70s--AR3a, Sansui 7070 receiver, and Dual 1219 turntable. Alas, t hey have all gone to the big showroom in the sky.
I totally agree with the original AR9s
I still have my AR-3a speakers from 1970. They are still the best home speakers for me.
While my comment is not speaker specific it relates to an experience that I had in 1969. I was in an audio dealership in North Carolina for a demo of Klipsch speakers and the guest of honor was none other than Paul Klipsch! Wow, what a privilege to meet this guy, but what a strange guy he was. He did not seem to be interested at all in things audio, but he had, gosh, I don't know how many wrist watches on his arms so he could tell what time it was in any time zone it the world!
Klipsch.........the most iconic brand of speakers to this day!
I bought a set of Klipsch KG2 small two way speakers for $200 built in 1985 that are so freaking awesome I just can't explain how good they sound. I have several other speakers and non of them come even close to sounding as good as these little gems.
Kg 5.5 here, will never ever sell them. I absolutely love them. Im in the proces of refurbishing the cabinets an after that will upgrade the crossovers and diafragms
Great review. For me my favorite speaker of all time is the Pioneer HPM-150 paired with a Pioneer SX-1280 silver faced receiver. This was during the big Receiver wars when the Pioneer SX-1980 Receiver dominated the market, the SX-1280 receiver was one notch down from the SX-1980. I still have four Pioneer HPM-150 speakers to this day but they are powered by two Yamaha MX-1000U amplifiers. They were designed by Bart Locanthi who was lead designer at JBL and he left JBL to design speakers for Pioneer during the receiver war era. The pioneer HPM-150 speakers were one of the top speaker designs second only to the HPM-200 speaker, even the drivers all look just like JBL in the HPM-150. They shake the concrete floor and the entire house when I turn them up and produce a wide range of sound. You do not need a subwoofer when these speakers are properly amplified. They can also produce those subtle sounds that everyone loves during movie soundtracks. When I first finished restoring them I was watching the movie Predator late at night and one of the actors whispered "Hey over here" and I swear it sounded like someone snuck up behind me and whispered in my ear! Scared me to death! These speakers have a neat way of throwing sound from that four way design and that super tweeter just sprinkles the fairy dust perfectly to top it all off. These speakers are big and produce massive amounts of sound and are concert loud. The look is definitely 1970s but hey it is what I grew up with and I love them. I have listened to many high end speakers over the years and for a speaker design that is 44 years old I can tell you that they still hold their own. Every time I have someone over and they hear them they all ask the same question. What are those speakers and where can I buy some? Then I have to break the news to them on what it actually takes to get a set of these speakers and restore them. I only wish Pioneer would begin to make them again. Back in 1977 to 1980 they sold for $500 each so they were not cheap back then. Unfortunately today the cost would be high to reproduce them and would make them unobtanium for most consumers.
You nailed it 100%.
The HPM-150,s are bad ass! I use to sell that model at an Audio store I worked at in Dallas in 1979.
Ah yes another 150 fan! I run mine with a SX 1250 and love it!
I bought a pair of jbl l 100s in 1978, that I still own and listen to daily. Great speakers.
Hate to say it, but the L100's are ok for heavy rock, but they happen to have more of cultic following despite their mediocre performance especially when it comes to anything that contains any detail such as jazz or symphonic music. Just don't know why it is mentioned here. It is "Iconic" but that is about all. Put it up against a Large Advent (Bullnose) with the non-fried egg tweeter and there is just no comparison. Sorry.
@@jimmy6501 sorry about what...I have no interest in your unsolicited negitive comments. Like I said, i have had them for 40 years and love them,.... I'm sure they have their faults and there are much better speakers out there. Other than that, you can shove your oh so knowledgeable opinion, that no one asked for.
I had three Bose units around my apartment with the bass under the couch. My friends couldn’t believe those little speakers were so throaty. Lol. Thanks for bringing them up, classics for sure.
