EgglestonWorks Andra III Question

[blcskate]

There is a local person selling a pair of these beautiful speakers for 9k. I LOVE the way they look and the reviews seem great, but I have a couple Qs.

I am looking for home theater focus about 3k cubic feet. What would I need to pair with these for a 7 speaker surround and what about a sub since they have such low frequency on the built ins? How would a system like this compare to an RBH SX system for example?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would compare the RBH SX & SX-R speakers sound quality to the likes of Linkwitz Orion, Revel Ultima, KEF Reference, B&W Diamond, Philharmonic/Salk, and Funk speakers.

I've never heard Eggleston Works, so I can't compare.

But if I were to spend $9K+ on a system, I would want all matching speakers - fronts, center, and surrounds.

Here is a Stereophile measurement of the Andra II, which looks to have an on-axis FR of +/-3.5dB from 200Hz-10kHz.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/egglestonworks-andra-ii-loudspeaker-measurements

I don't know if the Andra III's bass can be actively bi-amp, which is a huge selling point to me on the RBH SX towers.

But the Andra III does look very good aesthetically, which may be extremely important to some people.

 

[blcskate]

Ya that is 9k just for the L/R fronts. I would have to find a matching center and I could probably use my KEFs for surrounds, but I agree at that price its probably better to go with a full set of matching. I have not seen anything in the 10k range that is anywhere near as nice looking, but of course that is not everything. It just helps with the wife factor.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Ya that is 9k just for the L/R fronts. I would have to find a matching center and I could probably use my KEFs for surrounds, but I agree at that price its probably better to go with a full set of matching. I have not seen anything in the 10k range that is anywhere near as nice looking, but of course that is not everything. It just helps with the wife factor.

It seems to me most high-end speaker cost is about 80-90% cabinet/aesthetic and 10-20% actual sound quality.

Of course, if money is no object, then no worries. But would your wife "sacrifice" some aesthetic for the benefit of cost savings?

I used to be much more into beautiful cabinets - mahogany piano finish, cherry piano finish, etc. Having the pretty ostentatious cabinets made me happy at first. But after I owned them for a while, none of it matters. The sound quality and the value matters more to me. I feel happier knowing I didn't pay all the extra money for the cabinets.

Yeah, for almost $10K budget, get the whole matching system, unless you want 2 separate systems - one as a prized prestigious 2.0 system, and another as a less expensive system for 5.1 HT.