It was so cool to see this video because, the speakers you list first - the Ohm Walsh 2000, are speakers that I co-designed w/John at Ohm Acoustics. They were the first speakers that we ever fully simulated the crossover in software, and actually listened to the speakers playing first w/the simulated computer crossover which allowed rapid instant changes to be A/B to our heart's content without building up various prototype boards and swapping out parts! It was an amazing experience to get to spend a few years working with John Strohbeen of Ohm Acoustics on the 2000 and the "Micro" Walsh line up! That was from 1999 - 2003 - it's very fun to see them coming up in videos all these years later still.
so it"s roughly1987-88 and i am sick of"multiple"drivers phase X-overs coloration & bullshit" as i pass the hi-fi room {American of Oak Creek Wisconsin}i hear the very !st satellite system from "Henry Kloss" -- i did"Not" fall for th"hype" & as i turn "There They Were
Your enthusiasm for this hobby is infectious! When you describe the Wilson Audio Puppy and recall going into work early with a bunch of records so you could listen to the Puppy's that says it all. You have been living your dream and it is a fine way to live.
These "list" videos from Steve are gold! The combination of recommendations from someone who knows good sound along with the stories from his history is highly valuable to me and I imagine the audio community as a whole. Thank you Steve!
The Ohm Walsh speaker when it first came out was one I loved listening to when I sold audio in the late 70's. My roommate own a pair so I got to enjoy them at home. I was happy to hear you also enjoyed them. Glad to see that they are still making in Brooklyn today.
I remember a rule of thumb from the 70s and early 80s. Allocate 50% of your budget on the speakers, and the rest divided between your amplification and primary source device.
In ‘79 I auditioned the best spkrs on the market. I fell in love & bought a pair of KEF Model 105 Series 1 for $1,800 new. I still own & play them daily, now 44yrs later! I recently bought a ‘80 Threshold Stasis3 amp & matching SL10 preamp In original mint condition. The results have left me gobsmacked, the clarity is astounding, as well as all the other attributes of a Class A system. Not sure how you didn’t list/missed these Steve🤔, still an awesome performer by today’s standards, I’ll never sell them🎼🥰🏆😎.
I picked up a pair of Infinity Kappa 7.1 II's on Craig's List for $175! I believe they originally sold for around $2000 a pair. They were filthy, full of cat hair, reeked of cigarette smoke and the Poly Dome Mid's were yellowed from years of exposure to cigarette smoke. I thought that for that money, I could part them out and make some money on the deal. But when I gave them a listen, they actually sounded pretty damn good. So I cleaned them up, refinished the cabinets, got the Mid's rebuilt by Bill LeGall at Miller Sound (AMAZING work) and glued the loose port tube that was vibrating on certain bass notes because it had separated from the inside mount. I just LOVE these speakers. They can really play loud and thump the room! But they also have great detail and the bass digs deep. Then about 2 yrs. ago, a guy I worked with was moving and had a pair of Dahlquist DQ-10's (about $1600/pr. back in 1976) that had been in a storage locker for 20 yrs.. They were so dirty and dusty that they looked like they were covered with snow! He didn't have the skills to refurbish them nor did he want to throw them out. He knew that I worked on old amplifiers so he figured that he would ask me if I wanted them. I reluctantly said 'yes'. The woofers needed surrounds, the grill cloths were loose, the wood side panels had scratches and white paint splashed on them and the stands were ruined in a flood. I figured that I would clean/refinish/fix them up and then sell them since there seemed to be a huge following of the DQ-10's (that I didn't understand). Once I finished them, built new stands and finally hooked them up, my jaw dropped! The soundstage was huge and open, detail amazing and the bass was much better than other users had indicated(my upgraded Hafler DH-500 amp had something to do with that). Last year I rebuilt/upgraded the crossovers and they now are my new favorites. I don't think I will ever part with them. I do have my eyes on the Spatial M3's, but they are just a bit out of my budget for now.
Excellent story and there’s an interesting lesson here. Many old speakers regardless of design, have histories of abuse, unintentional or otherwise, and neglect and if a person has the time they can without a great deal of expense and with some TLC can resurrect fine classics to their former glory, giving them a proper home for the respect they should receive as true classics and maybe even with a few tweaks improve their response to a level that some modern speakers can’t match plus there’s great satisfaction in doing so. Great story.
Your audiophile journal is very interesting to me. I respect your opinions and your honest down to earth style. It's obvious to anyone your genuine enthusiasm for music and sound. You have a musician's sensibility, which makes your perspective relatable to me .
Main reason I consider Steves opinion on speakers so valuable is his vast experience over decades of sampling the best of the best. I believe he is the one who brought the attention of so many to the Klipsch RP-600m (in under $1000 category) and when I heard that I knew I had to pay attention to anything he gets enthusiastic about.
In high school I was introduced to mirage M-3 speakers/blew me away. So instead of buying first car I bought speakers/very unhappy step father. They lasted with me for 20 yrs, moved them (125lbs each) from Kc, to Ny, to Sf. They opened up a whole new world of sound that I beleive made me more opened minded and a lover of all genres of music...
Still listening to my Polk Audio SDA 2b’s after some 30 years . Their soundstage is unreal and still have great clarity with true bottom end. Upright bass with vibes on the side and a couple horns is like being there....to me.
Rob, what year were your Klipschorns made? Mine were 1968, rare WHITE grills and NO spacer between the horn and bass cabinet.... They were also signed by the builder with a black wax pencil on the inside by the driver.
Mine were built in 1978. I plan on going to my grave with them. you got to replace the capacitors every now and then on the crossover. Keep them sounding nice
I got to hear K-Horns 50 years ago. A friend had bought a pair and invited me over to listen. Even at this distance, it’s a stunning and cherished memory!
Just got my Ohm 2000’s. Thanks for the review Steve. Your earlier comments started me on the path to getting them. They look fantastic and sound so much more open and clear. (Had Yamaha ns-777 which were good but more restricted sounding vs. Ohms). The way the voices seem to float in the center of the room breathes new life into familiar recordings. It was a 4 month wait but well worth it. Evan at Ohm was great to work with too.
I bought Two sets of Klipsch in 1982. One set are Lascala's and a set of Heresy's. They are still the best speakers I ever heard. Thank you Steve, very much for this very interesting video.
Great choice Steve for speakers over $1000. I've had my ADS L 1290"s since the early 80's and they not only sound great but they still thrill me with their clarity, wide soundstage and dynamics. Always love your reviews and perspectives. Keep up the good work!
I've had the 1290"s since about 1985, they are amazing, over 35 years of joy. Think of getting other speakers, then, I realize, I already got the ones I love.
We had the old sears console stereo with no mids or tweeters, just 14” powered coil woofers and the scary crackly knobs , but man the amplitude of the sound that old unit threw out is unmatched.
Ohm Walsh speakers were my gateway speakers when I was kid. Got me interested in speaker design where I built my first speaker which was a Ohm Walsh replica when I was 13 years old.
Ohm were my first good speakers too . I forgot the model. They were great. Lost them in divorce. I have PSB T6 towers now. They are soft , clear and transparent but not dynamic enough for bands like ZZ Top and Foreigner
I was a box speaker owner for 37 years, though a series of bookshelf speakers (Marantz HD440s and Frieds) to floorstanding B&W DM220s that I still have today in my office. The Frieds were very transparent and handled all sorts of music well, I still have them as well. I gave my son the HD440s and mated them to a Marantz 4300 for a great vintage combo. Five years ago I removed a pair of Monitor Audio Golds from my living room and installed Magnepan .7s, and I fully agree with your comments on the requirement to live with a pair of Maggies at some point in one's audiophile journey! They are fabulous, throw a holographic soundstage and play well with all different types of music as long as you give them POWER. I have a McIntosh 200WPC solid-state amp feeding them. I recall hearing Ohm speakers years ago and wanted a pair, but as a teenager I had neither the money nor the floorspace.
I have had a pair of Dahlquist DQ 20i for 25 years. About 20 years ago, Regnar rebuilt the woofers and I purchased and installed their transistor upgrade kit. An already amazing speaker was instantly more amazing. I had also purchased the wiring upgrade kit at the time but never installed it. Next week I am turning 60 and treating myself to a pair of Rotel RB-1091 mono blocks. This is motivating me to install the wiring upgrade kit and rekindle a great marriage with these speakers. Regnar claimed that to rival the sound of the DQ 20i after the upgrades you would need to spend $10k. I believe them.
i had watt 3 and puppy 2's. It was back when they first came out. I would have many a night where i would be listening to a piece of music and the tears would be rolling down my face. They were incredible. The whole system was, but i moved from my house to a condo years later and i sold my system. :( I'm just now getting back into it but headphones keep the peace in my life now.
Howard Sokoloff My reference point for how good a speaker and piece of music are...is when tears are shed. That's when it all becomes real and transcendent. It's a spiritual thing. Only sorrow and beauty pierce the heart all the way through, and those moments of beauty are worth ten times every penny spent on a sound system. Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm right there with you, sir.
One of the few channels that I’ll watch the videos from start to end. So much reminiscing on this one. I had my hands on some Altec 19’s way back in the day, those left an impression.
Me is Totem Model 1 signature 2600$ Canadian money in 1998. It sound like a Dynaudio but not has monitor cold if I can say. Warmer and precise and imaging.
In the late 70s I was looking to buy some loudspeakers and walked into a shop that had Klipsch Heresy?, Dahlquist DQ10, and Bose 901. I was blown away by the realistic sound of the Dahlquist. I had never heard a speaker that good before. I ended up owning a pair with a subwoofer for many years. Power hungry but astonishingly clear and realistic. I’m very surprised they weren’t mentioned in the list.
I had some Magneplaner MGIIs back in the 70s. I also had some Klipsch Herseys. So the MGIIs had the musical naturalness but realized they lacked the dynamics. Well I modified them by adding Flor-stone concrete resign to the side panels. Then on the front perforated steel panel that supported the bar magnets, I created a tool to add peaked ridges of silicon between the vent holes to give more of a wave guide for sound transmission. Finally I changed the HF circuit capacitor that was a mylar film cap to a better polypropylene film cap. Holy smokes, the best MGIIs I've ever heard.
I grew up listening to a set of humble Realistic Mach One's on a Pioneer SX-780. They are my life long reference set. I still have them after my father passed. I may replace them at some point, but I will never get rid of them.
28 years ago I went out listening to a number of speakers and tried: "At half the budget, is the difference small enough?" Surprisingly it was with a pair of Infinity RS4001s. They're great and I use them to this day.
