Somehow found myself at the Hi-Fi shop in between classes

S

Shike

Audioholic Intern
Comparing a bookshelf speaker with floorstanding or towers?...:rolleyes: was someone kidding us?...what is the real price difference between the focals and mini monitor?...:eek:
There's various levels of quality in bookshelves and towers though, you must keep that in mind too.
 
C

clouso

Banned
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

I really don't get the point of your post then, it was poorly worded and kind of vague.
Nevermind ...i tought you cant compare a mini monitor with a scala but if you think you can do it...
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Still didn't answer the question - compared to what?
Just to name a few

Definitive Celsius
PSB Image B1
Infinity Beta 10
Polk Rti 4
Signet SL250
Mirage Omni 150
Klipsch RB 15
 
S

Shike

Audioholic Intern
Just to name a few

Definitive Celsius
PSB Image B1
Infinity Beta 10
Polk Rti 4
Signet SL250
Mirage Omni 150
Klipsch RB 15
I'd agree with that about half of those at least. ;)

clouso said:
Nevermind ...i tought you cant compare a mini monitor with a scala but if you think you can do it...
Not what you said, you said you can't compare bookshelves to towers. If I asked which is better, a Paradigm Studio 20 or a JBL Northridge E60, surely you'd say the Paradigm.

The Mini won't compare to the Scalas because one is an entry level bookshelf compared to a higher level floorstander (that measures better cross the board). If it was a high level bookshelf compared to an entry level floorstander it would be quite different (assuming the floorstander measures quite bad of course).

That's all I was getting at. If you meant different from what you said sorry, but you were giving the wrong impression.
 
C

clouso

Banned
I'd agree with that about half of those at least. ;)



Not what you said, you said you can't compare bookshelves to towers. If I asked which is better, a Paradigm Studio 20 or a JBL Northridge E60, surely you'd say the Paradigm.

The Mini won't compare to the Scalas because one is an entry level bookshelf compared to a higher level floorstander (that measures better cross the board). If it was a high level bookshelf compared to an entry level floorstander it would be quite different (assuming the floorstander measures quite bad of course).

That's all I was getting at. If you meant different from what you said sorry, but you were giving the wrong impression.
I just tought i didnt have to explain and youd get what i meant...and i dont know the JBL Northridge E60 but if i knew it and tought its better then the studio20 i would say it...FYI!.
 
S

Shike

Audioholic Intern
I just tought i didnt have to explain and youd get what i meant...
Nope, it's hard to decipher intention on the internet so thoughts tend to have to be relayed a bit more specific as it's hard to tell what it's in response to (without quotes) and which items were talking about (once again, without quotes).

and i dont know the JBL Northridge E60 but if i knew it and tought its better then the studio20 i would say it...FYI!.
Trust me, the E60 isn't :p

The xover is designed bad on purpose to differentiate it from the next speaker up (at least that's what various sites that disassembled it claimed to have discovered). It was cheap all around.
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Trust me, the E60 isn't :p

The xover is designed bad on purpose to differentiate it from the next speaker up (at least that's what various sites that disassembled it claimed to have discovered). It was cheap all around.
It is entry level period.
 
S

Shike

Audioholic Intern
It is entry level period.
Of course, but the fact they neutered the xover compared to the model just above it for "product differentiation" didn't help at all. That too was entry level, the E60 was just bad period.
 
krzywica

krzywica

Audioholic Samurai
Nice review, I like your writing style! I think we should send some speakers your way for an in home review . :)
 
C

clouso

Banned
Nope, it's hard to decipher intention on the internet so thoughts tend to have to be relayed a bit more specific as it's hard to tell what it's in response to (without quotes) and which items were talking about (once again, without quotes).

Next time ill be more specific...

