Speakers: all-time favorite

The Paragon Acoustics Radiants are a terrific value for $2850, although I haven't compared them directly with the Vandersteen 3 Signature. I doubt they would beat the Paragons. These are even a better value than the Paragon Regents. I augment mine with the Sunfire subwoofer in a 4200 cubic foot concrete room, treated with acoustic traps. It's certainly better sound than I've heard from ANYBODY else's system, either dealer or individual, and I've heard some great ones...

as one who owned a pair of merlin vse with bam and now own a pair of aliante model one pinifarina speakers they are the best speaker for deliniating the human voice. don't believe me..ask lars fredell of ultimate audio magazine. see his review in the fall mag. they are detailed..transparent..and accurate down to 45hz. mate them with great tube gear and it doesn't get any better.

But those cost more than my Paragons, and I doubt they're much better, if any.

McIntosh XR-16's For all around great sound and clarity they were one of the best. Great for smaller listening rooms, with a price that was right.

I hope I'm not the only one around here old enough to remember the Braun L-810 loudspeaker. (yep, the electric razor guys from Germany) I purchased mine new in 1972 ($365 each) and they're still performing flawlessly. Ridiculously overengineered, the 1 inch dome tweeter's voice coil weighs only half a gram, but is controlled by a six pound magnet. (not a six pound "magnet structure" as is encountered in some of today's tout sheets on drivers), but a six pound magnet. This tweeter also once survived a direct snowball hit (long story) with no ill effects. A similar, but more modest driver complement was exported to ADS here in the states and assembled into a nice, but less impressive product. (The Brauns ended up being too heavy to ship across the atlantic preassembled given energy costs of the period). Anyway, a two inch dome midrange, and two +/- 8" subs rounded out the device, all mounted on a slate fascia, with a patented internal damping system that makes the things eerily still to the touch even while they're wailing more or less flat out. 4 ohm impedance. The salesman (I remember this distinctly) guaranteed that the speaker would produce 20 to 20K hertz with a 1 watt input (I can't hear those tones, so maybe it was BS, but it was a more trusting age then and a hell of a selling point if you believed it). Not really meaningful to compare them to electrosatics or ribbons, but I've yet to hear a box speaker that could beat them regardless of price or age for quality of sound. (No Dynaudio dealer here, so I've not heard an ESOTAR dome, so must qualify that statement somewhat) They'll go pretty loud, but like me they're not as young as they used to be, and I don't push them too hard nowadays... If anybody else out there owns or has owned a pair, would be very interested in exchanging stories. Also, If anybody has a pair for sale, please contact me. I'd really like to find 3 more for a 5.1 rig. (Note: historical information is from personal memories over 20 years old now and not guaranteed).