Hello everyone!
Some of you may know that I recently became the owner of some McIntosh XRT 20 Line Arrays, in pretty good shape, and successfully refoamed all drivers, and replaced 2 faulty tweeters.
I'm no tech, so for me, that was Olympic.
I have reached what many would consider the end of the line, or at least for a man of humble means such as myself. These speakers are, by any litmus, the best I own, or have owned.
So why did I start this thread? Last night, I pulled out my tiny little NHT Super Zeros, which are the size of a Game of Thrones Season 1-6 box set, or in other words, a TRUE bookshelf. Tiny little things.
Hooked them to my Marantz PM84D, a nice 80 wpc amp (first 30 are in Class A) and played Rumours on cd.
What I heard was a soundstage and depth of field unlike much of anything I've experienced.
What they do is nothing short of astounding, and this was without the sub (which I have, but was too lazy to connect).
What I'm getting at, is this - past a certain level of quality, I'm pretty much okay with what I hear. I enjoy the different presentations. I love how my Epicure Model 20's create a WALL of nice, easy on the ears sound.
I find the SDA effect on my Polk SDA 1-B's to be pure magic.
My Yamaha NS690III's reveal details that are impossible with other speakers.
My Vandersteen 2C's were my first real "audiophile" quality speaker, and those will never leave, as well.
Hell, can't get a much more FUN sound than the Bose 601 Series 2 I restored and sold (may buy back, that was the caveat when I sold, that I'd get dibs).
Even my 2 way Marantz Imperial 6's create music that is simply pleasant.
It's like Baskin Robbins, or women, or cars. There IS NO BEST, only various flavors. Me? I love most all of them. Even considering taking some Christmas boxes and playing around with Open Baffle, thanks to Poultrygeist's unending love affair (thank you, sir). And I lament missing out on some W90 Warfedales I once had a chance to buy, with respect to Gangtwanger, wherever he is.
I'd love to hear what others have to say. Do you have a single pair of speakers that make you forgo all others? This is of course leaving out necessity (small house, WAF, etc). Or do you, as I, love the different tonal colors we get by mixing it around?
Opinions welcome, want to see what others think on this.
Some of you may know that I recently became the owner of some McIntosh XRT 20 Line Arrays, in pretty good shape, and successfully refoamed all drivers, and replaced 2 faulty tweeters.
I'm no tech, so for me, that was Olympic.
I have reached what many would consider the end of the line, or at least for a man of humble means such as myself. These speakers are, by any litmus, the best I own, or have owned.
So why did I start this thread? Last night, I pulled out my tiny little NHT Super Zeros, which are the size of a Game of Thrones Season 1-6 box set, or in other words, a TRUE bookshelf. Tiny little things.
Hooked them to my Marantz PM84D, a nice 80 wpc amp (first 30 are in Class A) and played Rumours on cd.
What I heard was a soundstage and depth of field unlike much of anything I've experienced.
What they do is nothing short of astounding, and this was without the sub (which I have, but was too lazy to connect).
What I'm getting at, is this - past a certain level of quality, I'm pretty much okay with what I hear. I enjoy the different presentations. I love how my Epicure Model 20's create a WALL of nice, easy on the ears sound.
I find the SDA effect on my Polk SDA 1-B's to be pure magic.
My Yamaha NS690III's reveal details that are impossible with other speakers.
My Vandersteen 2C's were my first real "audiophile" quality speaker, and those will never leave, as well.
Hell, can't get a much more FUN sound than the Bose 601 Series 2 I restored and sold (may buy back, that was the caveat when I sold, that I'd get dibs).
Even my 2 way Marantz Imperial 6's create music that is simply pleasant.
It's like Baskin Robbins, or women, or cars. There IS NO BEST, only various flavors. Me? I love most all of them. Even considering taking some Christmas boxes and playing around with Open Baffle, thanks to Poultrygeist's unending love affair (thank you, sir). And I lament missing out on some W90 Warfedales I once had a chance to buy, with respect to Gangtwanger, wherever he is.
I'd love to hear what others have to say. Do you have a single pair of speakers that make you forgo all others? This is of course leaving out necessity (small house, WAF, etc). Or do you, as I, love the different tonal colors we get by mixing it around?
Opinions welcome, want to see what others think on this.