Steve, I loved this piece. Like you, I’ve been an audio nut for decades. I live in the UK, and I’d like to list the various loudspeakers that I have owned since the early sixties. First up a pair of Whitley Stentorian bass reflex speakers that I kept for a few years when still at College and living at home with my parents. Second up ; a pair of Harold J Leak Sandwich speakers. These were beautiful cabinets of an infinite baffle design. The main driver was an interesting design with thin metallic skins over a composite infill, giving great rigidity to the driver to give a pistonic action. ( I remember an ad with the old man himself , HJR, standing on top of a drive unit; I don’t know what that was meant to prove! ) Third up ; a pair of Epos ES14’s just the same as you. I agree these were really cool and gave great results. Fourth up ; I then delved into active speakers for the first time and bought a pair of Meridian M2’s, that had enclosed amplification and were on stands that gave the speaker the appearance of leaning backwards away from the listener. These speakers made by Boothroyd Stuart were very fast and focused, but lacking a bit in the bass area, and so I only kept them for a couple of years. Fifth up ; and by now I was well into the Naim / Linn sound that was very big over here in Britain for audiophiles for years. I bought a pair of Naim SBL floor standing speakers which were of an interesting two compartment design for the bass/ midrange, and tweeter separated above. This was also an active design, but I ended up with so many boxes of amplifiers and active crossovers, that the whole ownership thing became too much. I kept these guys for about five years though even though management at home was underwhelmed. Sixth up ; Everything went , and I had a craving for simplicity of use and functionality. I bought a one box integrated amp and streamer and then bought a pair of PMC Twenty5 23’s. Lovely smallish floor standers with a transmission line design. Nice speakers, but unable to perform as well as I would like in my largish listening area. Seventh up ; More PMC’s , this time the next size up the rank in the Twenty series, the PMC Twenty 24 model. Same design and a very listenable experience, a good product. Eighth up ; My current speakers !! ATC SCM40A ‘s. Again active design with amplifier within the a cabinet of an infinite baffle, three way speaker. I just love these speaker’s and have no plans for any more ventures ! Keep up the good work with the channel Steve, I like to visit your videos quite often and really enjoy your approach to the subject of our mutual interest.
Steve - Interesting review! I spent many years as a speaker designer and manufacturer in Canada. Yes some manufacturers build their speakers in house like Dynaudio. However very few build all the components in house. As far as tweaking designs, you can do that when you farm out various parts and portions of the manufacture. I designed every part of the loudspeakers, cones, coils, etc etc - but had these parts manufactured at specialty houses and contracted the final assembly. It is less a situation of what you can do as far as customizing/designing/tweaking and more about economies of scale. We were making high end studio monitors (the equivalent in today's prices of approx $4000 EACH), aimed at audiophile and studio markets thus never having huge production numbers. When you start costing out the machinery required for making many of the parts you are into a huge capital cost that only makes sense with large production numbers. Dynaudio ( a fine firm ) most likely has enough production to rationalize bringing everything in house. It's all about economy of scale and not technical superiority. Most of the most expensive speakers are made in fairly low numbers for a rather exclusive market segment. Additionally it is hard to ignore that if you are dealing with some of the component manufactures for things like suspensions, cone, coils, you are dealing with companies that have 80 or 90 years experience, it's hard to recreate that expertise. Great TH-cams! Keep up the good work. - Paul
Adding to that I’d say that it’s fairly typical for the speaker builders to have the drivers they use modified by the driver manufacturer. My VAF DC-Xs for instance use drivers made by SEAS, but I can’t purchase them from SEAS. While they are _based_ on SEAS standard drivers, they have been modified for Phil Vafiadis to suit his minimalist crossover design (a series cap to the tweeter).
After a year of spending some time bouncing around the big shot audio reviewers channels i put steve at top because no rambles in a more entertaining and useful way.
Yamaha ns1000 I heard these in my local dealer years ago on the end of a Linn LP 12 and Cambridge pe/power amp was blown away be how good they sounded for at the time A bargain £550 wish I had bought a pair 🙄
As a teenager, back in the 70’s, my EPI towers got me hooked into stereo systems. Went through many systems and speakers, most if which I can’t remember, but my hard rocking Cerwin Vegas kicked butt! Fast forward a few years, traveled the globe while in the Navy, and landed a set of very power-hungry Dahlquist DQ-10s. Thought i was king of the hill. Family time came along, high end audio was a luxury and away everything went. A little of this and that over the years, never picking up the ball again, until lately. A friend gave me a Yamaha RX-V757 receiver, 100W/ch X7 channels, a Sonance a800 90W/ch subwoofer amplifier, added on a Yamaha CD player, Denon turntable, a Dayton Audio passive subwoofer and a pair of Dayton Audio tower speakers. Wow! the clarity, soundstage, and pure cleanliness of the music now blows me away, where 20, 30 years ago, I wasn’t wowed until the buttons were blown off my shirt. Can’t wait to continue my upgrade path, and enjoy the fine wine aging effect my ears took.
Love my Magnepan 1.7s, which I've had for a few years now. That dispersion pattern, being enveloped by sound, is so wonderful. And on top of that, the reproduction of things (especially acoustic instruments) just feels so true to life. But I'm growing a little restless, on a few fronts: I'm also impressed by the high-end KEF concentric drivers like those in the LS50. They seem to solve phase alignment issues in a similar way to the planars, if not better. From my past one of my favorites was an early model of the B&W 801s with the angular head on top. Oh man, those were SO MUCH FUN. Never should have sold them. But they are HUGE. Speaking of big, a friend of mine has the JBL 4367s and I honestly think they may be the best I've ever heard, but they are completely unforgiving to poorly produced music. As a result, I'm highly curious about the Tannoy legacy/classic series. It's a stark contrast from my Maggies: large woofers, dynamic speakers that are high efficiency. The Klipsch Forte/Cornwall is also a contender but I've been so impressed by well-engineered concentric tweeters that I'm holding out to audition a Tannoy Cheviot or Arden first. Would love it if you can ever get a pair to review yourself. And the other one I'm super keen to hear is the Ohm Super Sound Cylinder.
What a wonderful experience to hear your remembrances and reviews! When I was much younger I had the joy of working in a new audiophile store selling such then esoteric speakers like the first electrostatic Dayton Wright’s which had many problems (arcing , crashing amplifiers and other problems) and new Polk and Magnepan speakers. I have had the privilege of owning many including MBL ( a Canadian brand) JBL, Jensen, ARs , Revel, Rel, Meridian etc but still live long term with Magneplanars, despite their sometimes difficult room placement and amplifier requirements. I really appreciate you never really criticize but mainly point out the virtues of different gear. There is no one “right” just as live performances are always different. Your channel is truly enjoyable! Please keep up the good work.
My first speakers were Mordant Short MS-10’s. Very simple, small speakers that on the end of a good amp really sang and got me into music. I am a big fan of the large ATC active designs but love their more affordable passive, sealed SCM-19 bookshelf with a decent sub. The lastest version is exceptional if you have a high current/output amp or digital amp. Also A big fan of large active PWC studio monitors, and their massive dynamics. Many passive speakers seem to have limited dynamics and sound strained on peak output.
The SCM 10 passives are without question the best speakers I have ever heard, the current 7s are good, better than the 11s which are good but unremarkable
Wow! My speakers are on your list. Gallo Acoustics Nucleus Reference 2. I’ve had them for 5yrs. Phenomenal speakers. Best investment I’ve made in audio. They go very well with my McIntosh gear. Great video Steve. You have a wonderful channel.
I've heard many of Steve's picks, and to the extent I've heard them I'm in complete agreement. My addition would be the Spicas. Angelus/TC-50/TC-60. I owned some version of Spica for over 30 years, and the Angelus was my main speaker for 20+. They were "spacial" champs, throwing the most convincing soundstage I've ever heard from a box speaker. They didn't play particularly loud or particularly low, but where they excelled was the heart of the music with a "being there" quality to the midrange that only planars (Maggies; Quads; Sanders, etc.) can rival in my experience. They loved tube amps, although they needed power. Quicksilver Silver 88s worked particularly well. Back in the day the Spicas were made in New Mexico and the Quicksilvers in Nevada for an all-SouthWest pairing.
Spicas were fabulous speakers! When I bought my first system I listenede to everytign I couldand found nothign I liked until I heard the TC50s. I had Angeluses for a while, but the woofers seemed a bit fragile. I lost a couple to a temperamental ground on my turntable, sending a loud 60HZ hum into them.
I've had two sets of Spica TC-50's and "spacial champs" they certainly were! with a set of Hsu Research 10" subs they were remarkable. Passed down to my brother now and as far as I know they're still playing today.
My first speaker was a Rectilinear III in 1970 and my first foray into hifi. I lived with them a long time. Heard a lot that I like but I couldn’t afford. Almost purchased some Dahlquist speakers when I upgraded my electronics to Meridian 102., balked at the last minute. Next came the original Mission 770. There were a couple of speakers that made it into my house but ended up being too much of a compromise. This brings me to my final speaker, the Esoteric mg 20. I got them used but the sounded marvellous driven by a Krell i300. They had a precise and open image. Then the Krell went on the fritz and I purchased Belles Aria integrated and the speakers just disappeared. I close my eyes sometimes and sound stage seems to emanate beyond the speakers . Thank you 🙏
Rect III’s...had two pairs...once as a young single guy living w/ my parents...Thorens TD 160Mk IIb TT, SAE Integrated...and again as a young broke married college student..I actually still miss them...great memories...Cheers!
@@loujetlag I have fond memories of my Rectilinear III. What I remember were the upper midrange and up. They seemed focused like my ears needed the audio equivalent of glasses and these speakers were the glasses. It was my first exposure to hifi. Before that it was my parents Zenith all-in-one “semi -portable” record player. Thank you for the reply. It’s appreciated.
Two stand out for me. I don’t know the model but I went to a strangers house to collect some speaker stands I bought on eBay. Turns out he used to work for Mission and then Cyrus and was quite senior in the company. Got talking to him and he showed me his Cyrus stack playing through some Quad electrostatics, modern ones but have no idea of the model name. Wish I did because although older electrostatics rightly get criticised for lack of dynamics, these ones blew my socks off! He played (on my request) Prince’s “Seven” and the bass drop after the initial a Capella section was jaw dropping. They were special special speakers. Back down to Earth, the speakers that for me punch WAY above their weight are Royd Minstrels. Tiny odd looking things but kick out a surprising amount of bass for such a small and narrow floor stander and because of the design (lean back) the sound stage is HUGE. The music sounds like it’s floating above the speakers somewhere and as a consequence the detail and depth they go is frankly brilliant. Only £250 back in 1994, but still now.....the best speakers I have in my house and have ever owned. I wouldn’t part with them for anything.
I still have a pair of Ohm Walsh 3xO speakers I bought back in like 90-91. People are always blown away but the sound and staging they produce. Absolutely love them! When I heard them the first time, I knew immediately I could not come close to the sound for the price.
Hi Ed, nice to hear from you. I've been a real electrostatic speaker fan from the time I first heard the old QUAD 'fire-screens' (ESL57s) in the 1960s. My first Acoustats were a pair of second hand 4s but they had problems with low frequency rattling, even though I liked them in all other respects. (I had previously owned a pair of QUAD ESL63s but didn't like them at all and traded them in on the 4s). The New Zealand Acoustat agent in (I think) 1990 sent me a brochure about the SPECTRA 4400 and 6600 models and I decided to buy the latter - he took my 4s as part payment - and I've never regretted it, even though they were hellishly expensive at the time. I watch a lot of TH-cam videos about high-end audio and I'm amazed at how 'negative' many of the contributors are about electrostatic speakers. If any are mentioned positively, they tend to be predominantly Martin Logans. Acoustats hardly get a mention. I just don't understand it! They all seem to love Magnepans.
Bought a pair of used AR 90’s back in the 1980’s. always loved their sound. Just got a McIntosh 2105 (1970’s) to push them. Very much enjoy vintage sound/equipment.
