Verity Audio midrange drivers?

The speakers we have been discussing, Verity Audio Rienzi and Leonore, driven by a Luxman 590Aii integrated amp, are not ones that I can audition in my city.

Some days I think that I should just play it safe and buy stuff that I can see, touch, audition TOGETHER, and enjoy such as B&W 803d speakers driven by Bryston electronics (BP-26 and 4B or 14B SST2) with either a Bryston or Esoteric CD player.

Trying to put together a system on paper that is "better" means that I will hear it for the first time after I buy it and set it up in my listening room. This goes totally against the conventional wisdom of the "the demo is everything".

Is buying an entire system sight unseen a risk worth taking, and is it even an intelligent approach to spending a considerable sum of money?

Regards,

Mark

Duh! For that kind of money take a long weekend and plan a visit somewhere - so that you can audition.

I wish I had the flexibility to do that, but I don't. Montreal has a lively audio scene, but it is roughly the same distance from Toronto as New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Columbus. Verity Audio is made in Quebec City, which is further from Toronto than any of the above cities.

I live in Canada's largest city, and I should be able to put together a satisfying system from components available for demo in local dealers.

B&W 803d speakers sound good to me at that price point, and they are a highly regarded speaker made by a reputable company. B&W has invested considerable R&D in making drivers and crossovers for the 800 series in-house, and their curved cabinets in Denmark.

The B&W 803d and the Verity Audio Rienzi cost about the same, but I cannot audition the Rienzi, nor can I compare the two brands.

Is it not better to stick to the devil you know?

Regards,

Mark

Mark,

FWIW I would stay away from the 803d model unless you like a midrange scoop. The tweeter is crossed over at 4 Khz. Inevitably this means that the large 6 inch midrange will beam at the frequencies between 1 and 4 Khz.

This is definitely not world class design and like the 802d it is an expensive speaker to have such a gaping midrange hole (look at Figure 5 and you can see the off axis grand canyon response across the midrange).

B&W do make some absolutely awesome speakers - however finding the gems is a little tricky as they have more models than Imelda Marcus has shoes.

Caveat: Some love the midrange scoop because of the extra emphasis and sizzle that this places on the highs and lows (sounds very detailed or resolving and with a bass emphasis that is extremely impressive - although you can easily achieve this with tone controls on a more precise speaker should you prefer that kind of sound).

Thanks for the technical insights regarding the 803d vs. 802d midranges.

It certainly sounds like most of you are leaning in favour of Verity Audio as opposed to B&W, and from my limited experience in listening to the entry level Verity Audio speaker (Finn) I can see why.

There was some discussion above about Skaanng, Scan Speak and SEAS drivers. Scan Speak was founded by E. Skaaning, and Skaaning is now AudioTechnology. Both are now Danish owned.

The Rienzi has all Scandinavian made drivers (Scan Speak tweeter and woofer, SEAS midrange).

In comparing the previously discussed Skaaning (AudioTechnology) midrange to a similar SEAS midrange, the moving mass and excursion is indeed greater in the Skaaing. In comparing the frequency range of the the two midrange drivers, the SEAS is 400-5000 Hz whereas the Skaaning is 36-3800 Hz. The Skaaning's excursion and moving mass are greater as it is doing double duty as a bass/midrange driver and would be suited to a two-way speaker. The SEAS only goes down to 400 Hz, hence the smaller mass and excursion suited to a three way speaker, necessitating a woofer as well.

I am satisfied that the Rienzi has all the right bits and that Verity Audio has selected the appropriate drivers.

So what the heck, buying Rienzi plus Luxman sight unseen is not an overly reckless or risky proposition.

Regards,

Mark