Jenn wrote:
Andre Jute wrote:
wrote:
And which "much more expensive" speaker system outclasses even the
second best Lowther?
Here is a classification of the best speakers ever made:
1. Quad first series ESL of 1957. The speaker designer's reference.
2. Quad ESL63 of 1981.
3. Tannoy Royal Westminster horn. This is such a rare and expensive
beast, many don't count it, putting the Lowther below in third
position.
4. Any Lowther driver in a horn is a contender. The classical Lowther
drivers are not ranked by number or price but as units with their
enclosures. Fidelio horns to my ears sound best with PM6A, which are
about midway up the present price scale of Lowther drivers, though the
Fideliio enclosure is expensive to build.
I LOVE the sound of the Quads you mentioned, but the speakers in the
best system I've ever heard was the Genesis 1.1 system. Of course,
there is a huge difference of scale here, but that system was something
I'll never forget.
The second sentence of the manufacturer's blurb for the Genesis 1.1
runs "At $165,000 per system, the Genesis 1.1 is a product people long
to own." If even the makers are more impressed with the price and
exclusivity than the quality, I start to wonder how they will sound
behind the veil of ignorance (what the jumped-up techies describe as
"ABX tests"). Tell us, Jenn, did you decide the Genesis 1.1 are the
best before you heard the price or after? I understand you're talking
about the system rather than the speakers in isolation -- in fact,
that's altogether a really good point you're making, that in other
people's homea we judge a system, not a component.
Andre Jute