aarmath
Member
Anyone had/heard both Dentons, 80th + 85th? I'm curious how different they sound.
I own the 80th from May 2013 hereabouts mated to a Yamaha A-S2000. The dealer was kind of enough to send a pair of 85ths for demo. I had it for a week. I paired the 80th on Speaker A & 85th on speaker B set on the amp. I used the Oppo 105D for audio source as well as a Chromecast Audio via mini Toslink optical into the Oppo. The Oppo was connected to the Yamaha via XLR cables since,both, the A-S2000 & Oppo 105D are balanced differentials end-to-end.
The short answer is there is slightly pronounced bass in the 85th compared to 80th because of the fatter enclosure. Although on paper the 85th has higher SPL of 88 db compared to the 80th, I didn't experience anything out of the ordinary in terms of loudness with respect to the volume knob.
BUT....
At the same volume level [9 O' Clock] for the same song [Counting Crows - Perfect Blue Buildings] & switching between speaker A & B sets, When the intro starts out, Oh, well, let's say, I was smiling listening to the 85th. The extended bass roll-off coupled with the subtle highs, is a joy to listen to. And then the bit at 2 mins 31 secs into the song there's this beautiful hum by a woman, that sounded pristine, very clear.
The short story - If you are a first time potential Denton purchaser, please go ahead & buy the 85th with eyes closed. For folks like me, well, the difference is not so great that I am willing to plonk money on it. Ergo, going to hold on to my 80ths.
Note - These Denton speakers are not for heavy metal & bass thumping techno. They could be used for that kind of genres BUT you would be doing great disservice to these beautiful beautiful mainstream jewels.