I love my Maggie 1.7i's. And after hearing your praise of the Crown XLS, I run them now with a pair of bridged 1002's. I'm blown away by the price/performance ratio of both products.
Tim Bathras Having owned and modified multiple Maggies... I agree with you. The performance of Maggies are amazing!
Klipsch Klipschorn AK6 is my "If I win the lottery" speaker set. I've only heard them one time but they sure made an impression on me!
ESS Hiel with the AMT air motion transformer playing Pink Floyd Time on a Phase Linear system in the late 70's. That started my journey.
The ESS speaker were made in Sacramento, CA. Fine brand.
You my friend are my brother from another mother"with no offense", I was there with my Sansui 9090, my buddy was running his Phase linear and we both had ESS Heil ÀMT 44yrs. ago playing Dark Side of the Moon LP, vinyl.
Had the same speakers, same experience!
Oh yes love Flame Linear .. if I need to I could arc weld with one of those amps
I agree 100%..don't even know how many pairs of speakers I've owned.. and 2 this day none have sounded as good as my first pair I bought.. ESS.. made every album sound great.. pink Floyd dark side of the moon.. and there album animals along with countless others...
My personal favorites:
1.) The Infinity Reference Standard. Way out of my price range but the best sounding speakers I have ever heard. Back around 1980 I had gone to the house of a guy who's father owned large company (thus the deep pockets) and was amazed when I first laid eyes on those gigantic columns. I was even more astounded when he cranked them up. I don't recall exactly what he was using for components but I do remember it was all high end separates. Probably McIntosh or Carver. They needed a lot of power but the precision and clarity of those speakers stood out instantly.
2.) The Klipsch Forte II. Around 1991 when I was finally earning enough money to purchase a decent pair of speakers I spent quite a bit of time going around to the high end audio stores listening to various high end speakers. After much sampling I chose the Klipsch Forte II's, preferring them over even the Klipschhorn. They provide rich, deep bass thanks to their rear mounted 15" woofers and crisp, clear mid's and high's that are precise and yet easy on the ear. I still own them and they are still my primary L R Front speakers in my home theater set-up.
I'm sure what you've heard was the Infinity 1b reference standard. Each channel has 2 towers (total of 4 towers) One tower for each channel has 5 10" woofers the other tower for each channel has ribbon type mid-ranges and tweeters and super tweeters in the back. They're great sounding speakers but very power hungry. I still got those and paired them with Emotiva amps and Bryston amp.
True. I loved Infinity speakers.
I'm 64, so I have a different historical perspective. I'd include the Bozak Concert Grand, the Rectilinear III, the Altec Valencia (the A7 in living room trim), the KLH 12, the original Advent Loudspeaker from Henry Kloss in 1969, and the Dahlquist DQ-10. I attended the debut of the DQ-10 at Opus One's Forbes Avenue store in Pittsburgh in July 1972. I was 17 at the time and I enjoyed a great conversation with Jon Dahlquist and his business partner, Saul Marantz. The DQ-10 was praised by J. Gordon Holt in Stereophile and by Harry Pearson in the Absolute Sound. It was also used by Dave Wilson in his development of the original Wilson Audio Modular Monitor (WAMM), which sold for $35,000.00 per pair in 1981. Sadly, Dave Wilson passed away from bone cancer in May 2018, but he released his masterpiece, the WAMM Master Chronosonic, which builds on design principles used in the DQ-10. The WAMM Master Chronosonic retails for $685,000.00 per pair and each speaker weighs 900 lbs. (408.23 kg.)
Hap and I are the same age and the better speakers from our age were actually better. I used DQ10 with dual subwoofers and a Threshold. I would add a fully kitted out Naim DBS system. The Sequerra Metronomes were fantastic. The large Maggies. The Linn saras active were really fun. B&W 801's ML Monoliths. All were better than the average speaker today and if one were to match them with the best contemporary sources and amps watch out.
I owned JBL "Century" L100's for many years, back when I had my first Pioneer, the SX-750. (I'm old.) Loved them and still do.
