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Transparency: What speakers have it in spades?

When I got my Spendor SP3/1P speakers a few months ago, I discovered what transparency really meant. I've never been able to hear "through" any speakers like I can with these. True aural "Windex." I wouldn't mind having some of that crystal clarity in a speaker that goes a bit lower, offering more of a bass foundation for orchestral music. The larger Spendors are obvious choices.

But what speakers have you heard that have struck you as being particularly transparent? THANKS.
-Bob
hesson11
hesson11 OP
237 posts
 
Thanks very much for your many interesting viewpoints. I appreciate it.
-Bob
kthomas
911 posts
 
I had a recommendation to make, but then I realized I was thinking of continuousness, not transparency. My bad.
dennis_the_menace's avatar
dennis_the_menace
467 posts
 
Quad (even their dynamic speakers are transparent, given the price range)
SoundLab
Martin Logan
Merlin Audio
Verity Audio
plutos
224 posts
 
Interesting that no one had mentioned JMlab.
JMlab Electra and Utopia
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drubin
3,274 posts
 
The way I am thinking about transparency these days is operational and not musical: the more a component allows me to hear upstream system changes, the more transparent it is. I'm sure this definiiton is not without problems and I'll also say that transparency thus defined is not necessarily a good thing (except for a reviewer perhaps). But I think it's a good, valid definition.

By this definition, the most rransparent speakers I ever owned were Quad 57's. Thiels and Avalons were also very transparent. ProAc and Harbeth: no, sorry. Of course, I was younger when I had the Quads and I think could hear differences more easily.

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