Dream Speakers Under $6,000 Retail

[billy p]

ADTG,

How do the Linkwitz Orion's stack up to the Kef's and Revel's? Also, how would you rank them in order of favorites? I'm just curious.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/loudspeakers/75279-revel-vs-kef-vs-linkwitz-3-way-battle.html

 

[DenPureSound]

Max. Output Comparisons - KEF/Klipsch/Ascend Towers

Front Towers - Pair for FL/FR

Now, for a KEF R900 at Sens. = 90dB w/ 250W RMS w/ 12' Listening dist. will produce 105.7dB

Now, for a Klipsch RF-7II at Sens. = 101dB w/ 250W RMS w/ 12' List. Dist. will produce 116.7dB

Now, for Ascend Tower at Sens. = 92dB w/ 350W RMS w/ 12' List. Dist. will produce 109.2dB
(Notice I increased the Power into the Ascend to 350W RMS of Clean Power per Ascend specs.).

Now, for Ascend Tower at Sens. = 92dB w/ 250W RMS w/ 12' List. Dist. will produce 107.7dB

What is not taken into consideration is the total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) Percentages at these Power Levels!

and the Winner is _____ ?

 

[Hocky]

Front Towers - Pair for FL/FR

Now, for a KEF R900 at Sens. = 90dB w/ 250W RMS w/ 12' Listening dist. will produce 105.7dB

Now, for a Klipsch RF-7II at Sens. = 101dB w/ 250W RMS w/ 12' List. Dist. will produce 116.7dB

Now, for Ascend Tower at Sens. = 92dB w/ 350W RMS w/ 12' List. Dist. will produce 109.2dB
(Notice I increased the Power into the Ascend to 350W RMS of Clean Power per Ascend specs.).

Now, for Ascend Tower at Sens. = 92dB w/ 250W RMS w/ 12' List. Dist. will produce 107.7dB

What is not taken into consideration is the total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) Percentages at these Power Levels!

and the Winner is _____ ?

Does anyone ever sit and listen to music at 105+db? And if they do, they probably don't need speakers with any sort of fidelity. lol

 

[DenPureSound]

The KEF R Series Are Coming ...

So they say... the KEF R Series are being distributed out to many states now.

KEF Owners Thread - Page 150 - AVS Forum

 

[DenPureSound]

Does anyone ever sit and listen to music at 105+db? And if they do, they probably don't need speakers with any sort of fidelity. lol

Only when we have All the Windows and Doors open in the Summer Time and are having our Annual Big Block Party, [Laughing ]... Certainly not, but it does show what they will do for Maximum Output SPL's.

Have you ever noticed when you have a Great Speaker and turn up the Power to it, that it will not Congest/Compress and Smear the Sound, and sound even better at higher levels w/ all the same details and more than when at 75dB or so? To me, a Great Speaker should "Sound even Better when More Power is Applied to it", and if it doesn't then it is Not a Great Speaker, or certainly Not A Speaker I want to own!

Just one of many reasons that the Aperion VGT's sitting here are going back to the Mfg. -- Notice I never sent my Paul Wilbur Klipsch's back, and never will.

Maybe I need to be like Warpdrv and ADTG, and have two sets up front -- one for our Block Parties, and the other for finite ref. level clarity and details solely.

Block Party Front Towers = Klipsch RF-7II's or Paradigm S8's or KEF R900

Precision Listening Towers = Philharmonic Audio 2 or Salk SongTowers or HT2-TL's

or is there ONE Pair of Towers that will DO IT ALL?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Originally Posted by Nuance AH ADTG,

How do the Linkwitz Orion's stack up to the Kef's and Revel's? Also, how would you rank them in order of favorites? I'm just curious.

1. Revel
2. KEF
3. Linkwitz

But extremely close.

 

[lsiberian]

Yeah reading about the distance needed for a bipole sends me back to the drawing board again. No way I want speakers that far off the wall.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Maybe I need to be like Warpdrv and ADTG, and have two sets up front -- one for our Block Parties, and the other for finite ref. level clarity and details solely.

