The new "Brett's Living Room" thread.
- Thread starter Brett a
- Start date
Art K.
The Voodoo You Do!
? Keeping them. What made you decide on them?
squirrelnest
Lunatic Member
Nice setups....nice pics....
Brett a
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The Focals are certainly the best speaker I've had in the living room. I had the B&W 683s for about 5 years and they served me very well. I had bought them new in late 2007 and sold them last fall when a good deal on the Viennas presented its self.
The B&Ws were the first speaker I owned that showed me the level of clarity that is actually possible in a system. (That eye-opening process actually started with a new source, a Rotel RCD-1070 I got in 2002).
Before I bought the B&W's, I was running a pair of AR 93s that I had got fairly new back around 1984. As I upgraded source and amplification, I rather quickly came up against the limits of the ARs ability to resolve detail and provide a spacious soundstage. I tweaked those ARs a bit to help them along. I added spikes to their bases and upgraded the terminals with a set of quality 5-ways. I also has all the drivers re-foamed. But there was only so much the speakers were capable of.
This lead to my first experience at my local shop (Spearit Sound in Northampton, MA). I went in to audition a set of used B&W 604-Ss and left with the new 683s that replaced them in the lineup. After comparing them side-by-side, I decided that the new ones were worth the extra $250. ($1,250 for new 683s compared to $999 for the used 604s).
There was no turning back at this point. The B&Ws let me listen into recordings in a way that I didn't even know was possible for the first 20+ years in this hobby. For the first time, I was getting not only imaging, but soundstage too! I could discern the component parts of the acoustics guitar, not just "the sound of a guitar". And as further upgraded sources, I started to hear things like the wood body of the piano resonating, not just "the sound of a piano".
But this journey has been nothing if not an upward spiral since getting that fateful Rotel CD player back in '02. And I eventually upgraded everything between the B&Ws to the point where the speakers were now the bottleneck in the system. A little educated assuming left me with the opinion that I'd have to budget $3k for a set of floor standers before I could even bother shopping (for new anyway).
My dissatisfaction with the B&W eventually became their particular type of coloration; simultaneously dark and etched. They sounded boxy yet, paradoxically, they imaged really well. I think this was due in part to the Nautalis-tube mounted aluminum tweeter. Which was capable of resolving great detail, but also accounted for the sometimes etched presentation. Their boxiness I attribute to the relatively cheap cabinet construction. B&W stated themselves that they put the cost into the drivers and spec'ed a cheaper, vinyl covered cabinet. So, cheap cabinet construction and aluminum tweeter = dark, boxy, and etched at the same time.
All this said; they somehow (again quite paradoxically) managed to disappear behind the music. But I wanted something that was even more transparent and more seamless/balanced. More on that later perhaps.
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Brett a
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Ohh yeah, I'm keepin' em!
I am really quite smitten with them. I just want to stay home and listen to music now. (Which I can't do; I have to work.)
What made me decide on them? Well, a few things.
First, I'll admit a pretty strong loyalty to my local shop (Spearit Sound). They have been very generous with their time, expertise and equipment (and occasionally their prices) over the past 5 years
Another motivation for shopping at Spearit is simplicity. I don't have a lot of time and patience for gear shopping. I like to have my optioned narrowed for me as strange as that may sound.
So that said....
I auditioned a number of speakers, both towers and stand-mounts. Some in the shop and some at home.
Esoteric MG-10's (with dedicated stands)
Epos M-16is
Focal 826W Anniversary Edition (the white ones back a few posts)
Focal 807Ws
I decided on the 807W becasue they delivered (by far) the best balance of clarity, warmth, and cohesion. Compared to all the others I tried, there is just something that sounds "true" about them. Perfect? I doubt it, but the right set of strengths for my room and tastes.
The Esoterics were too thin/light sounding, the Focal 626 towers were too bloated in my living room and the Epos would have won me over if I didn't have the 807Ws to compare them to. The Epos lacked cohesion between the drivers (didn't image as well) and the highs were a bit more pronounced/artificial compared to the Focals. (These Epos are the previous run; the ones with metal tweeters. I understand they've gone textile now)
I'll take the time to do a more comprehensive review, but right now, I'm going to go eat lunch.
Art K.
The Voodoo You Do!
Wes_in_VA
Super Member
Some pretty cool stuff! That Well-Tempered tone arm is blowing my mind, what a great idea! I looked up the one with the golf ball as well, very nice. Obviously my first thought is how can I DIY this?
Good luck with the subwoofer build, it'll be a nice addition.
az
You can find a lot of info out there on DIY Well Tempered arm clones. I've been collecting info for a few months now. I've put that project on the back burner but it's still one I'm excited to try.
Brett a
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No, it's a dead CA-400 I just can't bring myself to throw it out. And no one at the local AK Frankfests seemed to want it. That was my main amplification from about 1995 to around '98. I also had a CR-820 around the same period (just before or just after; i can't recall)
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