Well so far I've played a few things through them and spent some time listening to them today. Currently they are being run full range, pure direct from the 8801 to the Antimode Dual Core 2.0 to the Threshold. The only issue I've run into is that they are much less sensitive than the other speakers so I've had to turn up the volume on the Antimode quite a bit. I just hope this doesn't result in any signal clipping, but so far so good. Placement options are pretty limited, but after a little tweaking I think I've reached a happy balance. I may still fiddle with angle a little bit, but that also means I'd have to re-run the bass management so maybe not as well. Most comments are in short, clipped sentences and are, for the most part, directly from notes I made while listening. I tend to not wax poetic and as Joe Friday would say, "Just the facts ma'am."
Linkwitz Sound Picture CD
Since I've received it, I've started all new speakers off with the
Linkwitz Sound picture CD played through the Oppo.
Track: After intermission
This track takes place in a large concert hall, about 25 rows back from the stage with a large orchestra tuning for Shostakovich Symphony #10. It also includes ambient conversation and the applause prior to the orchestra starting up again. Everything sounded very natural. Ambient sounds were precisely placed, applause sounded natural, soundstage was tall, but didn't appear to go wider than the speakers nor was it quite as deep as I remember. Could be a placement issue since they are very close the back wall.
Track: Parking Garage
Having been in a parking garage not too long ago I played this track to see how closely it sounded to actually being in a parking garage. Reverb was natural, captured the echo nicely. Footsteps and conversation sounded very natural and imaging was good.
Track: Ripping Paper
One of my favorite tracks because you can have someone standing there ripping paper as you pause the track to see how close it sounds. Plus this is a sound most people are very very familiar with so you usually know immediately if anything sounds wonky. Sounds like ripping paper. Aka, a good thing.
Track: Train Pulling Into Station
Great track to quickly test the panning ability of the speakers. Plus the train whistle is fun to hear. Movement across the soundstage was excellent, train whistle was natural, RAAL sounded great reproducing it, harmonics blended seamlessly with the midwoofers. Ambient sounds were captured and reproduced really well. Felt like you were at the station waiting for the train.
Philharmonic Test CD
Unfortunately I don't remember the names of the two songs in question. All I know is that they are track's 1 and 2. I'll have to ask Dennis what they are.
Track 1
This is a cool track, instrumental only, lots of good drum action and low frequency energy. Will definitely give your speakers/subs a good workout. Unfortunaltely I found the limits of the Satori woofers on this track. Granted I had the volume wayy up and it wasn't until the final few hits that are extra hard. Up until that point, the Testrossas sound awesome and bass carried an excellent weight, while also sounding very precise. Zero sloppiness from the lower register through the midrange. Very quick start/stop.
Track 2: Keith Don't Go (I think)
Guitar solo at the beginning is excellent. Live recording, same old same old. Imaging is precise, soundstage places guitar front and center, neither recessed nor forward.
Sheffield Lab Drum and Track Disc
IMO, a must have for testing speakers. The recording quality is top notch and the improv drum solos are really really good. Drum solos by Jim Keitner and Ron Tutt. Personally I lean towards the Tutt solo. For these recordings I'm listening for how well the drivers blend together, how well they capture the reverb of the drums and if the drivers can keep up with the drummers without getting muddy or sloppy or fuzzy in any spots. I love how this track sounds on the Phil's and to say that I don't think I hear any major differences is a huge compliment to the Testarossas. I'm really impressed by the Satori woofers and the 70-20 is just as good as I remember.
Random Tracks
Partita for Solo Violin No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: I. Preludio By Aaron Rosand
Another one of my favorites. Really highlights the tweeter and mid capabilities of a system. When played through the right speakers, the notes just seem to float in the air and are kept "light" and precise. RAAL FTW.
Spotify
I had spotify (premium) on last night for about 2-3 hours just playing random stuff. Anything from pop, classical, hip hop, country, jazz. I put these things through the ringer throwing just about anything I could think of at them at 7/10 volume. No critical listening, just seeing if I noticed anything glaringly obvious, positive or negative, from a casual perspective. At first the high end seemed a little bright and the low end was lacking a little bit, but a little placement tweaking had them sounding much much better. Overall, they sounded extremely neutral and revealing of the source material, which is exactly what I want. I don't want a pair that's going to level everything out and make badly mastered tracks sound Ok and really well done tracks sound pretty good. These fit the bill. Poorly mastered tracks sounded like sun soaked sh!t, and tracks that were mastered well sounded like it.
Final Impressions
For this whole thing I've basically tried to avoid any direct comparisons to my reference speakers and tried to let them stand on their own, but I guess it's inevitable. I would say that the Testarossas are superb speakers and the Pros/Cons below are mainly in comparison to the Phil 3's.
Pros:
- RAAL tweeter delivers.
- Satori woofers better than expected
- Imaging is precise
- Soundstage is right where you'd expect it to be, neither recessed nor forward
- Very natural, neutral speaker
- Drivers blend together nicely
- System as a whole is everything and more than you would expect at the price
- Reasonably small footprint, especially for the performance aquired
Cons:
- Doesn't reach quite as deep as I'd like
- Suspension of woofers limits output depending on material
The Testarossas are truly excellent speakers that give me 85-95% of the overall Phil 3 performance and 95% of the performance above 35-40Hz. They do everything right within their operating bandwidth and give more performance than anyone would probably imagine from a cursory glance. While I do miss the open back mid of the Phils, for most material it is a nonissue. The only other knock against them is that output wise, they are limited a little bit. However, for the vast majority of people they would be more than enough.
The overall presentation is balanced and neutral. Bass carries a nice weight to it, especially for four 6" woofers. However where they really shine are through that critical mid-range and of course the top end. Vocals are delivered about as faithfully as you could ever want, from soft and delicate, to sultry, to the powerhouses. These do not disappoint. I'm extremely happy with the speakers and even though I had high expectations because of the designer and the drivers, those expectations were easily met and exceeded. They came far closer to the performance of the Phil's than I thought they would and crossed over to some subs to just fill in a little bit of the low end and provide some relief to the Satori's at high output levels and you'd have full rangers that would sound great at just about any output level. As they are, they still sound more than good enough to leave without being crossed over which is how I'll be keeping them for the foreseeable future.
Now to go spin some vinyl through them.
