Best high end monitors?

PMC - active if possible

JM Reynaud Offrande , incredible nice looking/sounding monitors, for a real world price.
Those Magico`s are complety overpriced!

Oops, did not get the name in my previous post: Manger zero-box 109s are used by world renowned recoding studios.

MBL 121s would be another contender - I'm biased, as I own them. They may be overpriced though. I'm also going to be adding a pair of F113s over time, as funds allow. I'm hopeful of getting the same seamless room integration. As someone else said, an omni design like these affords better flexibility with placement.

These are the perfect transducer for 150Hz-35KHz. The speakers are so accurate, they are used by prominent recording studios to point out the recording mistakes of others (amateur).

Ty's speakers like tubes Jp1208. When I finally introduced tubes in my system a few years ago I realized what I had been missing.

Below is a quote from Bobby at Merlin from another current thread that sheds some light on his thoughts on amps:

i have used the joule and atma otls at shows for 10 or 12 years now. swampwalker makes a number of points i would agree with comparing the two. the merlins have a benign impedance characteristic which makes them very friendly to any type of amp, really. my favorite are otls and certain lower powered transformer coupled class "a" amps. there is also a more powerful 100 watt stereo amp made locally that i think the world of too (cat). the speakers were definitely designed around more delicate tube amps and that is why i like to use otls at shows. their uncomplicated sound pulls on your heart strings.
i personally own the joules vzn 100 mk ivs, as many of you know.

Cruz, In this regard then I would hope the Decade line moves toward wanting some tubes somewhere in the system. Meaning a flatter tonal balance. No coloration if that is possible. Driver integration without holes if you will. You can mix and match SS and tubes. Flexibility becomes more apparent. Lean too much toward warmth or detail and the flexibility shrinks. I am sure there are people using the new Merlin line with good solid state with very good results. I heard the Merlin line a very long time ago so I can't imagine how they sound today. It was shocking how a small speaker filled the room they were in. The mids were extremely fluid and integration between tweeter and mid was seemless. Not a lot of bass but that I am sure has changed.

Jp1208, I just meant that Merlins are normally considered better mates to tube amps, as opposed to the 400w ss amps used by the original poster. They may very well work, but on paper I don't think its the best match.

The D3 will be my next speaker along with a sub.

I interpreted your description wrong and I understand what you mean now. Transparency does not always mean brightness. I can't stand brightness. IMO I consider most Thiels on the bright side. You might want to give Ty a call and discuss. He is very helpful. I have heard his whole line except for the Decades. He didn't have any of them finished when I visited his business last. I did see the D2's. I like the look and considered them but I have to have a smaller speaker. Wish I had the funds for a dedicated listening room so I could get a larger floorstander. Goodluck in your search.

Samzx12, I am in the same boat as Madfloyd. We both have JLA F113's and are looking for that transparent monitor with bite or meat on the bones. Midrange must be full and balanced and the top end airy with nice extended sparkle. Too warm or polite at least for me is not going to work. From what I have read now it seems the older Tylers were already on the warmer side of nuetral. I am not sure what has changed now except that the new line may have even more warmth to them. However, I just read the review on the Tyler D2 and it reads the opposite of being warmer. It actually reads more like what I would want. The D3 being a monitor should only give in to the low end but could image better and have a slight edge on extension. Not always though. I will be watching for more reviews on this new Tyler line. Just to clarify, transparency and brightness are two completely different musical adjectives to me. I am not sure if you thought I was implying transparency was the same as brightness because I wasn't at all. Now if Ty added more refinement to where the sound grows bigger in all directions then of course the speaker is going to disappear that much more. The only way I know to do this is to start going flatter not fatter.

Mark-Daniel Maximus Monitors. Provided you feed them plenty of power.

Jp1208 I am not sure I agree with your statement about Ty's new line being more transparent. Ty seems to think it is a litte warmer. Maybe a tad but not much.

Cruz, why would the Tyler's work but the Merlin's may not?
Have you heard both in your system? I am looking at Tyler Decade D3's but I have not seen any review or posts about them until now. All I know is that the new Tyler is supposed to be much more transparent than the older design. Not as warm sounding. Thanks.

You should probably try the Ushers to satisfy your curiosity. Also, i would add the new Tyler Decade 3 and Decade 4 monitors to your list. I would normally recommend the Merlin TSM's, but I'm not sure they would be the best choice with your amp.

I've been into this whole audiophile thing for over a decade ... and by far the best monitor i've heard has been the timepiece 3.0 from SP Tech. Nothing even came close to it.

I've heard many hi-end monitors but the AAD 7001 is the best I've heard.

The long retired Artemis EOS Signature was one of the all time greats as well but rarely available in the used market.

As a fan of separate monitors and subwoofers, I agree with several posts here with the following caveats:

German Physiks Troubador 40. Almost as pricey as Magicos, though.