As a mature (68 yr old) audiophile/music fan, I do a fair bit of walking. I bought a dragonfly red dac a couple of years ago that I use with my computer setup. More recently I bought an adapter to allow my iPhone to use the Dragonfly along with HD-600 headphones for my walks. I have had more pleasure listening to music this way than I have had in years. There is no comparison to ear buds, period. The extra content that I heard challenged me to try and hear the same on my home system. This in turn led to a spate of cartridge alignments and swapping between the various pickups I have accumulated over the years and even resurrecting my Revox A77 to see how the commercial tapes stacked up to the LP's and to the various cd editions. In COVID times it is nice to have this kind of hobby! I have not succumbed to new equipment, yet, but I did send out my Supex SD-900 super to Soundsmith for revamping.
When I was 18 I'd take some beer, a few of my favorite albums and some other stuff that's not legal in all states yet over to a co-worker / friend's house on Friday nights and we would listen to my albums on his Dahlquist DQ-10s. I realize Dahlquist DQ-10s are not the mega buck speakers like most of the speakers in this hall of fame but he was also an electronic technician and was on retainer to a guy that had a system that cost more than the house that the system was in. I can't remember that far back clearly enough but I did see the system a couple of times and the speakers were the Infinity reference with what appeared to be about 4 or 5 feet of ribbon tweeters that I was told cost $30K way back in 1980. I have no idea if that's really what they sold for or not but they were impressive looking although I never really got to hear them to their full potential because my co-worker friend spent most of his free time replacing fried ribbons. Anyway the Dahlquist DQ-10s were on my short list of speakers to own before I die but there's more life behind me than ahead of me at this point and they are pretty bulky so you can't just store them in a closet very easily so the time I spent listening to them way back when will have to suffice. I think audiophiles and audio enthusiasts are probably living in the best time ever to own an elite level of gear with minimal cost. To be 18 again...
Loved the review Steve. For me, I have lived with Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor speakers for 15+ years and hope to be living with them for another 15+ years. Super sound... super design.
Most engaging, long term satisfaction and imersive sound....Magneplanars......I had many speakers....including some Steve mentions...but my reference has been Magneplanars ...MG 3.6R for several years, and since 4 years the MG 3.7i. For deeper bass, can engage a JLAUDIO Fathom 113.
Steve, my son worked at a local Edwards Multi-Plex theater back in 2001 > 2005. He said there was a couple of large 60 lbs boxes in a back store room marked "Broken". So he convinced the manager to let him bring them home, I opened them up and they were sweet. A pair of Lansing Professional Series Speakers, with 18" permanent magnet sub-woofers and a huge mid-range horn mounted in a very solid, heavy wood cabinet. After doing a little bit of wiring repair, some minor solder connections and they were just like new. Those beauties coupled with my high end 2800 series Denon system and I have kids half way down the block dancing in their front yard when I crank it up. That Denon has a one hundred point volume range, starts at -70 then goes to +30. I CAN NOT even be in the room when it is @ 0, and with it up to plus 10 it cracked a mirror in the bathroom, never pushed that hard again, scary loud.
Bought my Kef Reference 203s in 2002. It took quite a few years for them to sound as good as they do today. Unfortunately I got burgled a couple of years later and luckily the knuckleheads who broke in decided to take an old tv rather than my Kefs. Sadly, one of the kefs got knocked over during their struggle to get the tv and received a scuff to the cherry wood veneer. I was then fortunate enough to get a tour of the Kef factory in Kent, England (I only lived about 7 miles away) after they had kindly refinished my speaker cabinet for me and gave it a full test - they took both speakers to ensure they were properly matched, as they are manufactured as an identically matched pair. Even the veneers are consecutive layers from the same tree to ensure as close a visible grain match as possible. I’ve still got them and they get used every single day. They are so easy to listen to. Love em 🙂
I joined the B&W family and bought the 706 S2 bookshelf speakers and B&W HTM71 S2 center speakers to help make life during COVID-19 lockdown (April 2020) a bit less depressing. Pairing the B&Ws with Klipsch SW12II subwoofers which belonged to my dad from the 90s. I know I can get a better sub, but having that sub as part of my system is both nostalgic and brings joy to me. I'd like to think whenever I am listening and enjoying my music or watching a movie, my dad is smiling from heaven with a proud dad moment.
Ben --- Were the Optimus Linaeum speakers from a Portland, Oregon, company? Seems they might have been the speaker a customer realized they sounded better with an opening stuffed with drinking straws & told the manufacturer. Company ended up modifying the speaker after looking into his hack.
I’m glad I could join you on your journey of favorite speakers from over the years! Of all the different speakers that have come and gone from my house, the JBL CF150 which still resides in our great room now for over 20 years, has earned its right as a permanent fixture. It has a fairly large footprint (like a dorm refrigerator), but the sonic quality of this speaker still blows me away even today. The 3 way speaker uses a rather small 1.4mm Mylar dome tweeter followed by a rather large 16mm midrange that looks like a miniature version of the poly laminate 15” woofer just below it. This is truly a full range speaker, and with a 98db efficiency, it doesn’t need a boatload of power to sound great. The soundstage that this pair creates is absolutely massive, and easily fills the 20x24 room they are in. The tweeters recreate notes that you can almost catch right out of the air, and the mids with their large cone are gentle, but precise with just a touch of dryness, which sound beautiful for realistic reproduction of instruments, and vocals. And the Star of the show is the massive 15” driver that effortlessly creates sounds into the low 30hz range, but seamlessly mates to the mid driver, leaving no usable frequency unfilled. All in all, this speaker sounds great, and never beats you up in the process, and for what seemed very expensive at the time (just over 1k a pair in the late ‘90’s), would be a fantastic bargain for what’s offered today.
Forte 3s here. They aren't in an ideal space, but there's nothing I can do for that right now...they still sound great so I can only imagine when they have a proper space to live they'll just get better.
They may sound crap in a better space. What you are hearing is the combination of both, speakers and room. There is no guarantee that you will still like the speakers in a "better" acoustic environment.
I worked in the industry for 25 years and lived with many speakers in your list . I had a few that were in my house as well as my shop. I had watt / puppies that I had bought on trade and they were nice but in those days I sold them to get a pair of 3.6 Maggies. I remember the Spica TC50 as a excellent value as well as the Fried C3L transmission line speakers. Of course Acoustic energy and Totem were prominent speakers in several systems. I have to mention Paradigm because it put my child through private school with many happy customers. Excellent product and I will say I have never heard a bad sounding paradigm. The Canada product is probably the best value in the market in my opinion. I retired in 2005 and now I piddle around with my streamer and listen to the class d stuff with amazement. I will always have a set of Maggies and a few tube pieces for the vinyl to be played on. I still have the first piece of equipment that I purchased. Nad3020
Great walk through of some legendary speakers. I’ve owned and listened to all sorts of great speakers and the best I’ve heard and own are the incredible Kef Blade 2’s. Totally immersive, emotional, dynamic, transparent, with awe inspiring room filling sound. A modern day classic.
HI Steve, I'm one of the people who ended up purchasing the Vandersteen 2Cis from SBSinger, I still have them though my Roommate blew them up 15 years ago so he paid to replace all the Drivers :). I visited SBSinger must have been the late 80's. I listened to several speakers but was pointed in the direction of the Monitor Audio 3s I think thats what they were call or It could and Most likely the Mirage's Piano Black, they where Large Bi-Directional, my memory sucks at 62 :). They were delivered to my apartment in Brooklyn. They were way to Big for my Room, I immediately Called Mr. Singer to come take them back. At the same time I had him ship the Vandersteens. I have now them for almost 30 years and they still Rock, I consider them only 15 years old because of the driver Replacement. Oh I used the difference in price to pick up an Esoteric R-9000, which is still in service. I am at the point of considering purchasing a new Pair or speakers, I was thinking of picking up the latest 2Cs. Thoughts and suggestions? Love your Show, especially the latest AMP Camp coverage, I'm on my 2nd kit and plan on running them as Mono Blocks. Keep up the great work and Happy Listening. Oh my main component is the Parasound Hint original. Peace to you and your Family :).
My wife and I heard these for the first time.... 2 months later owned them. Couldn't stop thinking about the experience it was. We both decided we can't live without that after knowing what it could be. Klipschorns are that damn good.
I worked in an Audio shop for a few years in the 70's. We had a modified pr. of John Dahlquists' DQ-10's. At the time, they were excellent, time aligned drivers . . . An audio guest in the shop, invited me to hear his big K-horns. In his large 25x40 room, and placed in the two corners of the long wall, listening to the shaded dog RCA of the cannons in the 1812 overture, to say it was over the top, is small reward. Now, I listen to Qobuz from my Android phone, into a Hidiez S9 pro, into a PR of CNN Coffee Bean IEM's . . . direct to cochlea at 24/96. The digital medium has come a long way since 'back in the day'.
Just purchased a pair of Zu Soul speakers. Yes....the best speakers I have ever owned. Paired with Pass ACA Class A amps, mono blocked, so 15 watts a channel...wonderful, fun, and dynamic. Love these things. Beautiful bass tone as a bonus.
I’d like to mention a very rare, but commercially available speaker that I owned for about 15 years: The Precedent Audio MZ III. Thet were designed by Murray Zeligman, who was a designer for a number of speakers, including Dynaudio. The MZ IIIs were 3way modular speakers with KEF drivers (LS35a tweet and bass mid range and a B200 bass driver.) The midrange and bass speakers were transmission lines. Of the dozen or so speakers I have owned they were the most unique and were extremely good sounding…
I bought a pair of Acoustic Research AR 2aX speakers in 1974 along with an AR amplifier, tuner and turntable. They had been in storage far to long! I took the entire system out of their original boxes about 6 months ago and I must say ... flawless! These guys invented the acoustic suspension loudspeaker, they were at the lead in the discussion of Hi Fidelity and their battle cry was simply "the reproduction of sound". And do they ever! Clean true sound that still sound amazing. They had more than 50% of the market share in their heyday and then "poof", they disappeared after a corporate buyout by Teledyne (I think). The sound I get from this system brings a big smile to my face with its enduring excellence and its accuracy in the reproduction of sound after 46 years if ownership!
Have to put this in here even though I am late to this video. I have a pair of old Dynaudio Finales. This is a kit speaker not sold anymore. I don't know when they were built, I'm guessing twenty years. The man that built them double up on the medium board externally, making them weight about 200 lbs each. I had a 30W-100XL woofer go bad. So I got touch will Dynaudio to see if I could replace both the active woofers. Each speaker has a active and passive woofer, stacked. They don't any longer manufacture these drivers, but they keep all parts and procedures, dies and such to make them. They manufacture two for me and shipped them to me from Denmark about two years ago. It costs me $900. What company does that anymore. Great company and I thought people should know my story.
Love my ATC SMC19s. They have been in my small study room for 5 years. During this time, I tried more than 10 speakers to upgrade them without success, regardless price.
