25 ultimate audiophile speakers of all time …

To @Analogous and @Bloom@83, IMO, "audiophile" speakers have come to mean obsessive about staging and depth. If you see that word for speakers, it usually means pretty, costs a lot, and deep staging via tall/skinny forms. I didn't see that word much until the 70's maybe (?), but it's been around the trade press at least since the '50's. When applied to a person, I've come to believe it's more about the really segmented and regional market differences that support an outlet for people to express their individuality--a lot like super-high-end automobiles. "Audiophile" people's rigs are individual statements of identity and creativity, just like a person's building full of high-end collector cars, etc. In both examples, proponents laud performance attributes, but I think really it's an outlet for a somebody's individuality expression.

The earnest & sincere inquiry about attributes for each classification deserves a bit more. There's piece of high-end audio that's functionally (even if unintentionally) a "confidence game" where they win when we think we're missing-out. Hearing preferences are as personal as food preferences. Words about sound are always in the way. Trust your ears (seek food you like). By all means listen to everything and anything, but be confident in your own assessments of sound if you should doubt your own capabilities. None of us would expect everyone to like the food we like or say our food is the only way to go, so it is with audio.

We're human--the only things I know All of us like is serotonin and dopamine. If we know we're chasing "new" to chase new, we can smile and celebrate our own humanity vs. endless gear-flipping and blind-alley investigating couched as technical improvement crusades. If you know what you like and your rig does it, there's nothing wrong with wanting "new", but contentment comes from knowing enough about your own preferences to be able to separate chasing dopamine from rig performance priorities.

One pedantic bit re khorns--they're front-loaded horns, too--they just rear-fire. The only rear-loaded horns PWK ever hatched were Shorthorns/Rebels, and of those, only the short-lived Rebel1 was a long horn.
Excellent insights and thoughts on the subject; nicely expressed. Thanks @grindstone
 
Not really it's more of a time frame thing ..you will find audiophile speakers will generally be newer ones and vintage speakers will not fall into that "generally"

Eg the pre 80s K horn, tannoy red or gold speakers, JBL 43 series, jbl paragon, pioneer tad horns, altec horns even the much rarer klangfield speakers or quad 57s

They still sound great but being old with limited availability and demand may not be a big considerations by buyers or sellers and since the market did not look for elements like separation, soundstage explicitly were designed with different considerations
well said sir
vintage speakers are best
particularly jbl 4312
 
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