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Best Loudspeakers for Rich Timbre?

I realise that the music industry seems to care less and less about timbre, see
https://youtu.be/oVME_l4IwII

But for me, without timbre music reproduction can be compared to food which lacks flavour or a modern movie with washed out colours. Occasionally interesting, but rarely engaging.

So my question is, what are your loudspeaker candidates if you are looking for a 'Technicolor' sound?

I know many use tube amps solely for this aim, but perhaps they are a subject deserving an entirely separate discussion.
cd318
djones51
4,947 posts
 
That was an interesting essay. The black and white photo analogy will help me better explain to my wife what I mean when I say some songs just don't sound right or natural. I play a sort of instrument, a mountain dulcimer and when I play Jeanie Ritchie I can tell she is playing the dulcimer but it doesn't sound like it does when I heard her live or what mine sounds like.  Most of the speakers mentioned in this thread I can never afford but it's an insightful thread.
dracule1
1,085 posts
 
Who's Rich Timbre?  Never heard of the guy.
cd318 OP
2,636 posts
 
@dracule1 seems to be a very elusive master of disguise popping up only very rarely in audio circles.

They seek him here, they seek him there..
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,972 posts
 
Speakers don't do math. Nor are they polymaths given the numbers of instruments, materials, musicians, tuning, styles, etc. etc. in existence.

Yes it's fair to say that all speakers must either be adding or subtracting to timbre

Timbre is the human (expert) perception of the sound of a note made by a specific (tuned) instrument, brought into existence by a musician.

Instrument. Musician. Human Perception of Sound. Note: No speakers involved.

From this point on, there is a very long chain which attempts to provide a 'facsimile' of that note. What you are hearing in your listening chair has to do with that entire chain.
We could have stopped right there. 😄

All the best,
Nonoise
cd318 OP
2,636 posts
 
@nonoise ,  I agree that valve amplifiers can add to our perception of harmonics/instrument timbres, but to keep it simple I wanted to concentrate on loudspeakers only.

I hope you can agree that we've had plenty of good suggestions worth exploring if anyone is interested in this all too often neglected topic. 

All of the following suggestions are of potential interest to anyone looking for above average reproduction of timbre - 

Devore Fidelity 0/96 and 0/93 
Sonus Faber 
+Franco Serblin's Ktema or Accordo
Audio Note 
Daedalus Audio 
Tannoy DCs
BBC Harbeth, Spendor, Graham
Vienna Acoustics
ProAc
Legacy Audio Aeris / Focus SE

and Joseph Audio speakers got a special mention too.
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