"Fella" wrote in message
.. .
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Fella wrote:

1) Ignore the "all cd players, amps, speakers, wires, etc, sound the
same" type of borgs lurking around here. Just believe in your own ears.


I'd love to know who you think reckons all speakers sound the same?

Well if some have the audacity to think that all cd players and amps sound
the same why not also speakers?


First lets deal with falsehood of anybody saying all CD players and amps
sound the same. It is that all CD players working the way tehy are supposed
to sound the same. If you have 2 CD players and one sounds different, one
is either malfunctioning or designed to sound someway other than flat.

Same for amps.

As to speakers, they are the weakest link in the audio chain sinc e they are
subject to room interaction and the fact that designs and drivers ahve gross
differences from manufacturer to manufacturer.



What about it howie? With level matching and 8 hours a day pink noise
listening subjected to the strictest iron curtain double blind tests you
think you would get a sonus faber sound the same as a, say, dynaudio ?


I've never seen this in print anywhere - the writer would be laughed out
of court.

Yes but he would come back.


I'd caution against just relying on your ears without a reference. The
room used for listening in has a far greater influence on the final sound
than any competent amp or CD etc. So what may sound fine in a shop at a
quick audition may well disappoint at home.

You are correct. I should have advised the newbie that (s)he should have
home auditioned any equipment for at least a week before any purchase
decision. That's what I do actually.



Also, IMHO, ... If a speaker sounds
'impressive' on one type of music more than another, it's a poor design.


Well I am not saying that for instance that some death metal vehemence
would sound bad with *spesifically* a sonus faber (it would sound bad
eminating from any old speaker, it wants to sound bad, yes?). What I am
saying is that its just a waste of money and abilities of the sonus faber
speakers to employ them on that kind of material. Sonus faber is designed
to bring out all the subtle inner details, the beauty, the musicality, of
a given piece of music, that IMHO, does not exist in angry music. And
since such music is preferably heard LOUD and with lots of distortion, a
sonus faber would be an overkill, as it were. A pair of cremona costs at
least three times as much as a pair of some average cervin wega!s which
are designed to give what the listeners or angry music want.

Michael McKelvy wrote:




First lets deal with falsehood of anybody saying all CD players and amps
sound the same. It is that all CD players working the way tehy are supposed
to sound the same.



This is just hilarious. He says that it is a falsehood that anynody
says a given, then RIGHT AFTERWARDS he says it himself..!


If you have 2 CD players and one sounds different, one
is either malfunctioning or designed to sound someway other than flat.


Well I sure wouldn't want my CD player to sound flat! I guess I'll go
with the "malfunctioning" ones!



Same for amps.


Thus spake ze god of audio-physics, ze force of knowing it all..
Resistance is futile!

"Fella" wrote in message
.. .
Newbie wrote:

Having been away from audio for a long time, I am now looking to
upgrade from KEF 104ab, an speaker, probably similar to Spendor and
Rogers models. I would prefer a floorstander, but not much larger
footprint than my present speakers (ie, no Quads or Maggies). This is
for 2-channel stereo, not home theater.

Please suggest suitable brands and models. Friends have suggeted
Spendor, Proac and Dynaudio. However, I am confused by various "series"
within a brands (don't recall that happening when I shopped last time
but could just be my faulty memory!), eg, should I be looking at
Contour or something else in dynaudio?

All comments and advice appreciated.

I would advise a Sonus Faber. They get their drivers from dynaudio,
scanspeak, etc. Their work is *very* high quality and *very* good looking.
Although loyal to the source (ie, "hifi") their philosophy of the human
ear being the "strictest judge" and that they see home audio reproduction
as an end in itself, and as a form of artistic expression by itself makes
them stand out from all the rest, IMHO. You will get very sweet and
musical sounds when matched with the appropriate gear.

Two more advises:

1) Ignore the "all cd players, amps, speakers, wires, etc, sound the same"
type of borgs lurking around here. Just believe in your own ears.

2) Steer away from sonus faber if you are mostly into heavy metal, hard
rock, etc angry type of music.

The only reason IMO to go with Sonus Faber is looks, since the sound the
impart can be gotten in other brands or in kits.

There is one other speaker I would include in a recommended list, and that
is the VSM from Merlin. The last time I saw one it was $5000.00 U.S. and
used a Top of the Line Dynaudio Tweeter and a Scan-Speak 7" midwoofer.
Absolutely beautiful look and sound.

Michael McKelvy wrote:

The only reason IMO to go with Sonus Faber is looks, since the sound the
impart can be gotten in other brands or in kits.

"As to speakers, they are the weakest link in the audio chain sinc e
they are subject to room interaction and the fact that designs and
drivers ahve gross differences from manufacturer to manufacturer"

Newbie wrote:

: Friends have suggeted Spendor, Proac and Dynaudio.

Those are well known names by now but I remember when each was news to
me and I suspected the salesman was trying to pull some trick.