Classic and time tested setup that gets you all the way there for a fraction of
Modern prices. Plus old sx 50 series Pioneers and those JBLs are kings of design style.
You missed out on maybe the most iconic speaker company ever TANNOY.
Their duel concentric drivers are pure magic and have stood out for over 50 years.
B&W make great speakers but their progress has slowed over the years. Their Silver signature speakers from the 80s was their best speaker they ever made and is still better than their current models except for their 90s nautilus that they still make today.
The Arden and Cheviot have stood the test of time.
I’ve owned three pairs of Tannoys over the decades.
All been excellent, currently running a pair of Tannoy Revolution XT6F. Best speakers I’ve ever owned.
Your absolutely right !
now is this the Realistic , co. If so they made some affordable receiver's and not all but pretty good Speaker's too. not all though. just some, back around mid to late 70s and early 80s too.
The best speakers I've ever heard were B&W's. This was in the mid 80's in West Germany. The man and his wife were young, no furniture, not much of anything, they were both audio junkies. They put all their money into their speakers and a power amp. No preamp, no cd player or tape deck, they just had a portable boom box with a cd player. They refused to buy a component until they could afford the one they absolutely wanted. We went over to his house and kind of laughed to ourselves (we were all military) at how this guy thinks his boom box is going to put a decent single through his system. We were all floored. It literally sounded like a grand piano was in the middle of this guys living room. The Speakers were about the size of Heresy's and the Amp I can't remember, it was around 2,000.00. I want to say Argon, something like that. And I remember that the speakers and amp were 4,000.00 together. This is mid 80's. It was amazing. To this day I've never heard anything like it. They didn't even have a TV, no vcr or laserdisc or Nintendo, no commodore computer :) just their 3 components and a bunch of CD's. There was no American TV at the time or internet, audio was a big hobby for many.
Finally an Audiophile who doesn't sneer at B&O
Could we watch the pics of each speaker a little longer while you talk about them, and maybe talk about the price of these legends
Personally, I really enjoy Andrew’s “take” on speakers. You can hit pause and stare at the (silent) picture if you want, but Andrew is really informative and educational, as well as friendly in his reviews.
The 10 best speakers of ALL TIME and not one mention of any Quad Electrostatic model? No, sorry.
It strikes me that there's a few lists here being conflated into one:
a) The 10 best loudspeakers I've owned
b) The 10 most influential loudspeakers I've owned
c) The 10 most memorable loudspeakers I've owned
But the "10 best loudspeakers of all time", I don't think, is the appropriate title.
I still own my 802d. Loved them every minute I have owned them. Sadly I moved house and I still have them in storage. I have been torn if I should sell them or just keep them in storage.
If I may add some key speakers that should be in the 'all time best'. Firstly, and perhaps the biggest omission, the BBC LS3/5A the original reference speaker. Also missing was the Quad Electrostatic ESL57, considered by some to the best speaker ever. KEFs (104/2) are mentioned elsewhere. Tannoy Westminster with dual concentric drivers. Sonus Faber Cremona. Linn Kans. Meridian active (various) and ACT active monitors.
Quad ESL57. I’ve heard more loudspeakers than I can remember, and owned more than I should have. Only the original Quads sound like real music
I know how young you are, but that does not excuse you from forgetting the Daddy of "time alignment" the DQ10 by Jon Dahlquist!! My dream job during college in Baltimore was at a Stereo/Combo music store. One side for guitars, the other for Serious Stereo circa 1976. The DQ10 scratched all the high end itches I had at the time as did the JBL 100 predecessor, the DQ10 more so for me. We carried Philips so the powered mini monitors of the day by them were on hand. I ended up owning the Dahlquist and the Philips! Dual powered three-way monitors had a life all their own. by the way, I only recently let the DQ10s leave my home. I installed all the updates over the years and finally released these wonderful puppies to a grateful young man at our yard sale here in Houston.
The above is my story and I'm sticking to it.
