I am a monitorphile, even owned my own loudspeaker company 20+ years ago. Over the past 2 years I either listened to or owned most of the speakers you have on your list. I found what I wanted in Finland from PenAudio (www.penaudio.fi). Their Charisma is by far the best monitor I have ever heard. Fast, articulate, accurate and musical with tons of room fill and imaging you cannot imagine. They are small, 5 1/2 x 10 x 11, and sound better than floor standers in the same price range. You can complement them with a REL or get their matching Chara woofer system. The company will celebrate its five year anniversary in 2004 and the founder, Sami Pentilla, has been designing speaker for other manufacturers for about 10 years. Joe Abrams at Portal Audio is their new US importer. They will be back at CES in January and several dealers are on-line. I strongly suggest you call Joe at 888-737-4434 and speak with him. If you want a a more detailed comparison with some of the speakers on your list, please send me an e-mail.
Best stand mounted monitors
I need your help please as I'm replacing my floor standing KEF Ref. Series 104/2 speakers with stand mounted monitors and probably a subwoofer due to the wife-acceptance-factor. I'm looking for comments from people who have listened to and hopefully compared the following monitor speakers that I'm considering:
(1) REFERENCE 3A - MM Decapo i
(2) PROAC - Response One SC or Tablette Ref. 8 Signature
(3) VON SCHWEIKERT - VR-1
(4) REVEL - M20 or the new M22 due out Q1 '04
(5) ATC - SCM 10-2 or SCM 20-2 either active or passive.
Other things you need to consider before offering your advice:
--> I will be replacing a very old Sherwood receiver with a new tube preamp and either tube or SS amp. I'll get the speakers first and then match the amp to it.
--> my room is about 4,800 cubic ft (40*15*8) and is average "aliveness" so having a higher sensitive speaker (e.g. >89dB) is desirable as it'll will mean less power required. I listen mostly to jazz with some R&B and classical.
--> budget is around US$2K-$3K (new retail price)
--> Id like to buy a REL subwoofer to match (e.g. Stadium II or III)
Many thanks.
(1) REFERENCE 3A - MM Decapo i
(2) PROAC - Response One SC or Tablette Ref. 8 Signature
(3) VON SCHWEIKERT - VR-1
(4) REVEL - M20 or the new M22 due out Q1 '04
(5) ATC - SCM 10-2 or SCM 20-2 either active or passive.
Other things you need to consider before offering your advice:
--> I will be replacing a very old Sherwood receiver with a new tube preamp and either tube or SS amp. I'll get the speakers first and then match the amp to it.
--> my room is about 4,800 cubic ft (40*15*8) and is average "aliveness" so having a higher sensitive speaker (e.g. >89dB) is desirable as it'll will mean less power required. I listen mostly to jazz with some R&B and classical.
--> budget is around US$2K-$3K (new retail price)
--> Id like to buy a REL subwoofer to match (e.g. Stadium II or III)
Many thanks.
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- 40 posts total
- 40 posts total