Still rocking my 1980's Klipsch La Scalas with new ALK clone crossovers. I keep comparing speakers against them and nothing beats them yet. I got them in the raw birch which has yellowed a bit over time. Instead of rehabbing them I set spotlights against them which shows off their architecture and enhances the aesthetic.
Heard the frigg 02 last year at an audio show. My favorite speaker by far. Unfortunate that O Audio priced their entry level speaker at 14k!! Priced themselves out of the market for many customers in the USA. I’d love to own them but $14k is just too much
Steve, you've been reviewing speakers since the time of Mozart. Before there were cellphones I was reading your reviews in Stereophile and The Absolute Sound. Every year a new iteration of speaker was qualitatively better than the last. "This year's Thiel is better than last year's Thiel." A veil was lifted. Bass deeper. Soundstage wider. Eventually, singularity between sound reproduction and live music had to be reached. It took me awhile to realize that audio singularity will never come. Have we really progressed since that Quad ESL-57? Yeah, we've got wireless now and integrated amps in speakers but ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. We're not closer to audio singularity than from the day we started. Only the strings and body of a violin can make the sound of a violin.
I was with a friend at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest several years ago. We walked into the Wilson Audio room and immediately started looking for the band. Very seriously, we looked for the live band playing the jazz we were hearing. The music was that convincing. So at least in that case, in that room, at that time, singularity did exist.
I own three sets of Klipsch speakers. Cornwall 1.5s, Heresy 2, and the RM-51s. I love the Cornwalls! Heresy...meh. But, it bothers me that the new LaScalas cost 15K but use a budget Chinese made crossover. It really makes you wonder what could be done if the parent company accountants weren't in the decision room. Personally, I think they should spin off the Heritage line into an employee owned or another private buyer so they can focus on value. Maybe go straight to consumer to drop distribution costs.
"Budget" Chinese crossover? I guess you've never seen any of the great sounding Klipsch XO's from the mid-70's. For capacitors, think "Made in Mexico." Those speakers sounded pretty good. 👍😊
@Keendave I got mine in an estate sale. The whole entertainment center with everything in it. They didn't mark anything in the auction as what it actually was. I got the center, the Klipsch speakers, a mid 80s Kyocera receiver, 2 CD players, 3 DVD players, and a large bag of cordless phones for $115. Honestly the receiver was the best thing of the lot.
@ChrisJohnson-c3sI have owned several pair of Maggies and loved all of them. I recently sold my 3.7is and think they may be my final Magnepan. As good as they are there are compromises as with everything. I just wanted to move on from those compromises and I am now a Focal owner and couldn’t be happier.
@hifiGuy-id8rcI'm so glad you found your dream speakers, I don't use magnepans in the normal way. I completely absorb the back wave of the speakers and don't let them reflect. With upgraded Crossovers and a couple of JL Subs it's pretty awesome I wish you could hear it.
Ich habe mal mit erleben dürfen, das 40Jahre alte 250€uro Grundig Lautsprecher vom Klang her locker so gut waren wie 3000€uro "Billige" von Burmester. Sachen gibts.
I ALWAYS LOVE WATCHING YOU'RE VIDEOS! Have you ever listened too passive Hi-Vi Swans? ive heard many good reviews and Id love to see a video of you're thoughts :) ive ordered HiVi-Swans Oasis 140 and paired with a fosi Audio TB10D and I'm very excited to try them :) retail price USD is 129.00 on same for 119.00 USD :)
Unforgettable Loudspeakers: PHY-HP H21LB15 Western Electric Horns from High-End Auditorium23 LineMagnetic based Horns BBC LS5/9 type speakers from a variety of brands.
Frigg & LaScala & Quad - Steve, three absolute great speakers in their own right, however your thoughts on whether us Audiophiles will ever be blessed with a speaker that can do ALL of which these three speakers do so well? (we can likely add another speaker or two to this List, however the same question remains - will we EVER have a single speaker that can do it ALL 🤔).
Actually there are plenty of others he doesn't like such as the Beveridge speaker he considers his biggest mistake, and the older Quad ESL 63 which he considers too cerebral. Why do people pick on the Bose 901 and Bose in general. Have you ever really say down and listened to Bose 901s which were well set up with synergistic electronics? They can sound well above average; and better than the speakers that those who make fun of them have.
