Speakers

I admit it -- though primarily a headphone guy I enjoy drooling over pictures of beautiful speakers. For the artistry, for the engineering, for the lulz. I would enjoy seeing particularly striking examples you may happen to come across. These really struck me today. New Vienna Acoustics Klimt series. Concentric midrange/tweeter units adjustable for tilt and toe-in. Murata supertweeters. Eton spider-cone woofers. 22Hz - 100kHz. The black one makes me think of Barad-d

There is a speaker porn thread, so why not an amplifier porn thread? Gryphon Colosseum VITUS MP-M201 Accuphase A-200

As many of you know I recently came into possession of a nice set of Quad ESL-63 USA Monitors, serial numbers 24783 and 24784. Unfortunately one of the speakers (24784) exhibits a moderate volume squealing noise, with no apparent drop out in the audio. This speaker recently had new panels from Electrostatic Solutions installed by the previous owner. The other speaker is all original parts and functions perfectly. So I shoot Kent at Electrostatic Solutions an email to tell him about the problem. He writes me back and politely says its difficult for him to make a diagnosis without seeing the speaker for himself. I spent a day or so mulling over what will no doubt …

World's most 'perfect' speaker gets even better | The Audiophiliac - CNET News Very excited as the 1.6 is one of my favorite speakers.

Whats the deal with this speaker? Anyone heard one? One of my common complaints about modern audiophile speakers is their inability to rock, and one thing to blame this on is very few speaker manufacturers produce speakers with large woofers anymore. We're lucky to find even 6.5" woofers, most seem to top out at 5.25". The Klipsch Heresy III has a big ass 12" woofer, and reviews of this model, which is still in production and "reasonably" priced at about $1600/pair, are generally pretty good. They rock out well, meaning nice midbass thump, at the expense of refinement and resolution. Just curious if any headcasers have any personal experience with these speakers.

Here's what I've been selling off my high-end headphone gear for. Just moved them in an hour ago. Unfortunately I'll have to wait a bit to give them a listen, as I've got some work to catch up on! Also, mine is the only residence in a block of businesses, so I need to wait until evening to crank things up Uses a 10" dual-concentric driver with all the specs of the TOP end of the Prestige line. That means Alnico (Alcomax) magnets, twin-roll impregnated fabric surrounds, doped paper pulp bass drivers, 2" round-wire wound voice coils, and the special Pepper-Pot tweeter waveguide instead of the Tulip waveguide used on the lower lines. There are separate magnetic motors fo…

As I was setting up the New Marantz SR6005 receiver, I noticed that the sound coming out of the right front speaker was much lower than that of the left. I don't seem to be getting any sound out of the tweeter on that speaker. These aren't super great speakers (av123 X-SLS tower speakers) so I don't want to put much money into them. However, since I have spent a bit of money on audio stuff recently, I don't know what I want, I don't really want to get new speakers right now (eventually I will probably and get a full new 5.1 setup). Is there anyway I can check if the tweeter is blown? If so, could I get new tweeters (probably would need to get new tweeters for both so…

I found a very nice deal on good condition and perfect working order Stax ELS-F81 speakers. Not the pair that I found but they look like this: [ATTACH=CONFIG]3737[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]3738[/ATTACH] I am very tempted to buy them, but I will need to get rid of my Apogees since I simply don't have space for forth speaker pair. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3739[/ATTACH] Looks like Stax should play nice with my DNA-1 or Symphonic Line amps and give me a completely different presentation of what I have now. Do you think I should side-grade?

Just noticed that Emotiva has some reasonably priced powered speakers ($399, $599, and $799/pair). Any thoughts? http://emotivapro.com/products/powered_monitors/airmotiv5.php

Could be a decent Audioengine A5 alternative, but I'm really not sure about those finish options! Purple lilac?

I admit that Wes Phillips' reviews of these two flagship models have got me looking at them, but everything I read seems intriguing and alluring. These are shockingly high cost items, so I am both hesitant to go too far down the rabbit hole of this fixation and yet still very curious. I also admit that the K-XR User Manual's suggestion that a balanced tape out could be used for a headphone amplifier made my heart go pitter-pat. Recognition in the highest of the high end! Anybody else heard the these and/or have any opinions on them or their design? A local dealer reps them, so I hope to get a listen later this week.

Been waiting for a new space to upgrade from the Quad 12Las (which would move to a desk). New home so starting the hunt. Still need to keep the speakers on the smaller side and due to quirkiness of doorways positions wall mounted (or narrow stand) would make most sense on one channel and bookshelf on the other. Thus looking at both options and then dealing. Gallo Strada 2 & sub being maybe an obvious choice with the positioning, but can't stop thinking of the KEF LS50s. They seem nearly perfect (well, without hearing yet) for the space with the exception on the rear firing port on the one channel. Reviews seem pretty consistent. Am considering the Harbeth P3ESRs &…

I need something that I can move with relative ease yet still give me halfway decent sound, so I guess monitors are where it's at. 1) The room: The red outlines the living room; there is no separation between it and the kitchen. Monitors will have brick in the rear facing towards regular wall paneling/drywall (or whatev). 2) The budget: roughly $2,000. The only thing I've got taken care of is the source. I would need to consider the monitors, possible amplification if passive, stands, and subwoofer/amplification for it. 3) The preferences: Bass is not vital, just looking for some sense of accuracy. Love midrange, that is probably priority. No particular t…

I decided to get some decent set of nearfield speakers to have on the desk next to the wall and I was thinking in something like the Audio engine A5 or Adam A5x. Don't know if I can get better for the money, what do you guys suggest?