Trust me, the E60 isn't :p

The xover is designed bad on purpose to differentiate it from the next speaker up (at least that's what various sites that disassembled it claimed to have discovered). It was cheap all around.
I really dont know the E60 so i will trust you...:)...btw focals speakers are really something that is why i tought it was a no match comparing it to a mini monitor from paradigm lol...i auditionned the Stella Utopia EM and i can tell you if i had enough $$ i would consider them...:eek:...lmao
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
i tought it was a no match comparing it to a mini monitor from paradigm lol...
Why not? What about the (Stella? Scala?) Utopia in particular makes you think that a compare-and-contrast can't be done? They're still both speakers which serve a function.

And if you answer my question then you'll be doing exactly what I was doing :p Is because that you think only mediocrity can had for the Mini Monitor's street price? Surely you don't feel the Utopia is worth anywhere near what its street price is, do you? Because no speaker pair is worth more than $15, 000. Not a single one. For the type of money the Scala Utopia goes for, you can buy a whole, financially struggling orchestra and have them play in your living room for a year and still be paid well by their standards, and i'm about 40% sure it would be more pleasing, although according to some people in the Vienna Acoustics thread, it wouldn't.

The only justification for something like a Grand Utopia is not the sound, but the aesthetics. Because a $6000 Summa probably has it beat on the sound front.

Nice review, I like your writing style! I think we should send some speakers your way for an in home review .
Lol, I'm flattered! However I couldn't hope to review any speaker sufficiently for my own standards, never mind others. Between lack of measurement equipment, lack of a trained ear, lack of familiarity with enough instruments, lack of time/patience, lack of understanding of psychoacoustics as well as the engineering which goes into speaker design, I'd fail miserably. I'd end up in some magazine explaining the superior soundstaging characteristics of 18awg silver or something silly like that. ... okay I hopefully would not.
 
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clouso

Banned
Why not? What about the (Stella? Scala?) Utopia in particular makes you think that a compare-and-contrast can't be done? They're still both speakers which serve a function.

And if you answer my question then you'll be doing exactly what I was doing :p Is because that you think only mediocrity can had for the Mini Monitor's street price? Surely you don't feel the Utopia is worth anywhere near what its street price is, do you? Because no speaker pair is worth more than $15, 000. Not a single one. For the type of money the Scala Utopia goes for, you can buy a whole, financially struggling orchestra and have them play in your living room for a year and still be paid well by their standards, and i'm about 40% sure it would be more pleasing, although according to some people in the Vienna Acoustics thread, it wouldn't.

The only justification for something like a Grand Utopia is not the sound, but the aesthetics. Because a $6000 Summa probably has it beat on the sound front.



Lol, I'm flattered! However I couldn't hope to review any speaker sufficiently for my own standards, never mind others. Between lack of measurement equipment, lack of a trained ear, lack of familiarity with enough instruments, lack of time/patience, lack of understanding of psychoacoustics as well as the engineering which goes into speaker design, I'd fail miserably. I'd end up in some magazine explaining the superior soundstaging characteristics of 18awg silver or something silly like that. ... okay I hopefully would not.
Yes there still both speakers but please dont compare oranges with lemons...!..that is my only point..ok now compare any focal with a BIOLAB 5 for instance just for fun and then let me know?...that would be a fun match cause i auditionned both the BIOLAB 5 and ALL the focals!...then we'll keep talking lol...
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
Yes there still both speakers but please dont compare oranges with lemons...!..that is my only point..
That's not a point... that's a suggestion. Explain to me why I shouldn't feel free to compare them.
 