Just get JTR to send you some secret FR plots, then get a pair of JTR Quintuple for $1500 each.

JTR Speakers*|* Quintuple

I sent JTR an email and asked for some on-axis & off-axis plots. Hey, my room may be full, but the living room (20 x 18) is not full. I can always sell the P362.

 

[psbfan9]

I can always sell the P362.

SOLD!....LOL

Or,

Maybe I'll wait until you sell the ST's.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

SOLD!....LOL

Or,

Maybe I'll wait until you sell the ST's.

LOL. What ST?

 

[psbfan9]

LOL. What ST?

I meant the Salon's, but used the Song Tower abbreviation.

 

[Nuance AH]

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/loudspeakers/75279-revel-vs-kef-vs-linkwitz-3-way-battle.html

Thank you sir.

Front Towers - Pair for FL/FR

Now, for a KEF R900 at Sens. = 90dB w/ 250W RMS w/ 12' Listening dist. will produce 105.7dB

Now, for a Klipsch RF-7II at Sens. = 101dB w/ 250W RMS w/ 12' List. Dist. will produce 116.7dB

Now, for Ascend Tower at Sens. = 92dB w/ 350W RMS w/ 12' List. Dist. will produce 109.2dB
(Notice I increased the Power into the Ascend to 350W RMS of Clean Power per Ascend specs.).

Now, for Ascend Tower at Sens. = 92dB w/ 250W RMS w/ 12' List. Dist. will produce 107.7dB

What is not taken into consideration is the total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) Percentages at these Power Levels!

and the Winner is _____ ?

92dB sensitivity for the Ascends? Where did you get that? They are 89dB anechoic, which is how speaker manufacturers list their sensitivity. They are 92 in-room, but that's not how others advertise their speakers. You have to compare apples to apples dude.

Okay. GranteedEV asked me to try something:

1) place acoustic panels directly behind and Orions and in front of both racks.
2) move the Orions to 6ft from the front wall.

I don't think the panels did much. If they did something positive, it must have been very minor. I really could not tell.

But when I moved the Orions to 6ft from the front wall, things started to get interesting.

First, the details in the treble improved. The plucking of the guitar strings became very distinct and detailed, just like the Salon2 and KEF 201/2.

Second, I feft like the soundstage widened up even more than before. It sounded extremely good.

So it was the speaker placement all along.

But 6ft from the front wall is just impractical in most rooms, including my current room. I would need a room that is 23ft long or more. Perhaps in the future. But for now, the Orions will have to go back to 3ft from the front wall. At least now I know they can sound even better with more room from the front wall.

I quoted some stuff from the three-way comparo here, by the way. If I do remember correctly, Siegfried always said they needed a lot of room to breath, and your experiment proves it. So now that you've had a chance to hear them shining even brighter, do you still rank them third?

I imagine only experts (like S Olive, F Toole, S Linkwitz, J Salk, D Murphy, Gene, and our local experts like GranteedEV, AJinFL, TLS Guy, and a few other experts) are qualified to judge.

I doubt that. I think anyone who knows what to listen for and is passionate about this hobby could pick out differences with enough listening time. My friends Terry (TJHUB) and Greg (OgOgilby) could easily hear the differences I bet. I probably even could. Don't sell yourself short, ADTG; I bet you would hear the differences if you consistantly listened to one, swapped the other and repeated, and finally did the same with the third speaker. You'd probably notice changes in instrument timbre and a shift in tonality. Also, I find it hard to believe you're not hearing a change in bass weight, punch and depth, unless you're crossing to subwoofers. Of course, if your room isn't treated then you'll probably never hear any differences because it's still in play too much.