I have the best speakers I’ve ever heard, my rocking JBL 4333A 15” 3 way with horns in studio, and my Infinity IRS Beta with Kappa 9.1, 8, 6 etc in the theater, unbelievable with an orchestra, acoustic guitars or female voice. Deep Purple sounds better on the JBLs, more crunch; but if I really want to study Roger Glover’s underrated Rickenbacker bass guitar work on the multichannel mix of Machine Head, the Betas offer up a master class. They offer up such a variety of listening experiences, I never get tired of the sound, it’s always fresh and new. Could be it’s me, maybe I have auditory amnesia.
those Infinity models are incredible speakers -many used cheap amps with them and never got there potential or never put the effort into setup and pronounced the speakers as no good ,spending time to optimise the setup makes a Massive difference with classic Infinity
@@roymindmybusiness6908 yes, and I’m one of those cheap amp guys. Adcom Gfa555 and SAE A502 on the Betas. I have VTL300s that I originally used on the panels, and they sounded a bit better / warmer to me than the SAE, but they were very expensive to keep up with. I think I have a cracked power transformer in one of them, but they weigh 65 pounds a piece. I’m not that guy anymore, I’m good with an 8 or 9 out of 10. My 65 year old ears roll off after 12.5 kHz so I reckon that takes care of any solid state harshness. I enjoy the heck out of them, I’m into Steve Wilson Prog and Beatle 5.1 remixes, I kind of put the system together just for them. I have no idea how my system would rate with real audiophiles, but every time I’ve heard someone else’s expensive system I’ve always been very grateful to come back to the one I have.
@@ProgRockKeys JOHN thanks for the reply -an example the Kappa 9 many purchased years later when they became cheap -they were using amps not suitable for the load and they rubbished the loudspeaker when in fact they were not powering it properly. That is what I meant - In Australia we had a company ME amps and there bigger offerings extract so much tight bass out of Kappa,Beta,Delta it is just incredible .
@@roymindmybusiness6908 I have the Kappa 8s and use Bryston 7BSST2 monoblocks. Most amps can't deal with power at very low impedance and as I understand it means under an ohm at low frequencies in this case. Bryston can hang and always go monoblocks methinks. The Bryston 4BSST I used with them was OK but the bass was a bit muddier.
Been buying higher fidelity audio since 1989. I loved hifi so much I started selling it in the late 90's. Sold hifi for just over a decade. I have owned Martin Logans, Klipsch (heritage), Tannoys, Thiels, Mordaunt Short, Von Schweikert, PSB, Polk, Infinity, B&W, Sonus Faber, and sold much more. I sold my Forte III's and purchased the Magnepan LRS (never owned or sold Maggies...but lost a LOT of sales against them) and I finally found a sound that just makes me crave music more and more. I can't believe its taken me this long to get a pair of Magnepans. I am running them with a PSB Stellar Gain Cell dac/preamp and a Pass X150.5. It's by far the best sound I have ever owned. I have never been this excited about a pair of speakers since I was 18.
@@michaelcampbell8315 Yeah, you know what? I'm completely wrong and you're right. I never realized they're a joke and over priced with no bass. I should've asked for your expertise before I bought them. What was I thinking? I only know how they sound in my listening room with my gear. You must know better because you obviously tried them in every listening room with all the gear out there!
Absolute best sounding speaker I've heard on multiple occasions was a pair of bookshelves built by a good friend of mine. He used 6" Morel Titanium series carbon fiber woofers with Morel Supreme soft dome tweeters. The size of the sound that came form these modest 2 way bookshelves defined logic, the sounded 20' tall and had depth that went so far beyond the front wall it was incredible and infectious. He paired them up with a Morel 9" sub woofer using a BASH 300 plate amp and it was just audio bliss, I alwasy called it my Hi-Fi therapy session.
Speakers I have liked and lived with: Sonab OA-2212 speakers. Omnidirectional, room-filling. The smaller sibling Sonab OA-116's are in my main system right now. Used to have Magnepan sms-g, a wall of sound. Still like the ProAc Tablette 2 and Spendor LS3/5a. Visiting speakers (waiting to be sold) Linn Isobariks (1980´s) a lot of sound, great for orchestral work. They contributed to the hype around Linn and now I understand why. A pair of Dali Evidence 470 (new tweeters) outrun the new Oberon 5's, for me anyway. Still have a pair of Cain&Cain "Abby" (Fostex 93dB elements), now driven by a tube amp. The workmanship on them is just great.
I've really grown to love my Harbeth M30.1. I miss the dynamics of my Focal Aria 936 but the Harbeths are so much easier on the ears, natural and musical. I think maybe if I get a more brawny amplifier I can regain back some of the dynamics I lost.
One of my absolute favorites, though a bit older, and no longer made, is the KEF Reference 104/2 bi-wire. I own a couple pair of these, and use them for both HT, and music, and they were a steal brand new at $3,600/pr, and even more so now for about $800/pr in decent, reconditioned shape. I've rebuilt a number of them, as well, and they never fail to make me smile.
Lived with a pair of Behringer Truth monitors that were sonically terrible, and constructed even worse. But for some reason I cannot get over them - they "just did wrong so right".
I've got B&W Matrix 801-S2's, now over 30 yrs old! I've tried so many times to replace them with something newer, and nothing has satisfied me as much. I'm so glad I never sold them. I'm not saying they're perfect.... but they just "do it" for me. I've done several crossover Cap upgrades, and re-oriented the inductors, so they are "improved" over stock. I also have Martin Logan SL3's, and 15" Tannoys as alternate speakers, so my system is not stagnant, but I've owned these 3 pairs of speakers for over 20 years, while others have come & gone. I'd experiment more, but I only have so much storage space for more full-range speakers! I'd love to live with some Vandy's, or Harbeths, or Klipsches for awhile. I'm also very much enjoying some ZU Dirty Weekends, and I'm considering upgrading to a higher Zu model.
Hiya Steve! The best speakers I have ever heard are the Legacy Audio Focus SE. I owned a pair of the first version. They were powered by a Modwright KWI 200 integrated. Absolutely incredible! Clear and articulate with serious low end. They sounded clear at higher volumes. Bass that vibrated the walls. I lost my mind and sold them. I never should have done that. I regret that decision to this day. If I had the money to buy a nice system like that again I would do it in a second even though I now live in an apartment. I wouldn’t think twice about it!
Hi Steve, Great episode today. I am an audiophile with some "milage on the odometer". Have owned and enjoyed many box speakers in my life including Ohm , Kef Reference107 , Axiom, Energy, Paradigm, Klipsch and many more. After watching this episode you conviced me to try panel speakers. Maybe the Maggie LRS. I am a bit worried about room placement though. Thanks for your opinions and enthusiasm!
The speakers I've lived with the longest are Harbeth Monitor 30. There is simply something special about the sound of Harbeth in my opinion. I love their very organic, intimate and coherent sound.
i'm pretty happy with my older acoustic research three ways with ten inch woofers. i also loved the sound of the tall "cabasse" cabinets! from the late nineties.
Thanks Steve, as usual an enjoyable and informative video. I bought my first system when I was 17 in 1988, Kenwood separates and Paradigm 3SE's. By my late 20's I had stopped enjoying music as much as I had and talking about that with a slightly older friend he said that he had just gone through the same thing. He sat me down with his new stereo, Sony ES equipment if I remember correctly, and it just wowed me. My search was on. Before long I had Cambridge Audio equipment with Vandersteen 2SE's, I kept my Vandy's for almost 20 years. I almost just replaced them with a new set but after doing a ton of research I pulled the trigger on a pair of Zu Omen Def's. Wow!!! Not fair comparing them to some quite old and well used speakers but the upgrade was stunning. I am pretty sure that the Zu's will live with me for quite some time, they're special.
The most music I ever bought was during the 8 years I had 2c Vandies. Gave that system to our middle child which was too much for a couple who moved every other year. The youngest has had it for the last ten years. It is most pleasant to babysit the grandchildren at her house. The Target wall mounted turntable stand is the biggest bang for the buck.
I used to be in the business of selling and repairing high-end audio. My system consists of equipment from around 1980. I've had my Acoustats since then and after all these years I still get that WOW factor listening to them. The bass is deep and tight and less colored than almost anything I've heard including some great subwoofers (I no longer have one). I get 104dB out of these which is enough for me and when I play a good direct to disc LP the dynamics are just stunning. While this system does not sound like a live rock band it does sound almost exactly the same as a classical symphony orchestra (did a comparison with Synod hall here). In my opinion we have been sliding sideways the past 40 years in terms of sound quality. I have a lot of vintage speakers that do sound great.
Used to I listen to these a lot. Gods, I wish they were still around. The Hales Reveulation 3, Thiel 3.6 & CS6, InnerSound Isis & Eros, last but not least, the Meadowlark Heron.
It was so cool to see this video because, the speakers you list first - the Ohm Walsh 2000, are speakers that I co-designed w/John at Ohm Acoustics. They were the first speakers that we ever fully simulated the crossover in software, and actually listened to the speakers playing first w/the simulated computer crossover which allowed rapid instant changes to be A/B to our heart's content without building up various prototype boards and swapping out parts! It was an amazing experience to get to spend a few years working with John Strohbeen of Ohm Acoustics on the 2000 and the "Micro" Walsh line up! That was from 1999 - 2003 - it's very fun to see them coming up in videos all these years later still.
so it"s roughly1987-88 and i am sick of"multiple"drivers phase X-overs coloration & bullshit"
as i pass the hi-fi room {American of Oak Creek Wisconsin}i hear the very !st satellite system
from "Henry Kloss" -- i did"Not" fall for th"hype" & as i turn "There They Were
@@hardknock1278 the F "15-inch Metal "Full-range" is the Crazy stuff 1960"s tech 200 lbs !?! each
original design Lincoln Walsh 1926 tech
I owned them. Bought them new. 2 XO. Now I have 4 pairs of them and a pair of OHM 4 . They are incredible speakers.. anybody who hears them is amazed.
Walsh 2 for a long time. Loved them.
Steve, you are such an asset to the audiophiliac community! Thanks for your expressive, articulate reviews with soul!
Your enthusiasm for this hobby is infectious! When you describe the Wilson Audio Puppy and recall going into work early with a bunch of records so you could listen to the Puppy's that says it all. You have been living your dream and it is a fine way to live.
What's not to like about a puppy.
@@pauldow1648 Mainly it's size.
These "list" videos from Steve are gold! The combination of recommendations from someone who knows good sound along with the stories from his history is highly valuable to me and I imagine the audio community as a whole. Thank you Steve!
The Ohm Walsh speaker when it first came out was one I loved listening to when I sold audio in the late 70's. My roommate own a pair so I got to enjoy them at home. I was happy to hear you also enjoyed them. Glad to see that they are still making in Brooklyn today.
I remember a rule of thumb from the 70s and early 80s.
Allocate 50% of your budget on the speakers, and the rest divided between your amplification and primary source device.
In ‘79 I auditioned the best spkrs on the market. I fell in love & bought a pair of KEF Model 105 Series 1 for $1,800 new. I still own & play them daily, now 44yrs later! I recently bought a ‘80 Threshold Stasis3 amp & matching SL10 preamp In original mint condition. The results have left me gobsmacked, the clarity is astounding, as well as all the other attributes of a Class A system. Not sure how you didn’t list/missed these Steve🤔, still an awesome performer by today’s standards, I’ll never sell them🎼🥰🏆😎.