C

clouso

Banned
That's not a point... that's a suggestion. Explain to me why I shouldn't feel free to compare them.
Yes you can!..im not telling you you cant compare any speakers cause i do it and we ALL DO IT CAUSE WE LOVE IT!.... what i mean is that comparing the mini monitors with ANY focals was not a good match...now i absolutly get what you mean by we can compare any speakers according to their price and that they are still speakers and all but in your review you say the focals was a better speaker then the mini monitor in general.....DAMN I HOPE SO!.......lmao...the mini monitors are a lets say low end speaker?...even the signature series from paradigm cant match the focals....that was my point....its a pleasure to talk to you...:)
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
Yes you can!..im not telling you you cant compare any speakers cause i do it and we ALL DO IT CAUSE WE LOVE IT!.... what i mean is that comparing the mini monitors with ANY focals was not a good match...now i absolutly get what you mean by we can compare any speakers according to their price and that they are still speakers and all but in your review you say the focals was a better speaker then the mini monitor in general.....DAMN I HOPE SO!.......lmao...the mini monitors are a lets say low end speaker?...even the signature series from paradigm cant match the focals....that was my point....its a pleasure to talk to you...:)
Um, you must have misread my post (not a review mind you). I did initially contrast the imaging, soundstage, and midrange smoothness of the Scala Utopia ($30,000) with the Mini-Monitor ($550). The point of that was because it helped make clear to me what was missing in the mini-monitors... not something missing in a $550 speaker that I can only find in a $30,000 speaker, but something I'm rather familiar with in a bookshelf pair (EMP e5Bi) that cost me 200 dollars brand new. In fact I may even go as far as to say based on memory which is admittadly biased, the $200 e5Bis in my mind sound more impressive than what I was hearing of the Mini Monitor, except in the bass department and upper treble extension departments. Maybe next time I should bring the e5s along for a proper A/B.

Next I was talking about Focals, but a different line of Focals, the Chorus. The Chorus 714 mini-tower which I auditioned most likely retails somewhere from 800-1200 dollars... likely smack dab in the price range of the monitor 7s and 9s, which in turn are the mini-tower equivalents of the Mini-Monitor, which in turn is in the same price range as the Focal 705V which I couldn't get an audition of.

Hopefully that clears things up a bit. Although I'm confused now.

And it's not necessary that the mini-monitor sounds worse than the Scala Utopia based on price-tier either. There's plenty of ultra-high end gear which probably sounds awful. The Utopia I heard didn't really blow me away either. I liked it, but I'm not exactly saving up for it. My maelstrom probably has better bass... too bad it doesn't have a box.
 
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clouso

Banned
What ever GranteedEV lol...you got my point i think and you got mine lol...im sure you know more then me in audio but i know just enough not to be fooled..lmao...btw i also liked that review...nice way to spend break times..lol...i wished i could take some breaks like yours!..lmao...
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
Um, you must have misread my post (not a review mind you). I did initially contrast the imaging, soundstage, and midrange smoothness of the Scala Utopia ($30,000) with the Mini-Monitor ($550). The point of that was because it helped make clear to me what was missing in the mini-monitors... not something missing in a $550 speaker that I can only find in a $30,000 speaker, but something I'm rather familiar with in a bookshelf pair (EMP e5Bi) that cost me 200 dollars brand new. In fact I may even go as far as to say based on memory which is admittadly biased, the $200 e5Bis in my mind sound more impressive than what I was hearing of the Mini Monitor, except in the bass department and upper treble extension departments. Maybe next time I should bring the e5s along for a proper A/B.

Next I was talking about Focals, but a different line of Focals, the Chorus. The Chorus 714 mini-tower which I auditioned most likely retails somewhere from 800-1200 dollars... likely smack dab in the price range of the monitor 7s and 9s, which in turn are the mini-tower equivalents of the Mini-Monitor, which in turn is in the same price range as the Focal 705V which I couldn't get an audition of.

Hopefully that clears things up a bit. Although I'm confused now.

And it's not necessary that the mini-monitor sounds worse than the Scala Utopia based on price-tier either. There's plenty of ultra-high end gear which probably sounds awful. The Utopia I heard didn't really blow me away either. I liked it, but I'm not exactly saving up for it. My maelstrom probably has better bass... too bad it doesn't have a box.
The 714V tower is $1095 - the Dome 5.1 surround is $2595
The 705 V is $495
The Grand Utopia is for the rich, so they can invite their audiophile
friends over - to show off what they have.
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
The 714V tower is $1095 - the Dome 5.1 surround is $2595
The 705 V is $495
The Grand Utopia is for the rich, so they can invite their audiophile
friends over - to show off what they have.
so the 714V is about the cost of a monitor 9, correct?

And the dome 2.0 was what was 800, not the 5.1
 
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