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Loudspeakers You Wish To Try But Probably Won't Own In This Lifetime

ryder

pfm Member
I was wondering if there's anybody here who aspires to own loudspeakers that probably won't make it to the room (in this lifetime) as you have settled down with the speaker(s) of your dreams. Your endgame speakers so to speak.

For me, these are few loudspeakers I wish to try/own, only in my dreams;

Proac D2R / D20R
Kudos Titan 505/606
Dynaudio Heritage Special
ATC SCM19
B&W 805 D4
Focal Sopra N1

There may be more but these are the realistic down-to-earth options.

Ultra high-end speakers which appealed to me because of their elegant good looks although I"m not sure if it sounds any good.

Focal Stella Utopia EM Evo
 
I settled with my dream speakers (I don't have particularly large budget and thus aspirations!)... Russ Andrews Quave LS1. They were about £2k new but I got them for less than half that on eBay.

If I get an inheritance ... I'll be buying PS Audio speakers... Due for release in coming months... £20k approx.
 
99% it will never happen but would love to hear the Vandersteen system 7 or 9 in a very large dedicated music room with different turntables to choose from? If the lottery win ever comes this way a room like that could be a lot of fun for hosting social listening.

otherwise I’ve probably heard (B&W, horns, tannoys, Avalon, Magneplanar for example) or owned (Isobarik, Opera, Cadence, Martin Logan, RS10) all I really want to.
 
I’d love to have the space, and money, for a pair of B&W 800’s, but it’s extremely unlikely that either will happen.
 
Probably some of those big Living Voice horns. I’m unlikely to ever have either the funds, or space, for them. I’ve heard them at Bristol and thought they were visually and aurally arresting and captivating. Couldn’t care less about coloration, if indeed there is much, they were visceral, and full of life.
 
I’d love to hear the ADAM OSS again and in my own room. There are two issues, however:

- They only made one pair and they are probably long gone by now.
- I doubt they’ll fit into my room anyway.
 
Very little left to do for me. Ideally I’d like to replace my 15” Golds with 15” Reds (which would be period correct for the Lockwood cabs), though finding a genuinely good pair at a sane price would likely be challenging. They just don’t turn up any more. I’d also love to compare the Tannoys to Altec 604s and maybe conventional non-concentric Altecs e.g. Valencias.

The original Quad ESL will always be on the bucket list, but again finding exactly the right pair and getting to the point I was confident they were performing exactly to spec would be quite a challenge.

The small speakers are done. I can’t see my wanting anything more than I have.

Obviously there are a lot of other things that interest me (mainly vintage), but they would be unlikely to work in my current or potential future rooms. To be honest I expect to downsize in the next decade or so as I’d like to live somewhere nicer, so that may result in a single and maybe smaller living room. I may end up with the JR149s or LS3/5As as the main system, and I could certainly live with that. Forgetting practicalities I’d love to spend time with huge Altec VOTT, Avant Garde horns, Khorns, Western Electric cinema horns etc, but I can’t see my wanting to live in an environment large enough to house such things. A nice little easily manageable bungalow far enough away from people is more my dream house!
 
ATC EL150As for me. Like rocking horse doodoos I’m afraid :(
….unless I can persuade @Colin L to part with his MBLs

Only persuadable if a lottery win makes MBL 101 Extremes affordable for me. My 101’s are my end-game otherwise.

IMG_1722t.jpg
 
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Big Tannoys, the crazy price and my room rules them out in the real world. Love to hear if that effortless bass really does exist.

Other stuff that I have not tried is the Avondale speakers, look a bit out there but Les never fails to amaze.

Also curious to know is the modern take on DC tannoy works the xt range looked promising just not come down in price enough yet. And was the dc6t due not suit my room so I imagine the 8 or 10 inch version would be worse.
 
Also curious to know is the modern take on DC tannoy works the xt range looked promising just not come down in price enough yet. And was the dc6t due not suit my room so I imagine the 8 or 10 inch version would be worse.

Don’t assume small speakers boom or honk less than big speakers, the exact reverse is true IME as large speakers just don’t need aggressive port shenanigans to give the impression of bass, they just move the air correctly to start with. Give me an awkward room and I’d put money on getting a proper big Tannoy with a 12” or 15” bass unit to work better than some little ported box.
 
Big Tannoys and Quad electrostatics. I've heard the latter several times, but not the former. Ironically, the only actual 'big' speakers I've owned (Goodmans RB35s) were shoe-horned into a tiny bedsit which re-defined 'near-field listening'.
 


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