advertisement


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

I have no idea. Something where my whole family of four can enjoy the same experience. That rules out anything too directional. Tried omni and they spray too much against the walls of my small room. Next thing up is line array with restricted vertical dispersion but super horizontal loveliness.

Musical appreciation is something that should always be done with others not on your own with your head in a vice.
 
I’ve remembered a couple more of love to try:

- KEF KM1
- B&W Nautilus. I heard them once thorough amplifiers that I know I dislike and they were unsurprisingly underwhelming. I’d like to hear what they really can do when driven properly
- Kenwood LS-1900

But the one pair of speakers that I’d really, really love to hear are the Yamaha GF-1s
 
The list is long...

Current:

ATC SCM150
Bang & Olufsen Beolab 90
Cessaro Gamma w/ bass horns
Dutch & Dutch 8c
Estelon Forza
Franco Serblin Ktêma
Grimm Audio LS1
JBL DD67000
Kef Blade
Living Voice Vox Olympian
Magico M9
MBL 101
PBN KAS-2
Rockport Cygnus
Sound Lab A1
Suesskind Audio ARA
Tune Audio Anima
Yamaha NS-5000

And discontinued:

Beveridge System 2sw-2
Dali Megaline
Jamo R909
Kef Muon
Snell A7
Thiel CS3.7
 
Hedd Towers
.
1532392450_HE236167007_3684984955059085_3172498231430571195_n.thumb.jpg.28fcf8ea2cfccd95d3d93877ea49a59a.jpg
 
I now work for Harman, who own JBL. I can get to borrow pretty much anything and get a super discount. I may give these a try soon:-

L100%20Classic%2075%20Pair%20Front%20(Hero).png

Those are certainly very nice. I was tempted by them, until I heard the 4429s. The 4429s get you into compression drivers for the mids and highs. I have had my 4429s for about 5 yrs, and I appreciate them more and more the longer I own them. I run mine with an Exposure XV, and they match well. The sound is slightly warm, open, dynamic, and groovy. I urge you to hear them.
You are in for a good time with either the L100 or the 4429. Anyway, just my 2 cents worth, sorry for rambling…
 
I'd have two pairs of speakers depending on my mood, TAD Ref1 and Klipschorns, and with all this money I've come into, would I be happy, you betcha I would :)
 
I'm not generally impressed by big multi driver stuff... YMMV

I had the rare privelege of hearing the Tannoy Westminster Royals in their dem room at Coatbridge 30 years ago. I've never forgotten that. If I could ever afford a pair, and the room to play them in.. I wouldn't hesitate.

I heard some huge Adam speakers at a Linn dealer's in Manchester a few years ago. Pretty underwhelming really. Big is not necessarily beautiful... or was it the electronics?

Near field, with good, small Rogers, Harbeth, Spendor etc..... can be a revelation. You don't get the deep bass, but if you miss that.. you are possibly missing the point...
 
Those are certainly very nice. I was tempted by them, until I heard the 4429s. The 4429s get you into compression drivers for the mids and highs. I have had my 4429s for about 5 yrs, and I appreciate them more and more the longer I own them. I run mine with an Exposure XV, and they match well. The sound is slightly warm, open, dynamic, and groovy. I urge you to hear them.
You are in for a good time with either the L100 or the 4429. Anyway, just my 2 cents worth, sorry for rambling…
I'll see if I can get to borrow some 4429s!
 
Odd how almost everyone wants large speakers ... .

I'd hate to look at some of those on a daily basis!

Heard but not seen is more my thing.

O I don’t know, I think I wouldn’t mind looking at these in this room on a daily basis
1-B0877-A6-E96-D-4-AE9-9684-62-CE5-DB608-FE.png
D8-C94-B86-7114-47-D3-8113-82007-E8-A407-B.png
 
Last edited:
I’ve heard several very tall multi-driver speakers (arrays, line-source etc) over the years and never once enjoyed the experience. I suspect it is partly down to room acoustics (everything inevitably arrives at different times) and that they bare no resemblance to a microphone input which is obviously a point source. I love some really big horns, but in most cases a very wide range comes out of the mid-horn, certainly most of the obviously directional stuff. There is something very ‘right’ the closer one gets to a point source IME.
 
Wilson Alexia
Magico M9
Kef Muon

To name a few. I heard the Muons ages ago at the Windsor HiFi show and they made a huge impression on me ( literally). The grip they had on the bass, in fact every frequency range was truly remarkable.

A friend got a pair of Alexia's. Never believed Daleks could sound so impressive. Serious money but seriously good music reproduction. Compared to some of the contraptions pictured on this thread they even sort of look reasonably normal.
 
One of my customers has a Western Electric mono horn cinema system, with original twin field coil bass units, period WE tweeters, and WE amplifiers, dating from around 1930. While this is not something that could fit into my home and life, it does offer the most fantastic musical experience that once heard, is always missed. A truly immersive, occasionally visceral sound experience, that’s far more ‘normal’ than I’d expected, given mostly disappointing encounters with modern horn systems. I’m glad that there are enthusiasts keeping stuff like this going.
 
I’ve heard several very tall multi-driver speakers (arrays, line-source etc) over the years and never once enjoyed the experience. I suspect it is partly down to room acoustics (everything inevitably arrives at different times) and that they bare no resemblance to a microphone input which is obviously a point source. I love some really big horns, but in most cases a very wide range comes out of the mid-horn, certainly most of the obviously directional stuff. There is something very ‘right’ the closer one gets to a point source IME.

The KEF approach as seen in the Blade probably gets closest in many ways.
Single Uni-Q on the curved front running down to around 500Hz then a bass driver array on the sides effectively surrounding the Uni-Q.

I'd like a good demo of those one day.
 


advertisement


Back
Top