Hi End Speaker demo week !

9designs2

9designs2

9designs2

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Somewhere in the middle
My search for some decent speakers has continued.... At the weekend heard Some KEF Reference 205/2, 203/2, MA PL200's, PMC Fact 8 and 3 and AudioVector S3 and S1 range.....

Mixed results really...1st up were the 205/2,Fact8, PL200's. Bryston amps
The PMC Fact 8 with Bryston amps, which are they distributed with, for me was a bit disappointing..... I heard the 3's with Linn amps the next day, and was much better..... for sure I'm biased, but was still much better.

The PL200 with the Brystons were to "metallic sounding" g/f comment was sounded like someone was cleaning a tin roof with a wire brush !!!.... A tad unfair maybe, but she didn't like them :p

KEF's 205/2 with the Brystons were good, better match than the FACT 8's, had more air, clarity and clout, as you'd expect with two 8" bass drivers...... But are too big for my liking. Would need longer with these, to see if they were not just impressive Hi-Fi and were musical.

In the evening was the Audiovector range at Zouch Audio open day..... No idea of some of the electronics, Olive I think..... Anyway sounded nice as I've heard before......

Then on Saturday with a Linn Klimax set-up, the Fact 3's and KEF 203/2... Was meant to be the Akurate 242 as well.... but they cocked up getting them ready from a previous aktiv demo !....

This time the FACT's one the day, even though they were the smaller ones....
Think it was more about a better match to the electronics.....

To get a better idea, I have a couple of pairs being dropped off this week for home loan/demo..... Some Fact 8's on Thursday and the AudioVector S3 Avantgarde Arrete on Tuesday....... Should be fun.... pictures and review to follow if any ones interested......

They both have to beat my own DIY made Dynaudio Active Gemini speakers.... which could be a tough task.....:eek:
 
Yeah, please keep us up to date - sounds interesting. Hopefully you'll be better able to assess these speakers when you get them home.

As a matter of interest have you listened to Focal or Living Voice?
 
Yes, heard Focal a few times now, always the BE range, general don’t like them. They seem to be flavour of the month, the recent Hi-Fi show had them in nearly every room !!!.. People keep trying to tell me how good they are .... Sadly know one has managed to demonstrate what they talking about. They were on demo in two rooms on Friday, one of which was trying to show off some fancy Black Rhodium cables, you know the sort that come in velvet lined boxes !!...... ;)
We walked in between songs, and lasted about 10 seconds before my g/f pushed me out of the door with her fingers in her ears...... “sounds like someone catching their nails on a blackboard” ........ The other room wasn’t much better.
They have a very obvious sound, like NAIM, you always know when your listen to them. For me they are to much top and bottom, and over lean and cold in the mid, they clank along, Plus the top end is too hard and metallic despite what all the dealers say and try and tell me how sweet they are !
 
But.... I like my Focals :(

Edit: I do agree they are a bit harsh at the top (The bottom is OK though I think), and it took me a long time to set the room up so they sounded good, but they are very quick and detailed, hence I like them :)
 
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My current speakers I made are active, plus I've played with many Linn active speakers.... Yes can be much better.... BUT in my "music room" I don't want a stack of power amps. Trying to get something with few boxes, but stunning sound. Hence my search for an excellent passive speaker. I may fail, in which case I will either build my own again, or keep running my active Dyn's that belong in the lounge in the music room. (ok it's a spare double bedroom upstairs ..LOL)
 
How about Harbeths?

I've always heard good things about them. I bought a Densen pre amp at the weekend and the guy have a pair hooked up to a (mainly) Copland set up but i didnt get a chance to hear them as the gf was sat waiting in the car and it was cold.

Have you checked out Hifi Wigwam? I'd have thought the guys over there will have more experience than most on here with reasonably high end spreakers
 
Some interesting thoughts there.
I have to say that I actually think that you've approaching it from the wrong side, i.e. amp first. My personal opinion is that you find speakers that work in your room, THEN find an amp that will work synergistically with them.

As for ATCs, I've heard a couple of their active units and really liked both. In both cases, they happily filled a bigger room than they appeared, so if you're using in a smaller room, go for the >20 range. Can't remember their exact numbers. If I didn't prefer horns, active ATCs would be the solution I'd be using at home.
 