@sidesup8286unfortunately don't have a proper room for the 901s. I'd really like to give the early sealed ones a shot . Personally I'd get a pair without the equalizer and hook them up with a Yamaha AVR ( pre HDMI) . Get a pair of subwoofers to handle the bass . I suspect a hundred watt AVR will be more than sufficient. Possibly use some treble boost on top . But my ears are done at 13 hertz anyway. An actual tweeter might be in order...possibly an AMT ( dipole might work) that could sit on top or below ( which ever is right) . Crossed over high enough and a first order on just the tweeter could even work. Anyway I know I could make it work. This is what Bose should have done starting with the original 901s. That equalizer was just a bandaid solution. Making those full range drives produce the bass was a huge mistake. Whilst it did kind of work. It put a huge unnecessary load on them . Driving them into large amounts of distortion at even moderate levels. My current system has a pair of Bose 301seris IIs with two other small pais of speakers in a 2.1 with a 12 inch 200 watt amplifier ( Verifi Caldera 12) . The 12 ince sub blended nicely with the Bose 8 inch midbass ( yeah I stuffed the port) . I had a pair of Advent fried egg tweeters ( OLA 4 olm) so they won't in the front tweeter position. I later replaced the rear firing reflected tweeters with an Audax HD100D25 4 olm 25 mm dome . That reduced the reflected portion a few decibels from the fried eggs direct portion. I ended up with a first order crossover at 2600 hertz for the midbas and 8 olm tweeter network. It has a variable L-pad and is down a few decibels to match the midbass. The modified 301s sound good at any level ( with the sub ) . The Advent fried eggs really filled the upper midrange and has excellent vocals...that means the rest is very good. The original Bose 8 inch midbass is alot better than i expected...they are staying. I use the extra two pair of speakers to fill the space a bit more . I can get up from my folding chair and dance without losing my wonderful sound stage.
I hope Herb will return in the new year. I would love to be able to hear those La Scalas at some point. I think bass may be one of the hardest regions to reproduce in audio.
I once turned a JBL "L65" on its side, placed on a stand. Vastly improved the sound in the largish old room . The speaker had provisions for rotating the inverted horn tweeter, from vertical to horizontal, and was mentioned in the instruction as possibly beneficial for one stereo side. A feature I have never seen elsewhere .
It may help with the time arrival being more even. Some speaker companies said they do this for perfection, but I’ve heard some awesome speakers that don’t.
@JK-rt2jj Totally depends on the room. I have a pair of dual transmission line Castle Winchesters that are designed to play in a flat vertical plane-- spikes and all. A very slight tilt fills the room unobstructed by furniture. This is the exact opposite of large Wilsons, but fills the same purpose-- to fill the room, not just to focus on the MLP.
@richardelliott8352 The Jubal's are designed to be played on their side albeit in a mirror imaged form. This is how JBL Studio monitors are set up. Rotating the tweeter 90 degrees lines up the 5" mid in the vertical plane. If you think flipping the speaker vastly improved the sound-- flip the tweeter to VASTLY improve the sound. FYI: The 077-- 2405 'slot' tweeter is spectacular between 9K and 20K and has an even dispersion pattern of 40 degrees V and 120 degrees H
with speakers, it's all about the drivers. While they do not stand alone , nothing is an important as the quality of the driver. If a company has very little to say about their drivers, it makes shopping for quality sound so much easier.
Parts quality matters. So does having high quality boxes. When Edgar Villchur was working on his Acoustic Suspension Principle he had a young man with excellent woodworking skills in his class. Henry Kloss built high quality boxes for Villchur’s Acoustic Suspension Idea to make audiophile history. Never overlook build quality of the boxes. Box quality matters!
Old AR speakers like the 3 and 3A, are known for their quite audible internal cavity resonances, which some take for good bass. It's not an unpleasant quality, but true bass sounds minus the internal cabinet sounds are what is accurate.
@sidesup8286before Villchur most speakers were not sealed. Some did not even have a back on them. There may have been resonances but having true sealed boxes were an important part of the Acoustic Suspension Principle. Of course in time, testing equipment and measurement systems evolved showing things Villchur wasnt able to see (or maybe even hear) given the technical limitations of the late 1950s. The basic point still stands 😉🤣 Today we have data accumulated over decades to allow us to measure with greater degrees of accuracy things Villchur et al could not. With better bracing, materials, & testing methodology we can eliminate those internal resonances and the beauty of it all is that speaker building techniques and technology will continue to develop. One issue is will this lead to speakers few can really afford sensibly? 🤔
@Aswag....I didn't know that....that many speakers didn't even have backs. I once made a one driver speaker, with a small driver and put it in a ridiculously large box. I got enough bass from the box's cabinet volume, and heard no resonances. I can brace a cabinet using super glue (no screws) and the materials cost me less than 10 bucks.
@sidesup8286yes if you go back to look at some of the vintage speakers many with horn “squawkers” (i.e. “midrange”) and horn”tweeters” or multicellular horns you will see designs with no backs. Some were very efficient and since power was valve/tube technology at the time low power dictated high efficiency in speaker systems.
List of jazz adjacent music for your consideration: 1. KNOWER - Hyper-technical electro-funk jazz fusion, virtuosic rhythmic density. 2. Bandler Ching - Experimental European groove-jazz with modern harmonic abstraction. 3. HADOUK Trio - Ethno-jazz blending world instrumentation and modal improvisation. 4. Koma Saxo - Scandinavian avant-jazz with good melody. 5. Terrace Martin - West Coast jazz-hip-hop fusion, lush and groove-centric. 6. Samuele Strufaldi - Contemporary European jazz, textural, harmonically exploratory. 7. Oscar Jerome - UK jazz-soul guitar with lyrical melodic phrasing. 8. BIGYUKI - Aggressive electric jazz keys, rhythmically explosive, urban edge. 9. Jesse Koolhaas - Modern jazz composition, rhythmically intricate, ensemble-focused. Each with great sound.
