I have recently read Ken Kessler's old but still wonderful review of Sonus Faber Extremas. He ends the review by saying that "It is one of a handful of loudspeakers which qualify as legends."
I own a pair of Extremas, and I agree with Kessler's statement. Now, I am curious to know what other audiophiles consider "legendary speakers" based on their own experience. I would define legendary speakers as ones that are path breaking, that redefined the frontier of sound quality that is affordable by the average audiophile (I know, it's a vague definition). Let me give my list of 5 legendary speakers. These are all old speakers I would live with today.
Altec- beats any of the speakers listed before this post, except the Tannoys, SF, and the Quads, in terms of retaining its price and will make the whole group of speakers a run for their money if not much better in sound performance. Wonder how many Ohm, KLH, Thiel, Infinity speakers are in the rest of the world(Asia for example) compared to Altec/Tannoy/Magnepans...
Magnepans - possibly the best selling speakers of all time! How's that for not being "legendary"?
Ggavetti, I would replace the Amati's with the Guarneri Hommage's and add the RTR's and Jantzens. Also special IMO are the original LS35A's and the MBL's. Many others could also be nominated.
My list does not necessarily list the best of the best, but merely speakers that I have heard that made me sit up and take notice that they were the best in their class at the time.
Lets not forget the good old Dynaco A25. There was a time when this speaker brought you so much music that no other brand really mattered. Personally, I think the KLH 17 was right up there with it and maybe even better at less than $200.00 a pair!
I have owned mamy of the above mentioned speakers, and agree with many of the mentioning of them. I have owned Klipsch Lascalas for quite a while now and through mods, I love them. So I would like to add the Lascala to this list, because PWK sought to develope a "portable" version of the Khorn, which I believe he was quite successful..and the numbers of pairs sold through out the years shows this to be true,(but I am prejudice).
Hey HifiHarv, I had the A25 when I was a teenager & loved them for years (with an AR receiver with that great FM tuner in there). But I have not heard anyone mention the KLH 17 ever, which I used with the KLH 20 compact stereo and thought were great--tight and fast and tuneful to my young ears (great for 3 dog night). I never heard why people liked the more expensive KLH 6s, which bored me and were boomy with no definition and a missing midrange.
I had a pair of Altec A7s in the 70's...both for live sound and stereo stuff...they were sweet and I have no clue how accurate they were but they had a very appealing sound...with Phase Linear amps...oh yeah...
How about 2 hands full? Parentheticals reflect my first personal encounter w/each
Quad 57 (first 'stat) Wilson WAMM (first SOTA assault) Advent Large (first "highish end" encounter in best friend's older brother's system) Vandersteen 2 (early high end audition that blew me away) MBL 101 (First "show-stopper" at audio show) Rogers LS 35a (BBC legend at local store) Maggie Tympani (main attraction at Lyric, NYC's better than the customer boutique of it's day) B&W 801 (as above - substitute Sound by Singer for Lyric) ProAc Tablette (first demo of 3d imaging from a minimonitor) and..... Kef Corelli (my first high end speaker - the prototypical English design of midband uber alles)
Ten speakers that I first encountered 10+ years ago. I can recall the exact time/place that I first heard each. IMHO, each made a significant design statement that stands to this day.
Infinity Servo Static,Infinity RS-1B,"definitely" Quad ESL 57(or even 63),Avalon Ascent Mk- II,and without a doubt the Magico Mini II!
The Magico Mini(to me)was/is the most impressive of the lot,as it "slaughtered" the vast majority of the "Big Buck/Big Box" designs,in that it truly matched them in sonics and dynamics,and had better tonal qualities....not to mention a small footprint...."Gorgeous cabinetry too"!
Those still owning this speaker should feel lucky to have it,rather than befuddled by a "new model"!
I'm one of those still owning the Magico Mini II. It's too early to know if it will be a "legend", but it sure sounds and looks great. I read that the Q1 sounds much better. I'm not befuddled and feel quite lucky.
I have on hand: KLH Nines Quad 57's (two pairs) DQ10's DCM Time Windows 1A Snell Type AIII Rogers LS3/5A Ohm Walsh Sound Cylinders Not all set up at the same time, of course!
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