Genelec actives, but their low 10kOhm input impedance is a no-no for many (most?) tube preamps.

AAD 701;

And one of my favorites, the little known and relatively cheap Lenehan ML1 from Australia. Check the Audiophilia reviews.

Try a tube pre-amp with any of those speakers.

So my search for really good monitors continues. Here's what I have been auditioning:

Focal Electra 1007 BE
Very nice, but midrange is too lean for my tastes and the tweeter can call attention to itself (pretty much exactly how TAS called it).

JM Labs Micro Utopia
I love the midrange on these speakers. They have meat on the bones, but they are dark as hell up top - at least in my room. Saddens me because I'm in love with these otherwise, but I need that sense of air that these seem to mask.

Salk SongTowers
Not exactly a monitor, but light enough that I can move it in and out of the room (which is a necessity as I setup my 2 channel listening in front of a huge movie screen). It gets rave reviews but sounds very solid state and harsh to my ears (and with my Theta Citadel 1.5 amps). It does however allow me to hear what's on the recording which I appreciate otherwise.

Aerial Model 9's
These are my home theater speakers that excite the room way too much (4 bass drivers per speaker). I only mention them for reference. Not my cup of tea for 2 channel.

So I don't know what to try next? Usher Be-718? I'm looking for detail, air but meat on the bones. Don't care about extremely low bass as I have a Bryston crossover and a pair of F113 subs.

meat on the bones ... mbl 101, ohm walsh, hhr-laser tls-I, german physics - only walsh-like omnidirectional drivers can do it (forget decware,morrison,duevel)- they put much more well distributed energy into the room - the hhr-laser (ohm f remake) is even a singledriver-pointsoure - think about that.

best affordable 2-way monitor ... genelec 8050A - progear,active,8",cast aluminium cabinet, gainclone amps - best nonesoteric technology available on the market for a progear price. pair with a good tube pre (aesthetix/einstein...) and you could be happy

its only a matter of taste and time, spent on checking gear and adjusting your roomacoustics

good luck

stp

A great monitor but needs a lot of power.

let's add the new magnepan speaker that was introduced at the show 2009.

Jls3, HEA acknowledges that the tweeter looks similar, but insists that that the basic operating principle is quite different, hence their patent in the area. They also have a patent on the manufacturing process. I have spoken to the designer- the tweeter is about 97 db on its own. There are actually two of them integrated into the tweeter module- one front firing and one to the rear.

It is very fast, faster than any conventional dome tweeter, yet fails to draw attention to itself. Frankly, after living with this speaker, its hard to take other monitor-sized speakers seriously, price no object. It really is one of the best ones out there.

Another fine monitor is the AAD 7001

Looks like a derivative of tweeter, probably many times more reliable, since the old lineaum tweeter did not last long and had problems with distortion. As this company had 2 patents on the tweeter,they did make a headway with the technology.

Wow, doesn't anybody recognize that tweeter on the High Emotion monitor.
It's on thousands of Radio Shack speakers. It's the Lineaum tweeter invented by Paul Paddock. It's a great tweeter too.

Phaelon, I've yet to hear them, and looking forward to it. From what I've heard, they are a good combination with our stuff.

Atmasphere,
Have you listened to the Ridge Street Sason's with your amps? Their published specs are almost identical to the speakers you like from High Emotion Audio.

Gawdbless, the best I can make out is that they are around $5,000/pair.

Atmasphere,
How much are the S7 and P7 as asked by Pedrillo please?

It'll be interesting to see if the big RAAL ribbon finds its way into a few high end monitors.

FWIW I had the Be-718s and GMA Callistos in my room together for a weekend some time ago. The Ushers have deeper bass and a bigger soundstage, but the Callistos had a "live", in the room feel and better coherence. I sent the Tiny Dancers back to the dealer on Monday.....

Shakey

AAD 7001. Not widely known. Amazing sound and build quality.

Pedrillo, we have had the S7 and the P7 in here. They are similar performance; the S7 is more of a box with a bass reflex port. The P7 is the same idea with a rear firing passive driver instead of the port and more of a pyramid form factor. It took about 4 times as long to break in. Either one is quite convincing down to 40Hz. The tweeter has a short break-in time, so most of the time breaking in the speaker is devoted to the woofer.

For years the monitor part of the market was always trying to come up with the next 'Watt killer'; a speaker that had performance equal or better than the Wilson Watt (and hopefully for less dollars). I don't know if that is a standard that anyone still uses, but this is definitely that speaker. It is smooth, ultra fast, extended but not bright, very detailed. The cabinet is very dead- its obvious that a lot of time was put into figuring these things out.

We had ZU Druids but they never got played again after the HEA speakers showed up. We've had a lot of speakers in here and we keep coming back to this one- it bests the best ESLs for revealing character that does not draw attention to itself; selflessly devoted to the music, you might say.

