108 replies to this topic

[lavs]

So just a quick update......
After a lot of listening to a lot of setups in different environments I've narrowed it down to 2:

1. Dynaudio contour s3.4 with plinius/bryston components
2. Sonus Faber Liuto with bryston components

Having difficulty deciding between the 2 however.
The Dynes sound awesome when played loud but I find they sound a little bland when played at lower volume levels (ie. conversation volumes). I do like listening to music with other people around whilst still having a conversation, or reading etc......so this is a bugbear for me, although I may be being a bit anal about this. When played loud they sound awesome though.......

I like the SF's for the fact that they have a nice smooth warmth to them yet still enough dynamic range to keep them fun to listen to. They still sound really nice at lower volume levels too. They're smaller speakers & do have smaller soundstage, & my room is quite large (approx 12mx8m) so I wonder how well they'd fill the room......

What do you guys think? I wax & wane as to which ones I prefer. Price not an issue.

Have tried heaps of other brands. The only brand I didn't get to try was PMC but unfortunately the only dealer in Adelaide who deals with PMC is going into other brands. I've heard other British speakers like Spendor & B&W & don't like their flavour anyway.

Thanks!

[dantan]

Hi lavs,
Based on your description, it sounds as though the Sonus Faber Liuto's are the way to go.

Dan.

[Drizt]

ajm, on Jun 22 2011, 04:23 PM, said:

I'm tempted to grab a miniDSP to play around with at home.  Ideally I'd like to be able to control 5.1 or 7.1 channels with this kind of setup but I gather they're more for 2ch.

Just a follow up on this....

There is now a miniDSP kit which is 8in  x 8out (which has both balanced or unbalanced) which could be used for EQ'ing 8 channels in a 7.1 set up -> http://www.minidsp.c...x8-kit?sef=hcfp

[jliang70]

lavs, on Aug 4 2011, 12:05 AM, said:

So just a quick update......
After a lot of listening to a lot of setups in different environments I've narrowed it down to 2:

1. Dynaudio contour s3.4 with plinius/bryston components
2. Sonus Faber Liuto with bryston components

Having difficulty deciding between the 2 however.
The Dynes sound awesome when played loud but I find they sound a little bland when played at lower volume levels (ie. conversation volumes). I do like listening to music with other people around whilst still having a conversation, or reading etc......so this is a bugbear for me, although I may be being a bit anal about this. When played loud they sound awesome though.......

I like the SF's for the fact that they have a nice smooth warmth to them yet still enough dynamic range to keep them fun to listen to. They still sound really nice at lower volume levels too. They're smaller speakers & do have smaller soundstage, & my room is quite large (approx 12mx8m) so I wonder how well they'd fill the room......

What do you guys think? I wax & wane as to which ones I prefer. Price not an issue.

Have tried heaps of other brands. The only brand I didn't get to try was PMC but unfortunately the only dealer in Adelaide who deals with PMC is going into other brands. I've heard other British speakers like Spendor & B&W & don't like their flavour anyway.

Thanks!

Have you tried Proac and Tannoy ?

[Drizt]

lavs, on Aug 3 2011, 11:05 PM, said:

So just a quick update......
After a lot of listening to a lot of setups in different environments I've narrowed it down to 2:

To save answering everyone who asks... have you tried.... X ?? Could you please make a list of all the set up's you have auditioned ?

[lavs]

Drizt, on Aug 4 2011, 05:30 PM, said:

To save answering everyone who asks... have you tried.... X ?? Could you please make a list of all the set up's you have auditioned ?

Dynaudio focus & contour
B&W
Sonus Faber
Cabasse
Zu Essence & Omen Def
Neat
Vienna Acoustics
Spendor
Krix
VAF
KEF
Paradigm

No haven't tried ProAc. Obviously highly-rated by many but no dealers in Adelaide. I do prefer the warm sound so not sure if they'd be my flavour anyway.

[:)]

lavs, on Aug 4 2011, 06:23 PM, said:

Dynaudio focus & contour
B&W
Sonus Faber
Cabasse
Zu Essence & Omen Def
Neat
Vienna Acoustics
Spendor
Krix
VAF
KEF
Paradigm

No haven't tried ProAc. Obviously highly-rated by many but no dealers in Adelaide. I do prefer the warm sound so not sure if they'd be my flavour anyway.

lav thats quite a list there, look at the end of it you cant try every single thing on earth and you have to go for what sounds best to your ears

[gone_bush]

If you really can't decide then I'll lend you my Infallible Rusty Pin [tm]. It's never failed me in similar circumstances.