I’ve owned B&W 704 for 15 years. The company produced them for a while then discontinued now they are back at it. I just love the detail.
I picked up a pair of Infinity Kappa 7.1 II's on Craig's List for $175! I believe they originally sold for around $2000 a pair. They were filthy, full of cat hair, reeked of cigarette smoke and the Poly Dome Mid's were yellowed from years of exposure to cigarette smoke. I thought that for that money, I could part them out and make some money on the deal. But when I gave them a listen, they actually sounded pretty damn good. So I cleaned them up, refinished the cabinets, got the Mid's rebuilt by Bill LeGall at Miller Sound (AMAZING work) and glued the loose port tube that was vibrating on certain bass notes because it had separated from the inside mount. I just LOVE these speakers. They can really play loud and thump the room! But they also have great detail and the bass digs deep. Then about 2 yrs. ago, a guy I worked with was moving and had a pair of Dahlquist DQ-10's (about $1600/pr. back in 1976) that had been in a storage locker for 20 yrs.. They were so dirty and dusty that they looked like they were covered with snow! He didn't have the skills to refurbish them nor did he want to throw them out. He knew that I worked on old amplifiers so he figured that he would ask me if I wanted them. I reluctantly said 'yes'. The woofers needed surrounds, the grill cloths were loose, the wood side panels had scratches and white paint splashed on them and the stands were ruined in a flood. I figured that I would clean/refinish/fix them up and then sell them since there seemed to be a huge following of the DQ-10's (that I didn't understand). Once I finished them, built new stands and finally hooked them up, my jaw dropped! The soundstage was huge and open, detail amazing and the bass was much better than other users had indicated(my upgraded Hafler DH-500 amp had something to do with that). Last year I rebuilt/upgraded the crossovers and they now are my new favorites. I don't think I will ever part with them. I do have my eyes on the Spatial M3's, but they are just a bit out of my budget for now.
Great story!
Thanks for sharing. : )
Excellent story and there’s an interesting lesson here. Many old speakers regardless of design, have histories of abuse, unintentional or otherwise, and neglect and if a person has the time they can without a great deal of expense and with some TLC can resurrect fine classics to their former glory, giving them a proper home for the respect they should receive as true classics and maybe even with a few tweaks improve their response to a level that some modern speakers can’t match plus there’s great satisfaction in doing so. Great story.
Your audiophile journal is very interesting to me. I respect your opinions and your honest down to earth style. It's obvious to anyone your genuine enthusiasm for music and sound. You have a musician's sensibility, which makes your perspective relatable to me .
Main reason I consider Steves opinion on speakers so valuable is his vast experience over decades of sampling the best of the best. I believe he is the one who brought the attention of so many to the Klipsch RP-600m (in under $1000 category) and when I heard that I knew I had to pay attention to anything he gets enthusiastic about.
Steves? I only see one Steve.
In high school I was introduced to mirage M-3 speakers/blew me away. So instead of buying first car I bought speakers/very unhappy step father. They lasted with me for 20 yrs, moved them (125lbs each) from Kc, to Ny, to Sf. They opened up a whole new world of sound that I beleive made me more opened minded and a lover of all genres of music...
Still listening to my Polk Audio SDA 2b’s after some 30 years . Their soundstage is unreal and still have great clarity with true bottom end. Upright bass with vibes on the side and a couple horns is like being there....to me.
Ive had the pleasure of listening to my Klipschorns daily for the last 45 years. Wouldnt change for anything else
Rob, what year were your Klipschorns made? Mine were 1968, rare WHITE grills and NO spacer between the horn and bass cabinet.... They were also signed by the builder with a black wax pencil on the inside by the driver.
Totally agree. I own a pair of Belles with recently replaced cross overs..... I have done this for decades and Paul Klipsh nailed it.
@@garysmith8455 Nice! I know of those. I bought mine new in 1976, the year I graduated HS
Mine were built in 1978. I plan on going to my grave with them. you got to replace the capacitors every now and then on the crossover. Keep them sounding nice
I got to hear K-Horns 50 years ago. A friend had bought a pair and invited me over to listen. Even at this distance, it’s a stunning and cherished memory!
You should make this series with every component in the chain! I'm loving it!
I owned a pair of Martin Logan Aeons for 5 years and loved them. They did everything very well in my opinion.
Just got my Ohm 2000’s. Thanks for the review Steve. Your earlier comments started me on the path to getting them. They look fantastic and sound so much more open and clear. (Had Yamaha ns-777 which were good but more restricted sounding vs. Ohms). The way the voices seem to float in the center of the room breathes new life into familiar recordings. It was a 4 month wait but well worth it. Evan at Ohm was great to work with too.
great upgrade from those yamaha's... horribly muddy but boy did they look great in that Steinway black ;)
I bought Two sets of Klipsch in 1982. One set are Lascala's and a set of Heresy's. They are still the best speakers I ever heard. Thank you Steve, very much for this very interesting video.
Great choice Steve for speakers over $1000. I've had my
ADS L 1290"s since the early 80's and they not only sound great but they still thrill me with their clarity, wide soundstage and dynamics. Always love your reviews and perspectives. Keep up the good work!
I forgot about ADS home stuff. My car was packed with their amps and speakers in the 80’s
I've had the 1290"s since about 1985, they are amazing, over 35 years of joy. Think of getting other speakers, then, I realize, I already got the ones I love.
We had the old sears console stereo with no mids or tweeters, just 14” powered coil woofers and the scary crackly knobs , but man the amplitude of the sound that old unit threw out is unmatched.
Ohm Walsh speakers were my gateway speakers when I was kid. Got me interested in speaker design where I built my first speaker which was a Ohm Walsh replica when I was 13 years old.
Ohm were my first good speakers too . I forgot the model. They were great. Lost them in divorce. I have PSB T6 towers now. They are soft , clear and transparent but not dynamic enough for bands like ZZ Top and Foreigner
@@clasvirhodes4969 Been there too my brother. Lost quite a bit of gear when I went through my divorce as well.
I was a box speaker owner for 37 years, though a series of bookshelf speakers (Marantz HD440s and Frieds) to floorstanding B&W DM220s that I still have today in my office. The Frieds were very transparent and handled all sorts of music well, I still have them as well. I gave my son the HD440s and mated them to a Marantz 4300 for a great vintage combo. Five years ago I removed a pair of Monitor Audio Golds from my living room and installed Magnepan .7s, and I fully agree with your comments on the requirement to live with a pair of Maggies at some point in one's audiophile journey! They are fabulous, throw a holographic soundstage and play well with all different types of music as long as you give them POWER. I have a McIntosh 200WPC solid-state amp feeding them. I recall hearing Ohm speakers years ago and wanted a pair, but as a teenager I had neither the money nor the floorspace.
I've owned:
SoundLab A-1
MBL 101E
Audio Note AN-E
I now have Odeon Audio No. 33. They make all of my previous systems sound like toys.
I have had a pair of Dahlquist DQ 20i for 25 years. About 20 years ago, Regnar rebuilt the woofers and I purchased and installed their transistor upgrade kit. An already amazing speaker was instantly more amazing. I had also purchased the wiring upgrade kit at the time but never installed it. Next week I am turning 60 and treating myself to a pair of Rotel RB-1091 mono blocks. This is motivating me to install the wiring upgrade kit and rekindle a great marriage with these speakers. Regnar claimed that to rival the sound of the DQ 20i after the upgrades you would need to spend $10k. I believe them.
i had watt 3 and puppy 2's. It was back when they first came out. I would have many a night where i would be listening to a piece of music and the tears would be rolling down my face. They were incredible. The whole system was, but i moved from my house to a condo years later and i sold my system. :( I'm just now getting back into it but headphones keep the peace in my life now.
Howard Sokoloff My reference point for how good a speaker and piece of music are...is when tears are shed. That's when it all becomes real and transcendent. It's a spiritual thing. Only sorrow and beauty pierce the heart all the way through, and those moments of beauty are worth ten times every penny spent on a sound system. Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm right there with you, sir.
One of the few channels that I’ll watch the videos from start to end. So much reminiscing on this one. I had my hands on some Altec 19’s way back in the day, those left an impression.
Absolutely one of my favourite episodes so far 👍
Regards from Sweden
Love Sweden and Jonna Jinton
I have owned and used a Pair of KEF 104AB's for 46 years, they will never be sold, they are now family ,lol!
Agree 110%
Me is Totem Model 1 signature 2600$ Canadian money in 1998. It sound like a Dynaudio but not has monitor cold if I can say. Warmer and precise and imaging.
In the late 70s I was looking to buy some loudspeakers and walked into a shop that had Klipsch Heresy?, Dahlquist DQ10, and Bose 901. I was blown away by the realistic sound of the Dahlquist. I had never heard a speaker that good before. I ended up owning a pair with a subwoofer for many years. Power hungry but astonishingly clear and realistic. I’m very surprised they weren’t mentioned in the list.
I had some Magneplaner MGIIs back in the 70s. I also had some Klipsch Herseys. So the MGIIs had the musical naturalness but realized they lacked the dynamics. Well I modified them by adding Flor-stone concrete resign to the side panels. Then on the front perforated steel panel that supported the bar magnets, I created a tool to add peaked ridges of silicon between the vent holes to give more of a wave guide for sound transmission. Finally I changed the HF circuit capacitor that was a mylar film cap to a better polypropylene film cap. Holy smokes, the best MGIIs I've ever heard.
I grew up listening to a set of humble Realistic Mach One's on a Pioneer SX-780. They are my life long reference set. I still have them after my father passed.
I may replace them at some point, but I will never get rid of them.
Wow, I remember that gear! SX-780 is a classic . Sad how Radio Shack died...Tandy made speakers and computers
28 years ago I went out listening to a number of speakers and tried: "At half the budget, is the difference small enough?" Surprisingly it was with a pair of Infinity RS4001s. They're great and I use them to this day.
Steve, I loved this piece. Like you, I’ve been an audio nut for decades. I live in the UK, and I’d like to list the various loudspeakers that I have owned since the early sixties.
First up a pair of Whitley Stentorian bass reflex speakers that I kept for a few years when still at College and living at home with my parents.
Second up ; a pair of Harold J Leak Sandwich speakers. These were beautiful cabinets of an infinite baffle design. The main driver was an interesting design with thin metallic skins over a composite infill, giving great rigidity to the driver to give a pistonic action. ( I remember an ad with the old man himself , HJR, standing on top of a drive unit; I don’t know what that was meant to prove! )
Third up ; a pair of Epos ES14’s just the same as you. I agree these were really cool and gave great results.
Fourth up ; I then delved into active speakers for the first time and bought a pair of Meridian M2’s, that had enclosed amplification and were on stands that gave the speaker the appearance of leaning backwards away from the listener. These speakers made by Boothroyd Stuart were very fast and focused, but lacking a bit in the bass area, and so I only kept them for a couple of years.
Fifth up ; and by now I was well into the Naim / Linn sound that was very big over here in Britain for audiophiles for years. I bought a pair of Naim SBL floor standing speakers which were of an interesting two compartment design for the bass/ midrange, and tweeter separated above. This was also an active design, but I ended up with so many boxes of amplifiers and active crossovers, that the whole ownership thing became too much. I kept these guys for about five years though even though management at home was underwhelmed.
