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Best speaker brands for transient response

Hello all, first post / longtime lurker on here. I have really appreciated all I've learned from following threads on here -- much appreciated.

I've had three speakers in my house for a few years, and have learned that transient response is the quality I value most. I'm researching upgrade options and would appreciate recommendations on brands.

Currently I have KLH Model 3s, JBL 4305Ps, and JBL Studio 590s. The sealed KLHs are far superior in transient response / speed / attack. The 4305Ps are pretty good (I'm assuming because they're active) and the 590s, while they do a lot of things well, are relative laggards.

I am assuming that on average a sealed design at any given price point will outperform a ported speaker in this area of performance, but I'm sure there are important exceptions.

I'm also curious if more expensive ported horn speakers (Klipsch heritage line, or the JBL 4349 for example) may deliver equal or better in transient response compared to a lower cost sealed speaker because they're using better drivers, crossovers, etc.

Thank you for any feedback / ideas you have.

tommyuchicago
helomech
1,677 posts
 

 

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.

I’ve owned both the 1.7is and .7s. 

I’ve also auditioned the 3 and 20 series Maggies. They have better bass than most pistonic-cone speakers, especially when driven with high power, massive current reserve amps. That said, I’ve encountered quite a few speakers that I feel have better controlled bass with more realistic definition—less distortion I would say. For example, Børresen X series and Philharmonic BMR Towers both have considerably better defined bass than did my recently departed .7s. Those speakers are 5X and 2.5X the price of the .7s respectively, so it’s not terribly surprising that they’d have better bass.

Some other aforementioned speakers also have subjectively faster bass than the Maggies, though nothing I’ve heard under $15K/pair begins to match the Børresens. 

 

 

terry9
2,333 posts
 

Magnepan sells a bass-only speaker, DWM, crossed over at 200Hz, but flat to nearly 5KHz. I use two to augment my pairs of 2805’s and 2905’s.’They are a push-pull design and are very fast.

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,788 posts
 

 

I eagerly look forward to the dipole dynamic woofer system Magnepan has been working on for quite some time now. It is said to be the basis for a new Magnepan planar-magnetic model, and to be offered as an add-on for the already available Magnepan models.

 

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