12 Most Significant Speakers of All Time

Timothy Smith

Joe08867 wrote: »

Hold up everybody, I don't prefer either speaker, I just think the Bose may be more significant. I think they both are overrated.

Personally I would rather have B&O Beolab 1's before the 901's or Dahlquist's.

I was just speaking from personal experience and maybe some bias.

I have heard 901's in several friend's systems over the past 30 yrs and never thought they sounded "good" in any way, just loud ear-bleeders(with a lot of power applied). Maybe significant because of the direct/reflecting wall of sound approach? , the cheap drivers? needing a "Bose" equilizer? Always a mystery to me.

I bet almost every demo you heard on 901's was finished at ear-splitting levels so the owner could show you how loud they play.

On the other hand DQ-10', with only decent equipment, and some fiddling on placement, reveal things on recordings I have never heard or realized were even there that I have listened to 100's of times, that includes 12 different sets of polks including SDA-CRS, SDA-3.1, RTA-12 etc. Maggies, Vandersteens, ADS's, Spica's, and other Dahlquist models. I keep coming back to the DQ-10's. I have converted several enthusiast friends and then found DQ-10's for them, and they are delighted.

Pardon my tirade. I will place the foam rubber "dick-shaped" hat on my head now.

Going back to my analogy...when I think about it, if either Yoko Ono or Kate bush were respectively screaming or whispering in my ear, that would be significant to me.

As always, different strokes for different folks. I will have to try some Beolab's though on your recommendation. I have been tempted a few times on Beo speakers Craigslist. Are they all pretty good?, do they have a consistent sound between models?

Thanks

ohskigod

TroyD wrote: »

Yeah, the Vandy 2....probably the best selling high end speaker of the last thirty years...

did they sell alot of those? good, warms my heart when an audio product sells well for all the right reasons.

on that note, I loved my old Vandy 2's and do miss them. was one of those "I sold them knowing I was going to regret selling them" speakers.

reeltrouble1

ehh, the 901 and a couple M-80's made for some significant fun.

RT1

Joe08867

Timothy Smith wrote: »

On the other hand DQ-10', with only decent equipment, and some fiddling on placement, reveal things on recordings I have never heard or realized were even there that I have listened to 100's of times, that includes 12 different sets of polks including SDA-CRS, SDA-3.1, RTA-12 etc. Maggies, Vandersteens, ADS's, Spica's, and other Dahlquist models. I keep coming back to the DQ-10's. I have converted several enthusiast friends and then found DQ-10's for them, and they are delighted.

As always, different strokes for different folks. I will have to try some Beolab's though on your recommendation. I have been tempted a few times on Beo speakers Craigslist. Are they all pretty good?, do they have a consistent sound between models?

Thanks

As far as DQ-10's go, maybe I should take another listen. Been a long time and maybe I am being harsh about them. There weren't my cup of tea but who knows my listening skills are higher now than back then.

As far as B&O are concerned they have a couple of models that have similar sound if you account for there size differences. I have always liked the warmness the Beo 1's have. I have not heard any of there recent additions. They had a set of bookshelf speaks Beolab 4000's that matched a sliding glass bookshelf stereo. These had a surprising amount of depth and imaging for such a small footprint. Especially for the price. I think you will be impressed.

skipf

Carver ALS. Can't believe they didn't make the list. Quite a departure from standard speaker designs.

Gerald W

The Advent Loudspeaker was $114 each in walnut veneer at a time when the AR3a and KLH 5 were $225-250 each, and the Advent sounded as good or better. Don't know if it's still true; but at one time had the record for sales volume for any single model, over 250,000 pairs.

IMHO you have to have the JBL L-100 on the list. Contemporary to the Advent; but West Coast instead of New England sound. At $275 each (a lot of money in 1970) it didn't sell as many as the Advent; but did hold the record for the highest dollar volume of any speaker at that time. Over 100,000 par sold at $550/pr.

