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The best speaker you ever heard?

In my opinion, the speaker is by far the most important part of the audio system. After all, it is the only part you hear. OK, the other stuff really matters a lot, but without a great speaker... No go.

I am a bit 'speaker-obsessed' I guess, and now I am wondering: What are the best speakers you have ever heard, and what made them the best?
njonker
pani
1,220 posts
 
TAD Reference with all TAD electronics. If anyone feels "neutral is boring", he should check out this combo. It is the best illustration of how neutrality in true sense is actually the most believable presentation of the source.
quad-man's avatar
quad-man
131 posts
 
I've heard the TAD combo and though I thought the combo was very good they were a little on the boring side with less than exciting bass-slam, imaging was very good as was the tone but not a thrilling ride by any means.

Q
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
I have heard the all TAD system at Pioneer Plaza in Japan, at their TAD showroom. Was shown around by one of their senior execs who happened to be there...a true gentleman. I was very very impressed...on Glenn Gould, I appreciated the clarity of the fingerwork by Glenn Gould...but found the tonal weight of the piano keyboard particularly in the middle a bit hard/light. Simply my opinion...and who knows...maybe it was recorded that way. But I have heard this recording for years and years and on multiple systems. And with the ones I preferred, the tonal balance and weight of the keyboard sounds much more like when I used to study piano. Nevertheless, I fully appreciate the appeal...and think it might be that the whole system could be setup more to my personal taste with a few different components rather than a necessarily deficient design or system. I don't think it would take much. in the end, I admit it did not compel me to investigate further. YMMV.
ctsooner's avatar
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
The more I start listening to higher end systems again, I find that it's most important to listen to any speaker in a true system that is put together for that particular speaker. I've heard some great ones sound poorly and visa versa.
lloydelee21
1,202 posts
 
Agree Ctsooner...and it also needs to be set up for the listener's personal preferences. I realize in extreme examples particularly, it makes perfect sense as we all hear differently. some of us measure the frequency response in-room...few measure our hearing with an audiogram. If you have a slight high-frequency hearing loss...you certainly will perceive 'even' sound differently than someone with 'perfect' hearing. And both of these tests probably don't test for 'everything' that human brains use when hearing music, so the tests don't show everything either.
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