funny story ( now )
we took a pair of MMG in trade which was a small win against our cross town arch rival and because our backwalls were pretty highly damped they never did sparkle, so on a whim i bought them from store owner
came home to find GF cat hanging stuck to panels
( btw they sounded freaking fantastic in our 10’ ceiling brick townhouse)
said to GF declaw the cat
she moved out the next week...
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I second the opinion to get Monitor Audio speakers as I had some GR10's powered by a 326BEE years ago, and it was an amazing combo for the price. |
I use Silverline Preludes with a 326 in my gym. As long as you don't go too hard on the volume dial, it's a nice sounding combo. The bonus here is a small footprint for my tight space. If that's valuable to you and very high SPL isn't required, you could definitely do worse than the Prelude. |
@ruleof72 ,
I have only heard the T2, T3 (flagship) and Alphas (I think).
I also have your situation where I have my speaker cables in the wall. I started with Monoprice, like you, and now I have signalcable wire in the wall. I thoroughly enjoyed the speakers, including my Totems, with 12-14 gauge Monoprice cable runs. You'll get a lot of different views on the subject. Mine is a middleview--I believe cabling makes a difference but it's hard to imagine a great system sounding terrible with good gauge hookup wire. I found--in my room/my system that interconnects made more difference.
And keeping the WAF high keeps me enjoying music right in the living room.
I also like the recommendations for Monitor Audio and Totem. The "PSB sound" was different to me than the Totems I had before. The Totems were very lively--not harsh, yet very much forward sounding. The PSBs are more neutral and warm and, yes, they can sound slightly laid back with some recordings. I got very accustomed to the sound and now I prefer it just slightly over shiny, forward, etc. sounding speakers.
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Tomic, great story. I need to get that first hand. You may need to call me on that one. The visual is just stunning, lmao. Yes, when set up properly the Maggies can get excellent, but personally I dont 'love the bass and no matter what folks tell me, I have yet to hear any sub that integrates properly with them and I've heard most as all my dealers carry them. JMHO |
@leemaze Thanks for the Wharfdale 10.7 suggestion. They are good looking speakers and the price is definitely in line. Can you give any more insight into the sound? You mentioned they were detailed. Is that a forward detail or a more laid back yet detailed sound? |
Hi @ruleof72 Is Neutral Detail a thing? I dunno - they certainly aren't overly bright. But I wouldn't describe them as laidback sounding in general. Just very pleasant at all volume levels, and I notice a lot of depth and texture that other speakers haven't had for me. I do keep the treble knob down a smidge, but otherwise they just sound great playing everything. Their detail can also reveal differences in quality of your source - mp3 vs cd - very clearly, but mp3s don't sound bad if you aren't ABing the CD. Here's a review I read before my purchase that was helpful to me: https://www.stereophile.com/content/wharfedale-diamond-107-loudspeaker |
4425 says " I would strongly consider a mint used pair of Revel F206’s which list for $3500. Overbuilt with sound quality far beyond its price range. These are great speakers and I’ve been around the block many times. Much pride of ownership once you open the box and listen. FWIW"
I can attest to this recommendation. If you have a dealer in your area to hear them it is worth the listen. They are probably the clearest speakers I’ve heard in their price range. Remove the magnetic grills to reveal the walnut finish with blackened aluminum drivers. Yes, they are out of range $ new but a nice second-hand pair could come along...I might know a guy...
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I made it down to HiFi Buys today and listened to the PSB X1t, the ELAC Uni-Fi UF5 and the new Monitor Silver 200. Based on my short time with each speaker I enjoyed the Monitor’s midrange and imaging the most. They had a nice overall sound but lacked quite a bit in the low end. I’m thinking that might be a deal breaker, but I might be able to get a better low end with the now discontinued Silver 8’s?. The ELAC had a nice overall sound and was especially solid in the lower end. The PSB’s were somewhere in the middle but I think I would enjoy their sound if I had some additional low end presence. I wasn’t able to listen to the PSB X2T because they were still in the back but my guess is that they will have more of the low end presence of the ELAC.
On a budget busting note I was able to listen to a set of the new ELAC Adante as well as the Vandersteen Quatro Model 7 MKII and . Here’s my short review of each in order...WOW, WOW WOW WOW, and Holy Crap WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!! The Adante’s were the winner in my mind on a "dollar spent per audio nirvana unit achieved" basis. Simply put, for the $5,000 asking price, you are getting a fantastic speaker. I could almost, possibly, with an extra large tax refund in my pocket, see myself with them in my living room.The Quatro’s were also very impressive but at $14,000 for the pair I can’t drive them to work. The Model 7 MKII’s were massive and absolutely awesome sounding but at $62 grand for the pair I’d need to be able to live in them in order to justify their purchase. |
I'm jealous you even get to listen to these things.. $62k, damn. That better be one bada$$ speaker! |
@toddverrone Oh, they were completely bada$$....and completely out of my budget. The store's relatively close by though, I wonder if they'd mind too much if I showed up 1 or 2x a week with some albums to toss on the turntable and sit down for a listen? |
Ha!
good for you
we got our model 7 from Alan at HiFi Buys, love them
and yes they are badA
we did take over his high end room for 6 hours one day audition power amps while our Labrador slept at our fett so in short my guess is Alan is so customer focused you could ( almost ) move in !!!!
what I love most about your Post is the FUN you had
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agreed. glad u shared. Always good to have feedback on great dealers. Thanks. |
@ruleof72
You do know you can buy a pair of Treo's or Quatro's used and save a lot of coin. That's what I did.
Bob |
