Passive radiator

Some of my favorite speakers over the years have used passive radiators, though they seem less common these days then back in say the 70's. Goldenear Aon3 is the current one I know of that I have heard and also thought to have top notch sound especially for the price. The combination of side facing passive radiator and folded ribbon tweeter makes these a quite unique design these days at a very affordable price worth auditioning. I've heard Tritons as well and was less impressed, but I suspect the problem was in the specific dealer setup I heard somewhere and not the speakers.

In the late 70's, at Tech Hifi, among all the major speaker brands and models sold that I heard, my overall favorite for a somewhat larger room were the OHM Hs, one of just a few, and the only OHM that used a passive radiator. They were the ones that did everything right. I think they went for $900 a pair or so back in 1978.

I did not have the right room or budget for those back then so I ended up with smaller ported Ls, which sounded similar on a smaller scale.

I came very close to going with new refurbed OHM Hs a couple years back when looking to bring my setup "up to date" based on the continued strong performance of my Ls, but decided to go with other models that can do the imaging and soundstage deal better than most box speakers from teh 70's.