I dunno Steve … a friend have 2912 and yes it was sublime playing Ella and intimate simple music. But most music just have no tension and power. A one trick pony …
Sound perception is massively subjective. The comments here prove this with individuals having their own favourites. I spent far too much of my hard earned cash in the 70s and 80s looking for a better sound, only to find just a different one. I interviewed with Wharfedale in the UK in 1977 for a job in their research department. This included some very varied listening 'tests'. Rogers Ls3/5a were sublime, but no good in a big room, Kef 104ab were wonderful, but needed a big room. Gale 301s were the speakers I truly wanted, anything from Bose just boomed. So sound is always a compromise (for 99.99% of the population anyway). 50 years later and I'm listening to a pair of 1975 vintage Leak 2060s in my hifi system. For my TV sound system it's a 1999 vintage Mordaunt Short 206 based setup - which also sound great in stereo mode. All driven my NAD amplifiers. A compromise - my compromise - that I like the sound of, fits into my house, didn't cost as much as my house, allows me to listen to music and not my system.
I know you like planar magnetic speakers based on your reviews of Magnepan and Diptyque. So, have you heard of Clarisys? They are the ultimate planner magnetic speakers. I would bet you could easily find them in NY. And a review of the Clarisys Minuet or Studio would be spectacular. You would probably do the review in the store given the very high cost and other possible complications. But you reviewed the giant Wilson in the store, and that was very interesting.
Thanks for watching, no, I don't think they have any dealers in New York City. I have heard them at shows, I can't say I was all that impressed. Of course, shows are not the best environment to critique sound.
I still think it is possible to be an audiophile on a low budget. I can never afford 15000$ on a set of livingroom speakers. That is why I use headphones and the Sennheiser HD 800S is the highest for my I could ever afford. In the past I went out to listen to demos and listened to 50ooo$ DACS and such but the difference at least for me comparing to my own dac and 800s sounded similar or sometimes better. Audiophilism has degraded to a point where many focus on the value of their equipment, rather than the joy of listening to the actual music!
I agree. A subwoofer or two can make a big difference. They don't necessarily need to be expensive ( under $1000 fir two) . The thing is if they can get down into the high twenties and have a few hundred watts available even a Classi D amplifier is sufficient. This gives one alot of freedom in the mains and their amplifiers. You don't need the big power nor deep bass extension that way . That will certainly cut some cost then . Also in a two way stand mount the midrange won't be as compromised to get that bass extension ( let the subs do the heavy lifting) . It all part of being an audiophile. Make the best of your budget and stay inside it . Your family will appreciate this more than having an ultimate system. Good enough is good enough at the end of the day.
Oh it's not so costly to assemble a speaker based system. There are speakers you can buy used for $500/pr. that are more fun to listen to than any headphone. Even if the headphone has somewhat better sound quality in certain ways. The speaker will sound more real spatially. Headphones sound like humming to yourself. Speakers sounds like they are not a part of you; everything is happening way in front of you.
So good question here Steve, how would the royal Snell A (one of my favorites too as you had mentioned before) stack up against this year's picks? Just curious, to me the Snell A is still a very tough speaker to beat in the right room, with nearly anything I've heard or had anyway.
Thanks for watching. I loved the Snell, because it was such a well balanced design. Very easy to live with, but it was nowhere as clear, dynamic, and focused as the best contemporary speakers.
Klipsch LaScala AL6, going from a 15" Woofer to a 12" Woofer...not a GOOD thing. "Klipsch AL5 to AL6: Dynamic Miscalculation" from Volti Audio and let's get some education about Klipsch AL5 - Al6.
I 100% agree with you on the Klipsch LaScala bottom end, and you would't know unless you heard them. An acoustic string bass is often exaggerated and boomy from a front radiating driver, but a real string bass doesn't sound like a loud, one-note wonder. With the LaScala, a string bass really sounds like a string bass does when listening live! It doesn't project string bass, it resonates string bass. That's a difficult task to get an acoustic instrument to sound accurate through electronic means, but the LaScala pulls it off like no other. Except the fully horn loaded Klipschorns of course. 😎
i think these speaker revewe ppl should post a listening test, because i can promise bro is not hearing alot over 14khz at that age, so how can i trust sound from someone who cant even hear?
I agree with your spirit , but space is costly. Because acoustic isolation is so important for a record player, my buying decision was formed, in part, because the table was famously successful in England, where living spaces are generally smaller than in America. Cost was the major part of my buying decision.
@richardelliott8352 The CD and lossless streaming have solved record player feedback problems crackle thump 40 years ago. all records are gently filtered at 40hz bass so not even full frequency response, and 98% of records mastered since 1978 went through a digital delay line in other words all records are digital, even those on analog sources. Cant for the life of me understand how random clicks on a limited bandwidth limited dynamic range type media is anywhere acceptable in 2025. Lascalas have dynamic range which records cannot supply to them. anyway Enjoy your setup.