Sixth up ; Everything went , and I had a craving for simplicity of use and functionality. I bought a one box integrated amp and streamer and then bought a pair of PMC Twenty5 23’s. Lovely smallish floor standers with a transmission line design. Nice speakers, but unable to perform as well as I would like in my largish listening area.
Seventh up ; More PMC’s , this time the next size up the rank in the Twenty series, the PMC Twenty 24 model. Same design and a very listenable experience, a good product.
Eighth up ; My current speakers !! ATC SCM40A ‘s. Again active design with amplifier within the a cabinet of an infinite baffle, three way speaker. I just love these speaker’s and have no plans for any more ventures !
Keep up the good work with the channel Steve, I like to visit your videos quite often and really enjoy your approach to the subject of our mutual interest.
I have these speakers (Ohm Walsh ), took me 40 years to find them, love them.
Steve - Interesting review! I spent many years as a speaker designer and manufacturer in Canada. Yes some manufacturers build their speakers in house like Dynaudio. However very few build all the components in house. As far as tweaking designs, you can do that when you farm out various parts and portions of the manufacture. I designed every part of the loudspeakers, cones, coils, etc etc - but had these parts manufactured at specialty houses and contracted the final assembly. It is less a situation of what you can do as far as customizing/designing/tweaking and more about economies of scale. We were making high end studio monitors (the equivalent in today's prices of approx $4000 EACH), aimed at audiophile and studio markets thus never having huge production numbers. When you start costing out the machinery required for making many of the parts you are into a huge capital cost that only makes sense with large production numbers. Dynaudio ( a fine firm ) most likely has enough production to rationalize bringing everything in house. It's all about economy of scale and not technical superiority. Most of the most expensive speakers are made in fairly low numbers for a rather exclusive market segment. Additionally it is hard to ignore that if you are dealing with some of the component manufactures for things like suspensions, cone, coils, you are dealing with companies that have 80 or 90 years experience, it's hard to recreate that expertise. Great TH-cams! Keep up the good work. - Paul
Adding to that I’d say that it’s fairly typical for the speaker builders to have the drivers they use modified by the driver manufacturer. My VAF DC-Xs for instance use drivers made by SEAS, but I can’t purchase them from SEAS. While they are _based_ on SEAS standard drivers, they have been modified for Phil Vafiadis to suit his minimalist crossover design (a series cap to the tweeter).
After a year of spending some time bouncing around the big shot audio reviewers channels i put steve at top because no rambles in a more entertaining and useful way.
Yamaha ns1000 I heard these in my local dealer years ago on the end of a Linn LP 12 and Cambridge pe/power amp was blown away be how good they sounded for at the time A bargain £550 wish I had bought a pair 🙄
This is one of the great audiophiliac videos, the years of experience shining through, I salute the sensei!
I lived a long time with Apogee Stages. Sold them and still miss them.
Idiot
@@edwardbalboa5528 dont be rude
As a teenager, back in the 70’s, my EPI towers got me hooked into stereo systems. Went through many systems and speakers, most if which I can’t remember, but my hard rocking Cerwin Vegas kicked butt! Fast forward a few years, traveled the globe while in the Navy, and landed a set of very power-hungry Dahlquist DQ-10s. Thought i was king of the hill.
Family time came along, high end audio was a luxury and away everything went. A little of this and that over the years, never picking up the ball again, until lately.
A friend gave me a Yamaha RX-V757 receiver, 100W/ch X7 channels, a Sonance a800 90W/ch subwoofer amplifier, added on a Yamaha CD player, Denon turntable, a Dayton Audio passive subwoofer and a pair of Dayton Audio tower speakers. Wow!
the clarity, soundstage, and pure cleanliness of the music now blows me away, where 20, 30 years ago, I wasn’t wowed until the buttons were blown off my shirt.
Can’t wait to continue my upgrade path, and enjoy the fine wine aging effect my ears took.
Love my Magnepan 1.7s, which I've had for a few years now. That dispersion pattern, being enveloped by sound, is so wonderful. And on top of that, the reproduction of things (especially acoustic instruments) just feels so true to life. But I'm growing a little restless, on a few fronts:
I'm also impressed by the high-end KEF concentric drivers like those in the LS50. They seem to solve phase alignment issues in a similar way to the planars, if not better. From my past one of my favorites was an early model of the B&W 801s with the angular head on top. Oh man, those were SO MUCH FUN. Never should have sold them. But they are HUGE. Speaking of big, a friend of mine has the JBL 4367s and I honestly think they may be the best I've ever heard, but they are completely unforgiving to poorly produced music.
As a result, I'm highly curious about the Tannoy legacy/classic series. It's a stark contrast from my Maggies: large woofers, dynamic speakers that are high efficiency. The Klipsch Forte/Cornwall is also a contender but I've been so impressed by well-engineered concentric tweeters that I'm holding out to audition a Tannoy Cheviot or Arden first. Would love it if you can ever get a pair to review yourself. And the other one I'm super keen to hear is the Ohm Super Sound Cylinder.
I've heard the Magnepan 1.7 in the same room as the KEF LS50 with a bunch of people and everybody agreed that the Magnepan 1.7 sounded so much better.
What a wonderful experience to hear your remembrances and reviews! When I was much younger I had the joy of working in a new audiophile store selling such then esoteric speakers like the first electrostatic Dayton Wright’s which had many problems (arcing , crashing amplifiers and other problems) and new Polk and Magnepan speakers. I have had the privilege of owning many including MBL ( a Canadian brand) JBL, Jensen, ARs , Revel, Rel, Meridian etc but still live long term with Magneplanars, despite their sometimes difficult room placement and amplifier requirements. I really appreciate you never really criticize but mainly point out the virtues of different gear. There is no one “right” just as live performances are always different. Your channel is truly enjoyable! Please keep up the good work.
My first speakers were Mordant Short MS-10’s. Very simple, small speakers that on the end of a good amp really sang and got me into music. I am a big fan of the large ATC active designs but love their more affordable passive, sealed SCM-19 bookshelf with a decent sub. The lastest version is exceptional if you have a high current/output amp or digital amp. Also A big fan of large active PWC studio monitors, and their massive dynamics. Many passive speakers seem to have limited dynamics and sound strained on peak output.
The SCM 10 passives are without question the best speakers I have ever heard, the current 7s are good, better than the 11s which are good but unremarkable
Wow!
My speakers are on your list. Gallo Acoustics Nucleus Reference 2. I’ve had them for 5yrs. Phenomenal speakers.
Best investment I’ve made in audio. They go very well with my McIntosh gear.
Great video Steve. You have a wonderful channel.
I've heard many of Steve's picks, and to the extent I've heard them I'm in complete agreement. My addition would be the Spicas. Angelus/TC-50/TC-60. I owned some version of Spica for over 30 years, and the Angelus was my main speaker for 20+. They were "spacial" champs, throwing the most convincing soundstage I've ever heard from a box speaker. They didn't play particularly loud or particularly low, but where they excelled was the heart of the music with a "being there" quality to the midrange that only planars (Maggies; Quads; Sanders, etc.) can rival in my experience. They loved tube amps, although they needed power. Quicksilver Silver 88s worked particularly well. Back in the day the Spicas were made in New Mexico and the Quicksilvers in Nevada for an all-SouthWest pairing.
Spicas were fabulous speakers! When I bought my first system I listenede to everytign I couldand found nothign I liked until I heard the TC50s. I had Angeluses for a while, but the woofers seemed a bit fragile. I lost a couple to a temperamental ground on my turntable, sending a loud 60HZ hum into them.
I've had two sets of Spica TC-50's and "spacial champs" they certainly were! with a set of Hsu Research 10" subs they were remarkable. Passed down to my brother now and as far as I know they're still playing today.
I did, in fact, partner the TC 50s with a Hsu Research sub for a while. Small world.
My first speaker was a Rectilinear III in 1970 and my first foray into hifi. I lived with them a long time. Heard a lot that I like but I couldn’t afford. Almost purchased some Dahlquist speakers when I upgraded my electronics to Meridian 102., balked at the last minute. Next came the original Mission 770. There were a couple of speakers that made it into my house but ended up being too much of a compromise. This brings me to my final speaker, the Esoteric mg 20. I got them used but the sounded marvellous driven by a Krell i300. They had a precise and open image. Then the Krell went on the fritz and I purchased Belles Aria integrated and the speakers just disappeared. I close my eyes sometimes and sound stage seems to emanate beyond the speakers . Thank you 🙏
Rect III’s...had two pairs...once as a young single guy living w/ my parents...Thorens TD 160Mk IIb TT, SAE Integrated...and again as a young broke married college student..I actually still miss them...great memories...Cheers!
@@loujetlag I have fond memories of my Rectilinear III. What I remember were the upper midrange and up. They seemed focused like my ears needed the audio equivalent of glasses and these speakers were the glasses. It was my first exposure to hifi. Before that it was my parents Zenith all-in-one “semi -portable” record player. Thank you for the reply. It’s appreciated.
Two stand out for me. I don’t know the model but I went to a strangers house to collect some speaker stands I bought on eBay. Turns out he used to work for Mission and then Cyrus and was quite senior in the company. Got talking to him and he showed me his Cyrus stack playing through some Quad electrostatics, modern ones but have no idea of the model name. Wish I did because although older electrostatics rightly get criticised for lack of dynamics, these ones blew my socks off! He played (on my request) Prince’s “Seven” and the bass drop after the initial a Capella section was jaw dropping. They were special special speakers.
Back down to Earth, the speakers that for me punch WAY above their weight are Royd Minstrels. Tiny odd looking things but kick out a surprising amount of bass for such a small and narrow floor stander and because of the design (lean back) the sound stage is HUGE. The music sounds like it’s floating above the speakers somewhere and as a consequence the detail and depth they go is frankly brilliant. Only £250 back in 1994, but still now.....the best speakers I have in my house and have ever owned. I wouldn’t part with them for anything.
I still have a pair of Ohm Walsh 3xO speakers I bought back in like 90-91. People are always blown away but the sound and staging they produce. Absolutely love them! When I heard them the first time, I knew immediately I could not come close to the sound for the price.
What I get from this blog is that the best way to experience all that an audiophile can experience is to open a high-end audio store.
I've had a pair of Acoustat SPECTRA 6600s for many years and still love them
I had the 8-foot tall Acoustat 2+2s in the 1980's! Wish I still had them.
Hi Ed, nice to hear from you. I've been a real electrostatic speaker fan from the time I first heard the old QUAD 'fire-screens' (ESL57s) in the 1960s. My first Acoustats were a pair of second hand 4s but they had problems with low frequency rattling, even though I liked them in all other respects. (I had previously owned a pair of QUAD ESL63s but didn't like them at all and traded them in on the 4s). The New Zealand Acoustat agent in (I think) 1990 sent me a brochure about the SPECTRA 4400 and 6600 models and I decided to buy the latter - he took my 4s as part payment - and I've never regretted it, even though they were hellishly expensive at the time. I watch a lot of TH-cam videos about high-end audio and I'm amazed at how 'negative' many of the contributors are about electrostatic speakers. If any are mentioned positively, they tend to be predominantly Martin Logans. Acoustats hardly get a mention. I just don't understand it! They all seem to love Magnepans.
