Bamberg 2 TM Monitors

Ponzio

Ponzio

Audioholic Samurai
Anyone own a pair and what are your impressions? I currently own a pair of Focal 1027Be's and a pair of KEF LS50's and was wondering how they compare tonally.
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
Very interesting. I went into a minor panic when you posted that since John is responsible for REW. Thankfully, he'll be staying on to continue with REW.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Very interesting. I went into a minor panic when you posted that since John is responsible for REW. Thankfully, he'll be staying on to continue with REW.
A lot of people will be happy about him hanging around.
 
Ponzio

Ponzio

Audioholic Samurai
So nobody owns a pair, huh? That's surprising. The specs/build quality look top notch.
 
tesseract

tesseract

Audioholic
So nobody owns a pair, huh? That's surprising. The specs/build quality look top notch.

The build quality inside and out is top notch. Are there any questions that you might have about the Bamberg speakers that my review did not cover?
 
Ponzio

Ponzio

Audioholic Samurai
The build quality inside and out is top notch. Are there any questions that you might have about the Bamberg speakers that my review did not cover?
No your review was excellent and covered all the bases. Sadly your article was the only in-depth review I found on the internet and I was looking for more opinions, especially from long time owners. While $900 may not seem too much money for some, to me it isn’t exactly chump change. I also reached out to Phil Bamberg himself and he was very gracious in responding. Like all the other internet direct speaker companies, he pointed out that I could purchase the speakers to demo and return them if I wasn’t satisfied or go out to Pittsburgh to visit an existing owner to demo them. Travelling 5 hours to Pittsburgh from the Philly area is a bit much for me and paying the return shipping charges ($75 to $100?) to demo a pair of speakers I didn’t like seems wasteful. I asked him in my last e-mail to please keep me in mind if he is ever in a 50 mile radius from Philly, doing a show or on business, to bring a pair along and if I was happy with the sound I would cut him a check, pay by CC or cash on the spot. He neither responded in the affirmative or the negative. I still find it odd that such a well-made speaker hasn’t sold to more members here on the site. I truly expected to get at least 3 to 4 owners to respond to the thread.

Just out of curiosity, do you still own the pair you bought?
 
tesseract

tesseract

Audioholic
No your review was excellent and covered all the bases. Sadly your article was the only in-depth review I found on the internet and I was looking for more opinions, especially from long time owners. While $900 may not seem too much money for some, to me it isn’t exactly chump change. I also reached out to Phil Bamberg himself and he was very gracious in responding. Like all the other internet direct speaker companies, he pointed out that I could purchase the speakers to demo and return them if I wasn’t satisfied or go out to Pittsburgh to visit an existing owner to demo them. Travelling 5 hours to Pittsburgh from the Philly area is a bit much for me and paying the return shipping charges ($75 to $100?) to demo a pair of speakers I didn’t like seems wasteful. I asked him in my last e-mail to please keep me in mind if he is ever in a 50 mile radius from Philly, doing a show or on business, to bring a pair along and if I was happy with the sound I would cut him a check, pay by CC or cash on the spot. He neither responded in the affirmative or the negative. I still find it odd that such a well-made speaker hasn’t sold to more members here on the site. I truly expected to get at least 3 to 4 owners to respond to the thread.

Just out of curiosity, do you still own the pair you bought?
No, I never owned that pair, just had them for review. I was smitten by the sound of the Series 5 TMW (one of the best speakers I have ever heard, period) I listened to at the 2013 LSAF, and Phil asked if I would like to review the Series 2 TW, so they came home with me.

I can't imagine anyone not being happy with the sound, to be honest. You can do a little better than the Series 2 TM, but it will cost a lot more money. Keep in mind, the Series 2 TM rolls off at 80 Hz and works best with a sub or two.

$900 is a lot of money, but considering the build quality and the engineering that go into these speakers, they would be at least $2-3k in a brick and mortar store. I think that $75 to audition them would be money well spent, and better than traveling to hear them as the audition is in your own home. I will go out on a limb here to say that they would probably find a permanent home.

You asked about tonality, I would say they are a bit dry and honest, like the Focal 1027Be, but image more like KEF coincident drivers (I haven't heard the LS50, yet.) Imaging and soundstage are Bamberg fortes.

I hope this helps, Ponzio.
 
charmerci

charmerci

Audioholic
Try posting here -

Enclosures

I know that several members have and have heard his more expensive models. (It takes a while for the first post to go up...sometimes almost a day.)
 
Ponzio

Ponzio

Audioholic Samurai
No, I never owned that pair, just had them for review. I was smitten by the sound of the Series 5 TMW (one of the best speakers I have ever heard, period) I listened to at the 2013 LSAF, and Phil asked if I would like to review the Series 2 TW, so they came home with me.

I can't imagine anyone not being happy with the sound, to be honest. You can do a little better than the Series 2 TM, but it will cost a lot more money. Keep in mind, the Series 2 TM rolls off at 80 Hz and works best with a sub or two.

$900 is a lot of money, but considering the build quality and the engineering that go into these speakers, they would be at least $2-3k in a brick and mortar store. I think that $75 to audition them would be money well spent, and better than traveling to hear them as the audition is in your own home. I will go out on a limb here to say that they would probably find a permanent home.

You asked about tonality, I would say they are a bit dry and honest, like the Focal 1027Be, but image more like KEF coincident drivers (I haven't heard the LS50, yet.) Imaging and soundstage are Bamberg fortes.

I hope this helps, Ponzio.
Obviously a sub or two is a must and I've already factored that in. I plan on purchasing SVS SB-1000 to match up with my LS50's and the current EMPTek 1010i will be matched with the new speakers I decide to purchase. These speakers will be going into my 3rd sound system to replace a set of Epos Epic 2’s. I’ve recently sold off a set of Polk’s & a set of Athena’s and plan to sell off my PSB Alpha B-1’s soon to complete the future and hopefully the final purchase of the last pair of speakers for my home, at least for the next 5 years, in this 3 year odyssey I've been on. In a perfect world I’d buy a pair Joseph Audio Pulsars for my office, kick my KEF LS50’s upstairs to replace my Epic 2’s, which would be perfect for my bedroom for nighttime listening and move the Triangle Titus 202’s in there now, into my kitchen. But it’s not in the budget right now and I’ll have to make do with the $1K limit I’ve set for myself. The Epic 2 is a great speaker, very similar … to me … tonally to the Dynaudio X12’s but not engaging enough for 2 to 3 hour sessions of active listening. The other entry in this contest is the Ascend Audio Sierra NrT 1’s, whose fan boys can’t praise them enough on the site here. What’s the old saying, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”. I have to admit though that your statement that the 2TM's are "a bit dry and honest, like the Focal 1027Be" may bring me around to giving the 2TM's a whirl around the dance floor. :)

My problem is self-inflicted. I just can’t get over the hump of buying a speaker I haven’t heard and the idea of spending $200 to demo 4 sets of speakers, let’s say, goes against every fiber in my being. :(

I want to thank you for your input and also charmerci for his suggestion on posting over on Audio Circle, which I’ve done.
 
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