I can't help you with a comparison with Wilson, but as a satisifed ownwer of the Andra IIs, I can confidently tell you that you are "barking up the right tree" for speakers.
The Andras take a bit of work and careful equipment matching to get them to sound their best, but that is part of the fun, and a most rewarding experience (and I have news for you, it doesn't have to be uber-expensive either). If you are looking for speakers that re-create the soundstage instead of merely reproducing sound, seriously consider the Andra IIs.
BTW, I come from the camp the believes the speakers are the most important link in the audio chain, and work backwards from there. Good luck! |
Jsmoltz, I agree, I have listened to them on more then a few occasions and found them terrific sounding speakers. They hardly get any attention/press, well they are close to $20000.00, but I think compete with other box enclosure speakers of the high end of audio. Personally, I'm not a great fan of Wilson speakers, also have heard them on many occasions and they never appealed to me, I found the Egglestonworks Andra 2's much more "musical" then the Wilson's. It always boils down to personnal taste and system synergy, not an absolute best for everybody. |
Eggleston's are designed to produce "live" sound, dinamically and timbrically correct, yet musical. For this reason they are often used in mastering studios, especially the bigger models. Thanks to their top quality drivers (Dynaudio's and Morel's) they are also very revealing and image incredibly well, as 1markr already said. I didn't have the chance to compare Eggleston's to Wilson's side bi side. Nevertheless, for what I heard in different occasions, I have no doubts: I prefer the Eggleston's, being the only dynamic speakers that give me the same feeling of live performances. |
Consider the Andra 1 used, for the money they are
unbeatable,Ive heard 1Markr system who own Andra II,
with the right gear the original are as good as the II.
Ask Jtinn (Agon name), very experience audiophile,
He will guide you on the right path in audio. |
Didn't Egglestonworks go bankrupt many years ago? Are they back in bussiness now? Or are they only available used? |
They are going very strong! People who cared about the company bought the original owner out (ok, so this is an extremely simplistic statement, since it goes much deeper than this), but they ARE currently manufacturing speakers.
In fact, you will not find much or any Eggletonworks' speakers on the used market since they very rarely show up! |
Puunda, there were just a 3 months stop in summer 1999, then the company restarted. At the end of 2001 the new Savoy, based on the top Ivy, was introduced and got great favour. In 2002 there was the introduction of new Andra II (with a fantastic review in the November issue of Stereophile: http://www.egglestonworks.com/7449_eprint.pdf). The Andra II's are still in "class A" of Stereophile. During 2003 a new version of the Fontaine was presented and so the new in wall speakers. For what I know, the company attended all the CES shows (and some HE shows) during these years and so will be with the January 2006 CES. I hope this clarification works for you. |
Hi 1markr,teajay,luke72, jayctoy. I knw this thread was started a mth ago and i m behind time. However, recently I came across eggleston andra II and found it so beautiful. Heard it driven by passlab amplifiers. Found that the bass is so powerful that the midrange is totally overwhelm. Wonder what u guys think about what I heard. Need your advise. Is keen to buy for its look absolutely gorgeous. However I m not sure whether my unison research S8 SET with 24watts ( recommended wattage to drive andra is 30watt and above)can drive it. My system consist of transparent reference speaker cable, reference power cord, reference interconnect, BDR cone, transparent PIXL , exact powerconditioner and unison research tube Unico CD. Considering buying either VPI HRx or Kuzma reference turntable. Currently using a Gyrodec SE. System is in my apartment living room. To the right of the speaker is a sliding glass door with curtain, 2ft away. On the left is my living hall which is about 35ft long. Listening position is about 12 ft from the speaker. The speaker is place about 3.5 ft from the back wall. Thanks in advance. Happy listening |
1-4-06;corvettebob27
Hello Audioblazer---------I would recomend you call Jim Thompson @ Eggleston Works (Director of sales and marketing) as he has helped me with a couple of issues on my Andra 1's----great guy;however,keep this in mind,they like lot's of power,(I'm sure I heard tham say AND MAKE IT SOLID STATE POWER BOB)! to which i happily agreed to.To make a long story short,the speakers are not considered overly efficient (87db@8 Ohms nominal)also your 24 watt SET amp would have to contend with not only driving a total of 4 12 inch woofers but more importantly,CONTROLLING them (enter damping factor)This aside,I (we) could'nt be happier with our " EGGS",so much so that my better half has decided that we need to move up to the Savoy's!God love her:)BTW--the amp is ML.333.5 300/8 ohms 600/4 1200/2 hope this helps |
Audioblazer...
