Informant38

iar There are some truly excellent small and medium speakers on the market, some of which are reviewed here. But unfortunately it does not follow that the large, scaled up, ultimate model from the same manufacturer will sound good. There are now many "ultimate statement" models on the market, but most cannot be sonically recommended at all, and certainly not at their high prices.

Thus, we can count on one hand the truly great sounding large speaker systems in the world. We would include Roger West's Sound Lab A1 electrostatic, the Martin-Logan Statement hybrid electrostatic, the Wilson Grand Slamm, and the speaker under review here, the Osborn Grand Monument Reference.

Right off the bat, it's obvious that the Osborn has crucial advantages over these other great large speaker systems. It is far more efficient, far easier to drive, and can play louder than the electrostatics. At $19,975 it costs a mere fraction of what most of the other great large speakers cost. And it is among the easiest to drive, with your choice of power amp, since its efficiency is moderately high (rated 92 dB) and, more importantly, its impedance does not dip too low (rated 5 ohms minimum).