First Perfectionist Speakers - what were they ?

johnny p. -- Mon, 09/05/2011 - 22:48

It's well known that by the 60s, an audiophile would (likely) have a ESL speaker system. Planars came out in the 70s.

Question - what did the original hi-fier's use in the 50's ? I say the big Bozaks, the Klipschorn, the Hartsfield or an AR-1 (all used in mono, of course).

dlaloum -- Tue, 09/13/2011 - 07:50

I agree - Klipschorns are what comes to mind for me.... (sorry that should be singular! :) )

quadlover -- Wed, 09/14/2011 - 09:55

The first time I heard the big Hartleys driven with McIntosh...and the first time I heard the 3 channel Klipsch system with the 2 K-horns with the LaScala in the middle driven by Citation.

scott299owner -- Thu, 09/15/2011 - 19:16

Circa 1955 my father took me to a coworkers house where the son had built a hi-fi system.The speaker(mono-remember)was a huge thing mounted in the door of his clothes closet.Forget how it sounded but with all the tubes and wires and things it was impressive.

GJM

discman -- Wed, 09/28/2011 - 12:39

Don't forget Tannoy!

paskinn -- Wed, 09/28/2011 - 20:54

For me, no contest, the Voigt Domestic Corner Horn..designed in 1934. Still a total stunner to this day.

les@briney.com -- Sat, 10/08/2011 - 17:23

I don't know about "perfectionist" but some of the best-sounding systems in the mid 50's were made by University, ElectroVoice, and Klipshorn. Many had ElectroVoice "Voice of the Theater" systems if they didn't have Klipshorns. Tannoy was also around, but less popular. Many built their own enclosures and bought the speakers separately. There were many enclosure designs that were very good when matched with the right speakers from the companies I mentioned.