No list is complete without the Bob Carver Amazing Speakers Platinum edition - could stand with the best of them!
I bought an original pair of Vandersteen 2c speakers this summer. I have been amazed at the amount of music I have been missing all of these years.
Bought a pair of used AR 90’s back in the 1980’s. always loved their sound. Just got a McIntosh 2105 (1970’s) to push them. Very much enjoy vintage sound/equipment.
As a mature (68 yr old) audiophile/music fan, I do a fair bit of walking. I bought a dragonfly red dac a couple of years ago that I use with my computer setup. More recently I bought an adapter to allow my iPhone to use the Dragonfly along with HD-600 headphones for my walks. I have had more pleasure listening to music this way than I have had in years. There is no comparison to ear buds, period. The extra content that I heard challenged me to try and hear the same on my home system. This in turn led to a spate of cartridge alignments and swapping between the various pickups I have accumulated over the years and even resurrecting my Revox A77 to see how the commercial tapes stacked up to the LP's and to the various cd editions. In COVID times it is nice to have this kind of hobby! I have not succumbed to new equipment, yet, but I did send out my Supex SD-900 super to Soundsmith for revamping.
When I was 18 I'd take some beer, a few of my favorite albums and some other stuff that's not legal in all states yet over to a co-worker / friend's house on Friday nights and we would listen to my albums on his Dahlquist DQ-10s. I realize Dahlquist DQ-10s are not the mega buck speakers like most of the speakers in this hall of fame but he was also an electronic technician and was on retainer to a guy that had a system that cost more than the house that the system was in. I can't remember that far back clearly enough but I did see the system a couple of times and the speakers were the Infinity reference with what appeared to be about 4 or 5 feet of ribbon tweeters that I was told cost $30K way back in 1980. I have no idea if that's really what they sold for or not but they were impressive looking although I never really got to hear them to their full potential because my co-worker friend spent most of his free time replacing fried ribbons. Anyway the Dahlquist DQ-10s were on my short list of speakers to own before I die but there's more life behind me than ahead of me at this point and they are pretty bulky so you can't just store them in a closet very easily so the time I spent listening to them way back when will have to suffice. I think audiophiles and audio enthusiasts are probably living in the best time ever to own an elite level of gear with minimal cost. To be 18 again...
The DQ-10s were the best speakers, by far, that I had ever heard. That is probably true to this day. They were insane.
Loved the review Steve.
For me, I have lived with Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor speakers for 15+ years and hope to be living with them for another 15+ years. Super sound... super design.
Most engaging, long term satisfaction and imersive sound....Magneplanars......I had many speakers....including some Steve mentions...but my reference has been Magneplanars ...MG 3.6R for several years, and since 4 years the MG 3.7i. For deeper bass, can engage a JLAUDIO Fathom 113.
Agree, have enjoyed the MMG, the .7, 1.6, 1.7... I bounce back and forth between Maggies and Martin Logans.
Steve, my son worked at a local Edwards Multi-Plex theater back in 2001 > 2005. He said there was a couple of large 60 lbs boxes in a back store room marked "Broken". So he convinced the manager to let him bring them home, I opened them up and they were sweet. A pair of Lansing Professional Series Speakers, with 18" permanent magnet sub-woofers and a huge mid-range horn mounted in a very solid, heavy wood cabinet. After doing a little bit of wiring repair, some minor solder connections and they were just like new. Those beauties coupled with my high end 2800 series Denon system and I have kids half way down the block dancing in their front yard when I crank it up. That Denon has a one hundred point volume range, starts at -70 then goes to +30. I CAN NOT even be in the room when it is @ 0, and with it up to plus 10 it cracked a mirror in the bathroom, never pushed that hard again, scary loud.
ESS AMT-1 which I've owned for 45 years. woofers and xover caps have been replaced, but the original big Heils still sparkle
Bought my Kef Reference 203s in 2002. It took quite a few years for them to sound as good as they do today. Unfortunately I got burgled a couple of years later and luckily the knuckleheads who broke in decided to take an old tv rather than my Kefs. Sadly, one of the kefs got knocked over during their struggle to get the tv and received a scuff to the cherry wood veneer. I was then fortunate enough to get a tour of the Kef factory in Kent, England (I only lived about 7 miles away) after they had kindly refinished my speaker cabinet for me and gave it a full test - they took both speakers to ensure they were properly matched, as they are manufactured as an identically matched pair. Even the veneers are consecutive layers from the same tree to ensure as close a visible grain match as possible. I’ve still got them and they get used every single day. They are so easy to listen to. Love em 🙂
ESS-1 still blows my mind! When I first heard it I knew I had to get it!
I joined the B&W family and bought the 706 S2 bookshelf speakers and B&W HTM71 S2 center speakers to help make life during COVID-19 lockdown (April 2020) a bit less depressing. Pairing the B&Ws with Klipsch SW12II subwoofers which belonged to my dad from the 90s. I know I can get a better sub, but having that sub as part of my system is both nostalgic and brings joy to me. I'd like to think whenever I am listening and enjoying my music or watching a movie, my dad is smiling from heaven with a proud dad moment.
I’m still enjoying my B&W 805 Matrix speakers! And I’ve held onto my Radio Shack Optimus Linæum tweeter speakers for about as long.
Ben --- Were the Optimus Linaeum speakers from a Portland, Oregon, company? Seems they might have been the speaker a customer realized they sounded better with an opening stuffed with drinking straws & told the manufacturer. Company ended up modifying the speaker after looking into his hack.
Jim Little are you talking about SPEAKERLAB? they were from portland i thought. fun company. interesting products and kits.
I’m glad I could join you on your journey of favorite speakers from over the years! Of all the different speakers that have come and gone from my house, the JBL CF150 which still resides in our great room now for over 20 years, has earned its right as a permanent fixture. It has a fairly large footprint (like a dorm refrigerator), but the sonic quality of this speaker still blows me away even today. The 3 way speaker uses a rather small 1.4mm Mylar dome tweeter followed by a rather large 16mm midrange that looks like a miniature version of the poly laminate 15” woofer just below it. This is truly a full range speaker, and with a 98db efficiency, it doesn’t need a boatload of power to sound great. The soundstage that this pair creates is absolutely massive, and easily fills the 20x24 room they are in. The tweeters recreate notes that you can almost catch right out of the air, and the mids with their large cone are gentle, but precise with just a touch of dryness, which sound beautiful for realistic reproduction of instruments, and vocals. And the Star of the show is the massive 15” driver that effortlessly creates sounds into the low 30hz range, but seamlessly mates to the mid driver, leaving no usable frequency unfilled. All in all, this speaker sounds great, and never beats you up in the process, and for what seemed very expensive at the time (just over 1k a pair in the late ‘90’s), would be a fantastic bargain for what’s offered today.
Forte 3s here. They aren't in an ideal space, but there's nothing I can do for that right now...they still sound great so I can only imagine when they have a proper space to live they'll just get better.
They may sound crap in a better space. What you are hearing is the combination of both, speakers and room. There is no guarantee that you will still like the speakers in a "better" acoustic environment.
I worked in the industry for 25 years and lived with many speakers in your list . I had a few that were in my house as well as my shop. I had watt / puppies that I had bought on trade and they were nice but in those days I sold them to get a pair of 3.6 Maggies. I remember the Spica TC50 as a excellent value as well as the Fried C3L transmission line speakers. Of course Acoustic energy and Totem were prominent speakers in several systems. I have to mention Paradigm because it put my child through private school with many happy customers. Excellent product and I will say I have never heard a bad sounding paradigm. The Canada product is probably the best value in the market in my opinion. I retired in 2005 and now I piddle around with my streamer and listen to the class d stuff with amazement. I will always have a set of Maggies and a few tube pieces for the vinyl to be played on. I still have the first piece of equipment that I purchased. Nad3020
Great walk through of some legendary speakers. I’ve owned and listened to all sorts of great speakers and the best I’ve heard and own are the incredible Kef Blade 2’s. Totally immersive, emotional, dynamic, transparent, with awe inspiring room filling sound. A modern day classic.
HI Steve, I'm one of the people who ended up purchasing the Vandersteen 2Cis from SBSinger, I still have them though my Roommate blew them up 15 years ago so he paid to replace all the Drivers :). I visited SBSinger must have been the late 80's. I listened to several speakers but was pointed in the direction of the Monitor Audio 3s I think thats what they were call or It could and Most likely the Mirage's Piano Black, they where Large Bi-Directional, my memory sucks at 62 :). They were delivered to my apartment in Brooklyn. They were way to Big for my Room, I immediately Called Mr. Singer to come take them back. At the same time I had him ship the Vandersteens. I have now them for almost 30 years and they still Rock, I consider them only 15 years old because of the driver Replacement. Oh I used the difference in price to pick up an Esoteric R-9000, which is still in service. I am at the point of considering purchasing a new Pair or speakers, I was thinking of picking up the latest 2Cs. Thoughts and suggestions? Love your Show, especially the latest AMP Camp coverage, I'm on my 2nd kit and plan on running them as Mono Blocks. Keep up the great work and Happy Listening. Oh my main component is the Parasound Hint original.
Peace to you and your Family :).
I agree on the Klipsch series speakers. I've always thought of my Klipschorn speakers as the most fun and engaging speakers I've ever owned.
Klipschiit is my fav
My wife and I heard these for the first time.... 2 months later owned them. Couldn't stop thinking about the experience it was. We both decided we can't live without that after knowing what it could be. Klipschorns are that damn good.
I agree..ive my Cornwall 2's for ever, i love the sound
I worked in an Audio shop for a few years in the 70's. We had a modified pr. of John Dahlquists' DQ-10's. At the time, they were excellent, time aligned drivers . . . An audio guest in the shop, invited me to hear his big K-horns. In his large 25x40 room, and placed in the two corners of the long wall, listening to the shaded dog RCA of the cannons in the 1812 overture, to say it was over the top, is small reward. Now, I listen to Qobuz from my Android phone, into a Hidiez S9 pro, into a PR of CNN Coffee Bean IEM's . . . direct to cochlea at 24/96. The digital medium has come a long way since 'back in the day'.
Just purchased a pair of Zu Soul speakers. Yes....the best speakers I have ever owned. Paired with Pass ACA Class A amps, mono blocked, so 15 watts a channel...wonderful, fun, and dynamic. Love these things. Beautiful bass tone as a bonus.
Miss my college days with double large Advents driven by a Phase Linear 700b. My dorm room was a very popular place.
Yes I remember those early Advents were very dynamic
I’d like to mention a very rare, but commercially available speaker that I owned for about 15 years: The Precedent Audio MZ III. Thet were designed by Murray Zeligman, who was a designer for a number of speakers, including Dynaudio. The MZ IIIs were 3way modular speakers with KEF drivers (LS35a tweet and bass mid range and a B200 bass driver.) The midrange and bass speakers were transmission lines. Of the dozen or so speakers I have owned they were the most unique and were extremely good sounding…
Obviously, Steve is more of an audiophile than a dealer of any specific HiFi equipment.
He is the man
Great video! So cool you got to live with all these incredible speakers!
Right! Thanks for watching.
After replacing the surrounds, my AR-11's still sound great, 40 years later.
