Avalon Eidolon Diamond vs Revel Salon 2

I thought I would weigh in here for those who may not of had a chance to hear the Eidolon and or Diamond version properly set up with the associated equipment being of commensurate quality.

For what it may be worth to the reader my opinions are also based from my experiences of being a professional musician for 40 plus years, audiophile for nearly as long, but most importantly, music lover. Yes, yet another musician!

As a few others already pointed out the Eidolon Diamond really does reflect back what is put into it. It will simply mirror the sonic character of everything that proceeds it in the chain. Hopefully if all components are up to the task the personality of the recording will come through untouched. It does not add any tonal bloat, muck, thickness or slur. I find it to be one of the most tonally correct distortion free speakers I've ever heard. Though the quality I enjoy most is the way it relates all tones, notes, timbres, etc. of the recording as a cohesive coherent whole. There is a fluid nature to the sound that I miss with other speakers. Massed strings is especially revealing of this quality. The music just seems to flow, all notes perfectly related in time, and thus the sound coming out now makes more musical sense.

When I listen to live acoustic music I never ever hear the pin-point, etched in stone, chiseled carved images that have been mentioned. Now, that's not to say with a studio recording we hear these types of recordings with images of such solidity often. But to me this is an artifact of hi-fi and has nothing to do with real live music being performed and recorded in a real acoustic space. The Eidolon/Diamond can image like crazy and totally disappear in a room when properly set up better than any speaker I've ever heard. Really!

Where this speaker does fall short for its considerable cost is in dynamic authority without any sense of strain, and a bass response that does not give the full weight of the bottom octaves. For many these attributes are very important and I could certainly understand why some would pass them by. Be forewarned though, if you live these speakers for any length of time I think their qualities that have been discussed would be impossible to do without. Well, for me at least.

all the best,
Tom

My experience in a small room for about 65 people was that a voice ( like an instrument) was a lot more direct and smaller in dimension than I would have thought. I used Always 2 fingers to make a proportion wenn I clossed my eyes. Also at a bigger live concert with a very good acoustic situation I had the same experience. We were amazed how easy it was to point out the instruments. Also the differences in depth were the instruments were standing was easy to hear. Wenn I hear Avalon with MIT at audio shows and the speakers are about 3 metres from eachother. The voice is often over 1 metre wide. This I really hate. I love cables like Audioquest and Purist Audio because they are capable of giving a small and direct 3 dimensional image of a recording. Purist Audio uses a panel of 41 people to Judge there new cables. Also musicians. AQ and Purist are both aware of the small and direct sound of instruments and voices. The both have exeptional good blacks. I used my set for a big audio show last month. Many ( distributers, customers and audio journalists)said that I had the absolute sound. Cause of the natural sound and 3 dimensional paupable image. I want a system to sond as natural and 3 dimensional like in real. Good is never good enough for me. Every part ( tool) in my system I Judge for a long time before I use it. Since I was 6 ( I made my own recordings from the radio with a stereo taperecorder with tubes) I am addicted to music and sound.

Just picked up a pair of early Eidolon Diamonds. Still have my Eidolon and Ascent. Took a "detour" in recent years and decided to go the JM Lab Utopia Be route and experimented with redoing the crossover of an infamously bad Utopia Divas. While there is no way a stock Utopia Diva Be can come close to the imaging dept of any of the 3 Avalons, let alone a muddy bass, a tweaked out Utopia CAN image as well as the Diamonds and the smooth fluidity of the Be tweeter mated with the right crossover caps in my opinion beats the diamonds any day.

Audiolabyrinth, My first LOUD backline Bass system (before simple public address became sound reinforcment) was made up of two James B Lansing Scoops,

http://www.google.com/search?q=JBL+scoops&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ET6mUYzeEIjIiwK08oDYCg&ved=0CC0QsAQ&biw=843&bih=603

powered by Marantz 8Bs and a Twin Reverb wired as the preamp. This Rube Goldberg (pain in the ass to move and setup) of a system served me well until the first commercially available loud Bass amplification my 69' acoustic 360/361 horn.

In the sixties JBL was unbelievably helpful regarding construction and componentry. Their other offerings outclassed Altec hugely. My audiophelia began with lens and cone and the advent of the new Everest line is very intriguing to this old fud. I can't help but recall the incredible low volume dynamic unique to these designs. I can only imagine what modern refinments have contributed. I envy you.

@ vicdamone, Well, Do not envy me to fast!,LOL!, Currently I own a pair of JBL L7s that are not horn loaded speakers, that are the last High-end dynamic driver speakers JBL produced that are not the mass junk audio tower speakers!,They are 4 way 30hz to 27khz speakers mated with still points ultra ss footers and Taralabs omega jumpers, with Taralabs omega gold speaker cables!, They sound very good!, My next pair of speakers is going to be the JBL DD everest 66000 speakers that are not the new current offering, the new 67000 speakers are better sounding!, The 66000 I am going to get on the used market for around $25,000.00 to $28,000.00, they did retail for $60,000.00, and the new JBL DD everest 67000 speakers retail now for $75,000.00,, Their is a audiogoner selling a pair of the new 67000 here on the gon for $55,000.00 2nd hand new in the boxes!, He got his self in a financial situation where he is forced to sell them!, out of my price range!,LOL!, If you get a chance to hear the 67000 speakers, I believe you would have a smile on your face!, Happy listening!