I’m still the original owner of a set of 1979 KEF Model 105 Series 1 speakers, this model was the choice used by Nelson Pass for his critical listening evaluations. ‘Nuff said, I’ll never sell or replace them, hence you missed a major milestone in historical loudspeakers.
I am an old geezer and I have to say that I find it heresy (pun intended) that you did not mention Klipschorn speakers in your video. A speaker that can reproduce low C from a pipe organ (32 Hz if memory serves) without distortion is something very rare. The original Klipsch speakers are also very efficient and do not require hundreds of amps to function properly.
I was first introduced to them over 40 years ago. We met a guy in Tower records who had a set of Klipschorns with a Klipsch Heresy as a center speaker. They blew my mind. We ended up getting a set of the Heresy speakers for our new home in 1979, and loved them. A few years later I decided to upgrade. I found the Lascala's a little bright and decided on a set of Klipsch Cornwalls. With 15" woofers, they sound much closer to the sound produced by the Klipschorns. Obviously, I like base. Cornwalls are large, but not nearly as large as the Klipshorns. Other than price, the only drawback to the Kipschorns is that they should be put in a 90 degree corner because they use the walls as an extension to enhance the base. I still have the Cornwalls and play them regularly.
Rumor has it that Paul Klipsch was not a fan of Bose speakers. I also got a Bose system to work with my Sony Trinitron TV. The base was good but the mi-drange pales in comparison to the Cornwalls.
I suspect that you won't get many responses from people who have had the same speakers of 40 years.
At least he did mention Klipsch!
Obviously he was describing speakers that were important to him at the time/changed his life, not the "best of all time", since he did include the Bose....
I've had my VMPS Tower II's for, hmm, approaching 30 years, so close but not 40. Better low end extension (rated -3dB 22 Hz so probably even better in smaller rooms) than the Klipsch but not the ultra-efficiency. These got a great review by Audio's Cordesman. I built a set to save money but the designer came to my house to do the final tuning! I've never felt the need to spend the large sums needed to exceed what these will do. Robinson has no doubt seen so many hundreds or thousands of speakers that he would only have become "Top 10" enamored of VMPS by seeing designer Cheney's demos at the various audio conventions, where they were said to be remarkable.
As far as sound, it's "BASS," not base. LOL.
@@tripjet999 I stand corrected. I actually do know the difference. As a septuagenarian, I find that the gray matter allows stupid mistakes more frequently than were allowed in years gone by.
Spell check does not catch these kinds of errors. Stupid mistakes aside, I still think Klipsch heritage speakers are one of the best purchase decisions one can make.
I’ve had my Klipsch Heresy speakers for 40 years. I A/Bd them with the JBL L100s for a while in the store. Every time I turn them on I am grateful for my choice!
Why do you not say what the price of this stuff is?
Google lol
How about the Yamaha NS-1000M ?
Nahhh
My favorite loudspeaker system I had was the Apogee Duetta Signature's driven by Krell mono blocks. Nothing ever came close to that. It all had to go when we had kids.
The Klipsch La Scala. It can do anything. Great stereo speaker, but we used a pair of these along with some sub woofers as the mains for our band. The JBL L-100 is a studio legend. My favorite two.
Hey man great video! I see a lot of negativity in these comments, but you did a great job so don't let it get to you.
Just a heads up for future videos tho! (Some suggestions):
You may want to
-add some copyright free background music to these types of videos to keep the energy up
-give prices and more stock photos or personal photos of the audio equipment you're reviewing
-maybe time stamp each speaker you spoke about in the description so people can get to it easier
The best High End Speakers of All time are in no special Order: ALTEC Voice of the Theater series, JBL Paragon, QUAD ESL, Mirage M1, B&W 801, Apogee Grand, Martin Logan CLS, Magnepan 3.6, HALES SS2, Avalon , Wilson Puppies, Dunlavy SC4, Thiel CL3, B&O 8000, MBL 101, AudioNote AN-E, Von Sweickert, Vandersteen CS2, Nelson PASS Rushmores, etc.
