Speaker Technology over the last 10 years

To audiofeil's point - it is all about preferences in this hobby.

Exactly - the hobby is nothing more than fashion or fad.

timbre is most important to me and i feel panels do a better job.
Mrtennis (Threads | Answers)

If you highly value timbre in a speaker design, you really need to listen to the Audiokinesis Jazz Modules or Dream Maker speakers. You don't have to wait for CES to hear them either. I own the Jazz Modules and you're welcome to come by for a listen anytime.

hi clio9:

i live in the nyc metro area, do you live near there ?

i would love to hear these speakers.

thanks for the invite.

the most realistic timbre of any speakers i have auditioned were stacked quad esl, mcintosh c22, quad 15 watt tube amps, and thorens t/t with ortofon arm and cartridge.

Mrtennis,

I live in Las Vegas. You may want to call Duke Lejeune and see if he has any customers in your area. Also, since you do audio reviews maybe Duke would be interested in having you review a pair. I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask. Otherwise Duke does an excellent job describing how his speakers reproduce natural timbre on his Web site.

If you ever come out this way feel free to contact me.

04-14-09: Clio09
If you highly value timbre in a speaker design, you really need to listen to the Audiokinesis Jazz Modules or Dream Maker speakers.

In the writeup on its Jazz Module, Audiokinesis writes:

Natural timbre arises from smooth frequency response, but to really get the timbre right requires attention to both the on-axis response and the summed omnidirectional response. The summed omnidirectional response is often called the “power response” and is important because it dominates the spectral balance of the reverberant sound (which in turn dominates the perceived tonal balance in most in-home applications). It’s not enough just to get the first-arrival sound right. In the Jazz Modules we have gone to great lengths to also get the reverberant sound right, using a constant directivity waveguide crossed over to a 10" woofer where their directivities converge.

Audiokinesis' description confirms my experience at home. I'm a long time owner of Mirage loudspeakers, both from their Bi-polar and Omniguide series. In December 2004 my wife & I got married in the living room of our house. We had live acoustic music for the ceremony and afterwards. A couple months later I brought in a pair of Mirage Omnisats for evaluation for a neighbor's system that I was putting together, and my wife and I marveled at how "real" these speakers sounded. To sound "real" they have to be timbre-correct, and to do that, they have to energize the room as live musicians do. With the recent memory of our wedding, it was apparent that these speakers energize the room (the power response) in this manner.

While a loudspeaker can't duplicate the dispersion pattern of every instrument, the latest generation of Omniguide Mirages imitate this pattern *on average*, and it's based on nearly 30 years of research and testing. You get more imaging than the typical omnidirctional speaker because the Mirages throw at least 60% of the energy forward, but--just as with live music--the entire listening area is a workable sweet area with no lobing or venitian blinding artifacts of conventional speaker dispersion patterns.

Audiokinesis is obviously on to this phenomenon, as is Mbl, Gallo, James speakers, and a few others. Some of the conventional speaker companies add a rear-firing tweeter on some models (e.g., Snell) to improve timbre accuracy as well.