I've mentioned in the past how good I think the D-Sonic's are and how they use the exact same ICE Power modules that the Bel Canto Ref1000 and other amps use. Well here's some proof: Bel Canto Ref1000 pic taken from 6moons: D-Sonic Magnum 500M: Notice that everything except for the rca/xlr connectors and binding posts are completely identical. Right down to the aluminum bracket/heatsink that the boards are mounted to .

That is the question. Spent a good deal of time with both this week, and to me, sonicly they are equal, and very close in sound signature. My wife likes the ANs more i dont really care either way. But the fact i can get by with 5-10 watts with the ANs is pretty cool. Down side is i would have to pull new dedicated lines and turn my room around so i can corner load them. Downside with the harbeths is i would probably move to more powerful tube amps. That means money, and heat. Price is pretty equal. I can get AN demos for $12K plus shipping for them and stands. The harbeths will go around a K more for new speakers w/stands. Both are butt ugly and old fashion looking, bu…

I'm very interested in the Tekton Lore. Has anyone heard these? Thoughts on powering these with solid state, specifically the McIntosh MA5100?

I went to my regular hi-fi store, MacBook Pro in hand, for some speaker evaluation today. The plan was to try the Harbeth 7ES-3s originally, but things were considerably altered by my running into the fluent-English-speaking KEF dealer the last time I went there who pointed out a new pair of Q900s in the store. I'd neither experienced Harbeths nor KEFs, so was somewhat intrigued. The KEFs are cheaper, but have a funky combined tweeter and mid designed to improve the soundstage and image even when listening off-center, along with a passive cone instead of a port, the whole aim being making them very room-friendly. So the idea was to plug my MBP into the Esoteric K-01 t…

Hi, I am looking for a set of cheap bookshelves/speakers that can take a digital input from my tv. I just got a new gt50 for the main viewing family room which has a decent sound bar. The g25 that was there went upstairs to the living room, and the stock speakers are real bad. Would love to just take the optical out from the tv, plug them in the speakers, and be done with it. I could have swore such a thing exists but I can't seem to find it. Thanks! If such a thing does not exist, i could also do a small box that would fit inside an entertainment furniture, that would be able to take a digital in, be an integrated amp of sorts, which could output into normal speakers…

Thought I'd start a thread to discuss these fine (and other solid state) amps. I'm interested in some 100 watt or greater amps. I love reading the Pass DIY forums and seeing all the cool stuff Nelson comes up with. Unfortunately I have a love affair with pain in the butt to drive speakers so I am left with mostly their commercial offerings. My first question is what would be the big difference between an Aleph 2 and XA100.5 as far as sound goes? And about the XS150, has anyone heard them or have insights into their design? Do you think any of the Aleph or XA.5 amps can provide adequate voltage for V hungry electrostatic speakers, especially on very dynamic music?…

Adcom GFA-5800 or Adcom GFA-5500 Any opinions on the above (or any other amp) in the $500 used price range, give or take? Looking to power my Paradigm Ref 100 v4s Cheers Pete

Monsoon speakers seem to be the best computer speakers out there so I've been looking into getting a pair of MH-500s used on ebay. Does anyone have any experience with these?

I got an email from Zu Audio and while I'm not in the market for speakers at the moment, I know that some of you guys liked 'um at RMAF. Some of their speakers are close to 40% off! Home - Zu Audio

There's a pair turned up just down the road from me, in full working order but the woofers have had the original carbon composite cones replaced with polypropylene. Price good and less than the going rate for a pair of the midrange drivers or tweeters inside them. Internet opinion seems positive all-over. It will be the first piece of audio gear in 2010 I'll buy which will cost more than 3 pints of lager and a packet of peanuts. I need someone here to tell me to do it. So I can diffuse my self-indulgent guilt.

I have a pair of AV123 X-SLS towers that are having issues. I am probably still going to try and fix them (and do something with them) but I never really liked them. They sound really dark and muddy. Oh well. They are fine for HT but I am thinking that maybe it is time to get some new speakers. I may also get a new center and surrounds (I have some crappy Cambridge Audio works stuff for that right now) now or later. The sub is also an AV123, is ok but it hums so it is off most of the time. I'll probably get a new sub at some point if needed. I assume that my center should match the mains as much as possible. Here is my setup: I will be using this mostly fo…