Acoustic Energy AE-1, Yamaha NS-1000M, Totem Arro, Martin Logan CLS-2, KEF 105-2, Wilson Grand Slamm X1, Living Voice Vox Olympian, Infinity IRS-V, Apogee Scintilla, Tannoy Kingdom 18.
I still have the Bose Acoustimass Series, which I bought about 18 years ago! Still sounds amazing! Will be upgrading to something else when we move some day soon.
The Bose 901s deserve a place in any top 10 loudspeaker list
Lol
I agree, in my price range I thought they were the ultimate when I was a young man. I've heard the L-100's at radio stations I worked at and they're excellent too. Most of the rest are way out of my price range, they're something to dream about if I win the lottery.
I worked at a hifi store for over a decade. Bose 901s were synonymous with buyer's remorse. I constantly heard stories of people saving up to buy a pair only to be let down.
If you "lived" with these speakers...How can I argue? I could not afford a Sophia or B&W 802, so bravo good job, lucky guy
Ok but when you’re doing a video of what you’re favorite speakers are don’t you think that it would be a good idea to show more of the speakers for a millisecond than 90% of the video showing you?
In 1981 I bought a pair of celestion ditton 551, and have had a love affair since then. A lightning strike blew a tweeter and burnt a hole in my crossover. They have been fixed and still bring me joy.
Maybe this just shows how old I am, but here are my thoughts on the most influential speakers.
Clearly the JBL L100's are a multi decade iconic speaker. It was broadly categorized as a "west coast sound".
The speaker that shook up the audio hi-fi industry was the AR3 followed by the AR3a. This speaker owned the market and for good reasons. It wasn't the size of a refrigerator, yet could reproduce the lower register of a pipe organ. It was a 3-way design with adjustable mid & high frequency levels on the back, and it had a dome midrange & tweeter. It took years for other speakers of reasonable size to catch up, and two of those models were also from Henry Kloss. He created and marketed the KLH & Advent speakers. Huge value for good sound in their time.
What inpressed you about the Martin Logans, the Quad ESL 57 had in rich abundance. I heard them twice and they were knock your socks off amazing for their day. They still would be good if they were mid & high frequency only transducers, augmented by a solid capable subwoofer.
Starting with the multi-panel model 1 right through to the LRS today, Magneplanar designs from Magnepan have a sound so sweet, you would slap your momma for ... well maybe not, but close. They're great value for the images they reproduce, and probably the most conservatively sold multi-decade loudspeaker, still sold through dealers today.
So if you like electrostatics and don't want the British Quad 57's, there's the huge, but iconic, KLH Model Nine electrostatic loudspeakers. Some have gone so far as to say they're the best loudspeakers manufactured, no matter the price. I can't begin to suggest I can confirm or deny that. I've never heard them. I have heard other expensive loudspeakers, including the top of the line model for Sonus Faber, the Aida. I can't place them in the top 10 most influential, but if I might suggest, Sonus Faber make some of the most beautiful furniture and shape of speaker designs. I couldn't justify buying any of these giant speakers I mentioned, the Aida is certainly big and heavy, but like their other models, wow! They're gorgeous to look at. Sorry, shapes and curves catch my eye.
One more comes to mind. It has impressed people for decades as a speaker with realistic presence midrange, neutral and balanced. Articulate but not in your face. The Rogers/BBC LS3/5a speakers created a number of design ideas in small, neutral, perhaps somewhat reserved by some accounts.
So, I don't know if they're possible candidates for your top 10, but they're definitely at least good runner ups.
Love AR3a and JBL L100!
That’s awesome on your Bose story! Growing up my grandpa had a Bose Acoustimass system in his living room which led me to my love for speakers and along the way I’ve collected a few myself!
Seriously yeah, and you can turn them up.
Bought my last "set" ten years ago as I became…Disabled and in chronic pain. Still have it.
Klipsch and ONKYO in basement.
