Coincident Technology Speakers

I have to tell you that they are my favorite brand of speakers that I have listened to up to this point. I started out with the Total Eclipse LCR which are the Total Eclipse without the woofer section. I still own them and have really enjoyed them coupled with a very musical sub such as the Martin Logan Grotto. I drove from Michigan to New Hampshire over a weekend to buy their big brothers, the Super Eclipse. It was worth every mile of the trip. I have fallen in love with their extremely revealing sound. Their build quality is absolutely outstanding. Do yourself a favor and listen to them if you can. The Super Eclipse I am using now are not going to be leaving my system. With the lights off I get the feeling the vocalist or band is in my living room. They disappear completely and they sound as "real" as any system I have heard yet. They will definitely reveal any flaws in your other components and the recordings. By the looks of your electronics you really don't have to worry about that. They just show you what is there on the recording. Good luck.

I heard them at CES in the Manley Labs room and was blown away. I thought they were one of the best sounds this year. The owner, designer is a first rate individual as well. I'm a Soundlab guy and they drew me in every time. Good luck.

I've owned the Super Eclipse Series II for more than three years and they have been totally satisfying. I recently upgraded them with the Extender Feet that helped widen the footprint and compensate for the tall, narrow design that can be a little "tippy". I did not have a problem in that area, but the feet did strengthen the low bass and improve imaging slightly.

The Super Eclipse at CES was the Series III, which has a different midrange driver thats rabeted into the front baffle and includes a small port below the lower of the two drivers. They sounded fabulous with Manley Amps at CES.

I have mine connected to Welborne Labs Laurels - 300B single-ended triodes - and in my apartment they work superbly, since the Supers are an easy load (don't drop below 12 Ohms) and are 93 dB/watt/metre.

Sometimes I fantasize that I might get the Total Victory II, for they are out of this world, but probably too much speaker for an apartment dweller. If you have the space, they would certainly be worth considering. The side-mounted woofers give you options in positioning, as I'm sure you are aware.

The Coincident line is expensive, but the cabinets are really well made with lots of internal bracing, excellent binding posts, good internal wiring (the new TVII has been rewired internally with Israel's latest speaker wires). Finish on my black Supers is fine, and maintenance free.

You don't see that many Coincidents on the used market, and I think this implies that owners are pretty happy with them.

You would probably be aware of Harry's latest word on the TVs, which had been working well in a muiti-channel system. When he ran them as a stereo pair he said he noticed two colourations that had not been obvious before: "added warmth in the midbass region and a sweetening and slight prominence in the upper midrange" (TAS Dec 2004 p. 94). I can't say I am aware of that with my Supers, but I don't have Harry's experience, nor do I listen at the volume he does.

As I said, I've owned these speakers for over 3 years, and they have been a source of great listening pleasure and personal pride. They easily reveal subtle differences in upstream components (like changing between Pass and Seymour outlets and the Acme silver-plated versions, or different versions of Grover's silver balanced interconnects) so there is plenty of resolution. Microdynamics are good, maybe not the last word in dynamic "push" - but not reticent either. The top end is extremely smooth and (in my system) never edgy or annoying.

I use a BAT VK50SE preamp and a Sony XA777ES SACD player that's been extensively modified by Ric Schultz (EVS).

I'm sure the Coincident would be a very different flavour to the Quad 988s, and I hope that it's a flavour you like. If it is, you will be very pleased with either the Supers or the TV.

Regards,