Anyway, does anybody know any unknown / less well known speaker brands
that are of equal or better quality and much better value (ie, less
expensive) than these?

RPS

In article , RPS
wrote:

Newbie wrote:

: Friends have suggeted Spendor, Proac and Dynaudio.

Those are well known names by now but I remember when each was news to
me and I suspected the salesman was trying to pull some trick.

Anyway, does anybody know any unknown / less well known speaker brands
that are of equal or better quality and much better value (ie, less
expensive) than these?

Triangle.

http://www.triangle-fr.com/welcome-2002.htm

Stephen

"RPS" wrote in message
...
Newbie wrote:

: Friends have suggeted Spendor, Proac and Dynaudio.

Those are well known names by now but I remember when each was news to
me and I suspected the salesman was trying to pull some trick.

Anyway, does anybody know any unknown / less well known speaker brands
that are of equal or better quality and much better value (ie, less
expensive) than these?


Some (mebbe not all) of the Eltax brand get a very good rating in some of
the comix and are as cheap as chips. They are Danish and appear to be very
well made.

I got a pair of 'Millenium 100s' off ebay for a tenner (+ P&P) and they are
quite excellent, see:


http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...ow/eltax01.jpg

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...ow/eltax02.jpg

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...ow/eltax03.jpg

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...ow/eltax04.jpg

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...ow/eltax05.jpg

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...ow/eltax06.jpg

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...ow/eltax07.jpg

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/keit...ow/eltax07.jpg


(Sorry - haven't got time to sort them out, so I posted them all!)

Hint of Jamo Concert 8 in the shape of them...???

"RPS" wrote in message


Newbie wrote:

Friends have suggeted Spendor, Proac and Dynaudio.

Lesser-known in the US, better-known in Europe.

Those are well known names by now but I remember when each was news to
me and I suspected the salesman was trying to pull some trick.

Anyway, does anybody know any unknown / less well known speaker brands
that are of equal or better quality and much better value (ie, less
expensive) than these?

Given that many consumer loudspeaker brands include several models that
pretend to be recording studio monitors, consider learning about the real
thing. In many cases the real thing costs no more, and can easily outperform
the imitations.

Brands of true-and-genuine recording studio monitors:

Mackie, KRK, JBL Pro, Alesis, Tannoy, Dynaudio, Behringer, Event, M-Audio,
NHT Pro, Samson, Roland, Tapco, Nady, ART, Fostex, Yamaha Pro, Wharfdale,
Fostex.... Note that this is an inclusive list, not a list of speakers that
all equally merit serious consideration.

Many of these speakers include power amps, providing a convenient way to
build a minimalized system.

Based on recent listening evaluations, the bang-for-buck leader in studio
monitors could easily be the Behringer B2031A. They would make very gutsy
but nice-sounding speaker/amplifiers for use with a computer system and/or
CD player.

In article ,
"Arny Krueger" wrote:

"RPS" wrote in message


Newbie wrote:

Friends have suggeted Spendor, Proac and Dynaudio.

Lesser-known in the US, better-known in Europe.

Those are well known names by now but I remember when each was news to
me and I suspected the salesman was trying to pull some trick.

Anyway, does anybody know any unknown / less well known speaker brands
that are of equal or better quality and much better value (ie, less
expensive) than these?

Given that many consumer loudspeaker brands include several models that
pretend to be recording studio monitors, consider learning about the real
thing. In many cases the real thing costs no more, and can easily outperform
the imitations.

Brands of true-and-genuine recording studio monitors:

Mackie, KRK, JBL Pro, Alesis, Tannoy, Dynaudio, Behringer, Event, M-Audio,
NHT Pro, Samson, Roland, Tapco, Nady, ART, Fostex, Yamaha Pro, Wharfdale,
Fostex.... Note that this is an inclusive list, not a list of speakers that
all equally merit serious consideration.

Many of these speakers include power amps, providing a convenient way to
build a minimalized system.

Based on recent listening evaluations, the bang-for-buck leader in studio
monitors could easily be the Behringer B2031A. They would make very gutsy
but nice-sounding speaker/amplifiers for use with a computer system and/or
CD player.

Studio monitors would be a bad choice for the OP. He wants a
floorstander roughly equivalent to his KEF 104s and prefers classical
music. Monitors are often meant for tabletop positioning and have
frequency responses bumps to exaggerate recording/production flaws.

One exception (of many) would be the BBC monitors available in the UK by
various makers: Rogers, etc.

Stephen

MINe 109 wrote:

Studio monitors would be a bad choice for the OP. He wants a
floorstander roughly equivalent to his KEF 104s and prefers classical
music. Monitors are often meant for tabletop positioning and have
frequency responses bumps to exaggerate recording/production flaws.

Honestly, he's going to have to look really really hard to find
a better speaker than his 104s. He might look into large planars
or move to full-range electrostatics.