Onix Melody SP3 & Ref 1's arrive!

[Rob Babcock]

I just got my packages from UPS today, and all I can say is WOW! Unfortunately I gotta go to work in ten minutes, so I won't have time to hook 'em up til tonight, but the build quality is stunning, especially on the amp. The frickin' thing is tiny, but it weighs forty five pounds! The finish is like butter, man! I can't believe the look and feel of the thing, especially for the price (I think it's heavier than my Denon 3802).

The speakers are gorgeous, too. If they sound half as good as they look I'm in for a real treat!

I'll report back after I hook up tonite- and of course, make sure it survived shipping.

 

[jaxvon]

I wish I had the cash to drop on that setup...and for a thousand bucks for an integrated and some nice speakers, I don't see how you can go wrong. I'm sure looking forward to your feedback on the subject.

 

[furrycute]

Most amps are rather heavy. Mine has a slim profile, but it weighs just over 60lbs. and I have two of them. Just try to imagine how my back ached for days after moving those puppies.


And when you do the review, please remember that it is the sound that matters, not the pretty face.

 

[VS540]

Sounds great, looking forward to hearing what you think of the sound. They do look good in all the pics.

I'd bet you'd be really impressed with the "Piano Rosewood" finish. http://www.absoluteingenuity.net/~patguy/ref1_gloss_rosewood.jpg It looks like it would be pretty sweet to me.

 

[j_garcia]

I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions too. I haven't heard anything from their Ref line yet.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Well, I'm back from work- ready to quit droolin' and start jammin! Only one problem; I can't find any cables in the house that aren't biwire. Yeah, don't start in on me about biwiring- I lost the shorting strips my speakers came with. I'll really get crap for this, but I think I have an 8' pair of Monster Z1's in a box somewhere that I got used.

My plan is to first hook the Ref 1's up to my bedroom rig, a Technics SA-AX6. I'll compare them to my regular bedroom speakers, which are MA Bronze 3's mass loaded with 25 lbs of #9 lead shot. Then I'll sub the Melody SP3 and try it out.

I realize it's the sound, not just the pretty face. But what a pretty face it has! I wish you guys could see it in person- it's hard to believe how nicely it's made for the price I paid. Normal price is $999 for the amp with a $1199 special on the amp + the Onix Reference 1s. But they have a "stealth" deal going that's only listed on their own forum- $999 for the combo! At that price I couldn't pass it up.

Hopefully I'll get some impressions posted later tonite or tommorrow. It's fun to have new gear!

 

[acoustic]

I too just got a set of REF 1's

I'm going to be using them as rears in my surround system but I've been breaking them in on my two chanel system. You'll need to be careful sending them a full frequency response. I already "popped" a woofer playing Holy Cole Trio at a fairly loud volume. No damage but I heard the left chanel woof make that awful pop sound and I quickly turned it down. I'm feeding them with dual mono amps rated at 300 WPC so I need to be more careful. As for the sound quality I find them to be amazing for the price. I almost like the vocal pesence and sheer clarity better than my N 802's. The imaging is starting to grow and the tweets are starting to soften up but I've only got 12 hours on them. I'm guessing they will take at least a full 100 hours to break in. The fit and finish on these speakers is better than my B&W 802's which is not suprising as I never found the B&W fit & finish to be all that good considering what you pay. I'm listening to them currently sans sub woofer on 24 inch lead shot filled stands w/ spikes on top of a 1 inch thick granite pad. I'm using MIT Shtogun 750 speaker cable and they really do show off their cable preference. I switched the balance on a mono setting between some grainy sounding Audioquest cables and the MIT's and they prefer the MIT's. I also used a set of Silver speaker wire that did not work well with these speakers either stick with copper. I would not call these speakers bright at all but that really depends on how you feed them. If anything I find them to be very inviting and warm with a good tight bass response for such a small driver/box. I'll reserve further judgment untill I have 100 hours on them but even without being broken in I can attest to the fact that they are well worth the money! I can't wait until my friend brings his Aerials over and my new REF 1's dust em....

 

[Rob Babcock]

So far I'm finding the Ref 1's quite underwhelming, but I plan to "burn them in" and play with them some more. The amp is definately a keeper, though.

 

[Rob Babcock]

BTW, imaging is so far the only thing I feel they do well. It's quite impressive how wide and holographic a soundstage they cast.

 

[acoustic]

What kind of music do you listen to???

I find mine don't like crappy recordings at all. I've been listening to mostly Jazz, Clasical & Bluegrass and they have done a great job so far... I threw in some AC/DC and it was prety dismal but my 802's don't like my AC/DC either...

 

[Rob Babcock]

I want to be careful not to paint the Ref 1's in too negative a light- my I've only listened to them for a few hours. The music ran the gamut from acoustic folk (Iron and Wine) to female jazz vocals (Holly Cole) to classical to pop (Jack Johnson) to some Slayer. Some of the rock was unlistenable to the point that I had to press the skip button. Holly sounded pretty good- they seem pretty happy with female vocals. Of all the stuff I played last nite, the only thing I thought sounded better than on the Monitor Audios was an acoustic track by Jack Johnson.

Maybe they'll sound better with burn in, and of course I'll tweak the placement. My main problem is that they sound very very forward and analytical, and way to bright. Perhaps more hours of play or moving them will ameliorate these problems.

I will say they do sound very clear and precise. Imaging is wonderful, too. I do think the tweeter is very good, but it doesn't really seem to match the voicing of the woofer. Again, we'll see if I like them more over time.

 

[KevinF]

Well, this is a bummer

I just ordered this sytem yesterday, and you're bummin' my high, man!! LOL

Hope I don't have to send it back. I ordered it on the theory that I was getting great bookshelves and they were throwing in this interesting tube amp for free (almost paying me to take it, if you believe the regular price on the Ref 1s). I also figgered if I really liked them after a while, I might get a 5 channel system with ref 3 fronts. So the speaker performance is more important to me than the amp.

 

[Rob Babcock]

No way I'm sending 'em back- to me the speakers are the freebie. I really don't need them. At any rate, most people on the forums seem to really like their sound. I haven't given up yet. I'll probably mess with placement & height a bit, and try them with a couple different amps.

Your high will return when you unbox that dead sexy amp!

 

[acoustic]

Mine are really singing now playing Lizz Wright

The more I listen to them the more I like! I was listening to some John Gorka and Greg Brow to see how they do with male baritone voice and they sounded awsome! Man this Lizz Wright album is a great quality recording. I can't wait till these things are broken in all the way... I was listening to Holly Coles 1995 album Temptation and James Taylor's Hourglass and they realy present a huge sound stage with very good imaging. They are very, very focused and "clear" is the only way I can describe them. I just grabbed one of my UFW 10's from the theater room and it really helps them round out the bottom I just wish my pre amp had a built in cross over but it's tube so it does not have much it the signal path. I dialed in the UFW to 80 cycles down and had my wife dial in the phase as best we could for a trial run. So far so good. I may want to swap these out for the Totems in my office and put the Totems in the theater...