I agree with Bob above. It takes a lot of power to drive the Andras happily, to their fullest capabilities. 24 watts may drive the tops if you bi-amp, but there's no way the SET amp will drive and control the bass drivers. BTW, the Andra IIs are a little more efficient than the orig., rated at 89db/SPL.
Positioned correctly, and driven by the right amp, you will find the Andra II wonderfully balanced and natural in its portrayal of music.
Let us know how it goes. |
According to the Stereophile review of it, the speakers are a 6 ohm load speaker, which is "easy" to drive. They drop down to 3 ohms in the 50-100 hertz range. I, also, have been told that they need power. Audioblazer--I'm surprised that the bass was overwelming with Pass gear. I have a Pass Labs X 0.2 preamp and a Jeff Rowland 302 amp. My system is bass-shy! It could have something to do with the Nordost Valhalla/SPM speakercable that I'm running. I may go to Transparent or Siltech for speaker cable to beef up the bass. Also, my problem could be that the Nordost doesn't work well with the fast Rowland. The Nordost is a very fast speaker wire. Tough to tell what will work until you try different combinations. Overall, I'm very impressed with the Andra 2. Excluding some of the light bass in the music that I listen to, these speakers portray a phenominal live sound. Very life-like with a great soundstage! Stan |
watt-puppy-7's image better than the andra's (and just about any other speaker i've ever heard), but the andra's have "soul"-i feel they are a more musical speaker, with a greater sense of ease and a smoother, sweeter top end.
the wp-7's are built better, and look more expensive (well, they are of course). consider this- i feel the andra's also outperform the maxx-2's ($45k) as far as musicality goes, although the maxx is a bit more resolving and will move a lot more air, has deeper bass, is more dynamic, and has fantastic build quality. but the eggs sound more like real instruments.
so, if 3-D imaging is your greatest priority, the wilsons are really unbelievably good. otoh, if you want to feel that you are actually listening to a steinway and not just a superb reproduction of one, get the egglestons. just make sure you have 100W/ch of high-quality amplification. |
French Fries, I don't think that Wilsons can image better than Egglestons. The drivers used in Egglestons are much more revealing and accurate, especially the Esotar tw. As far as concerns the Maxx II, you should compare them with Savoys, not with the Andra IIs. Savoys have four 12" Dynaudio woofers and four 6" Morels plus the Esotar and retail for 40K $, near to Maxx II's retail of 45K. Anyway I agree on your point that Eggs sound more "real" while the Wilsons seem more impressive at first. |
Happy New Year Everybody. 2006 shld be an exciting yr for Audiogoner. looks like I won't go for andra if its need so much watt with its low sensitivity despite the attractive offer by the dealer. even if I change to conrad power amp(140watts) I m not sure it will sound good. With this I have decided to buy VR4sr. TQ for your response. happy listening |
Audioblazer,
Happy New Year to you also. There is a used pair of Andras I on the Gon |
Corvettebob27, TQ for your info |
I am familiar with the Andras (both I and II) and like their natural midrange and their almost unique ability to reproduce a full-height soundstage from what is a smallish floorstander. |
This is a correction to my 01/04/06 post. Not long after I posted that, I was cleaning the speaker cable posts on my amp and I noticed that three of the four negative posts were loose in their respective bases. Very loose! The amp made a trip to Jeff Rowland where the speaker post bases were replaced and the amp's internal wires that lead to the posts were refloated. I've had the amp back for about 5 days now and I've never seen my bass drivers move like they do now. I now have great bass and very wide bandwidth sound. My Andra 2's aren't bass-shy any more! I think that I'll be hanging on to these speakers for a very long time. |