I'd also include the Shearer horn which was the first to time align the woofer and the horn tweeter by recessing the woofer into a short front horn that also had the same dispersion angle as the horn. The Altec A-7 Voice of the Theater was a commercialization of the idea. Talk about significant.

The Magico Mini is good; but most significant of all time? Give me a break. Check back in 10 or 20 years and see if it has had a lasting influence.

However, the BBC monitor LS3/5a does belong. The first good mini-monitor.

The AR-1 was the very first Acoustic Suspension speaker. The AR-3 was the first with a dome mid and dome tweeter and is significant for that; but the AR-1 was more significant.

The list has both the Quad electrostatic and the KLH 9 electrostatic. The Quad came first, so I think it takes the spot, although the KLH 9 was the first to use tall hinged screens. OK, I'll compromise and give them joint ownership of a spot.

I agree with the Tympani Magneplanar for the category of planar magnetic.

I also agree with the Dahlquist DQ-10. Lots of good design ideas in those that lived on long after the speaker was out of production. Got lots of designers thinking.

Infinity IRS V? Maybe not - what influence did it have decades later?

Same thought for the MBL; what is its lasting influence?

How about the KEF 105? A lasting influence? Maybe!

Bose 901? Other than the Bose line; what other company has followed this lead. Patents have long since run out, so copying is not a problem. A number of designs use a rear tweeter for ambience; but 89% reflected sound? Dipoles, of course, existed long before the 901.

Significant? How about the first Transmission Line? Pick a Radford, IMF, or Fried model.

Significant? How about the first coax with the tweeter firing through the pole piece of the woofer? I don't know if Tannoy or Altec was first; but that has to be significant, as it's still used today in the KEF and Thiel lines, over 70 years later.

Jerry

dorokusai

Jerry - I agree 100% on some of those....the Infinity was excessive for the sake of being excessive....MBL? another flash in the pan although the driver design is pretty groundbreaking....Magico Mini, will not be recalled in 20 years. Fried is a missing model.....so is Tannoy. The list is certainly subjective but good points.

mhardy6647

Gerald W wrote: »

...Significant? How about the first coax with the tweeter firing through the pole piece of the woofer? I don't know if Tannoy or Altec was first; but that has to be significant, as it's still used today in the KEF and Thiel lines, over 70 years later.

Jerry

I'd like to think it was the original 604 Duplex (with electromagnet motors rather than PMs) :-)
(1943, according to http://www.audioheritage.org/html/profiles/altec/duplex.htm)


http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/altec/specs/components/604/page1.jpg



But then again, in England, the word Tannoy is used generically for loudspeakers (especially sound reinforcement/PA speakers) as Kleenex is used generically here for tissues :-)

[Deleted User]

Hello Jerry,
Very interesting comments. I don't believe the KLH 9 was hinged, just single panels with a dividing vertical piece of wood. Of course the real audiophile, of that era, would have two pairs. Maybe that was where the hinges came from? The IMF speakers were, and still are, excellent sounding. Any body ever meet Irving (call me "Bud") Fried? The Fried "Coffin" woofer was excellent sounding.
Anybody remember the Rectilinear speakers?
Actually if you take two pairs of Bose 901, and have one pair facing forward and the second facing rearward and power them with two hefty amps from the same era, say Crown DC300 and a Crown IC150 preamp. For rock and roll it ain't too bad, believe me.
How about the Infinity 2000A and Servo-statics, back when Arnie "Noodle" owned the company?
Cheers, Ken

orrb_05

Where's the BOZAKs

dorokusai

orrb_05 wrote: »

Where's the BOZAKs

Probably because Bozak simply sucks when compared to some other vintage stalwarts. I was however, VERY surprised at how good Dynaco sounded at the recent Polkfest. It had been a LONG time since I really set some ears on them and perhaps it was the gear....but have to shake that stigma off for now. I'm not saying it changed my life, how could any Dynaco but it turned my head for sure.

