The Elacs are SUPER picky about amps. At least the pair I had were. I liked them a lot for the price but only after trying five different amps on them.
Top Ten Speakers of the 20th Century - Haven Poll
- Thread starter prime minister
- Start date
Carver Amazing Silver MK4(last and best
), 1992. 3 open baffle 12" stereo subs get <100 Hz, and a 48" dipole ribbon gets >100 Hz. Flat to 20 Hz with Bass Q knob on back turned up. There was also the Amazing Platinum which has 4, 12" and a 60" ribbon.
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Way cool topic!
I am going to make my list from past direct experience, so I will obviously miss some valid choices.
Also, considering the impact it had on me at the time, so the nomination would favor speakers from my teens because everything was a 'newer' experience then...
I gotta go with 1973 (or thereabouts) and the first time I encountered the Dahlquist DQ-10. (I was 13, so I missed the impact of the early acoustic suspension AR line.)
Those babies imaged like crazy and had just about the most open sound I had encountered before.
They were also frequently modified, so the shop I would haunt demo'd pairs with added top mount tweeters, etc.
They didn't really rock the dynamic range, but they had a very 'correct' sonic signature, to me.
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My finalists also included Acoustat 2+2, the AR 9/90, the Klipsch line, the first Apogee Full range that I ever heard, and the list goes on.
I am going to make my list from past direct experience, so I will obviously miss some valid choices.
Also, considering the impact it had on me at the time, so the nomination would favor speakers from my teens because everything was a 'newer' experience then...
I gotta go with 1973 (or thereabouts) and the first time I encountered the Dahlquist DQ-10. (I was 13, so I missed the impact of the early acoustic suspension AR line.)
Those babies imaged like crazy and had just about the most open sound I had encountered before.
They were also frequently modified, so the shop I would haunt demo'd pairs with added top mount tweeters, etc.
They didn't really rock the dynamic range, but they had a very 'correct' sonic signature, to me.
____
My finalists also included Acoustat 2+2, the AR 9/90, the Klipsch line, the first Apogee Full range that I ever heard, and the list goes on.
Well, the crew's pretty motley around here... but I did try... quite a few different ones.
Maybe not the right different ones... but quite a few.
A vote for Vandersteens, many people who haven’t set them up properly and provided enough clean current to them missed the boat on some of the best speakers for the money you can buy. But for those that have know they have something special 👍.
Another vote (and I’m not sure they made these in the 20th century) is Paradigm Signature S-6 S-8’s I owned these as well back in the day and they were excellent.
Audiofreak71
Another vote (and I’m not sure they made these in the 20th century) is Paradigm Signature S-6 S-8’s I owned these as well back in the day and they were excellent.
Audiofreak71
Tannoy GRF (Guy R Fountain) cabinet with 15" Tannoy Reds. (which I owned)
On another level, I used to sell audio gear in the early 70's and I liked Dahlquist DQ 10s, ADS L810s, Allison 1s and 2s, the OHM F (which I owned) They were incredible!
Even the old Bose 901s were nice sounding. I always felt that the Klipsch cornerhorns, which I sold, were too bright and intense. The treble would drive right through you. Making them hard to listen to. (I have owned them as well).
On another level, I used to sell audio gear in the early 70's and I liked Dahlquist DQ 10s, ADS L810s, Allison 1s and 2s, the OHM F (which I owned) They were incredible!
Even the old Bose 901s were nice sounding. I always felt that the Klipsch cornerhorns, which I sold, were too bright and intense. The treble would drive right through you. Making them hard to listen to. (I have owned them as well).
No one has mentioned the KEF 104.2 ???. SHAME!
Nice to see people mentioning the Dahlquist 10, a product of Saul Marantz and Jon Dahlquist. Spot on about the imaging Anton. What killed the 10 was low WAF and I’m guessing mostly bachelors owned them or those with 70s era man caves.
Nice to see people mentioning the Dahlquist 10, a product of Saul Marantz and Jon Dahlquist. Spot on about the imaging Anton. What killed the 10 was low WAF and I’m guessing mostly bachelors owned them or those with 70s era man caves.
Is cost a factor? If not, the Magnepan 20 should be mentioned. A friend with impressively deep pockets had a pair in the mid-90s. He replaced the xover (with a Bryson xover?) then replaced that with a PassLabs (XVR.) I got to hear all three generations and the Pass Labs was sublime, as in park yourself in a listening chair and stay there sublime. And there was true bass from a Maggie, imagine that. When Tom passed two years ago his wife asked if I wanted to buy them. Boy, did I but they were almost 7’ tall and 30” wide and there was no way I could afford them. Still, with the XVR they’re were truly magnificent.
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I've told this story elsewhere on the forum but a local shop, that's now gone, really had trouble with the Magnepan 20.1s. They sounded better than anything in their store, at a fraction of the cost of some of the speakers like the Wilsons, yet they were in a form factor that few people could or would want to deal with... so the customer, not wanting to settle for lesser sound at a higher price, left without buying anything. Those 20.1s killed a lot of Wilson and B&W sales. And they really did sound magnificent, one of the finest speakers I've ever heard... sitting fairly close to those things powered by Ayre.
I've heard those Magnepans a couple of times and was beyond impressed by them. It has been a long time since I lived somewhere they could be reasonably implemented, though. My loft of the mid-80s would have been perfect!
In that whole giant house there's not one place? Maybe sell some cameras.
Lots of rooms, none of them all that big except the third floor loft and it has sloping ceilings. Those Magnepans need a really particular kind of environment that the average old house doesn't provide - sadly.
The room at the store here had slopping ceilings. A big A frame room. And they sounded great! They might have had treatment on the ceiling but it worked.
I'm trying to enable...
We have a modest 1950 sq. ft. house where they would certainly be out of place. Our entire living room and dining room would easily fit in Tom’s listening room. (He had a separate room for home theater duties.) He was a regular at West Coast audio shows, was chummy with Von Schweikert, etc. He was also pals with one of the Bryston guys who told him about the story of the Bryston xover change on the 20s as well as the Pass Labs XVR. As impressive as the original 20s were, the change in xovers was astounding.
kirk57
Junior Member
That's my experience as well.
My MG-IIb (with every mod out there) sounded great if they were at *least* four feet out in the room, and you could crank them.
Lower volumes and out of the way, not so much.
A very maddening experience for me.
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Sounds weirdly like my Dynaudio Special 40s, even the 4' out in the room part. Vastly different speakers same problems.
The problem is that the slope I have starts from about 4 ft and goes up from there. The Magnepans would have to be at about the current listening position to be able to be stood up. Honestly, if I had a space they'd work in I'd love a pair as they're pretty astounding.
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Just lay them on either side of you, sideways, like gigantic headphones.
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