The last B&W's that sounded like music to me were the 801 version from the lattter 1980s. Many models I haven't heard though. Seems they have developed a reputation in recent years of making bright showy speakers that lack accuracy or believability. That's not how musical instruments sound.
@sidesup8286You may need to listen to some more updated B&W speakers then. They are totally the opposite to how you have described their sound. Not bright at all and the detail and accuracy in the instruments and vocals are superb.
Us expert modders would love to tell people that mind boggling absolutely incredible realistic sound does not have to cost much money at all. Look used vintage and try to figure out ways to improve the sound even further by yourself. They've got a lot of people (& a lot of gall), believing that you have to have 20 grand speakers to get great sound. By buying the right stuff used at favorable prices, you can put together a truly great system for 1/10th of $20k.
The best equipment doesn't tend to come cheap. Try and think about what the market is like at the higher end. Doctors, lawyers or VPs might be able to afford $15k speakers, yes, but the wealth of the rich self employed group of people is growing faster than that of even the highly educated professional middle class. It isn't fair.
Why would anyone complain about not being able to afford the best equipment? For no more than the cost of a new Ferrari, you can put together a system that is 70% as good !!
I sorry this hobby is so mechanical heartless souless electronic fake dishonest barely real human like it’s equipmentbfake imitations of real life waste of time
The BEST is pretty subjective, isn't it? Everyone has different tastes in music and what good sound quality is. I've been using the same pair of vintage Large Advent loudspeakers I bought new in 1978 and never had the desire to upgrade to anything else. I'd put these speakers up against anything being produced today.
Can't argue with that. I would think my speakers might best yours, but given the subjectivity of human hearing, any contest finish line is inside the head only , so I have only my perception of reality to go on, and I know my brain didn't evolve with the capability of objective hearing, no matter what I might think.
![LILY fights the PROTOTYPE in ENDING! | Poppy Playtime [Chapter 5 Good Ending] Showcase](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WT81snBfmCI/mqdefault.jpg)
Still rocking my 1980's Klipsch La Scalas with new ALK clone crossovers. I keep comparing speakers against them and nothing beats them yet. I got them in the raw birch which has yellowed a bit over time. Instead of rehabbing them I set spotlights against them which shows off their architecture and enhances the aesthetic.
Still playing my Klipsch Heresey speakers purchased in 1978 and they sound great!
I am not surprised. My Klipsches are from 1998, the KSB 3.1's that rock to this very day after 27 years.
I've really enjoyed the last two speaker recaps! I'm putting my vote in for a bit more Herb in 2026 too.
Love it! This selection shows your experience!
Damn dude you rolling up on 300k subs! When I first started watching you were around 30K! Congrats on your steady climb!
Thanks Gil!
The very best!
Heard the frigg 02 last year at an audio show. My favorite speaker by far. Unfortunate that O Audio priced their entry level speaker at 14k!! Priced themselves out of the market for many customers in the USA. I’d love to own them but $14k is just too much
agreed, for 7k you can have a lot of speaker. I would get the mofi v10
O Audio Frigg 2 should sound good at the cost. Man oh man!
Can't wait until the all new Lirogon Instruments Loudspeakers comes to the USA...Best Kept Secret on the World Market !!
Nice list! Those first ones would be what I'd get if I was in the market for new speakers.
The O Audio's deep bass is from the added volume behind their mid-range driver is a very clever design.
Friggen great speakers!
Always great reviews. I would like to hear your review and impressions of the new Emotiva LB12.
Steve, you've been reviewing speakers since the time of Mozart. Before there were cellphones I was reading your reviews in Stereophile and The Absolute Sound. Every year a new iteration of speaker was qualitatively better than the last. "This year's Thiel is better than last year's Thiel." A veil was lifted. Bass deeper. Soundstage wider. Eventually, singularity between sound reproduction and live music had to be reached. It took me awhile to realize that audio singularity will never come. Have we really progressed since that Quad ESL-57? Yeah, we've got wireless now and integrated amps in speakers but ya-da-ya-da-ya-da. We're not closer to audio singularity than from the day we started. Only the strings and body of a violin can make the sound of a violin.
I was with a friend at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest several years ago. We walked into the Wilson Audio room and immediately started looking for the band. Very seriously, we looked for the live band playing the jazz we were hearing. The music was that convincing. So at least in that case, in that room, at that time, singularity did exist.
@greggacek1655 This is incorrect. Sounding real is not the same thing as sounding right.
Try Volti or Davone
I agree completely regarding Gimmie shelter’s actuality. It’s just a shout away.
Yeah, everyone thinks of the two attempts of Trump and the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Viewer system floor is gorgeous. Wow.
Yeah…nice!
Happy new year Steve. Always a nice surprise to see your esteemed self on my feed 🫡
Thanks!
