Nola micro grand ref. with sub for low end, hear 'em, never forget 'em. Good luck ever finding for resale. Nobobody gives up their Nola's.
Do you have a speaker that’s not a big name maker but punches above its weight? Why?
I have a Gato Fm6. My reference for last 10 years. Sounds amazing. Designer used to work for Gamut. Amazing clarity. Great open midrange and vapor like treble that’s detailed , transparent and vapor like! What are others?
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Qualio Ultra loudspeakers for under $13k delivered in woode crates BTW premium throughout out the Xover is all Mundorf with premium drivers ,wiring connectors ,bass to mid 20s and open baffle on top much better built then my ex Sopra 2 only 2 years old , 3 sets of WBT connectors on top comes with banana resistors to tune the Mundorf AMT tweeter and I have a class D audio Ganfet amp dedicated to bass ,and Pathos inpole Class A Hybrid Mk2 for tweeter,Midrange very versatile and will easilly compete or beat any $30k Loudspeaker ,a true Best Buy in its price class and above. |
My vote goes to Salk Sound. No longer in business. I have the SC Songtowers and love them. I might pick up a pair of Philharmonic Audio BMR Towers at some point. Philharmonic is owned by Dennis Murphy who helped design the the Songtowers and designed/built the crossovers for many of the Salk Sound line. |
Ditto. They will promptly answer nearly any question you have about their products. Their cabinet finishes are absolutely first rate and their speakers perform well beyond that of what you get from the big names at the same price point. Of course, it helps that the drivers they put in them account for as much as half the BOM of the speaker pair. No one else outside of DIY is doing that. |
Chapman Audio. My ears have been lit up by a handful of loudspeakers over the last 50 years upon first listening. Vandersteen, Quad, Snell, Magnepan.,Apogee acoustics, and Chapman Acoustics are on the top of the list. I sent my Chapman T 77’s back to Stuart during Covid for a rebuild. He hand delivered a pair of T9 reference. The only pair in existence at the time. Shortly thereafter, I came upon a pair of Vandersteen model 7’s. How good are the Chapmans? It took me 2 1/2 years of going back-and-forth before I committed to permanently placing the Vandersteen’s. The Chapmans are still in a closet |
My Spatial Sapphire M5s have served me well. They have a really wide soundstage (hence the name). Before them, I had KEF R300s that were too tinny for my ears—and my wife’s. The Spatials were twice the price, but so worth the upgrade. Spatial is a small company with only word-of-mouth advertising, but if you look up the designer Clayton Shaw, you’ll see plenty of well-earned praise. |
thiel cs.5 - when you close your eyes you can't tell where the sound is coming from aside from in front of you - when you open your eyes you can't match the physical location you see from where your ears are hearing the sound come from, which is all over. the stereophonic imaging is totally holographic, and yet there is no "etched" sound quality typical of some other speakers that image well, they are MELLOW. the bass response is essentially perfect down to the low 20s in my listening room. |
@mysteriousmrm +1 on Spatial. My M3 Turbos were fantastic until I just saw them for financial reasons period but they are resolving while not being distant at all. really convinced me of how good open baffles could be. |
Volti Audio Razz for me. I've heard a lot of big name speakers in the under 10K range, and I have not heard anything better for my tastes. I've paired them with reasonably priced tube and solid state amps, and they shine with everything. These don't sound like any other horn speakers. If I ever upgrade I will go with Volti's higher priced models. |
Edifier R1280DB desktop speakers.... With a decent 6-8" subwoofer spliced in. Have no knowledge of the R1280DBS with the sub output. I hear they're "optimized" for the sub output. These things are WAY impressive for their cost and have effective enough tone controls to dial in effectively. Cut the use of my main and bedroom systems by 40-50% Fun |
Philharmonic BMR monitors and Philharmonic 3 (maybe the last one made). Have cycled through many speakers over the years. Completely happy with these and best speakers I have had. Only added a pair of subs. Dennis Murphy's designs are excellent and sound excellent and measure great. Cabinets were made by Jim Salk. Jim Salk's speakers are also terrific. He has retired now. |
If you listen to mostly rock music, I would not particularly recommend Harbeth speakers; I had SHL 5's for 5 or 6 years at least and liked them, but when I switched them out for Fritz Carrera BE's, I realized that I'd really been cutting myself short for those 5 or 6 years; Harbeths just seem to me to voice a lot more appropriately for jazz, folk, male/female vocals and other genres I don't listen to, than for dynamic, more intense rock or reggae. I don't know how they'd be with symphonies or whatever. Now I've got Marten Parker Duos, which are not much more than SHL 5's, and though they name their speakers after jazz greats, those suckers ROCK and throw a big, wide, deep soundstage with wonderfully precise imaging and a fat mid-range. |
The Qualio IQ are "Outstanding"! High quality parts, drivers and built by a company who make some of the best full range drivers you can buy. Not to mention that the IQ are seamless from top to bottom and creates an immersive and dimensional soundstage with holographic imaging plus you can tailor the AMT to your liking; my speakers truly disappears within my listening space... Wig🎵🎶 |
bassdude....I think you hit the nail right on the head! |