mhardy6647

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

Hello Jerry,
Very interesting comments. I don't believe the KLH 9 was hinged, just single panels with a dividing vertical piece of wood. Of course the real audiophile, of that era, would have two pairs. Maybe that was where the hinges came from? The IMF speakers were, and still are, excellent sounding. Any body ever meet Irving (call me "Bud") Fried? The Fried "Coffin" woofer was excellent sounding.
Anybody remember the Rectilinear speakers?
Actually if you take two pairs of Bose 901, and have one pair facing forward and the second facing rearward and power them with two hefty amps from the same era, say Crown DC300 and a Crown IC150 preamp. For rock and roll it ain't too bad, believe me.
How about the Infinity 2000A and Servo-statics, back when Arnie "Noodle" owned the company?
Cheers, Ken

I thought that the two panels of the KLH 9 could be separated if the end-user wished?

My only ears-on experience with IMF products has been a pair of SuperCompacts that I ahem picked up from the "Yankee swap" pile at our town dump. They are superb; smooth and balanced in that "British monitor" way, with very good LF given their fairly small size. They're also surpsingly sensitive. FWIW, though, I subsequently passed them on to a colleague (a fellow AK member) in exchange for some vintage Nikon 35 mm camera equipment for my son - pretty much a win/win.

xsmi

The Thiel CS 3.6 also could have ben considered.

[Deleted User]

The KLH 9's two panels could be joined together to improve bass response (by lowering the cancellation frequency from the rear wave) at the considerable reduction of stereo spread. It was a hinged bracket, so that is true.
Actually the Bozak Concert Grand speakers had an interesting twist. You could start off with a "starter set" made up of a big cabinet with a single tweeter and woofer. Then as you saved money you could add the additional tweeters, mid range drivers and add more woofers and change the crossovers to build up the single pair of cabinets to a full speaker. The cabinets had knock out openings for the additional components as they got added. Pretty interesting idea if you think of it. They were of an earlier era where an impressive cabinet and a "HiFi" quality added its own flavor to the music.
Talk about classic designs, anybody old enough to remember the JBL Paragons?
A large, wide credenza style cabinet that contained the left and right channels with a beautiful curved front piece of wood. I remember hearing them at House of Sound on Route 40 in Catonsville. Huge speaker.

megasat16

I think I've seen a minty Pair of JBL Pragon sold for about 10K or more.

The old JBL or Altec fetch a good amount of coins today for whatever reason people are paying for.

I don't see anyone mention Westlake monitors yet. Anyone heard them or have them before?

megasat16

These are a few worthy speakers that didn't get mentioned but build by your average hifi 60s brands.

http://audio-database.com/ONKYO/speaker/grandsceptergs-1-e.html



http://audio-database.com/PIONEER-EXCLUSIVE/speaker/model2401twin-e.html

Amherst

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

Hello Jerry,
Very interesting comments. I don't believe the KLH 9 was hinged, just single panels with a dividing vertical piece of wood. Of course the real audiophile, of that era, would have two pairs. Maybe that was where the hinges came from? The IMF speakers were, and still are, excellent sounding. Any body ever meet Irving (call me "Bud") Fried? The Fried "Coffin" woofer was excellent sounding.
Anybody remember the Rectilinear speakers?
Actually if you take two pairs of Bose 901, and have one pair facing forward and the second facing rearward and power them with two hefty amps from the same era, say Crown DC300 and a Crown IC150 preamp. For rock and roll it ain't too bad, believe me.
How about the Infinity 2000A and Servo-statics, back when Arnie "Noodle" owned the company?
Cheers, Ken

Have a pair of R3's here, circa 1972. They were purchased by me, used, in 1975. How about some rock 'n roll on those babies? Not the most accurate but still Loved em.

I would like to add Altec Lansing "Voice of the Theater" speakers to the list.

