which speaker can be considered a "legend" of its time...

But if the question were which is the MOST legendary speaker, then I think there's only one Quad 57.

Best Regards,
Mark Dunn

Entry Flat-Earth rig circa '81 in Dixie (southern US). Sold 'em like hot cakes.

regards,

dave

if one is defining legends -- hard to leave the Quads isnt it.

enjoy

ken

sbl
dbl
mordaunt short msxxx

enjoy

ken

Spendor BC1

Cheers

Don

Mine gets delivered next week, I hope. Along with a XX-2 cartridge & Armageddon.

I'll let you know whether it's a legend then.

yeah, please do... prepare to like the XX2!!!

enjoy

ken

Ron
Dum spiro audio
Dum audio vivo

(A-40 series 1)

Paper woofers and tinkly, cheezy tweeter. Occasionaly used them on the end of a cd3/nait with good results til the paper woofers "dry rotted". Yard-saled 'em and a leaky-cap 3020A for 85 bucks.

regards,

dave

used to have that in my hifi puberty. stupidy sold it in 1979. should have suspected i had made a mistake from how fast i was able to sell it, and how the guy who bought it didnt haggle -- "how much?" he asked "£280" i replied (IIRC) -- "here you are, thanks" and left the house. fortunately the notes were kosher...

how's your system these days...???

heard the 500 yet??

enjoy

ken

now, how could i leave that out?? and how did i leave out Spendor BC1's -- especially when u consider i owned them at one stage?

i suspect having so many linn speakers in the list presents a rather jaundiced view ... i was just going to have Kans there -- but then thought, what about isobariks, then Sara's just cried out to be included. ah, well...

hey folks, is there no way to trick infopop into giving us more than 5 choices in these polls?

many thanks...

enjoy

ken

quote:

---

which speaker do you consider a legend of its time?

---

My view is that a legend or classic is a design that manages to live well beyond its time. With speaker design, the ones that spring to mind for me (in aprox date order) are:

Quad ESL “57” – An absolutely astonishing loudspeaker. So far ahead of its time that even 45 years later there is remarkably little that can get close to its performance. If I were to vote, this would be the one without any doubt – IMHO its the most important loudspeaker ever made. Great that the benchmark of loudspeaker design was made so early on!

AR 3a – Defined the large 3 way infinite baffle. Still a bloody good speaker with a quite large fan base. I personally prefer the slightly later derivatives such as the AR11.

Lowther – Defined the full range horn loaded single driver. Still got tons of fans, and it does what it does incredibly well – there is a remarkable dynamic freedom with these things.

LS3/5a – Defined the 2 way infinite baffle miniature. Still got some of the best midband around, though looses out at the extremes compared to todays designs.

Tannoy – Defined the 15” dual concentric driver. These large single drivers really can shift some air in their large ported cabinets. Again have many fans worldwide.

Gale 401 – Still a pretty unique design, and one of the hardest speakers to upgrade from. They shift air like few others, and have a way with dynamics that few can touch. A touch idiosyncratic, but still remarkable in many ways. There is no Gale 401 equivalent in today’s market that I am aware of.

Spendor BC1 – Pretty much defined the ported box speaker. A good BBC influenced design that has stood up pretty well. I would like to hear a pair again, its been ages.

Linn Isobarik – Fabulous full range speaker that still has many, many fans. Defined the 80s high-end flat earth.

Linn Kan – Brilliant but quirky rework of the LS3/5a – if there is a classic flat earth speaker, this be it. Still just about the fastest sound you can get out of a box speaker.

Naim SBL – Though separate box design as a concept was nothing really new (think Kef 105 “Darlek”), Naim seemed to nail it, and nail it in a slightly different way. For what the SBL sets out to do (ultra clean and tight wall proximity speaker), nothing really has beaten it since.

That’s about all the speakers that I count as true classics.

Tony.

I appreciate that you had limited choice for the poll.

Anyway out of your choice the QUAD electrostatic
of both vintages ie ESL 57 and ESL 63 are truely world class and still cut the mustard today.

Other's that still do it for me are:

Klipschorn
Orthophase
Magneplanar Tympani
JBL Paragon
Spendor BC1
BBC LS3/5a
Altec A7
Tannoy 15" dual concentric in a variety of cabinets

I can think of several KEF and B&W and Spendor that were world class but not quite into the definition of the poll.

Others are large Advent ,Epicure ,Infinity,Lowther
other Magneplanars,Celestion Ditton 15 the Student Special in my youth.

there are so many wonderful speakers to choose from that limiting to those that really did push forward the performance envelope has been difficult.

regrda david

Steve

but from my original restricted list, the Kans, Isobariks, and Quads are more or less neck and neck after about 40 votes. but these results are very suspect given that we dont know how other very good speakers that you guys have mentioned would have fared, e.g spendor bc1, sbl's, etc...

if i had thought about it properly, would have done it outside the poll constraints -- for example, email... well never mind.

very interesting constributions. many thanks.

enjoy

ken

The Klipschorn was designed in 1942 by Paul Klipsch and is still in production today.
It is a large corner horn loudspeaker of enormous performance and is considered by many to be one of the best loudspeakers ever made.

I have a pair of ACR Eckhorn which are based on the Klipsch design but use Fostex drive units.

The Orthophase was originally designed for the 1929 Berlin World Fair,it was called the Blatthaller.

The Orthophase was a development of this in 1959 and they were built in France from approx 1959 till approx the late 1980 but under the Ernst Spiteri Loudspeaker name.

I have a 1959 pair of Orthophase OR3 W4,and a 1983 pair of ESL OR27 .

Ernst Spiteri is still around and living in Bretagne France.

Paul Klipsch is,i believe, still hanging in there
well into his 90's.

Klipsch is one of the more successful and larger American Loudspeaker Manufacturers.

Hope the above helps.

regards david

I have a pair of ACR Eckhorn which are based on the Klipsch design but use Fostex drive units.

what is driving them? i.e whats upstream?

I have a 1959 pair of Orthophase OR3 W4,and a 1983 pair of ESL OR27 .

wow!! and how are these?

Paul Klipsch is,i believe, still hanging in there
well into his 90's.

.. and long may he live...

Klipsch is one of the more successful and larger American Loudspeaker Manufacturers.

didnt know that, many thanks.

enjoy

ken

104db at 1 watt!

[This message was edited by John Gilleran on MONDAY 28 January 2002 at 04:26.]

I like to ad JBL L100 to the list, the professional version was used when recording many classic 1970:s rock albums. And that pro version is still made today in a slightly modified form and is said to PRaT very well!

/JohanR

The first time I heard a Klipschorn was at a hi fi show in Washington DC in about 1974. The Klipsch rep demonstrated the K-Horn's efficiency by driving it with a pocket transistor radio!

Paul Klipsch is still alive and is probably amused at the recent revival of interest in low powered tube amps and horn speakers. Some photos of the museum at the Klipsch factory include an amusing one of Mr. Klipsch's reserved parking spot at the works.

enjoy

ken