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Your loudspeaker holy grail

12" or 15" version?

I have a pair of 12" Tannoy Mansfields on 5" stands, very good in a smallish medium sized room.

Bettered by Goodmans Tri-Axiom 1220s.

15" HPDs. I had a lovely pair of 12" Chatsworth Monitor Golds but they were a bit lost in what is a large L shaped room.
 
I'm determined to get a stacked pair of ESL 57's in operation before I croak it. I have the bits, including some decent subs and supertweeters (latter probably not needed), even have a space big enough to do them justice, just need another year of occasional DIY bodging to make it habitable/dry enough to occupy.
 
Naim speakers are frickin ugly, old and new. An ugly speaker’s as much good as blind taxi driver.


Each to their own Intro's/,credo have not aged well, SBLs still look ok I think the diminutive size and sloping front has a certain charm and went full circle the black ash looks better than I remembered
 
@chartz silly money? Don't go checking how much are the latest Pawel Elektra.. ok very likely I would like to hear these
 
I've heard quite a few pairs of DBLs, in both active and passive configurations. They sound effortless, but unremarkable. Maybe they are like the NS-1000Ms to me from a different era, where I didn't get them, but now do.
FWIW I do actually like SBLs. They are exceptionally easy to set up badly, but if you have a suitable room and a lot of care they can sound good.

In fairness I just don’t like ‘far field’ listening, so DBLs or NBLs were never going to be for me. Listened to in the mid-field or closer they just sound like three random drivers thrown at a wardrobe, they have none of the coherence of a Tannoy point source, let alone an ESL or BBC box.
SBLs are one of my favourite speakers but DBLs are just miles better. Mind you, I like far-field listening. DBLs would never be good close up. All of the Naim speakers from that era, including the IBLs have magic in them, despite their flaws.
 
I think the reason I quite like SBLs is they do work well (at their best IMO) in the near to mid-field. I quite like the IBL too, though I think ultimately I prefer Kan IIs of that type of speaker.
 
Sorry, but a single snare drum strike at levels the K-horns would take in stride would have the Quads shooting sparks. There's no way anything using Quad 57s as a component could approach realistic dynamics.

In absolute terms, fair point. But surely this is all about context? I'm talking about an average living room.

The occasional recitals and chamber concerts I relish (or will when Macron lets me back in) take place in a private house: if the performers don't make the appropriate adjustment in volume a treat becomes a test of endurance.
 
In absolute terms, fair point. But surely this is all about context? I'm talking about an average living room.

The occasional recitals and chamber concerts I relish (or will when Macron lets me back in) take place in a private house: if the performers don't make the appropriate adjustment in volume a treat becomes a test of endurance.
Salut David !
You know, I was listening to big band music on my Quad panels (direct cut LP) and the sound pressure they offer is more than enough to make your ears bleed I find. And no sparks – they are OTA refurbished.
I have a drum set in the same room and the sound is quite realistic: I can play along. No frustration at all.
My other speakers are 95 dB sensitive and with a couple of watts it’s more than enough on most musics.
With the Quads the average is about 10 to 20 watts.
All that in a large room of 45 square metres.
 
Each to their own Intro's/,credo have not aged well, SBLs still look ok I think the diminutive size and sloping front has a certain charm and went full circle the black ash looks better than I remembered
I don’t understand how SBLs can be considered ugly; they are a very discreet design.
 
When I was a teenager and didn't own any kit at all, I'd devour HiFi Answers and at the time, lusted after a pair of Wharfdale Lintons...but moving swiftly on, I suppose the only speaker I've always been curious about is the Linn Isobarik. Preferably on the end of a Naim 6-pack. I don't think I'd ever want to own a pair but just to hear them the once would end a lifetime of not knowing.

More to the point, I'd like to get to know some Spendor floorstanders - the A7 or D7. Would they be better than my trusty Keilidhs? Perhaps, but at 4-6K it's a big gamble.
 


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