Visaton BG20-8 8" Full-Range Speaker with Whizzer Cone 8 Ohm

Hooked this speaker up to a Single Ended 45 tube. The Volume was great, but what really blew the doors off for me was the bass! The clearity of the higher frequencies over the low end was just what I wanted to hear. Built the cab for a different speaker that didn't work very well, so the cab wasn't an exact match for recommended specs on this speaker; however, I can't imagine it sounding any better.

Very nice speakers. I built a pair of baffleless with these, and drive them with a 40 year old Harman Kardon 730 receiver. Smooth and warm sound. Great for listening to jazz, chamber music and vocal at moderate volume. Sounds harsh at high volume. It suites my listening habit well.

Or IS it a five star speaker? Well...no. My Martin Logans etc are better.Fostex cost 150.00 each, I genuinely prefer these. The sound is very even across the range, the treble is good, smooth and extended, it is far more extended and sweet then the GRS driver many buy. The Fostex is way too hot in the treble. Too extended. A lot of treble extension is great but not when it's so high in the balance , so 'hot'. The GRS is WAY too dark. Treble control all the way up to measure nearly almost flat. The Fostex , a whizzer coned 8" also- needed the treble turned most of the way DOWN.These Visaton sound good with novfiltering or tone adjustments. I don't know how they can make these in Germany and compete with the Chinese GRS on price, but its well worth the slightly higher price.I don't know how they got deeper bass then the GRS using a pleated surround where the GRS has a half roll surround. I DO know that GRS having that surround, has a driver excursion that is too far for a full range which likely lowers the subjective treble levels. So, again- I don't see how the hell the Visaton has better bass when the GRS is basically a woofer with a whizzer; but they do!I really really like these speakers. They sound way better then the very old school appearance suggests while also fitting in perfectly with vintage gear. I have literally NEVER ( with 10 pair of quality speakers psb, pioneer , Martin Logan , magneplanars , infinity , other psb , other Logans, etc) heard 78s sound better. Ever. ( the Fostex sound better with horns and modern jazz- they stand out in that genre. Classical too I believe, violins etc - in that the Fostex sound better then anything I ever heard. On hard rock and synth pop they are pain lasers of brightness. And again, the GRS are WAY too dark. Very little treble )They can rock, too. Don't let the power handling fool you. These are sensitive speakers that can go as loud with 10 watts as they can with a hundred. Loud as hell. Loud. 100 watts would blow them. But fifty would blow your ears so the power handling is not an issue in the home. They can do 102 and more for sur db.I really like these speakers.