The tweeter is a dual unit that fires forward and rearward. Standing off to the side (180 degrees off axis) you get nearly the same highs as you do in front- the tweeter radiates in a dual cardioid pattern for those interested. Anyway they have a wise sweet spot, almost as wide as the distance that you have them apart. Standing off to one side you can easily make out the soundstage. Imaging is very precise, and easy to set up without fuss. I do not know of a speaker at any price that has a better tweeter system, although the new field coil tweeter in the Classic Audio Reproductions is in the same realm, but lacks the super wise dispersion. Most tweeters by comparison suck flat rocks in the bottom of some very stagnant pools. Once you hear it, its really hard to go back to puissant ordinary.

ATmasphere,

You come up with the most interesting things!

Thanks.

Atmasphere,
Which model are you refering to and how much is it?

So far the best monitor we've heard is made by High Emotion Audio. It uses what is arguably one of the fastest and smoothest tweeters out there- one of their own design, for which they have two patents. The 120 degree off-axis response is nearly the same as on-axis!

The speaker is easy to drive- 60 watts is plenty. The speaker is good to 40Hz- a subwoofer is being offered by them but we've not heard that yet.

You're right, speakers and stands can be very heavy, especially the Sason's. Weight would be an issue for all the better high end monitors.

I imagine if he lived close enough to hear the Sason's, once he heard them he would probably buy them, package them snuggly & drive them to their new home.

The only drawback with the RSAD is there weight hence shipping is a problem which is why the seller is looking for a local sale
Otherwise they're GREAT ..like Tony the Tiger say's

Madfloyd-
There is a pair of Ridge Street Audio Design Sason speakers for sale on audiogon. This is the first & only pair I have ever seen for sale.

If you live close to the seller (whose zip code is 49055), I suggest that you give them a serious & critical listening. They sound phenomenal & even look great!

Ok, they are going to be in the same league as the Magico Mini or the Ridge Street Sason, but you can pick up a pair here on audiogon in the $2,500 range. I've lived with mine for 3 years and they are great speakers. Link to review:

http://6moons.com/audioreviews/krell/res3.html

As far as a suggestion as the "best high end monitor" - I am a HUGE fan of the Ridgestreet Audio Sason granite monitor. There are many things within this speaker's design that seem to be missing from other monitors such as very unique impedance matched cost no object internal wiring and "best of the best" crossover components and the complete elimination of binding posts, cryod tweeters and much more to boot. The cumulation of all of these details combined don't even exist in speakers like Magicos, Kharmas (or anything I know of under the $30k mark). IMHO the Ridgestreet Sason designers seem to have attacked every single "lossy" parameter they could think of where other monitor designers haven't even considered in their designs comparably.

Since no one here seems to have read the crucial line "the rooms...... seems to retain bass", I would put in a Manger Swing along with your JL subs. The Swing on its own does not play below 100Hz and hence will smoothly roll out to a pair of subs, no stands required, looks great. Call Daniela Manger, site www.manger-msw.com , or if in USA call tmhaudio.

I feel like a broken record, but SP Technology Timepiece 3.0 - You may not even need the subs with these.

skip the subs, a good 2 channel system does not need'm! just buy the best speaker you can afford. the best; my vote, rockport arrakis, magico M6, wilson alexandria's. haven't heard the new focal's sure they are great as well as mbl or hansen. can't afford, who can? move down the line a little, i did, haven't consided a sub since.

Zieman, of course, is a Totem dealer.

Which he did not disclose.

Again

Totem monitors have been described as meaty more than any other descriptive term. Several mfgrs voice with Totem. Imaging that will frighten you.

Floyd,

Before you do anything else, I'd add a (pair of) Bass Buster(s) or equivalent
product from another brand like ATC. The manufacturer can advise as to the
quantity and placement of these $350-$450 units for your room. My current
room was a giant, relentless pain in the ass until I added 2 of these and Voila!
massive improvement. Stereophile did a piece on this type of device and it's
in their on-line archive. Do yourself a favor and check it out. I was
sufficiently impressed that I put another one behind my piano!

Marty.

PS - I'd toss Ohm (probably 100s or Sat 100s) in the ring as a main to
consider for use with the subs. The 100s are $1800 in basic black and very
good sounding loudspeakers which (possibly by virtue of their omni radiating
pattern) mate amazingly well with subs. They're sold factory direct with a
money-back policy for the unimpressed.

PPS You might also want to check out the Velodyne SMS-1 sub controller
which at app $500-$600 offers a very flexible low pass, fixed high pass, PEq,
and room analysis for any brand of sub you choose. BTW, before you choose
a sub, note that A-gon members Bob Reynolds, Drew Ekhard (?) and Shadome
are great resources with extensive knowledge on the subject.