[Elill]

Why floor standers?

My personal preference is smaller LCR's and decent subs

If you did want to go down that approach look at:
- Procella
- Gedlee
- Seaton

[Drizt]

Elill, on Aug 4 2011, 08:19 PM, said:

Why floor standers?

My personal preference is smaller LCR's and decent subs

If you did want to go down that approach look at:
- Procella
- Gedlee
- Seaton

Gedlee Abbey 12a's for the win + a pair of SS18P subs (or a pair of seaton submersives)

[com5984]

I vote for the contours, I love mine

[jliang70]

Elill, on Aug 4 2011, 09:19 PM, said:

Why floor standers?

My personal preference is smaller LCR's and decent subs

If you did want to go down that approach look at:
- Procella
- Gedlee
- Seaton

Why not ?  I personal preference is a pair of custom made Tannoy GRF.

[jliang70]

Elill, on Aug 4 2011, 09:19 PM, said:

Why floor standers?

My personal preference is smaller LCR's and decent subs

If you did want to go down that approach look at:
- Procella
- Gedlee
- Seaton

Why not ?  I personal preference is a pair of custom made Tannoy GRF.

[lavs]

Elill, on Aug 4 2011, 09:19 PM, said:

Why floor standers?

My personal preference is smaller LCR's and decent subs

If you did want to go down that approach look at:
- Procella
- Gedlee
- Seaton

Prefer the look of floorstanders to that of standmounts. Would also prefer to stay away from subs, simply because I want to keep things simple & prefer less clutter. This is in an open plan living area, not a dedicated HT room.

Yes I listened to the Sonus Fabers again today with a bryston integrated amp & they really did sound nice. I like their warmness when they're playing at low-listening levels, yet they can still get angry when I turn them up to 11. I just don't think the contours sound that nice when played at background levels. They need to be turned up loud to sing.

[Elill]

Fair enough.....if you want "loud" you'll not get it from a soft dome tweeter in a large room, you're going to need a compression driver i.e. the speakers I listed above

Small + subs works better because you can place the subs in a spot better for base and the mains in a spot better for soundstage etc, these two spots are never the same which is why I dont like floor standers

[Azz123]

lavs, on Aug 3 2011, 11:05 PM, said:

So just a quick update......
After a lot of listening to a lot of setups in different environments I've narrowed it down to 2:

1. Dynaudio contour s3.4 with plinius/bryston components
2. Sonus Faber Liuto with bryston components

Having difficulty deciding between the 2 however.
The Dynes sound awesome when played loud but I find they sound a little bland when played at lower volume levels (ie. conversation volumes). I do like listening to music with other people around whilst still having a conversation, or reading etc......so this is a bugbear for me, although I may be being a bit anal about this. When played loud they sound awesome though.......

What do you guys think? I wax & wane as to which ones I prefer. Price not an issue.

Thanks!

When it comes to power, Dyn's are rather hungry.
I've got both the Dynaudio Focus 220's and the Confidence C2's. With the Focus, initially I was powering them with an Elektra T7 though brought a Bel Canto S300 into my system which although on paper was a step back in power, made a significant difference to detail and control and clarity at low volumes.

The Contour s3.4 (86dB) is said to be 1dB less efficient again than the Focus & C2's - make sure you hear them with good amplification.

And I was in a similar boat to yourself not long ago, I was quite keen on the s3.4's though Dyn dropped their pricing significantly on the C2's to run them out for the new model and once I had the chance to A-B the two together, the extra for the C2's was more than justified.

Refering back to one of your previous posts, if you're not already, take in your source (Mac mini) to audition with. Dyn's are quite revealing and wont do anything to enhance lower bitrate recordings.

[Drizt]

Given the interest in the Dyn's and the mentioning of the C2's I thought this thread might be of interest to some -> http://www.stereo.ne...o-Confidence-C2

Stanley ended up buying the C2's that he was initially after (he did audition the cx4f's but they didn't sway him from the C2's).  He is a big fan of the Dyn sound.

Here is a fantastic thread written by rippingdragon who upgraded from Dyn C2's to SGR CX4F's -> http://www.stereo.ne...-Speaker-Review

Disclaimer:  Not pushing a burrow here, just trying to be helpful with some links.  Everyone has a particular sound they enjoy which is why speaker buying is a very personal thing.

Azz123, on Aug 5 2011, 07:52 AM, said:

When it comes to power, Dyn's are rather hungry.
I've got both the Dynaudio Focus 220's and the Confidence C2's. With the Focus, initially I was powering them with an Elektra T7 though brought a Bel Canto S300 into my system which although on paper was a step back in power, made a significant difference to detail and control and clarity at low volumes.

