jblnut
Don't Overthink It
So...I've been into this vintage audio hobby for what seems like forever, but in reality is somewhere around 35 years. I've bought, sold and horse traded my way up to a fairly nice system and I'm very happy with it. I reached really far 15 years ago to afford a pair of JBL 250Ti's and have been slowly bringing my system up to their level ever since. And lately I have been wondering "what would a modern 250 sound like" ? So I set out to find what a current large floor standing speaker sounds like in 2017.
Previous visits to my local shop (Natural Sound) had showed me that there wasn't much under 10k that was even comparable to what I am used to (maybe in one particular area, but not overall) so I set that as my baseline and worked my way up the speaker ladder.
What follows are my observations about several modern speakers, paired with different components. I played a variety of my "go to's" for system evaluation (mostly rock and electric jazz). Listening levels were quiet to moderately loud.
Focal Sopra N3, Mcintosh C47, McIntosh MC452, Luxman SACD
Straight away I thought the bass was missing, and that impression never left during my listening session. The high end was sublime (right up there with the best I've heard, below) and extremely smooth/non-fatiguing. I really liked the imaging too as that mid directed down at you somehow paints a very 3D soundscape. But try as I might, I felt these missed the "impact" I was looking for.
Out comes the hand truck and a few minutes later...
Wilson Sabrina, same electronics as above
Well now, this little 8" 3-way is punching WAY above it's size class! It's got the bass impact I was looking for and a whole lot more. The imaging is spectacular and the speaker seems to just disappear. I loved it a lot for the first 15 minutes. Then I started to miss the smoother high end of the Focal. As time went on I just couldn't get past the "jazzed up" sound. It really does grab you, but in the end I thought it was trying a bit too hard.
Revel Ultima Salon 2, Mcintosh C2500, MC275, MT10, MCD550
OK now...how much will you give me for my car in trade, right now ? Oh, only that much eh...bummer. This folks, is what I was - and will be forever now - looking for. I should have expected a large 4-way from the Harman corporation would be my ultimate destination after all. All the reviews I have found later about this speaker are positively gushing, and why shouldn't they be ? It has it all - effortless but smooth highs, liquid mid-range and powerful lightning-fast bass. I just didn't want to stop listening. I could get details I've never heard on my 250's with no fatigue or apparent downside (except for a little loss of sensitivity).
I left the store happy (to have found my grail) and sad (to know that until kids are done with college, ain't no way momma is gonna be cool with that kind of purchase).
With a few hours of daylight left, I headed to an even higher-end store closer to Boston. That'll be part II....
jblnut
Previous visits to my local shop (Natural Sound) had showed me that there wasn't much under 10k that was even comparable to what I am used to (maybe in one particular area, but not overall) so I set that as my baseline and worked my way up the speaker ladder.
What follows are my observations about several modern speakers, paired with different components. I played a variety of my "go to's" for system evaluation (mostly rock and electric jazz). Listening levels were quiet to moderately loud.
Focal Sopra N3, Mcintosh C47, McIntosh MC452, Luxman SACD
Straight away I thought the bass was missing, and that impression never left during my listening session. The high end was sublime (right up there with the best I've heard, below) and extremely smooth/non-fatiguing. I really liked the imaging too as that mid directed down at you somehow paints a very 3D soundscape. But try as I might, I felt these missed the "impact" I was looking for.
Out comes the hand truck and a few minutes later...
Wilson Sabrina, same electronics as above
Well now, this little 8" 3-way is punching WAY above it's size class! It's got the bass impact I was looking for and a whole lot more. The imaging is spectacular and the speaker seems to just disappear. I loved it a lot for the first 15 minutes. Then I started to miss the smoother high end of the Focal. As time went on I just couldn't get past the "jazzed up" sound. It really does grab you, but in the end I thought it was trying a bit too hard.
Revel Ultima Salon 2, Mcintosh C2500, MC275, MT10, MCD550
OK now...how much will you give me for my car in trade, right now ? Oh, only that much eh...bummer. This folks, is what I was - and will be forever now - looking for. I should have expected a large 4-way from the Harman corporation would be my ultimate destination after all. All the reviews I have found later about this speaker are positively gushing, and why shouldn't they be ? It has it all - effortless but smooth highs, liquid mid-range and powerful lightning-fast bass. I just didn't want to stop listening. I could get details I've never heard on my 250's with no fatigue or apparent downside (except for a little loss of sensitivity).
I left the store happy (to have found my grail) and sad (to know that until kids are done with college, ain't no way momma is gonna be cool with that kind of purchase).
With a few hours of daylight left, I headed to an even higher-end store closer to Boston. That'll be part II....
jblnut
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