TroyD

Gerald W wrote: »

The Advent Loudspeaker was $114 each in walnut veneer at a time when the AR3a and KLH 5 were $225-250 each, and the Advent sounded as good or better. Don't know if it's still true; but at one time had the record for sales volume for any single model, over 250,000 pairs.

IMHO you have to have the JBL L-100 on the list. Contemporary to the Advent; but West Coast instead of New England sound. At $275 each (a lot of money in 1970) it didn't sell as many as the Advent; but did hold the record for the highest dollar volume of any speaker at that time. Over 100,000 par sold at $550/pr.

I'd also include the Shearer horn which was the first to time align the woofer and the horn tweeter by recessing the woofer into a short front horn that also had the same dispersion angle as the horn. The Altec A-7 Voice of the Theater was a commercialization of the idea. Talk about significant.

The Magico Mini is good; but most significant of all time? Give me a break. Check back in 10 or 20 years and see if it has had a lasting influence.

However, the BBC monitor LS3/5a does belong. The first good mini-monitor.

The AR-1 was the very first Acoustic Suspension speaker. The AR-3 was the first with a dome mid and dome tweeter and is significant for that; but the AR-1 was more significant.

The list has both the Quad electrostatic and the KLH 9 electrostatic. The Quad came first, so I think it takes the spot, although the KLH 9 was the first to use tall hinged screens. OK, I'll compromise and give them joint ownership of a spot.

I agree with the Tympani Magneplanar for the category of planar magnetic.

I also agree with the Dahlquist DQ-10. Lots of good design ideas in those that lived on long after the speaker was out of production. Got lots of designers thinking.

Infinity IRS V? Maybe not - what influence did it have decades later?

Same thought for the MBL; what is its lasting influence?

How about the KEF 105? A lasting influence? Maybe!

Bose 901? Other than the Bose line; what other company has followed this lead. Patents have long since run out, so copying is not a problem. A number of designs use a rear tweeter for ambience; but 89% reflected sound? Dipoles, of course, existed long before the 901.

Significant? How about the first Transmission Line? Pick a Radford, IMF, or Fried model.

Significant? How about the first coax with the tweeter firing through the pole piece of the woofer? I don't know if Tannoy or Altec was first; but that has to be significant, as it's still used today in the KEF and Thiel lines, over 70 years later.

Jerry

Jesus, Joeseph and Mary...GREAT first post!

One comment, the signifigance of the Infinity IRS....I think that paved the way for the 'statement' speakers that we have today. Sort of the inverse of the Advent or Dynaco A-25.
BDT

[Deleted User]

Hey Amherst,
I'm glad there are still people listening to the IIIs, are they the "lowboys" or the "highboys"? That company fostered quite a few audio people over the years. Jon Dahlquist, "Bongo" Jim Bongiorno (Ampzilla fame) and others all worked for them. They used Phillips tweeters and Peerless drivers. I went to a sales training at their Brooklyn headquarters in the early '70s. I think one of the jazz greats had their speakers, Count Basie maybe? Or, Buddy Rich?
There's also the speakers from Shahinian that should be remembered for using unusual shapes for very wide dispersion.
Enjoy, Ken

TroyD

I wonder whatever happened to Jon Dahlquist......another thing about the DQ-10's, some talk like they were a flash in the pan but they were on the market for a couple of decades.....much longer than most.

I'd still love to hear a pair of KLH 9's. A pair came up for sale a few years back in Charleston (right after I bought my first pair of Quads, actually)....really would have liked to have had them.