I own three sets of Klipsch speakers. Cornwall 1.5s, Heresy 2, and the RM-51s. I love the Cornwalls! Heresy...meh. But, it bothers me that the new LaScalas cost 15K but use a budget Chinese made crossover. It really makes you wonder what could be done if the parent company accountants weren't in the decision room. Personally, I think they should spin off the Heritage line into an employee owned or another private buyer so they can focus on value. Maybe go straight to consumer to drop distribution costs.
Agreed with your assessment..that's very expensive when cutting a corner !!!!!!
I have the heresy 2, picked them up for around 300 in 1991
Love my Heresy IV pair.
"Budget" Chinese crossover? I guess you've never seen any of the great sounding Klipsch XO's from the mid-70's. For capacitors, think "Made in Mexico." Those speakers sounded pretty good. 👍😊
@Keendave I got mine in an estate sale. The whole entertainment center with everything in it. They didn't mark anything in the auction as what it actually was. I got the center, the Klipsch speakers, a mid 80s Kyocera receiver, 2 CD players, 3 DVD players, and a large bag of cordless phones for $115. Honestly the receiver was the best thing of the lot.
If you want the best, in my opinion it’s Legacy Audio, the Whisper model is truly sublime
Good evening Steve; I wish you a Happy New Year.
Thanks!
@keplermission Who are you ?
So in 2025 the minimum cost of bliss is $15,000 per pair New . A great reason to only buy used .
Well, dunno. I bought a pair of Genelec 8361s for $8,000 ish and that's it.
Lovely speaker 3ikkv-SHRo0-The Cure - Lullaby (Acoustic Version)
I would love to hear your opinion on the JBL stuido 6 698 towers if you have ever had a chance to listen to them?
Is this the best time to be an audiophiliac?
Sorry Steve you're getting a little too horny for me, I'll stick with magnepan😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Maggies still rule
You are so right my friend I have 3.7i's and have had lots of great speakers before them but nothing is like this
@ChrisJohnson-c3sI have owned several pair of Maggies and loved all of them. I recently sold my 3.7is and think they may be my final Magnepan. As good as they are there are compromises as with everything. I just wanted to move on from those compromises and I am now a Focal owner and couldn’t be happier.
@hifiGuy-id8rcI'm so glad you found your dream speakers, I don't use magnepans in the normal way. I completely absorb the back wave of the speakers and don't let them reflect. With upgraded Crossovers and a couple of JL Subs it's pretty awesome I wish you could hear it.
3.7s! Nice. I have to make do with my MMGS and 0.7S.
@markd9130I'm sure they sound fabulous. Try my idea absorb the back wave on your maggies. Only listen to what's coming out the front
Tell Alex to get some speaker stands
Doing fine with the pucks but yes, they are massive on the shelf 😅
any bets on that the prices will BE ?
You should review some Martin Logan Electrostats 😊
And Sound Lab Electrostats.
B&W For me the nt range
Ich habe mal mit erleben dürfen, das 40Jahre alte 250€uro Grundig Lautsprecher vom Klang her locker so gut waren wie 3000€uro "Billige" von Burmester. Sachen gibts.
I ALWAYS LOVE WATCHING YOU'RE VIDEOS! Have you ever listened too passive Hi-Vi Swans? ive heard many good reviews and Id love to see a video of you're thoughts :) ive ordered
HiVi-Swans Oasis 140 and paired with a fosi Audio TB10D and I'm very excited to try them :) retail price USD is 129.00 on same for 119.00 USD :)
Unforgettable Loudspeakers:
PHY-HP H21LB15
Western Electric Horns from High-End
Auditorium23 LineMagnetic based Horns
BBC LS5/9 type speakers from a variety of brands.
Are there any good cheap Chinese hifi brands?
Frigg & LaScala & Quad - Steve, three absolute great speakers in their own right, however your thoughts on whether us Audiophiles will ever be blessed with a speaker that can do ALL of which these three speakers do so well? (we can likely add another speaker or two to this List, however the same question remains - will we EVER have a single speaker that can do it ALL 🤔).
There is no speaker that Steve doesn’t like except the Bose 901s!
Actually there are plenty of others he doesn't like such as the Beveridge speaker he considers his biggest mistake, and the older Quad ESL 63 which he considers too cerebral. Why do people pick on the Bose 901 and Bose in general. Have you ever really say down and listened to Bose 901s which were well set up with synergistic electronics? They can sound well above average; and better than the speakers that those who make fun of them have.
@sidesup8286unfortunately don't have a proper room for the 901s. I'd really like to give the early sealed ones a shot . Personally I'd get a pair without the equalizer and hook them up with a Yamaha AVR ( pre HDMI) . Get a pair of subwoofers to handle the bass . I suspect a hundred watt AVR will be more than sufficient. Possibly use some treble boost on top . But my ears are done at 13 hertz anyway. An actual tweeter might be in order...possibly an AMT ( dipole might work) that could sit on top or below ( which ever is right) . Crossed over high enough and a first order on just the tweeter could even work. Anyway I know I could make it work. This is what Bose should have done starting with the original 901s. That equalizer was just a bandaid solution. Making those full range drives produce the bass was a huge mistake. Whilst it did kind of work. It put a huge unnecessary load on them . Driving them into large amounts of distortion at even moderate levels.