The Contour s3.4 (86dB) is said to be 1dB less efficient again than the Focus & C2's - make sure you hear them with good amplification.

And I was in a similar boat to yourself not long ago, I was quite keen on the s3.4's though Dyn dropped their pricing significantly on the C2's to run them out for the new model and once I had the chance to A-B the two together, the extra for the C2's was more than justified.

Refering back to one of your previous posts, if you're not already, take in your source (Mac mini) to audition with. Dyn's are quite revealing and wont do anything to enhance lower bitrate recordings.

Edited by Drizt, 05 August 2011 - 09:49 AM.

[Adelaideltpc]

lavs, on Aug 4 2011, 09:59 PM, said:

Yes I listened to the Sonus Fabers again today with a bryston integrated amp & they really did sound nice. I like their warmness when they're playing at low-listening levels, yet they can still get angry when I turn them up to 11. I just don't think the contours sound that nice when played at background levels. They need to be turned up loud to sing.

Did you listen & evaluate both Sonus Fabers & Dynaudio Contours in the same listening environment?

[ajm]

Adelaideltpc, on Aug 6 2011, 07:10 PM, said:

Did you listen & evaluate both Sonus Fabers & Dynaudio Contours in the same listening environment?

I don't know how to say this and not sound like a kill-joy but any demo not in the actual environment these are going into is probably a waste of time.  The OPs original issue is a very large room with lots of flat reflective surfaces that are basically going to create reverb city.  So really, the OP is trying to fix a room issue by changing the speakers - which means no matter how awesome and warm the speakers sound in the shop, take them home and they're going to be fighting the same issues that prompted the OP to go on this hunt in the first place.

I'm just sayin'...

[Adelaideltpc]

ajm, on Aug 6 2011, 07:01 PM, said:

I don't know how to say this and not sound like a kill-joy but any demo not in the actual environment these are going into is probably a waste of time.  The OPs original issue is a very large room with lots of flat reflective surfaces that are basically going to create reverb city.  So really, the OP is trying to fix a room issue by changing the speakers - which means no matter how awesome and warm the speakers sound in the shop, take them home and they're going to be fighting the same issues that prompted the OP to go on this hunt in the first place.

I'm just sayin'...

Agree, OP should "borrrow" the speakers and try them out in the actual room!  
In my previous post, I was just trying to point out to the OP that listening environment DOES affect greatly.  The Sonus Fabers setup is in a perfectly quiet room (@ Challenge Hifi), and the Dyn Contours set up (@ Denis White) is in an open area of the shop which is subjected to the usual shop backfround noises and also traffic noise from the road - that would explain why OP was not able to pick up the details of the listening materials at low level.

[bradp51]

com5984, on Aug 4 2011, 08:48 PM, said:

I vote for the contours, I love mine

Rob
which Dyns do you have.  I wanna have a sticky beak on the web to see what they are.  Really liking the look of MA PL300.  Going to go into Quality Hifi in Sydney to have a listen.

At  $11500 maybe too much for this thread and OP.  Too much for me too but can dream.

[bradp51]

lavs, on Aug 4 2011, 06:23 PM, said:

Dynaudio focus & contour
B&W
Sonus Faber
Cabasse
Zu Essence & Omen Def
Neat
Vienna Acoustics
Spendor
Krix
VAF
KEF
Paradigm

No haven't tried ProAc. Obviously highly-rated by many but no dealers in Adelaide. I do prefer the warm sound so not sure if they'd be my flavour anyway.

I see no Monitor Audio, I understand a good quality English range of Spkr.

[ttn]

lavs, on Aug 4 2011, 06:23 PM, said:

...
Paradigm

No haven't tried ProAc. Obviously highly-rated by many but no dealers in Adelaide. I do prefer the warm sound so not sure if they'd be my flavour anyway.

since you have demoed & listened to quite a few brands there

do you think a new pair of S8 in Cherry for $7k is a good price? and value? compare to the others

[bradp51]

ttn, on Aug 7 2011, 09:29 AM, said:

since you have demoed & listened to quite a few brands there

do you think a new pair of S8 in Cherry for $7k is a good price? and value? compare to the others

I remember when we spoke once before you were looking at Focal back then.

[ttn]

bradp51, on Aug 7 2011, 10:35 AM, said:

I remember when we spoke once before you were looking at Focal back then.

sorry Brad I could not remember. There are too many brands & they all sound ok, but at least it has to be value for money    as $ is not easy to find