Best speaker brands for transient response

Do you find that the Yamaha pro strengths find their way into their premium home audio models like the NS 2000/5000?

Yamaha is a bit unique in the pro scene since they are also a instrument manufacturer. In the 2000s, they made a decision for their musical instruments division to collaborate with the hifi division... and the NS5000 - other speakers and electronics in the series came out of that collaboration. I do some recording at home, etc...and have other use for it besides hifi listening. 

Their higher end PA stuff is different, would remind you more of Meyer, etc than the above mentioned. 

Transient response has been written about in audio journals for the past 50 years. And it is not my experience that it is a synonym for low distortion. Could you elucidate on that, because I must be misunderstanding you.

I can understand that something with more distortion might blunt the transient response, but a lack of distortion does. not automatically mean that a speaker will have excellent transient response.

And I assure you, a Magnepan, either a .7 or a 1.7 or ANY Magnepan (and these models are far under $10k) don’t have an iota of distortion in the bass.

Now if you’re speaking of the different materials designers use that cause a speaker to sound less coherent, I can follow that. Jon Dahlquist said - 50 years ago - that if a speaker had the same materials top to bottom, it would sound more coherent, but if the speaker had a cone made of one material, a midrange made of another and a tweeter of another, the speaker would sound less coherent. He did not say that it would cause the speaker to sound slow, just that it would not sound as though the speakers was "cut from the same cloth."

It would be nice if older issues of The Absolute Sound were available, because that was how many of us (much) older music lovers (not just audiophiles) learned how to listen - and evaluate - components. People seem unaware that the High End community is older than they are, and that concepts such as transient response are so old, we barely discuss it any more.

and for Larry5729, think of transient response as this: when you hear a sound, what tells you that it is a door slamming and not a firework going off? The transient response (also call "the leading edge") is the first sound coming off whatever is banged,  or struck. You wouldn't mistake a door slamming for a firework, and the reason is that your brain sorts out - in a microsecond - the type of sound and then identifies it. That is due to the transient, without which, again, a piano would sound like an accordion. 

172 responses so far. Who would have thought transient response was such an important thing for audiophiles? I figured it was at the bottom of the list.

@cdc I just can't express how grateful I am with everyone pitching in with their feedback. I've learned so much and can, because of this thread, make a purchase decision with confidence.

Daedalus Audio speakers have been the best fit for me and best overall that I have heard.  I would be very tempted by the currently available used Apollos if I didn't already have a set of Ulysses.

Very natural sound,  non fatiguing.  Bass is fast, accurate, deep.  Do not overload my medium room, but can produce chest thumping bass.  At 96-98 dB efficiency depending on model, they provide a lot of amp pairing options.  Doesn't hurt that they look great.

I usually listen without subs because I don't really need them most of the time, though my Rythmiks match up very well with a low crossover to dig deep to 20 Hz and below.  I have a pair of Daedalus BOW subs on order more so for a future much larger room.  I love the Rythmiks and will keep them in another system,  but I'm excited to hear subs that can fully match the Ulysses sound signature.

Transient responses from a speaker is a very curious topic. I always interpret what transient means by comparing the Appalachian mountains to the Rocky Mountains. Attack of an instrument being relayed through a recording, level of crispness in what you’re listening to, and what the hell goes on during a recording session when they’re playing with all these levers.

I always liked JBL speakers, have not heard them for a while.

I think what’s really important here is the quality of the amplifier and how it handles that sort of thing in relation to whatever the speaker achieves.

Probably tough to get a good definitive answer here.  Sealed speakers are not that common and there's plenty of portage speakers that probably give really good transient response I'm not sure there's a distinction between the two.