LOUDSPEAKERS
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go to: Contents | Features | Bookshelf, Stand-Mount and Desktop | Floorstanding | Editors' Choice Awards<br />
OUR TOP PICKS<br />
What loudspeakers would our writers choose for themselves at<br />
$1500 $5000 $10,000 $15,000 $25,000 That’s exactly<br />
what I asked Neil Gader, Dick Olsher, and Jonathan Valin.<br />
Here are the results. —Robert Harley<br />
Robert Harley<br />
Under $1500<br />
KEF LS50<br />
$1499<br />
Created to celebrate KEF’s 50th anniversary, the<br />
LS50 packs a huge sound into a small enclosure.<br />
The diminutive cube with the rounded edges<br />
houses KEF’s famous Uni-Q coincident driver<br />
for precise coherence at any listening height or<br />
listening distance. As you might expect from<br />
the design, the LS50 images like a champ,<br />
completely disappearing into a huge soundstage.<br />
But the LS50 also delivers deeper bass and wider<br />
dynamics than its size would indicate. The tonal<br />
balance is clean and pure, with an open and<br />
extended treble. An amazing achievement.<br />
Under $5000<br />
PSB Imagine T2<br />
$3500<br />
No one designs better-sounding inexpensive<br />
speakers than Paul Barton. A hallmark of his<br />
creations is a smooth and uncolored tonal<br />
balance that many expensive and esoteric<br />
designs don’t match. One of the results of such<br />
an accurate frequency response is the impression<br />
that the sound exists in space independently of<br />
the speakers. The T2, winner of our Product of the<br />
Year Award in 2012 (Mid-Priced Loudspeakers)<br />
combines these attributes with surprisingly deep<br />
and powerful bass, the ability to play loudly<br />
without strain, and spectacular soundstaging. The<br />
PSB T2 is a stunning bargain.<br />
Under $10,000<br />
Magnepan MG3.7<br />
$5495<br />
No other loudspeaker anywhere under $10k<br />
approaches the MG3.7’s resolution, transparency,<br />
detail, soundstaging, coherence, and sheer ability<br />
to disappear as a sound source. That said, the<br />
MG3.7 isn’t for everyone. It’s a big panel that<br />
must be positioned well out into the room. You’ll<br />
also need a high-powered amplifier with plenty<br />
of heft. But if you can accommodate these two<br />
requirements, there isn’t a more realistic-sounding<br />
speaker for the price than the Magnepan MG3.7.<br />
Under $15,000<br />
B&W 802 Diamond<br />
$15,000<br />
How B&W delivers this much loudspeaker for<br />
$15,000 is beyond me. The 802D is a lot of<br />
speaker physically for the money; the large<br />
enclosure with its spherical midrange enclosure<br />
and Nautilus-inspired diamond tweeter are<br />
beautifully finished and solidly made. It’s also a lot<br />
of speaker musically. The 802D has warm, rich,<br />
full bass, a well-resolved midrange, and superb<br />
treble performance courtesy of its diamond<br />
tweeter. Soundstaging is also excellent, probably<br />
due in part to the ultra-low-diffraction midrange<br />
and tweeter mounting.<br />
Under $25,000<br />
Revel Salon2<br />
$21,998<br />
Although Revel’s top-of-the-line Salon2 has been<br />
in the catalog for quite some time, I still think it’s<br />
the speaker to beat at under $25k. This tall, thin<br />
dynamic floorstander features all custom drivers<br />
designed from scratch for the Salon2. Midrange<br />
transparency and resolution are superb. Moreover,<br />
the integration between the upper midrange and<br />
treble is totally seamless—the best I’ve heard from<br />
any multiway dynamic loudspeaker. The Salon2<br />
is extremely neutral in tonal balance, uncolored,<br />
open, fast, and has deep bass extension. This<br />
loudspeaker is so good that it can hold its own<br />
against much higher priced competition.<br />
Neil Gader<br />
Under $1500<br />
KEF LS50<br />
$1500<br />
One of the most all-around satisfying, little<br />
speakers I’ve reviewed in some time. An eleveninch<br />
cube with KEF’s pink-gold 5.25” Uni-Q and a<br />
uniquely arched baffle, the LS50 captures hearts<br />
with a prevailing upper midrange sweetness and<br />
a harmonic saturation and bloom as pleasing<br />
as a butterscotch sundae. Imaging is clean and<br />
bulls-eye precise–as we’ve come to expect from<br />
KEF’s Uni-Q. Tonality is right on pitch with a solid<br />
presence range and a potent, punchy yet well<br />
controlled mid-bass. Remarkably for such a small<br />
profile speaker there’s very little in the way of port<br />
coloration. The LS50 makes a statement like few<br />
small speakers.<br />
Under $5000<br />
Revel Performa3 F206<br />
$3500<br />
For one reason or another Revel, a division of the<br />
Harman Luxury Group, hasn’t gotten the “love”<br />
in the high end that I think it deserves. However,<br />
if there’s any justice the F206, the mid-sized<br />
three-way floorstander in the rebooted Performa3<br />
lineup, should change that. Bolstered by<br />
curvaceous restyling and sumptuous build-quality,<br />
the F206 has got the dynamic slam, midbass<br />
extension, and pull-out-the-stops sonics that<br />
deliver big time across the tonal spectrum and<br />
with all genres of music. Its uncommonly even<br />
15 Guide to High-Performance Loudspeakers www.theabsolutesound.com<br />
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