My current system has a pair of Bose 301seris IIs with two other small pais of speakers in a 2.1 with a 12 inch 200 watt amplifier ( Verifi Caldera 12) . The 12 ince sub blended nicely with the Bose 8 inch midbass ( yeah I stuffed the port) . I had a pair of Advent fried egg tweeters ( OLA 4 olm) so they won't in the front tweeter position. I later replaced the rear firing reflected tweeters with an Audax HD100D25 4 olm 25 mm dome . That reduced the reflected portion a few decibels from the fried eggs direct portion. I ended up with a first order crossover at 2600 hertz for the midbas and 8 olm tweeter network. It has a variable L-pad and is down a few decibels to match the midbass. The modified 301s sound good at any level ( with the sub ) . The Advent fried eggs really filled the upper midrange and has excellent vocals...that means the rest is very good. The original Bose 8 inch midbass is alot better than i expected...they are staying. I use the extra two pair of speakers to fill the space a bit more . I can get up from my folding chair and dance without losing my wonderful sound stage.
@sidesup8286 I have some 901 6 series I enjoy them sometimes. 301 2's4s and the last one 2 is best I think but I also enjoy my HC 60's.
I hope Herb will return in the new year. I would love to be able to hear those La Scalas at some point. I think bass may be one of the hardest regions to reproduce in audio.
Tilting a tower speaker slightly upwards is one of the single, simple hacks you can do that really improves your sound.
I once turned a JBL "L65" on its side, placed on a stand. Vastly improved the sound in the largish old room . The speaker had provisions for rotating the inverted horn tweeter, from vertical to horizontal, and was mentioned in the instruction as possibly beneficial for one stereo side. A feature I have never seen elsewhere .
It may help with the time arrival being more even. Some speaker companies said they do this for perfection, but I’ve heard some awesome speakers that don’t.
No, your phase is not correct when tilted, if the speaker was designed to play upright.
@JK-rt2jj Totally depends on the room. I have a pair of dual transmission line Castle Winchesters that are designed to play in a flat vertical plane-- spikes and all. A very slight tilt fills the room unobstructed by furniture. This is the exact opposite of large Wilsons, but fills the same purpose-- to fill the room, not just to focus on the MLP.
@richardelliott8352 The Jubal's are designed to be played on their side albeit in a mirror imaged form. This is how JBL Studio monitors are set up.
Rotating the tweeter 90 degrees lines up the 5" mid in the vertical plane. If you think flipping the speaker vastly improved the sound-- flip the tweeter to VASTLY improve the sound.
FYI: The 077-- 2405 'slot' tweeter is spectacular between 9K and 20K and has an even dispersion pattern of 40 degrees V and 120 degrees H
with speakers, it's all about the drivers. While they do not stand alone , nothing is an important as the quality of the driver. If a company has very little to say about their drivers, it makes shopping for quality sound so much easier.
Parts quality matters. So does having high quality boxes. When Edgar Villchur was working on his Acoustic Suspension Principle he had a young man with excellent woodworking skills in his class. Henry Kloss built high quality boxes for Villchur’s Acoustic Suspension Idea to make audiophile history. Never overlook build quality of the boxes. Box quality matters!
Old AR speakers like the 3 and 3A, are known for their quite audible internal cavity resonances, which some take for good bass. It's not an unpleasant quality, but true bass sounds minus the internal cabinet sounds are what is accurate.
@sidesup8286before Villchur most speakers were not sealed. Some did not even have a back on them. There may have been resonances but having true sealed boxes were an important part of the Acoustic Suspension Principle. Of course in time, testing equipment and measurement systems evolved showing things Villchur wasnt able to see (or maybe even hear) given the technical limitations of the late 1950s. The basic point still stands 😉🤣 Today we have data accumulated over decades to allow us to measure with greater degrees of accuracy things Villchur et al could not. With better bracing, materials, & testing methodology we can eliminate those internal resonances and the beauty of it all is that speaker building techniques and technology will continue to develop. One issue is will this lead to speakers few can really afford sensibly? 🤔
@Aswag....I didn't know that....that many speakers didn't even have backs. I once made a one driver speaker, with a small driver and put it in a ridiculously large box. I got enough bass from the box's cabinet volume, and heard no resonances. I can brace a cabinet using super glue (no screws) and the materials cost me less than 10 bucks.
@sidesup8286yes if you go back to look at some of the vintage speakers many with horn “squawkers” (i.e. “midrange”) and horn”tweeters” or multicellular horns you will see designs with no backs. Some were very efficient and since power was valve/tube technology at the time low power dictated high efficiency in speaker systems.
