Speaker auditioning

[avaserfi]

Agreed. Usually response gets worse do to room issues in the wrong spots anyway.

Fixed. Most start out poor .

 

[Ito]

I can't speak for the newest version of the Monitor's, since there has been some upgrades that have been in there gold series, but I have listened to the old version as well as the CM's. I did not listen to them in the same location, but both sounded great. I might say that I thought that the CM's sounded a little bit better...but with the upgrades that the Monitors have received, I wouldn't be able to say either way. That said they both sound and look awesome

Ok, so I spent some time today listening to the new Monitor Audio silver speakers. I Was not expecting that much of an upgrade. The new silvers I would say are nearly on par with the golds, only falling behind in looks and a tiny bit of smoothness. I was A-B-ing the new RX6's with the old RX8's, and I would say that they RX6's sounded a lot better, and that's not saying the old RX8's are bad, they are still pretty dang good. The new RX8's just have a bit more bass extension, but that's about the only difference, which isn't nearly *** noticeable once you have a sub going. I would totally give the new silvers a good listen!

 

[3db]

The order I'd prefer them:

B & W CM9
Monitor Audio: Silver RS 8's
Canton Chrono 507
Paradigm: Studio 60 v.5, Paradigm Studio 100 v.4
PSB: Imagine

I have listened to B&W and Monitor Audio and you can't go wrong with any of these.

If you exchanged the PSB and B&W positions, I'd say you'd be spot on. The CM9s are far from the top player in this group. One just needs to get passed the hangup of "B&W"

 

[JesseP]

I love my paradigms. I really have no complaints. For the money they are a more then fantastic speaker. I can't say ive heard B&W although i probably have but it was too long ago to remember. For fronts around the 3k range you should definitely be looking at Totems as well.

 

[Chicagorep]

Offset response - means then you are walking around the room, not sitting directly in the sweet spot.

Granted being in the right place, martin logans do sound great, and they have been attempting to improve this limitation by adding omni-directional woofer, but its not the same

I have not listened to Preface, but I auditioned the Ascent sometime ago.

Granted Preface have more of regular - "old school" drivers,but its still have the electrostatic panel, which like I said is very directional.

Edit:


I might stand corrected on this one, but I still think even ATF drivers cant beat forces of physics and provide omni-directional response

This is a great response. So many people when listening to speakers insist on sitting in the sweet spot. The true test of a speaker is how it sounds off axis. Martin Logans sound great if you sit in the sweet spot and don't move but if you get up,show's over. When I demo my speaker line I tell dealers/end users to get up and walk around the room and listen to the sound, does it change?

 

[jostenmeat]

This is a great response. So many people when listening to speakers insist on sitting in the sweet spot. The true test of a speaker is how it sounds off axis. Martin Logans sound great if you sit in the sweet spot and don't move but if you get up,show's over. When I demo my speaker line I tell dealers/end users to get up and walk around the room and listen to the sound, does it change?

Actually, it isn't a great response. There are at least three errors in it. Just saying. I like BoredSysAdmin, and I appreciate his good posting history.

Electrostats do provide a very small sweetspot. But, you can use the same argument to tell people not to use dipoles for side surrounds. You want to be on axis to any speaker made if possible. The further you go offaxis, the more inaccurate it will be. BTW, when I go to see an orchestral concert, I typically don't like to walk around the aisles. Same when in the movie theater.

I appreciate that you don't hide that you are a rep. May I ask which companies you represent?

 

[Chicagorep]

I rep Totem Acoustic, and one of the thing these speakers do is sound great even off axis. A speaker that has a small sweet spot is just showing you it's flaws of design.

I don't walk around when I go to live show or the movie because...well..because I want to enjoy the show and not get kicked out but when I listen to music at home I don't want to be chained to a chair to enjoy the music, I want to be able to move around and do something. If I had to sit in the sweet spot then the music wouldn't be so enjoyable.

 

[jostenmeat]

I rep Totem Acoustic, and one of the thing these speakers do is sound great even off axis. A speaker that has a small sweet spot is just showing you it's flaws of design.

Sure. At least there is no cabinet resonance. At least they don't have terrible sensitivity. At least they don't have a long standing reputation to be a very voiced speaker.

I don't walk around when I go to live show or the movie because...well..because I want to enjoy the show and not get kicked out but when I listen to music at home I don't want to be chained to a chair to enjoy the music, I want to be able to move around and do something. If I had to sit in the sweet spot then the music wouldn't be so enjoyable.

Fair enough. I guess after teaching and performing classical music in a number of countries, I can never remember people walking around. Nor in a movie theater. The only people I ever saw walking around were photographers, and the good ones clicked the shutter in rhythm to the music.

 

[Chicagorep]

Having so much knowledge of live music as you do, you should do yourself a favor and find a dealer that can audition Totem speakers for you. You'll be in for a treat.

 

[3db]

To help you in your auditiong, I would recommend the following procedure.

What I would do is to take a pad of paper with you, write down the make and
model of each speaker you audition and what you liked and disliked about the
speakers you were auditioning. Was the bass tight and deep or was it boomy and loose sounding? Were the mids life like or were they hollow or just too pronounced? Was the treble irritating and harsh or were they dark and not revealing or were they smooththat made you want to listen for more? How was the imaging?

Bring music with you that you are very familiar with and know quite well. To
make it easier to audition HT speaker systems, listen to the main speakers in 2
channel mode with music. Music is much harder to reproduce accurately then a movie soundtrack so if the speakers do well with music, then they will do wellwith HT. Speakers that do HT well may not do well with music. When auditioning the center channel of the same brand and series as the main speakers, pick a difficult source like an announcer that mumbles alot. If you can understand what the mumbling announcer is saying, then you have a good center channel.

I would go to speciality stores first and start auditioning speakers first
instead of going to the internet first. Once your likes are determined, you can
mention them here and fellow members can make internet brand recommendations based on your likes/dislikes. The specality stores are better setup acousticaly then the big box stores which will make auditioning a little easier. It will give you an idea of what you like in a speaker.

Keep track of what amp or receiver is powering the speakers you're auditioning. Try to get a receiver/amp that closest resembles what you have or want to get. It just reduces another variable when audtioning speakers.


One thing to keep note off. When auditioning speakers, make sure the volume
levels are matched between the diiferent speaker pairs because the louder
speaker pair will always sound better. Listen to levels that you think you
would listen to most of the time because thats how you are going to be using
them most of the time.