Photographers have a long-standing piece of advice about what's the best camera, & I feel that it could be very relevant for hi-fi speakers as well:
*The best loudspeakers are the ones you have.*
For photo takers, getting the shot is always paramount & the same should go for listeners. If the alternative is missing out on great music, whatever you have is the best device you could ever want.
In 1990 I bought my Bose Acoustimass 5 Series II Speaker. Many years later I bought a used second pair for my large living room. Until today I use them with a Marantz Stereophonic Receiver Model 2275. I put both subwoofer together in a corner to get more base.
What do you think about the Bob Carver Sunfire? I have one, freshly rebuilt, and it's pretty dang awesome. However I don't have much reference with other hi-fi equipment, just a good musician's ear. So I'm just wondering. I know Carver is a bit of a pariah, but idk.
Pretty much anything Bob had a hand in was pretty damn special
Bob Carver.....great memories....better amps!! Decades ago I owned two Carver M400 amps that i bridged together to give me over 600 watts RMS that I fed into cheap 50 watt rated Scott speakers. Try as I might, I could NOT blow those speakers! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS “TOO MUCH POWER” .
Good list, well thought out....I think that ignoring AR, specifically the AR 3 is a miss. Back in the 60's, 1 of every 3 loudspeakers sold was an AR speaker so, like the Bose, you may not like the AR 3 but you can't ignore it's signifigance. I'd also make a similar argument about Quad...either the 57 or the 63. Also tough to ignore the Vandersteen 2 series just on the basis of longevity. Others you could make a good argument for, Thiel 3.6's, Dynaco A25 and the Dahlquist DQ-10...
The reason why I fell in love with audio was because of Bose. I know I am going to get flak because of this and thant's ok. The first time I listen to a Bose system was the Lifestyle 10 back in 91. The store was Fedco. I also watched a demo on laserdisc of T2 I was 13 at the time and fell love with Laserdisc as well. They sold others like Sony, panasonic, etc. From that point I was inspired by audio and technology. Good times.
No Quad ESL 57 or 63 or 2912? No OHM F ?No Rogers LS3/5a or Dynaco VW 25s?
Best loudspeakers are the ones you love. Period. I love Naim SBL’s for music and Klipsch / SVS for movies. Love your reviews, thanks to both of you.
Shouldn't speakers produce sound waves exactly matching the electrical signal coming in? I mean, when I buy a painting and I want to cover it with glass to protect it, I do not paint the glass some color because I like it. I would like to see it as the painter did. Clear glass. Clear speakers which shouldn't add anything but reproduce the electrical signal.
Pioneer HPM-100. My dad brought them home in 1979 and I still use (CRANK) them every day. Bulletproof!
My best list. Personally own/owned. Duntech Princess, Thiel 3.5 with eq, Klipsch LaScalla, Magnepan MGIIc, Thiel 1.5, Dynaudio Audience 80, JBL L7, Altec Lansing Voice of the Theatre,
Vienna Acoustics Bach.
I had a pair of Cannon loudspeakers in the 1970 s twelve inch woofer paired with an Akia 400 watt amplifier. Today I have a pair of Cerwin vega loudspeakers, 15 inch woofer incredibly heavy speaker box like 74 lbs each. They have max input of 400 watts they are paired with a 400 watt Yamaha amplifier. The bass is amazing, the highs and mid range is very clear. I'm glad I live out in the country , no neighbors for miles. I enjoyed your video, I'm still old school grew up in the early seventies. To be honest have not heard of some of the brands you mentioned.
Andrew, you are so young...
KLH Model Nine
Acoustic Research AR-3a
Infinity Servo Static I(A)
Rogers/BBC LS3/5A
Thiel CS-3
Magnepan Timpani-IVa
Wilson Audio Watt+Puppy
Infinity IRS V
B&W Matrix 801 S2/3
KEF LS50 Wireless
(Mostly chronological order).
