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First round of auditions disappointing

Well, I finally got out and did some actual listening over the weekend, and I can see that I have quite an adventure ahead of me.

I listened to the Focal Profile 928, Polk LSi15 and a couple of Martin Logan's (Vista and Vantage). The Focal was by far the worst of the bunch; as a matter of fact, it was downright awful, and at a price of $5K for the pair?????????? Good grief...

The Polk LSi15 was better, but far and away from what I expected, given the good press. I use to own Martin Logan Sequel II's, and liked them for their midrange qualities. The newer Logan's were pretty nice, but far too dead in the dynamics department. Very nice rendition of vocals though, and great soundstage presentation.

The more I listened to the typical box speaker, the more I believe that design won't satisfy me. My wife, who is really not "in" to music, commented to me that the Focal sounded "like a box," so there you have it.

I'll probably have to wait until CES, because there is little in the way of "high end" in my area.
seadweller
david12
1,454 posts
 
Shows are a problem all over the world, one way to look at it is if a room sounds good, it must be really good well set up.
Some speakers I have heard you may like, I like a fast neutral unboxy speaker.
Zu Definition
Silverline range
2nd hand Quad 988/989, the new 2805 are incredible, but out of your price range.
Green Mountain(always heard with Mcintosh amps, very good sound at shows)
The one I bought Acoustic Zen Adagio: fast neutral detailed, the biggest upgrade my system has ever had, bar none.
I know the Adagios are flavour of the month at the moment, but they were better than anything else I auditioned, even $22000 Peak Consult Empress
tomryan
796 posts
 
One of the worst listening experiences I've ever had was Edge amps and pre-amp with Wisdom Audio tower speakers with Wisdom subs. Sound was etched, glarey, and irritating. Can't tell you what the music sounded like, don't remember hearing any music. Of course, these were models from about 8-10 years ago, but still...this was a system costing more than $60,000.00 for speakers and amps/pre-amp alone. Don't remember what CD source was used.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
Seadweller,
I noticed that you are in Tamba Bay...so last piece of advice, promise! I suggest you check out Atlas Pro Audio....they are in your area, I think they have both a pro gear sales oulet and a studio. They use PMC's in their studio but they also sell ADAM speakers...both are very highly regarded. What can you lose, except for a couple of hours of your time....it would surely be a worthwhile visit for an audition. I can assure you that you won't lack for proper music dynamics with a pro PMC or ADAM main or mid field monitor, even in the bass, after all, musicians hear these every day during studio sessions; these have to be both accurate and realistic.
honest1
586 posts
 
For the qualities listed, you might like the Talon Audio Hawks. They are very fast, detailed, have good bass for their size, and do like to play loudly. They seem to thrive on high power amps (which you have). If you like lots of deep bass, you might want a subwoofer, which, if you cross over the Hawks, will allow them to play even more loudly and dynamically. I'm using them in an 18 x 12 living room that opens onto a dining room and kitchen, with Atma-Sphere MA1s (about 140 w/ch), and they are able to get too loud to talk over without {the speakers} sounding strained. Talon has been bought by Rives, so any concerns that you may have read about the viability of the com[pany should resolved.
Or get Magnapan 1.6 QRs.
QUESTION - What the heck are markup tags? I just got an error because I had square brackets in my post.
wwwrecords
172 posts
 
It sounds to me like you might enjoy some of the vintage Altecs. I have Model 17's with 604 drivers (and listen nearfield), but for your room you might want Model 19's. Dynamics galore and crank them til your heart is content. The drawback is you will probably end up wanting to go with a tube amp in the future. Plus, you can pick up a pair for $2000 or less. If you move to a larger room, no problem with them filling them. They roll off pretty quickly at 40hz and don't extend to 20 khz. But I can't hear that high of frequency so that wouldn't bother me.

Anyway, others will probably not agree and they may not be for you, but they might just be the ticket you are looking for. Good luck in your search and I hope you find what floats your boat.
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