Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

ProAc Response D28 loudspeaker

Michael Fremer Aug 22, 2008 First Published: Aug 22, 2008

Has any modern designer of high-performance speakers extracted more music from a two-way box than ProAc's Stewart Tyler? His early-1990s stand-mounted Response">http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/792proac">Response 2 (later upgraded to the Response 2S) was an instant classic, and while his tiny Tablettehttp://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/0484proac">Tablette; proved controversial for being bass-shy and relatively pricey, his track record of two-way speakers remains unassailable.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Esoteric MG-20 loudspeaker

John Atkinson Aug 15, 2008 First Published: Aug 15, 2008

Audio shows are where reviewers search out products for possible review. We are always on the lookout—or listenout—for components that transcend the boundaries of the ordinary, that set the pulse racing a little faster. The 2007 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, held in Denver last October, was the first RMAF I had attended, and among the rooms that impressed me was one featuring components from the Japanese brand Esoteric, which was celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Definitive Technology Mythos STS SuperTower loudspeaker

Wes Phillips Aug 14, 2008 First Published: Aug 14, 2008

John Atkinson and I were in a Manhattan loft apartment that could have stood in for every sophisticated NYC loft you've ever seen in films. We were surrounded by fabulous contemporary art. Asian and South American antiquities were discreetly displayed. The furniture was sparse but choice. And, over in one corner, facing a conversation grouping of paintings, two sleek metal tower loudspeakers were making extremely convincing music. We managed to delay examination of this urban paradise long enough to drink adult beverages and inhale some music.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

MartinLogan Sequel II loudspeaker

John Atkinson, Various Aug 10, 2008 First Published: Aug 10, 1989

Loudspeaker designers are dreamers. Something takes hold of a man—the fact that loudspeaker designers are all men must be significant—and he wrestles with recalcitrant wood, arcane drive-units, and sundry coils, capacitors, and cables, to produce something which will be individual in its sound quality yet inherently more true to the original sound. An impossible task. Yet if there were to be an aristocratic subset of those dreamers, it would be those who have taken upon themselves the burden of producing electrostatic loudspeakers. For these farsighted engineers, there is no standing on the shoulders of others, there is no recourse to tried and tested combinations of other manufacturers' drive-units. Every aspect of the design, no matter how apparently insignificant, has to be created afresh from first principles. For a new electrostatic design to produce a sound at all represents a great triumph for its progenitor, let alone having it sound musical. And to produce an electrostatic loudspeaker that is also possessed of great visual beauty is indeed a bonus.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Altec Lansing Bias 550 active loudspeaker system

Larry Archibald Aug 06, 2008 First Published: Apr 06, 1989

Akeem Olajuwon? Ralph Sampson? Yes, it must be the Twin Towers. No, wait—it's the World Trade Centers!

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews Budget Component Reviews

Avalon NP Evolution 2.0 loudspeaker

John Atkinson Jul 24, 2008 First Published: Jul 24, 2008

After a year spent exploring the best that can be obtained from minimonitor loudspeakers, I embarked on what will be an equally long examination of what floorstanding towers have to offer. I began with the Sonus">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1207sonus">Sonus Faber Cremona Elipsa ($20,800/pair) in December 2007, followed in 2008 by: in February, the KEF">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/208kef">KEF Reference 207/2 ($20,000/pair); in April, the PSB">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/408psb">PSB Synchrony One ($4500/pair); and in May, the Magico">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/508mag">Magico V3 ($25,000/pair). For this review, I've been listening to a speaker aimed at those with shallower pockets than are required even for the PSB: the Avalon NP Evolution 2.0, which costs just $1995/pair.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Wilson Audio Specialties WITT loudspeaker

Thomas J. Norton, Martin Colloms Jul 20, 2008 First Published: Jan 20, 1996

"Where do you want 'em?" Doug'n'David (of Stereophile's shipping and receiving, not your favorite morning drive-time talk radio co-hosts) had just wrestled over 500 lbs of cocooned Wilson WITT loudspeakers onto the floor of my garage. Like the Thiel CS7s I had parted with just a few weeks earlier, the WITTs came packed in solid, heavy wooden crates. The pained expressions on Doug'n'David's faces indicated that it was time for me to start reviewing minimonitors! The unpacking went more smoothly than I expected, but this is clearly a pair of loudspeakers that demand to be delivered, uncrated, and set up by a dealer.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

B&W Matrix 800 loudspeaker

Lewis Lipnick Jul 20, 2008 First Published: Jun 20, 1991

We all know it's impossible to reproduce live music. An obvious statement, no doubt, and one that holds every audiophile hostage to the never-ending search. As a musician, I find the situation especially frustrating. The constant reminder of live vs reproduced makes living with an audio system a serious compromise, regardless of price or quality. About three and a half years ago, however, I reviewed a product which I felt, and still feel, offers the first real glimpse of that impossible dream: the B&W">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/506">B&W 801 Matrix Monitor (footnote 1). Although it wasn't perfect, I found this speaker provided more musical honesty than anything I had heard before. In this respect, it established a new standard by which others would be judged.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Epos M16i loudspeaker

Robert J. Reina Jun 19, 2008 First Published: Jun 19, 2008

Last year, when Epos importer Music Hall contacted me about reviewing the then-new M16 floorstanding loudspeaker, I hesitated. I had been very impressed with the M16's little bookshelf brother, the M5 (see my">http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/405epos">my review in the April 2005 Stereophile, Vol.28 No.4), which I found uncolored, detailed, and a great value. Most of all, the M5 had an incredible balance of performance. But several times in the past, having been seduced by a wonderfully balanced bookshelf speaker, I've then been disappointed by one of its costlier, floorstanding brethren. The larger speaker might share the bookshelf's overall character, have deeper bass, and play louder with less strain, but too often that magical sense of balance that I had so enjoyed in the smaller speaker would be absent.

Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Revel Ultima Salon2 loudspeaker

Larry Greenhill Jun 17, 2008 First Published: Jun 17, 2008

Back in March 1998, Revel's Ultima Salon1 floorstanding loudspeaker generated quite a stir at Stereophile (Vol.22">http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/96">Vol.22 No.3). Our reviewers were impressed by its seven designed-from-scratch drive-units, its ultramodern enclosure with curved rosewood side panels, exposed front tweeter and midrange, rear-facing reflex port and tweeter, and a flying grille over the mid-woofer and woofers. In the December issue (Vol.22 No.12), the Ultima Salon1 ($16,000/pair) was named Stereophile's "Joint">http://www.stereophile.com/features/178/index1.html">Joint Speaker of 1999" for its "big bass, timbral accuracy, low distortion, dynamics, lack of compression, and best fit'n'finish."