Inner Sound Eros Experiences

Even when using speakers that exhibit wide sweet spots the sound is by far the best when perfectly centered between the two speakers. Do any of you do your critical listening out of the sweet spot, or am I to assume that you just don't listen that critically? Yet you obviously buy expensive speakers... What's the deal -- are you concerned for your non-audiophile friends who don't really care about sound quality and can't sit still in the center for any length of time? I'm really at a loss to understand this issue, because with whatever speakers I've used, no matter how omnidirectional, they ALWAYS sounded best in the center of the sweet spot. That's why it's so named... Anyway, this game is all about trade-offs and we each pick the respective blends of weaknesses and strengths that suit our personal biases.

plato, sure i listen in the sweet-spot - when i'm alone. lotsa times, that's not the case. in my current set-up, i can actually be, say, to the right of the right-hand speaker, & i still get a decent soundstage. granted, it's not nearly as nice as being in that *spot*, but it's still enjoyable.

some speakers, are *so* sensitive, that even small head-movements, while sitting in the sweet-spot, can change the soundstage. i've heard this before, & it's not wery pleasant, imho...

regards, doug

Doug, I understand your point and do not necessarily disagree with your view. As soon as I can find a speaker that has the considerable strengths of the Eros (and to the same degree), plus a decent off-axis presentation and isn't double the price, I'll buy it. So far I've been hearing a lot of highly-rated speakers that all seem to have at least one coloration or area that I can't live with or too high a price. Another thing: I don't want any speaker that weighs in at much over 100 lbs per side. I've heard that the Newform speakers are very good, but haven't heard them myself. Can't say I like them from an aesthetic viewpoint and I wonder about the adequacy of their bass performance and their dynamic capability. Any decent speaker could be considered great, but it's always a question of what you're comparing it to. And any great speaker can be made to sound pretty awful as well. BTW, I don't put much faith in BFS because I have disagreed strongly with some of their reviews in the past. I know they don't take advertizing, which may eliminate the potential for bias in that area; but I seriously question their judgement (or lack thereof).

I had a pair of Eros Inner sound speakers and the ESL amp in my home for a few weeks. My general observation, They play LOUD (105 db SPL+) in an approximately 8000 cu foot room. The bass integration is as good as all but the very best hybrid design, but does require careful room placement. I found it best when the speakers were fairly far from the wall despite the manufacturers claims. If you want the absolute bottom octave you will need a sub. I think that they are a very good value for the money and would recommend a listen. I think they are especially good on art rock and chamber. They aren't quite so good on very large scale orchestral music but then I'm comparing them with my Dunlavy SC-V and customized 400 watt Melos monoblocks. I've also owned full range Acoustats and double Quads so I have some experience with the electrostat sound.

Plato -- This is not meant to discourage you from liking your innersound spkrs, but if you're serious abt wanting a better spkr with a wider 'sweet spot' and all around superior spkr, try the merlin vsm-m. I directly compared them to the innersound and the merlin substantially bettered them in all areas. I actually wanted to like the innersound spkrs because I liked the idea of the bass amp etc... A note of disclosure: I owned merlin vsm-se spkrs for abt 3 yrs before I went shopping for new spkrs.