 

[cschang]

I doubt that. I think anyone who knows what to listen for and is passionate about this hobby could pick out differences with enough listening time. My friends Terry (TJHUB) and Greg (OgOgilby) could easily hear the differences I bet. I probably even could. Don't sell yourself short, ADTG; I bet you would hear the differences if you consistantly listened to one, swapped the other and repeated, and finally did the same with the third speaker. You'd probably notice changes in instrument timbre and a shift in tonality. Also, I find it hard to believe you're not hearing a change in bass weight, punch and depth, unless you're crossing to subwoofers. Of course, if your room isn't treated then you'll probably never hear any differences because it's still in play too much.

Agreed. If you were able to do instant A/B level matched switching, it is really easy.

 

[Nuance AH]

Agreed. If you were able to do instant A/B level matched switching, it is really easy.

That would be awesome, but I think it's easy even without instant A/B switching. YMMV, of course.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

So now that you've had a chance to hear them shining even brighter, do you still rank them third?

I bet you would hear the differences if you consistantly listened to one, swapped the other and repeated, and finally did the same with the third speaker.

I would say they all tie for first place.

Sure we can tell the difference when you listen critically. But when we are enjoying the music at the end of the day, all these speakers are great speakers, and most people would be happy with any of them.

Once you get to the level of greatness, it's hard to improve. It becomes more of a personal preference - purely subjective, which is fine. Great speakers are all great. Whether it's Revel, KEF, Linkwitz, Salk, Philharmonic, etc., great speakers all sound great.

 

[cpp]

Sure we can tell the difference when you listen critically. But when we are enjoying the music at the end of the day, all these speakers are great speakers

That is about the most logical comment you have made this week, your not feeling sick are ya

 

[DenPureSound]

Nuance, you are right on.. you caught me in an Error, my first one ever...

Moving the Ascend Tower down to 89dB sensitivity, yields 104.7dB w/ 250W.

to compare the Apples w/ other Apples per say.

When are the shootout results coming out.. tonight?

 

[DenPureSound]

I would say they all tie for first place.

Sure we can tell the difference when you listen critically. But when we are enjoying the music at the end of the day, all these speakers are great speakers, and most people would be happy with any of them.

Once you get to the level of greatness, it's hard to improve. It becomes more of a personal preference - purely subjective, which is fine. Great speakers are all great. Whether it's Revel, KEF, Linkwitz, Salk, Philharmonic, etc., great speakers all sound great.

I keep telling you to just listen to your EARS there... How do you know the Philharmonics sound GREAT... you have NEVER even heard them?? BTW, where are all the writeup's from the ones that own them so far... I want to see what some of the owners of the Phils think.

My KEF's, PSB's, Paradigms, Monitor Audio, JTR's, Ascends sound great also... and I never even heard them. [Laughing]...

I know one thing, my Aperion VGT's are going back this week coming up, they to us Do Not Sound GREAT (only know that as we have heard them ), and can not hold a candle to our Klipsch's.

 

[Nuance AH]

I would say they all tie for first place.

Sure we can tell the difference when you listen critically. But when we are enjoying the music at the end of the day, all these speakers are great speakers, and most people would be happy with any of them.

Once you get to the level of greatness, it's hard to improve. It becomes more of a personal preference - purely subjective, which is fine. Great speakers are all great. Whether it's Revel, KEF, Linkwitz, Salk, Philharmonic, etc., great speakers all sound great.

I totally agree buddy! So...ah, when will you be sending me those Kef's?

Seriously, though, of all the stupid amount of speakers I've heard, I don't recall ever listening to those Kef's. I hear great things but have never had the pleasure. I wonder if they'll be attending AK Fest this year...

 

[cpp]

DenPureSound

BTW, where are all the writeup's from the ones that own them so far... I want to see what some of the owners of the Phils think.

I agree with you on this. No doubt they will sound detailed, well put together and no doubt they are/will be engineered especially well etc.. but I do hope some owners will chime in with some detailed review ( equipment used, and the different types of music used in their review ) and let us know before we drop some $ on these speakers.