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Speaker Choice: Narrowed down, need final opinions

Hi All,

I had a few posts trying to narrown down my choices for high quality, small to midsize floorstanders. As a bit of background I have downscaled from B&W Matrix 801 Series 3 which were too big for me, so I needed to dowscale in size but I do not want to lose in terms of quality. Here are all the details I can think of, if there is anything else which may help please let me know.

I have 2 options now, one of which is the Elac speakers: either the 207.2 or preferably the 208.2. Has anyone got these or heard them somewhere? What were your thoughts? . I also enjoy a decent amount of bass and that is why I would prefer the 208.2, but has anyone heard the 207.2? How is their bass extensions? (by the way the 209.2 is out of my budget)

My other choice is the Monitor Audio Gold Reference 60's ( can get at a fantastic price). I know I won't have a problem with bass with those. In the mids and highs though, is their quality comparable to that of the Elac's, and/or the 801 S3's? My previous options (now ruled out) were the Revel F30's which I could only afford second hand and the pair is now sold, and the Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home which unlike the previous Grand Piano's are not biwireable and I do not want to replace/alter my cables.

Associated Equipment:
-Bryston 4B-ST Amplifier
-Electrocompaniet EC 4.5 Preamp
-Kimber KCAG interconnects
-Zu Cable Wax biwire speaker cable
-Shanling CD-T100 CD Player

Room:
-fairly large (about 35ft x 14ft, but divided into 2 by an arch so my room is effectively 17.5ft x 14ft)
-long wall setup
-speakers around 8-9ft apart and listener about 8ft to each speaker

Thanks for the help,
X
xenithon
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Hi There,

I do not mind it too bright. I may very well be moving to tube amps which I am sure will tone it down if need be. The main question is quality: how does it compare to the other. How does it compare to something like the N804's (I cannot get those but at least I know there sound so have a good reference point). Talking about tube amps: anyone know how well the Shanling SP-80 amps will do for speakers like these? Almost all the candidates are rated to around 200W and 90dB or more sensitivity. The Shanling amps are tube rated 50W.

I can have the Audes Blues shipped to me directly from the company (I have contacted them in the past few weeks concerning the matter), but the question is: is it worth doing this special once off import? What if the sound is not good (to my ears at least)? It will be difficult to sell and will have a low resale value since no one really knows the product and there will be no product support.

Cheers,
X
dawgbyte's avatar
dawgbyte
325 posts
 
Not to sound like a broken record, but from what I've heard from audiophiles who own them, the Green Mountain Audio C-3's will out perform anything on your short list.
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Once again, the problem is that there is limited availability here. Thus the Green Mountain Audio speakers are not available. I have heard the same thing about the Audes Blues which are not available here and I am in the same position: I do not think it is at all worth importing them specially (without ever hearing them) and end up not liking them. On top of that they will have little resale value and no support. It is much safer to go for something available here.

Anyways, heard the GR-60's and some others. Bought the GR-60's, they are fantastic. Now its time tom hunt for an amp.

I also have Zu Cable Wax Biwire speaker cable going to the speakers and Kimber KCAG interconnects: is it a good move to look into the Zu Cable interconnects as a replacement for the KCAG's? Something like their Varial (top of the line) or the Gede just below it?

Cheers,
X
gregm
3,405 posts
 
Dawgbyte- Green Mountain would be nice, but X has to specially import them. Expensive.

The smaller M Audio have a slight boom-tizz character. By comparison, the Elac could sound flatter but dryish.

Neither will outperform B&W 801 matrix.

One idea is to keep your amp, and use the amp money for speakers, widening your choice. Another is to opt for a kit. I strongly recommend the kit. There are suberb kits with good prices in the US, and quite good prices in Germany. A well designed & executed kit (i.e. one from a reputable dealer) can easily outperform commercial designs costing 3x as much (or more).

Amps. Before you import the Shanling, why not research local tube amps? Surely there are gifted designers of tube equipment in S Africa. The price/performance ratio should be better, service round the corner, you can get the designer to take into account your speakers -- and as to the resale value, tune it out for a moment. Instead, think of the nice sound and quantify that in too -- a (possibly) lower resale value + the higher satisfaction may give you a better deal!
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Yes I was thinking about that more and more Greg - there is a guy here called Gunther Steinhart, makes a brand called Steinhart amps. They are actually quite fantastic (perhaps ther are people in the UK that know his amps as he has started exporting and has one a number of awards in Britain (and been reviewed in a number of magazines). He actually lives around 10 minutes from me so I will pop in and discuss it with him.

One thing to bear in mind though (not sure if I mentioned it) is that a change in amp is a future prospect only. I do not have funds for both speakers and amp, otherwise indeed my choices for speakers would have been a lot greater. The amp will only come if and when the funds become available and my current amp is sold.

Thanks for the help guys!

BTW. Anyone interested in HGA cables? I actually brought in a whole lot about 6 months ago to see if they could be marketed here but with no luck. I thus have like 5-6 pairs of their cable (all three types of interconnects) just lying around.
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