I bought a pair of Acoustic Research AR 2aX speakers in 1974 along with an AR amplifier, tuner and turntable. They had been in storage far to long! I took the entire system out of their original boxes about 6 months ago and I must say ... flawless! These guys invented the acoustic suspension loudspeaker, they were at the lead in the discussion of Hi Fidelity and their battle cry was simply "the reproduction of sound". And do they ever! Clean true sound that still sound amazing. They had more than 50% of the market share in their heyday and then "poof", they disappeared after a corporate buyout by Teledyne (I think). The sound I get from this system brings a big smile to my face with its enduring excellence and its accuracy in the reproduction of sound after 46 years if ownership!
Have to put this in here even though I am late to this video. I have a pair of old Dynaudio Finales. This is a kit speaker not sold anymore. I don't know when they were built, I'm guessing twenty years. The man that built them double up on the medium board externally, making them weight about 200 lbs each. I had a 30W-100XL woofer go bad. So I got touch will Dynaudio to see if I could replace both the active woofers. Each speaker has a active and passive woofer, stacked. They don't any longer manufacture these drivers, but they keep all parts and procedures, dies and such to make them. They manufacture two for me and shipped them to me from Denmark about two years ago. It costs me $900. What company does that anymore. Great company and I thought people should know my story.
Apogee Stage; transparent, fast and musical. Pretty easy to drive for a ribbon, too ❤️❤️❤️
Great salesman, makes us all feel inadequately equipped. Depth and breadth of knowledge is awesome.
Love my ATC SMC19s. They have been in my small study room for 5 years. During this time, I tried more than 10 speakers to upgrade them without success, regardless price.
I used to own a pair of ATC SCM 20 which were lovely
The first speakers that made me love with HiFi Klipsch horns! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽 I have to own a pair before I die.
I have the best speakers I’ve ever heard, my rocking JBL 4333A 15” 3 way with horns in studio, and my Infinity IRS Beta with Kappa 9.1, 8, 6 etc in the theater, unbelievable with an orchestra, acoustic guitars or female voice. Deep Purple sounds better on the JBLs, more crunch; but if I really want to study Roger Glover’s underrated Rickenbacker bass guitar work on the multichannel mix of Machine Head, the Betas offer up a master class. They offer up such a variety of listening experiences, I never get tired of the sound, it’s always fresh and new. Could be it’s me, maybe I have auditory amnesia.
those Infinity models are incredible speakers -many used cheap amps with them and never got there potential or never put the effort into setup and pronounced the speakers as no good ,spending time to optimise the setup makes a Massive difference with classic Infinity
@@roymindmybusiness6908 yes, and I’m one of those cheap amp guys. Adcom Gfa555 and SAE A502 on the Betas. I have VTL300s that I originally used on the panels, and they sounded a bit better / warmer to me than the SAE, but they were very expensive to keep up with. I think I have a cracked power transformer in one of them, but they weigh 65 pounds a piece. I’m not that guy anymore, I’m good with an 8 or 9 out of 10. My 65 year old ears roll off after 12.5 kHz so I reckon that takes care of any solid state harshness. I enjoy the heck out of them, I’m into Steve Wilson Prog and Beatle 5.1 remixes, I kind of put the system together just for them. I have no idea how my system would rate with real audiophiles, but every time I’ve heard someone else’s expensive system I’ve always been very grateful to come back to the one I have.
@@ProgRockKeys JOHN thanks for the reply -an example the Kappa 9 many purchased years later when they became cheap -they were using amps not suitable for the load and they rubbished the loudspeaker when in fact they were not powering it properly. That is what I meant - In Australia we had a company ME amps and there bigger offerings extract so much tight bass out of Kappa,Beta,Delta it is just incredible .
@@roymindmybusiness6908 I have the Kappa 8s and use Bryston 7BSST2 monoblocks. Most amps can't deal with power at very low impedance and as I understand it means under an ohm at low frequencies in this case. Bryston can hang and always go monoblocks methinks. The Bryston 4BSST I used with them was OK but the bass was a bit muddier.
JBL puts out consistently good speakers.
Been buying higher fidelity audio since 1989. I loved hifi so much I started selling it in the late 90's. Sold hifi for just over a decade. I have owned Martin Logans, Klipsch (heritage), Tannoys, Thiels, Mordaunt Short, Von Schweikert, PSB, Polk, Infinity, B&W, Sonus Faber, and sold much more. I sold my Forte III's and purchased the Magnepan LRS (never owned or sold Maggies...but lost a LOT of sales against them) and I finally found a sound that just makes me crave music more and more. I can't believe its taken me this long to get a pair of Magnepans. I am running them with a PSB Stellar Gain Cell dac/preamp and a Pass X150.5. It's by far the best sound I have ever owned. I have never been this excited about a pair of speakers since I was 18.
The two that made me pay attention to the artist's performance on the recording like no other: The Acoustic Zen Adagio and Gallo Reference 3.5
@@michaelcampbell8315 Yeah, you know what? I'm completely wrong and you're right. I never realized they're a joke and over priced with no bass. I should've asked for your expertise before I bought them. What was I thinking? I only know how they sound in my listening room with my gear. You must know better because you obviously tried them in every listening room with all the gear out there!
I bought a pair Revox symbol b speakers almost 40 years ago and they still sound amazing. I have had to have them re-coned once.
Absolute best sounding speaker I've heard on multiple occasions was a pair of bookshelves built by a good friend of mine. He used 6" Morel Titanium series carbon fiber woofers with Morel Supreme soft dome tweeters. The size of the sound that came form these modest 2 way bookshelves defined logic, the sounded 20' tall and had depth that went so far beyond the front wall it was incredible and infectious. He paired them up with a Morel 9" sub woofer using a BASH 300 plate amp and it was just audio bliss, I alwasy called it my Hi-Fi therapy session.
Speakers I have liked and lived with: Sonab OA-2212 speakers. Omnidirectional, room-filling. The smaller sibling Sonab OA-116's are in my main system right now. Used to have Magnepan sms-g, a wall of sound. Still like the ProAc Tablette 2 and Spendor LS3/5a. Visiting speakers (waiting to be sold) Linn Isobariks (1980´s) a lot of sound, great for orchestral work. They contributed to the hype around Linn and now I understand why. A pair of Dali Evidence 470 (new tweeters) outrun the new Oberon 5's, for me anyway. Still have a pair of Cain&Cain "Abby" (Fostex 93dB elements), now driven by a tube amp. The workmanship on them is just great.
I've really grown to love my Harbeth M30.1. I miss the dynamics of my Focal Aria 936 but the Harbeths are so much easier on the ears, natural and musical. I think maybe if I get a more brawny amplifier I can regain back some of the dynamics I lost.
One of my absolute favorites, though a bit older, and no longer made, is the KEF Reference 104/2 bi-wire. I own a couple pair of these, and use them for both HT, and music, and they were a steal brand new at $3,600/pr, and even more so now for about $800/pr in decent, reconditioned shape. I've rebuilt a number of them, as well, and they never fail to make me smile.
Lived with a pair of Behringer Truth monitors that were sonically terrible, and constructed even worse. But for some reason I cannot get over them - they "just did wrong so right".
I've got B&W Matrix 801-S2's, now over 30 yrs old! I've tried so many times to replace them with something newer, and nothing has satisfied me as much. I'm so glad I never sold them. I'm not saying they're perfect.... but they just "do it" for me. I've done several crossover Cap upgrades, and re-oriented the inductors, so they are "improved" over stock. I also have Martin Logan SL3's, and 15" Tannoys as alternate speakers, so my system is not stagnant, but I've owned these 3 pairs of speakers for over 20 years, while others have come & gone. I'd experiment more, but I only have so much storage space for more full-range speakers! I'd love to live with some Vandy's, or Harbeths, or Klipsches for awhile. I'm also very much enjoying some ZU Dirty Weekends, and I'm considering upgrading to a higher Zu model.
I couldn't afford the 801 and ended up with the B&W DM2000, love them
I've had the Spendor BC3 and I still have the BC1... they're both pretty good in my opinion...
Hiya Steve! The best speakers I have ever heard are the Legacy Audio Focus SE. I owned a pair of the first version. They were powered by a Modwright KWI 200 integrated. Absolutely incredible! Clear and articulate with serious low end. They sounded clear at higher volumes. Bass that vibrated the walls. I lost my mind and sold them. I never should have done that. I regret that decision to this day. If I had the money to buy a nice system like that again I would do it in a second even though I now live in an apartment. I wouldn’t think twice about it!
Hi Steve,
Great episode today. I am an audiophile with some "milage on the odometer". Have owned and enjoyed many box speakers in my life including Ohm , Kef Reference107 , Axiom, Energy, Paradigm, Klipsch and many more. After watching this episode you conviced me to try panel speakers. Maybe the Maggie LRS. I am a bit worried about room placement though.
Thanks for your opinions and enthusiasm!
The speakers I've lived with the longest are Harbeth Monitor 30. There is simply something special about the sound of Harbeth in my opinion. I love their very organic, intimate and coherent sound.
i'm pretty happy with my older acoustic research three ways with ten inch woofers. i also loved the sound of the tall "cabasse" cabinets! from the late nineties.
AR-3as are still some of the best "bookshelf" speakers ever made. I owned them, the 2ax, the 9LS and the 4x.
Thanks Steve, as usual an enjoyable and informative video.
I bought my first system when I was 17 in 1988, Kenwood separates and Paradigm 3SE's. By my late 20's I had stopped enjoying music as much as I had and talking about that with a slightly older friend he said that he had just gone through the same thing. He sat me down with his new stereo, Sony ES equipment if I remember correctly, and it just wowed me.
My search was on. Before long I had Cambridge Audio equipment with Vandersteen 2SE's, I kept my Vandy's for almost 20 years. I almost just replaced them with a new set but after doing a ton of research I pulled the trigger on a pair of Zu Omen Def's. Wow!!! Not fair comparing them to some quite old and well used speakers but the upgrade was stunning. I am pretty sure that the Zu's will live with me for quite some time, they're special.
The most music I ever bought was during the 8 years I had 2c Vandies. Gave that system to our middle child which was too much for a couple who moved every other year. The youngest has had it for the last ten years. It is most pleasant to babysit the grandchildren at her house.
The Target wall mounted turntable stand is the biggest bang for the buck.
I used to be in the business of selling and repairing high-end audio. My system consists of equipment from around 1980. I've had my Acoustats since then and after all these years I still get that WOW factor listening to them. The bass is deep and tight and less colored than almost anything I've heard including some great subwoofers (I no longer have one). I get 104dB out of these which is enough for me and when I play a good direct to disc LP the dynamics are just stunning. While this system does not sound like a live rock band it does sound almost exactly the same as a classical symphony orchestra (did a comparison with Synod hall here). In my opinion we have been sliding sideways the past 40 years in terms of sound quality. I have a lot of vintage speakers that do sound great.
Used to I listen to these a lot. Gods, I wish they were still around. The Hales Reveulation 3, Thiel 3.6 & CS6, InnerSound Isis & Eros, last but not least, the Meadowlark Heron.
The Meadowlark’s. What a speaker !!!!
I still use Meadowlark Kestrel 2s as the LCR in my HT with the Owl bipolar surrounds. They’re good as HT speakers but great with music.