Silverline La Folia - Comments or Insights?

I'm glad to hear that they sounded great with a single-ended amp, but I'm surprised that a 300B could provide the bass power these speakers are capable of. Did you hear the current version? It has a polykevlar woofer instead of the old polyglass. Alan Yun of Silverline says it sounds a bit warmer.

While I am using Analysis Plus speaker cables, my amp is in some ways the opposite of a single ended 300B amp (Spectron II Class D/digital amp with 500 wpc!). However, it sounds very smooth and seductive -- the opposite of what many people expect when they hear about a "digital" amp.

Ken

I just bought a pair of La Folias about three months ago and I am still breaking them in. Placement is a little sensitive because of the rear woofer. Out too far and the bass drops off fast. I highly suggest using some felt about the tweeter or the Imagers advertised on audiogon. The sound is better with the cones but they are unstable with them. You will need to experiment with tilt, toe-in, and both side and back placement to get the best sound. Biwiring did make a significant improvement. Must take the front grill off for best sound. Overall nice speakers but not the world beaters that I was hoping for yet.

Thanks for your comments. I hadn't thought of the Imagers, but maybe I'll try them. I find the spikes to be quite stable on my hardwood oak floor (with the nice brass protector plates). I'll be trying bi-wiring shortly.

I have a TacT 2.0 RCS, which makes speaker placement much less critical and allows you to plays speakers closer to the walls without risk of boominess.

My very early impressions are extremely positive. First of all, the speakers are quite attractive and beautifully made. The finish (rosewood) is very attractive and flawlessly executed. The binding posts are gargantuan, extremely solid and foolproof. Best binding posts I've ever seen, in fact.

After a run-in of a few hours, I could not resist listening to some of favorite music -- jazz piano and piano trio (Jarrett, Dave McKenna, Jessica Williams (phenomenal pianist and great recordings -- why isn't she better known?), Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Green), small-group guitar (Howard Alden and Geoge Van Eps on Concord and Mark Elf on JenBay) and various Blue Note issues from that label's golden era (1955-1968) -- Blakey, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley. I've also been listening to the new "State of Wonder" re-issue of the Glenn Gould Goldbergs -- the remastered analog version of the 1981 recording is really quite superb and, of course the music and performance are sublime (I personally prefer the later performance Gould's 1955 version). Also, the Emersons' Beethoven Quartets sound great on the La Folias. I haven't yet listened to any of my favorite orchestral recordings -- Bruckner, Mahler, Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev. I'll wait for a bit more break-in.

In short, the La Folias sound wonderful: detailed but not strident or edgy; fabulous, rich midrange; wonderful imaging; precise without being fatiguing. The bass may be a bit constricted right now but I'm expecting that to open up over time with break-in.
Other speakers I've owned and had in this room for a lengthy period: Thiel 3.6, Platinum Quattro, Legacy Signature III, Legacy Focus, Waveform Mach Solo.

Summing up my preliminary thoughts: this is a fantastic sounding speaker that is beautufully made and can fairly easily fit in a normal living room (among other things, it has high WAF). It makes wonderful music.

BTW, Alan Yun is a great guy. He's so enthusiastic and willing to talk about the speakers, music, etc. at length that I had to cut him off so I could go back to listening to music on the La Folias. Thanks, Alan.

I will post a more definitive review after full break-in.