Legacy Audio makes fantastic stuff. Made to order right here in Springfield, Illinois, so there is a waiting period. But I have their Classic HDs, and I couldn't be happier.
What speaker – under $10k – has the best timbre and tonal qualities?
Several years ago, a prominent reviewer had this to say as he was praising the natural and life-like tonal qualities of a particular speaker:
It’s [speakers] like these that make me question the priorities of audiophiles who relegate accuracy of timbre to secondary status. How are the richness and color of instruments, voices, ensembles, and textures to be reproduced in all their infinite variety and beauty if a loudspeaker has less than accurate reproduction of timbre? What do dynamics, imaging, detail, transparency, and the like matter if voices and instruments don’t sound like themselves?
I’ve come the same realization, late in the game. I recently made a lateral move from one of the most popular of recent speaker models to a different speaker, because it sounded so much more natural and realistic in timbre. I sacrificed a touch of image precision in doing so, but it has been well worth it. The sound is so much more engaging. It’s like going from a high-resolution black and white photograph – which is very detailed and impressive – to a color version of the same photo, but with slightly less resolution. The color version offers so much more in terms of realism.
So I’m now contemplating the purchase of what I hope will be my last speakers, with the objective of realistic, natural, and rich (but not artificially warm) tone being the primary attribute.
What speakers, under $10k, would you recommend? (I’m driving them with a PrimaLuna Prologue Premium)
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“Timbre” and “tonal quality” are the characteristics that the OP values most. So a good definition of these qualities is a requirement. For me these attributes are what makes an instrument or voice sound like the instrument or voice that is actually is. What distinguishes these instruments is the amplitude and temporal relationships (phase) of the fundamental tone and the harmonics, as well as Initial note attack and decay. So you need a speaker that is not colored, and one in which the designer has factored in time coherence. You also need an amplifier capable of supplying that initial attack. I have found that Goldenear Triton One.R, Audio Physic Scorpio (now rare), ELAC, and Revel 228BE fill the bill. So does YG, but it’s out of your price range. I’m sure that there are many others - but no one has access to everything. |
Use Magico S1 https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis98ica-magico-s1-mk1-full-range For me, personally, I would not consider Maggies the best for tone and timbre, though many love them. I find I love them on some stuff, not on others, and that can even vary in a song depending on the instrument / voice.
That's called the room. The biggest impact on sound next to the speakers, and the two work in concert. For the op, speaker alone won't give you tone, timbre, and realism. You need to work on your acoustics too. |
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