The best "imaging" speakers?

02-04-09: Martykl
Minimonitors, whether alone (ProAc's Tablette is the best iamging mini I've heard)

02-04-09: Stereo
ProAc! Any model.

I picked up a pair of used Proac Tablette 50 Signatures not too long ago and have to concur with the above. The Proacs imaging is just superior to most speakers that I've owned and listened.

MBL 101Es. By far the most realistic soundstage and imaging speaker I've ever heard. Perhaps not so much "realistic" but "HYPER realistic". You are not only there, but you've shrunk a couple of sizes and everything is "lifelike", but also "GIANT"! It's real, but you feel like caterpillar in a forest when the "trees" are only blades of grass. Vocals come from a 30ft woman, you live in the sound hole of a plucked acoustic guitar. Quite possibly the most real and UNREAL speaker I've heard in my life.

Dylanhenry,

Have you ever heard OHm Walsh speakers?

I'm wondering how they compare to MBLs in regards to soundstage and imaging.

I own OHMs but have never heard MBLs.

Fullrange OHMs are a fraction of the cost of full range MBLs though.

Map,

I've heard every MBL (except for the new monster Extremes with the separate bass towers) on multiple ocassions and, as you know, I own Ohm 100s. The big MBLs definetly offer a more dramatic (Dylanhenry's term "hyperrealistic" is a good one) presentation than the Ohms, particularly at the crushing SPLs that MBL likes to use for demos. OTOH, my $1800 Ohms offer -IMHO- a much more neutral octave to octave balance than I've ever heard from the >$50,000 101s. But for this thread, imaging only, I'd still point to the MBLs.

Marty

Martykl,

I've often thought of the OHMs as the poor man's MBLs.

Do you think they are alike enough in terms of imaging and sound stage that this is a fair comparison, or might one who likes the unique presentation of MBLs have a reasonable chance of being satisfied with OHMs at a fraction of the cost?

Also keep in mind that in larger rooms the larger OHM Walsh models will produce a more dramatic (meaning "dynamic") presentation than the smaller ones (I've actually proven this to myself with my 100s and 5's in my larger room), so Walsh 300s or 5's at $5000-$6000 new might be a more valid comparison to MBLs assuming their natural habitat is in larger rooms. That's still only about 1/10th the cost of full range MBLs though it seems.

In smaller rooms, the dramatics of the smaller OHMs might be better suited to match larger MBLs in the same room size.