Too bad. You never reviewd paradigm fonder 100f for 7000$ are one of the top😊😊😊😊😊😊
List of jazz adjacent music for your consideration: 1. KNOWER - Hyper-technical electro-funk jazz fusion, virtuosic rhythmic density.
2. Bandler Ching - Experimental European groove-jazz with modern harmonic abstraction.
3. HADOUK Trio - Ethno-jazz blending world instrumentation and modal improvisation.
4. Koma Saxo - Scandinavian avant-jazz with good melody.
5. Terrace Martin - West Coast jazz-hip-hop fusion, lush and groove-centric.
6. Samuele Strufaldi - Contemporary European jazz, textural, harmonically exploratory.
7. Oscar Jerome - UK jazz-soul guitar with lyrical melodic phrasing.
8. BIGYUKI - Aggressive electric jazz keys, rhythmically explosive, urban edge.
9. Jesse Koolhaas - Modern jazz composition, rhythmically intricate, ensemble-focused.
Each with great sound.
Please continue showing two viewer systems of the day.
Sorry man, luv ya, but I'll stick with my poor man's JBL, the RSL 3800s from the 1980s.
The esoteric show.
I dunno Steve … a friend have 2912 and yes it was sublime playing Ella and intimate simple music. But most music just have no tension and power. A one trick pony …
Sound perception is massively subjective. The comments here prove this with individuals having their own favourites.
I spent far too much of my hard earned cash in the 70s and 80s looking for a better sound, only to find just a different one.
I interviewed with Wharfedale in the UK in 1977 for a job in their research department. This included some very varied listening 'tests'.
Rogers Ls3/5a were sublime, but no good in a big room, Kef 104ab were wonderful, but needed a big room.
Gale 301s were the speakers I truly wanted, anything from Bose just boomed.
So sound is always a compromise (for 99.99% of the population anyway).
50 years later and I'm listening to a pair of 1975 vintage Leak 2060s in my hifi system.
For my TV sound system it's a 1999 vintage Mordaunt Short 206 based setup - which also sound great in stereo mode. All driven my NAD amplifiers.
A compromise - my compromise - that I like the sound of, fits into my house, didn't cost as much as my house, allows me to listen to music and not my system.
I know you like planar magnetic speakers based on your reviews of Magnepan and Diptyque. So, have you heard of Clarisys? They are the ultimate planner magnetic speakers. I would bet you could easily find them in NY. And a review of the Clarisys Minuet or Studio would be spectacular. You would probably do the review in the store given the very high cost and other possible complications. But you reviewed the giant Wilson in the store, and that was very interesting.
Thanks for watching, no, I don't think they have any dealers in New York City. I have heard them at shows, I can't say I was all that impressed. Of course, shows are not the best environment to critique sound.
@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac
Oh well… Thanks for responding anyway. I appreciate it!
I still think it is possible to be an audiophile on a low budget. I can never afford 15000$ on a set of livingroom speakers. That is why I use headphones and the Sennheiser HD 800S is the highest for my I could ever afford.
In the past I went out to listen to demos and listened to 50ooo$ DACS and such but the difference at least for me comparing to my own dac and 800s sounded similar or sometimes better. Audiophilism has degraded to a point where many focus on the value of their equipment, rather than the joy of listening to the actual music!
I agree. A subwoofer or two can make a big difference. They don't necessarily need to be expensive ( under $1000 fir two) . The thing is if they can get down into the high twenties and have a few hundred watts available even a Classi D amplifier is sufficient. This gives one alot of freedom in the mains and their amplifiers. You don't need the big power nor deep bass extension that way . That will certainly cut some cost then . Also in a two way stand mount the midrange won't be as compromised to get that bass extension ( let the subs do the heavy lifting) . It all part of being an audiophile. Make the best of your budget and stay inside it . Your family will appreciate this more than having an ultimate system. Good enough is good enough at the end of the day.
Oh it's not so costly to assemble a speaker based system. There are speakers you can buy used for $500/pr. that are more fun to listen to than any headphone. Even if the headphone has somewhat better sound quality in certain ways. The speaker will sound more real spatially. Headphones sound like humming to yourself. Speakers sounds like they are not a part of you; everything is happening way in front of you.
Start saving instead of limiting yourself
Give Me A Fallout Shelter for 2026 😊😊
So in your opinion. 2025 only produced 3 speakers of the year? Pretty bad year for audiophiles
What happened to the Vandersteen 2Ce Sig lll
I still love it, but I didn't review it in 2025. That's what this list is all about.
So good question here Steve, how would the royal Snell A (one of my favorites too as you had mentioned before) stack up against this year's picks? Just curious, to me the Snell A is still a very tough speaker to beat in the right room, with nearly anything I've heard or had anyway.
Thanks for watching. I loved the Snell, because it was such a well balanced design. Very easy to live with, but it was nowhere as clear, dynamic, and focused as the best contemporary speakers.
Klipsch LaScala AL6, going from a 15" Woofer to a 12" Woofer...not a GOOD thing. "Klipsch AL5 to AL6: Dynamic Miscalculation" from Volti Audio and let's get some education about Klipsch AL5 - Al6.
