What are best speakers?

I have had the pleasure of testing hundreds of radios and many good stereo systems in my life. I have struggled with this question for decades. I confess I love the Beatles, Hendrix, Dire Straits, the Dead and the Pointer Sisters among others. I have heard most of them live so when I listen to a recording I am usually disappointed and wanting with what I remembered it sounded like live.

There is a big musical division in this world between people that like bass and people that don’t. It is a war of tastes. One of my favorites was big Klipschorn corner speakers with 15″ woofers and horns. Paintings did figure eights on the wall. Neighbors came by to see where the band was. On the Klipschorn any defect in the original recording was obvious. But they are too big except for rooms dedicated to sound. They looked similar to the Klipschorn® Floorstanding Loudspeaker.

Another set I heard at the Consumer Electronic Show was exceptional with piano and violin though expensive was the VMPS Super Tower III / Special Ribbon Edition

What I do like is an accurate rendition of the original concert and that kept me searching. One Sunday I briefly got fooled at a wedding thinking the next door bar had a live band. They were running JBL 15″ woofers with horns. I felt like Albert Einstein at that moment when I realized if you want to hear the music like at a rock concert then WHY NOT USE THE SAME SPEAKERS THAT THEY USE WHEN THEY PLAY LIVE!!! It is so simple. My part-time musician brother uses the same speakers for some of his music, so he helped me get the right order together. Now I happen to have a workshop a few hundred feet from any neighbors, which I decided would be a great home for my new speakers. I sweated, struggled and hoisted them 10′ high and out of the way. It was a horrible failure… no bass, though I was running 400 watts of power through a commercial equalizer! So the expert called the local stereo store and was told: “They need to be mounted near a corner or bass response will be weak.” Change was made. Blam! Here comes the bass! My brother came over to inspect and he approved the speakers after he shut off the 400 Hz selection on the equalizer. He said each room has its own acoustic properties when it comes to how a particular set of speakers sound. They did sound great after he did his magic, which was
obvious in retrospect.

Now there are probably dozens of speakers with 15″ woofers and horns that work absolutely great. I am happy with the JBL’s, but it is the concept of using the original speakers that are used in concert that is important. I would buy them local if you can. Mine came slightly damaged and the service I got was worse than nothing. Here is the approximate model for which I paid about $600.00 each for JBL’S MP415 delivered. Is it worth it? I love the sound and most of my friends have never heard music like this before in their lives. For $1200.00 they are hard to beat! I now run a 100 watt Denon receiver I bought from Crutchfield which is more than adequate. My neighbor at 300′ away can clearly hear the bass inside his house when I have it turned up. We have an agreement to never do this before 8:00 AM.

I can also make a recommendation on personal computer speakers that work good with the great streaming music now available. Never before has a compact system had the depth of bass as the Acoustic Energy Aego M Series Music System. At only $200.00 it not only sets a new level of performance standards but it makes every other similar compact system sound like tin cans.

I would love to hear your comments on your experiences.