Paul Homchick
The Infinity Servo Static 1A is the speaker I heard at CES CONVENTION Chicago 1974
And in 1978 I bought Infinity QLS-1’s AND THEY STILL BLOW ME AWAY !!!
Heard the ss1’s at University Stereo in Palo Alto in 1973. Bought the Timpani 1D’s instead. I was in audio heaven. Sounded great in my parents living room. Not so great in my dorm room. Replaced them with Large Advents!
@@gerryk3114 The SS1 was Infinity's first product and launched the company. Infinity went on to bring us many innovations in speaker technology. All of their best speakers were just riffs on the SS1, a servo controlled woofer and dipole planar mid & highs. I have a pair of RS1b which will be my forever speakers.
@@steveearnshaw2216 Advents are another speaker that could easily appear on a top 10 speaker list. They sounded really good, and they were affordable.
Lol, I was just back from the war and ready for MUSIC! BUT budget said nope. So l found a pair of BOZACK 301 and they were my first love affair 1968
It’s more of a “10 Speakers I’m most sentimental about” list. And that’s cool... but I’d like to see a Top 10 Best Sounding list
i get where you are coming from but I honestly don’t see the difference . Sound is so subjective and at the end of the day you need to that speaker that not only sounds good but provides a impressionable experience on the music you love listening to . A speaker that makes you want to listen more that’s the best speaker. 😊
Byron, your take is like my introduction to DCM Timeframes. I didn't know what they were but I kept going through the buttons and they sounded great...to me. Still have a pair in the room across from me. 😻
Infinity IRS V... Genesis I. Yamaha NS1000 and NS2000... JBL Everest... Klipschorn... B&W Nautilus... KEF Blade... AR LS9... Magnepan 3.7... APOGEE Grand... PIEGA Master Line Source.... Gryphon Audio Kodo Speaker System...
I' still have a pair of L-100s purchased in 1977. First LP I played was Deep Purple "Made in Japan" and it sounded freaking AWESOME and the speakers are in GREAT condition. Orange foam grille faded a long time ago and brown fabric grille my wife bought just isn't the same. Where can I buy an "original" looking orange foam grille? Thanks!
I would like to have one for L50. It would be great if someone could find these.
I owned first first generation of Bose Acoustimass speakers, and really wasn't all that impressed with their sound. The best speakers that I ever heard, and this was back in the 1970s, were the Klipschorns: very large, very heavy, very expensive (currently about $16,500 a pair), and extremely efficient (105 db with a 1-watt input). These speakers went into production before I was born, and I'm 68 years old. Their bass in so strong and so clean that it rivals any concert that you've ever likely attended. Higher frequencies are equally good. Klipsch made and still makes, as far as I know, sound systems for movie theaters, so you may have heard some of their work before.
i agree, my dad had the hersey's from 1976 and they were the best i've ever encountered!
Thanks for a great video! What is your opinion of the Bose 901 Series of speakers? My dad has a pair of 901 Series 1 paired with its original Bose equalizer and a Rotel Amplifier. They sound absolutely insane to me.
No highs, no lows.......must be Bose. I saved a guys house from freezing up in below zero weather, next day he gave me 4 901 VI , so I went out and bought a 1000 watt Yamaha .
The Bose ate it up eventually . it was fucking amazing for me since
I'd never had the privilege of hearing a high end system before.
I still have them and my wife still bitches , I tell her " THIS IS LISTENING LEVEL!!!! ITS NOT TOO LOUD!!"
wanna buy some pristine Bose 901 series 6 with eq?
AR3s and KLH were before your time. They are still Classics. Large Advents were next for Henry Kloss. They are a Classic too. Brought hi end audio to the masses.
Going back a few more years: Altec, Electrovoice, University Sound, lots of great speakers in the 1950's
KLH Model 6 speakers with a Harmon-Kardon Citation I preamp, Citation II power amp and Thorens turntable got me started on the journey.
Haters are going to say what they will, but I recall getting an Acoustimass 10 system in the 90's - that was a game changer for me.