Dear S, To burn in a Schiit Kara. Play headphones out the front, will that circuit path, cover a full burn in; or just be patient. Best, D
Yes, just play it 24 hours a day for a week.
@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliacThank you..!
The best speakers he reveiwed
That's what I said!
Hey Steve, As a Magnepan fan, I thought this might interest you. ruclips.net/video/ZOCYvO6pnWg/video.html
I recently heard the Frigg 2 and they where certainly a pleasant surprise! Very nice sounding speakers.
@keplermissionHmm, perhaps that is why the bass driver had a small torn in the suspension at the dealer where I listened to them.
I 100% agree with you on the Klipsch LaScala bottom end, and you would't know unless you heard them.
An acoustic string bass is often exaggerated and boomy from a front radiating driver, but a real string bass doesn't sound like a loud, one-note wonder. With the LaScala, a string bass really sounds like a string bass does when listening live! It doesn't project string bass, it resonates string bass. That's a difficult task to get an acoustic instrument to sound accurate through electronic means, but the LaScala pulls it off like no other.
Except the fully horn loaded Klipschorns of course. 😎
i think these speaker revewe ppl should post a listening test, because i can promise bro is not hearing alot over 14khz at that age, so how can i trust sound from someone who cant even hear?
"Too Big" should never ever be a consideration, get them La-Scalas!!
I agree with your spirit , but space is costly. Because acoustic isolation is so important for a record player, my buying decision was formed, in part, because the table was famously successful in England, where living spaces are generally smaller than in America. Cost was the major part of my buying decision.
@richardelliott8352 The CD and lossless streaming have solved record player feedback problems crackle thump 40 years ago. all records are gently filtered at 40hz bass so not even full frequency response, and 98% of records mastered since 1978 went through a digital delay line in other words all records are digital, even those on analog sources. Cant for the life of me understand how random clicks on a limited bandwidth limited dynamic range type media is anywhere acceptable in 2025. Lascalas have dynamic range which records cannot supply to them. anyway Enjoy your setup.
Whaaaat, no B&W!
The last B&W's that sounded like music to me were the 801 version from the lattter 1980s. Many models I haven't heard though. Seems they have developed a reputation in recent years of making bright showy speakers that lack accuracy or believability. That's not how musical instruments sound.
@sidesup8286You may need to listen to some more updated B&W speakers then. They are totally the opposite to how you have described their sound. Not bright at all and the detail and accuracy in the instruments and vocals are superb.
@sidesup8286I have a home build prototype using a mid from a 800/802 ! Good live recordings make me smile alot!
Steve looks a lot like Geddy Lee.
Didn't feel the need to list anything affordable huh?
“MAXIMUM AUDIOPHILE BLISS,” the title label said. all these options are affordable to somebody
Us expert modders would love to tell people that mind boggling absolutely incredible realistic sound does not have to cost much money at all. Look used vintage and try to figure out ways to improve the sound even further by yourself. They've got a lot of people (& a lot of gall), believing that you have to have 20 grand speakers to get great sound. By buying the right stuff used at favorable prices, you can put together a truly great system for 1/10th of $20k.
@WeeWeeJumbopeople forget speakers like these can last the rest of your life. Try buying a car for $15k that will last 30 years of daily use.
The best equipment doesn't tend to come cheap. Try and think about what the market is like at the higher end. Doctors, lawyers or VPs might be able to afford $15k speakers, yes, but the wealth of the rich self employed group of people is growing faster than that of even the highly educated professional middle class. It isn't fair.
Why would anyone complain about not being able to afford the best equipment? For no more than the cost of a new Ferrari, you can put together a system that is 70% as good !!
I sorry this hobby is so mechanical heartless souless electronic fake dishonest barely real human like it’s equipmentbfake imitations of real life waste of time
The BEST is pretty subjective, isn't it? Everyone has different tastes in music and what good sound quality is. I've been using the same pair of vintage Large Advent loudspeakers I bought new in 1978 and never had the desire to upgrade to anything else. I'd put these speakers up against anything being produced today.
Can't argue with that. I would think my speakers might best yours, but given the subjectivity of human hearing, any contest finish line is inside the head only , so I have only my perception of reality to go on, and I know my brain didn't evolve with the capability of objective hearing, no matter what I might think.
Adding the cost of each would have been informative.
Spot on 👍🏻
How many have you heard with these big statements
So nothing for mere mortals to afford?
The BEST speakers of 2025 are the ones that sound BEST to YOU.
I have 4 pairs of Quad ESL 57 and a pair of acoustat x... Love electrostats 😍
Not First!
Message from Europe. There is no way we will buy any US speaker until you get rid of Trump. We don’t want your stuff.
Good for you!
Trump tariffs on many of these choices.
Yep. I’m not buying anything until he’s gone.
Horrible list. No point in me watching any more of your videos because I don’t like your taste in music and I don’t like your taste in equipment.