Anyone got a favorite type of sound reproduction technology? Please vote and feel free to post your feelings on it.

Might want to mention what type of music you listen to, since that more often than not affects favored speaker type.

-Ed

Yay for dynamic headphones. Cheap, good-sounding, and neighbor-friendly!

Whoa. Way to alienate the poor!

I like my speakers/subwoofer and I like my headphones. They are Ascend Acoustic CBM-170s / Hsu VTF-2 and Sennheiser HD-600s respectively. I suspect they're both dynamics, but I have no idea for sure.

I've never even seen electrostatic speakers or headphones, but I do know what they are (and that I'll never be able to afford them). I can't say that I'm familiar with the differences between Horn, Planar and Dynamic though.

These are merely generalizations, and for the most part there are exceptions to all of these, but here it goes:

Dynamic speakers are the most common sort you find on the market. The basic design is a voice coil mounted in the center of a flexible cone structure; when the voice coil moves, the entire cone structure vibrates in common and thus, waves of sound are produced.

Horn speakers normally use a small voice coil, similar to dynamic drivers, but instead of a moving voice coil mounted to a flexible cone structure, the waves produced by the motion of the voice coil is amplified, megaphone style, out from a rigid horn shape structure. Horn speakers tend to be very high sensitivity/efficiency (requiring extremely small amounts of extremely clean/high quality power).

Planar speakers are based on ribbon technologies where a large array of conductive elements are laid out across a superlight membrane (oftentimes mylar) and they are set into motion by magnetic force. They operate in similar ways to electrostatic speakers, but do not require separate power sources to operate. Planar speakers are known for incredible speed, but also for low efficiency/high power draw. I am not 100% clear on the distinction between "true" ribbon and "quasiribbon" planar speakers, as produced by my favorite brand of planars, Magneplanar.

I happen to be using a pair of two-way dynamic loudspeakers, the Paradigm Studio/20 stereo loudspeakers; one day, though, I hope to buy a set of true ribbon, "Maggies," assuming I've a sufficiently matched front end and a room that would be appropriate.

I repeat, those are mere generalizations, and there are hundreds of thousands of variations on those mentioned above as well as even more types I've not even mentioned.

-Ed

PS I've yet to listen to true ribbon planars, horn speakers, electrostatic headphones or in-ear headphones; I sure would love to, though!

Always preferred the punchier sound of good dynamic drivers; mechanical improvements in driver technology and materials design in the last couple of decades have made them competitive against more exotic types. Horn loading IMO is ideal because of the incredible efficiency and low distortion, but they are VERY hard to get right.

Have been using a pair of homebrew short transmission line (6' line) speakers -- medite/particle board, teased lamb's wool, etc -- for a decade. 7" Focal drivers + 1" half-horn alum. dome SEAS mated through a custom tweaked CAD xover of my own design. There are better sound speakers for sure, but $300 worth of parts, they kill. (They should with the $%#!U&*% hours I put into them! -- but that was fun -- ah the good old days! )

Umm... the ones that make sound?


I guess the standard 'ol speaker is the dynamic cone. Yeah... that. And only because I don't know any of the others.

My Logitech Z640 setup is doing just durn fine for my ears. (and budget, $50 spent)

Dynamic are by far the most practical, cheap and robust - original and best!

I listen to VINYL - electronic stuff (electro, booty, ghettotech), dub reggae, latin, hip hop, funk, soul, classical, rock...

I have been a sound engineer for the last 15 years, and can you beleive I have never heard anything other than dynamic speakers! Even being a hi-fi buff as well, the exotic types are so rare compared to dynamic speakers. Even most big studios use dynamics.

I got myself a pair of Epos ES 14's on my Linn / Naim hifi at home, sweet I bought then 15 years ago and still love them.

I got some Sennheiser HD 25's for DJing and general headphone use, again, I am really happy with these cans!

faulty electrostatic headphones is my preferred choice of execution method. Imagine dieing to mozart.

I voted for the dynamic drivers.

Over the past 15+ years I've worked part-time at my buddy's high-end steroe store and had the opportunity to seriously listen to most of the best speakers in the world (including the WAMM system a few times). Some of these speakers use esoteric driver technology so I've listened to a very representative cross-section of the avialable technology and have come to the general conclusion that a well designed dynamic system with a well-done crossover and well designed cabinet sounds as good or better than most everything out their. Sure, there's exceptions, but generally they invlove a compromise of some sort too.

That being said, the best (most musical) sound I've ever heard came from a hideously expensive set of 2-way horn/dynamic Audio Note speakers being driven by some 7W triode amps.

My frame of reference comes from listening to a lot of live jazz and unamplified classical and folk music.

Can't afford to buy or drive Sound Labs, sticking to older Martin Logans for now.