As long as the list has the LaScala, I'm happy.
Surprised the Bose 901's aren't on the list. Sure, they had their flaws but wow, such iconic speakers and somewhat magical. To me, Advent loudspeakers are the best for those wanting to by a pair of amazing speakers for less than $200 today. Just make sure the caps aren't leaky.
Not a fan of Bose, but the 901s are a classic! I remember my uncle having a set and thinking how strange the design was at the time.
A couple favorites- Klipsch Kornerhorn, Altec Lansing A7 Voice of the Theatre, AR 3a, ADS L700, Snell
Excellent review! Can you do 10 best vintage speakers of all time and 10 best amps of all time?
ESS AMT-1B speakers with the Heil Air Motion Transformer tweeters. The sound stage from these is incredible. When I heard them for the first time in college in the early 1970's, they were way out of my price range. Ironically, a number of years later I came into possession of four Cannon TLS (Translinear Systems) Model 1032's and recently found out that this brand of speaker was designed and manufactured by ESS. I have owned them for over 30 years and had to redo the foam surrounds on the woofers a few years ago. They were made in the USA and after finding out they were made by ESS, I noticed a little red sticker on their backs printed "ESS 1."
A friend has owned a pair of ESS AMT-1B speakers since the mid 1970s. Unbelievable speakers, everything sounds better through them. I've wanted a pair for decades. Well in 2021 I bought a pair of ESS RMII-6 LE. I can't find anything to fault them with, well they're not bi-wireable.
It seems like these vintage reviewers have a blind spot for Polk Audio. The sound of 10b and bigger are literally magical.
How come you only show the speaker for one second literally one second. and then we get to look at your face the rest of the time. people want to see the speaker more than they want to see you I am sorry. Most people want to see the speaker more than they want to see you. Other than that well done video
Andrew, nice list. From my experience I would add the Rectilinear III, IMF Studio, KEF 105 Series II, OHM F, and Canton Reference 5. Keep up the good work.
If I had done a top 25 list the Canon would've been on it for sure! Thanks for watching Jim!
@@andrewrobinsonreviews if you get the chance, try to hear IMF speakers from the late 70s early 80s. The larger ones were Transmission line speakers with unbelievable accuracy. The cabinet was designed to be the length of 1/4 wave guide so the bass was sonically in cadence with the mid and highs. If you closed your eyes with these playing a quality recording it seemed as though the room became the cabinet. Very interesting and different. It was not only surreal but true to the acoustic engineers intent. The mids that were used on the larger units where the same mid drivers used in the legendary BBC Kef monitors that where specifically designed to be tonally accurate to a humans voice. These were used alot in studios. The tweeter drivers where silk and also the same T-27 drivers used in the BBC Monitors. They also had a super tweeter that would keep the highest audible sounds precise when used with the chosen Tweeters.
Dr Fried was a really eccentric visionary that truly doesn't get any recognition for his achievements and it's truly a shame. After years of experimenting and engineering under the name of IMF he also developed another brand called simply Fried. He has some interesting designs such as building a house around a TLS cabinet, he designed a system that consisted of a coffin shape that used an 8 in driver with 2 satellite speakers that would do things that were unreal.
As a fellow audiophile that enjoys learning as much info as I can, I would highly recommend you at least take a look at this as it consists of seriously impressive achievements and if you can pick up a pair of larger cabinets on the cheap ,you really should give them a go. Review and sell if your not impressed. I am going to predic that a pair of the RSPM or TLS 80 ii will Possibly best most of your list
Infinity IRS V, Infinity Reference Kappa 9 (current ), Yamaha NS 1000, Quad ESL 57, Martin Logan CLS, Acoustic Research AR3, Wilson Audio Watt & Puppy
Also Goldenear reference floorspeakers & kef blade
Nice to see Klipsch on list had a pair lascalla from the 70s recently sold almost 50 years later for same price bought for. Amazing loud speakers in my 60 plus years nothing has come close .