BDT

[Deleted User]

I remember having the original Quads at the store and some guy came over to me and said, "Ah, I see you're carrying the Dahlquist speakers". I believe it's never a good idea to contradict a potential customer, so I just said, "Take a listen and tell me what you think". After 20 minutes or so he came back to me and said how incredibly smooth the mid range was, how musical. I agreed and thanked him for stopping by and we talked about his system. I just couldn't find the right moment to tell him what he had been listening to.
In general selling the Quad gear was hard, the electronics were not styled the way American enthusiasts expected their preamps and power amps to be. We probably sold more of the superb 404 amp than anything else. I'm glad the company is now more well known. Once my partner and I did a service call on a very nice lady who needed help with her late husband's system. She had an original single channel Quad system, tube preamp power amp and a single Quad. Stupid us, we asked where the second speaker was. She said, "I'm not sure, I think he had only one!". We took the speaker back to the shop and figured out what was wrong with the bias supply and got her back listening.

[Deleted User]

I'm not familiar with the Westlake Monitors, tell us more!

TroyD

True enough...I hadn't thought of that, the ESL, while it didn't pre-date stereo, mono was far from dead. That's cool.

I've always had a curiosity about Quad electronics but more in a 'because they are odd' as opposed to something I'd really like to experience way. The more I read about Peter Walker, the more I find the guy REALLY interesting.

BDT

[Deleted User]

Hey Troy,
I was too much of an Audio Research knucklehead to pay the Quad electronics the due they deserved. The tuner looked really "different" kind of what we would call "European" but it certainly sounded excellent. The feed-forward circuit was truly revolutionary and gave their power amps the great sound they have.
It's good to grow up!
Ken

[Deleted User]

I once asked Mr. Walker where the best place to put his speakers in a room was. He said, "Take a string and attach it to one of the corners of the room, down at the floor. Then run the string across the room to the corner opposite. Do the same with the other two corners. So, now you have two strings intersecting in the middle of the room. Measure these two strings and find the points one third of their lengths and mark them on the string. This would be the ideal places to put your Quads."

TroyD

ARC is a company that I have almost ZERO experience with.

I think for Quad, the big thing that is hard for most to get past is that they don't pretend to build mega-watt, over kill gear. As you say, more European....as in it meets your needs as opposed to over kill.

I listened to the Quad tube amps on a pair of the new 2805's in Raleigh a few times. Man, what a GREAT sounding rig. They sounded even better with the Manley Snapper amps though.....I'm still trying to figure out how to purchase that rig.

Amherst

Hi Ken, I think the set I own are referred to as "highboy's". They stand 3 ft. tall, and are 2 ft. in width. If memory serves me correctly... there are six drivers in the cabinet. The grill is non-removable.

These haven't been powered up in about 15 years. Something screwed up in my rig back then, and the wife was complaining about those monsters in the living room. So everything got packed away. I moved shortly thereafter to my current residence and the R3's have been in my bedroom closet since.

I have on several occasions wanted to brng them down from the second floor for a whirl and after talking about it, this may force me to carry them downstairs.

[Deleted User]

Audio Research was my real audio breakthrough from really good quality solid state equipment (classic H-K separates) to vacuum tubes. A friend of mine was on good terms with the guys at House of Sound and he borrowed an ARC D75 amp. There was no other company making any audio gear that used tubes at that time. He let me borrow the amp and I flipped out! I couldn't believe how it sounded, just amazed. I sold my H-K Citation preamp and power amp and went completely nuts over the gear.
My two audiophile buddies became believers also, we kept calling the company and telling them how much we loved their stuff. True groupies! Then we started to think about how we could quit our jobs and open a "good stereo store". We had already been selling IMF speakers out of one of the guys houses and had done pretty good. Eventually we became ARC dealers and Bill Johnson, himself, flew his own small cargo plane to Baltimore with our first order. All those wonderful boxes full of lovely gear!

[Deleted User]

Yes, the highboys were the better of the two. Those were the ones I would always suggest to people on the phone when I worked for International HiFi.
Pair them up with a good Sherwood receiver, Dual 1019 turntable, ADC phono cartridge and audio bliss!
I hope they're still kicking.

Amherst

HeHe.....Phase Linear seperates with a Technics SL1300MK2. Yes, Bliss!