9designs2 said:
Would be an idea if all passive fails, Any sensible sized active ones ?
So would Linn Klimax, as they have the amps in the speaker, but not so sure Linn speakers are my taste...passive akurate 242 are not.....
Click to expand...

http://www.atcloudspeakers.co.uk/scm150slat.php

Won't fill the sensibly priced area at all, but OOFF :p

What's the price limit you have in mind?

Quick google found the 20s for this price new: http://www.hifix.co.uk/sku2.lasso?ATC SPEAKERS-SCM-20 SL&item=be8930173bee3b8b5fad1461cf89df9b

Possibly look at the passive speakers 2nd hand and a suitably beefy amp like ATCs SIA150 if you can find one.

Some serviced 100 passives for sale: http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=88547
 
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Hi Mr_S, I understand your logic, but no... :D ..... I've made my electronics bed and happy to lay in it....As I have travelled around hearing other stuff I still have no regrets with that choice...... So I have now the best Pre + Stereo Power I can get, could swap to Mono blocks one day, but that's very low on the list and high on budget !!!! ....
So finding a speaker voiced how I like is my goal..... and the home dem's to check how they work in my current room.....

I'm quite happy to do some room treatment should it be needed....... Have a plan already to use the acoustic foam tiles I have, covered in fabric art, to tune the room.

ATC worth a shot maybe, though I was in that store for the KEF and FACT 8 demo, the guy was pretty confident the the KEF's were the best in the shop. Well the 207/2 were but they are huge and well over budget at 10K.

Though I think a 375mm bass drive in a 3.2 x 3.9 meter room may be a tad OTT ;)....... That said my preference is not for big bass units, which have a habit of being slow... I prefer a pair of small ones for tightness and speed.
Which is where the FACT's do well with two small units in a TL, gives a very nice balance.....

Budget has been around the 4-5K mark... Though the Audiovector S3 Arette top out at 6.5K... Though with my Open day discount and some smooth talking I have got that down to 5K :D.

To recap my listening earlier in the year I've done the following:-
Kudos C10, 20 and 30
Focal 1008be, 1028be
Neat motive 4
Wilson Benesch Arc and Square 1
Dynaudio Contour 1.4, Focus 220, X32
Audiovector S1 AG, S3AG and S3 Arette
PMC GB1, FACT 3 and 8
Spendor A5
Linn 109, Akurate 212, 242 (Plus I own Kaber, and had Keltik)
TOTEM Staff
Monitor Audio PL100, 200 and 300
B&W 804D
Aspara
KEF Reference 205/2 and 203/2


So the test this week will be can these pricey ready made options finally show a clean pair of drive units to my home made giant killers..... Which I want to put back in the lounge on the end of the "AV" set up......

I'll post some pictures to support the weeks review as we go.....
 
9designs2 said:
804D were on the list above ;) ..... heard them back in the summer....looking back at my notes it reads "Very matter of fact, bit boring" ..... Afraid they are a very "safe" speaker/brand not much interest to me. On the day the WB Square 1, Dyn X32 and fact 8 were more enjoyable.
Click to expand...

Bah, I only read your first post... :o The 800 series has quite a clever enclosure which results in very little colouration of the sound, which may be why you though they sounded boring. :)
 
Would be ironic, as the focus of my designing work and tweak of my speakers has been on the cabinet to remove the sound from the rear of the drive unit/cabinet and have low colouration and box noise....... Which is where most designs fall down as they all sound boxy and one note honking bass. ........ Anyway..... a picture pre delivery of tomorrow's first speaker to try out...... So as I'm using at present, in active mode, hence the Tunebox perched on top of the pre amp..... not a nice look..... :( Might look a bit cleaner tomorrow :D

9D_system1.jpg
 
9designs2 said:
Would be ironic, as the focus of my designing work and tweak of my speakers has been on the cabinet to remove the sound from the rear of the drive unit/cabinet and have low colouration and box noise....... Which is where most designs fall down as they all sound boxy and one note honking bass. ........
Click to expand...
Looking good. :) I'm not really sure about the bass part with the 800 series but the clever part about the 800 series it with the spherical cone shape of the midrange enclosure, it results in much less colouration compared to a box., because of the shape of the enclosure.

Take a look at the PDF, page 15 onwards.

http://www.voice70.ch/home/BW/800_Development_Paper.pdf

BTW, I don't own the 800 series myself, I've only experimented with midrange cones in various DIY enclosures and have found balls and cones to outperform box shaped enclosure in my limited listening and tests...
 
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