best speakers for vocals?

Hey great to see this topic pop back up! Yogiboy, I am indeed back in the market for speakers. Admittingly I am a Sonus Faber fanboy, having lived with the Cremona Auditors for a while. I still very much love these speakers but I will be moving these to my bedroom so I want to upgrade for my main system. Right now I am leaning towards Sonus Faber Memento. I hear SF is moving away from their traditional house sound and towards a more detailed presentation. I need to verify this with a listening session of the Evolution. I have also auditioned the Raidho C1 which is a fine, clear speaker but I feel like it was missing that midrange magic. The search continues.

Tboooe,Did you ever give Harbeth or Spendor a listen? If you like vocals these are the ones!

Sorry, I didn't read all answers, so my apologize if I repeat some.

May be the speaker is not the only thing to consider. Interest of some speakers comes from the amplifier that you can use, as SET ones.
If you want something "plug and play" and compact, you can consider a full audio note system.
If you have more space dedicated to the hifi usage and if you are able to put the hands in the machine, you can have a look on old Klipschorn or Altec speakers.

I still have in mind a wonderful session, 50s jazz, all mono, with SET amps and voice of theater. It was just great.

But the amp is a big part of the sound!

Enjoy
Ugo

I still believe electrostats are (or a qualified "can be") the most accurate sound reproducer -- with some of the best horns, domes, and air-motion devices coming very close.

The 'qualification' with respect to 'stats', is they MUST be driven with a tube amplifier in order for them to deliver a 'complete' signal. One whose weak and tiny (but very necessary) nuances have not been lost in the "cracks" of a typical (solid state) push-pull amplification circuit.

Electrostatics are SO articulate/accurate/analytical/revealing (or whatever adjective you want to use) that when driven by (except the very best) solid state amps, they render EXACTLY what they receive from a solid state gain stage: an audio signal with a few "missing parts", including much of the low-level 'micro detail' which is responsible for harmonics, timbre, and overtones -- the stuff that makes reproduced sound believable to our brains; and which combine as sound waves in air to help create the audio 'hologram' we call 'soundstage'.

Even though it's a little off-topic here, I feel I should explain WHY (very genrally speaking ;~) tubes seem to be better than transistors at 'preserving' an audio signal: it is in fact because of a tube's SHORTCOMING as an 'electrical valve' - it is slow to turn on and off (like a light bulb.) And so there is some 'overlap' as one tube (of a pair) hands the signal off to the other tube. Transistors by contrast, are extremely high-speed devices which turn on and off instantaneously -- and if a pair of gain stage transistors are not PERFECTLY (and laboriously) matched, there will be a little time 'gap' as one hands off the signal to the other, where some subtle parts of the signal will be lost.

Unfortunately, many audiophiles believe that electrostatic speakers require gobs of current (NOT) and so drive them with huge solid state amplifiers. Thus missing out on the enormous pleasure their electrostatic speakers could provide! They need only stop and remember that the amazing Quad 57 was, from the very beginning, driven with a low-powered tube amps. Later on, no solid state amp has ever been able to improve their amazing ability to reproduce the human voice.

Thanks for your kind indulgence ;~)
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