108 replies to this topic

[bradp51]

ttn, on Aug 7 2011, 10:42 AM, said:

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  

Am sure the Signature series S8 would be fine.  You could listen to some at Lifestyle store at Parramatta which I know is only 15 mins drive from your house.    I remember when I auditioned the Monitor 11 vs the Studio 100 I could have purchased either and ending up picking the Monitor 11.  Saved $3000 back then.

Having heard the Krix Neuphonix, they sound great too.

Edited by bradp51, 07 August 2011 - 12:33 PM.

[lavs]

Adelaideltpc, on Aug 6 2011, 09:19 PM, said:

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.

Hi Adelaidetpc

Yes I completely agree with you. The root of all my indecisiveness is the fact that I know things will sound very different in my own home! I realise I am not comparing apples with apples, which is why this journey has been so difficult for me. For the record I listened to the sonus fabers in their massive front room which faces Prospect Rd with their door open, so I wouldn't say that was perfect listening conditions anyway.

To everyone/anyone, what is the culture regarding auditioning speakers in your home? Will stores let me do this, & if so, how does it work? Would they also let me audition amplifiers, as this obviously has a large influence. Thankyou!

[:)]

lavs, on Aug 7 2011, 02:10 PM, said:

Hi Adelaidetpc

Yes I completely agree with you. The root of all my indecisiveness is the fact that I know things will sound very different in my own home! I realise I am not comparing apples with apples, which is why this journey has been so difficult for me. For the record I listened to the sonus fabers in their massive front room which faces Prospect Rd with their door open, so I wouldn't say that was perfect listening conditions anyway.

To everyone/anyone, what is the culture regarding auditioning speakers in your home? Will stores let me do this, & if so, how does it work? Would they also let me audition amplifiers, as this obviously has a large influence. Thankyou!

lav, the reality is you just cant demo all speakers around, let alone demo everything you can at home. just not realistic or reasonable. stores will let you home demo, I did with my mains before deciding. however prior to that had done a lot of demoing around stores. look store demoing is not perfect. nothing is, but it will give you some clues to kind of charecter/sound of a speaker. if it sounds awefull to your ears in store youd be taking a gamble in hoping it sounds great at home. however if does sound good to your liking instore a better chance you can get them to sound similar/as good or even better at home.

there is most definitely sound charecter differences between speakers. and there are a multitude of different designs types technologies brands makes and models. my suggestion short list to one or two specific speakers and then push for a home demo. check the home demo sticky here. but basically its about making a case that though you seem to like the speakers would like to confirm in your own surroundings. something can usually arrange with any hifi component for either over a weekend or overnight at the least. most shops wont really mind as long especially if outside their trading hours. and will usually ask a deposit even full purchase price as insurance or ,maybe copy of driving license. worth an ask.

[Adelaideltpc]

lavs, on Aug 7 2011, 01:40 PM, said:

Hi Adelaidetpc

Yes I completely agree with you. The root of all my indecisiveness is the fact that I know things will sound very different in my own home! I realise I am not comparing apples with apples, which is why this journey has been so difficult for me. For the record I listened to the sonus fabers in their massive front room which faces Prospect Rd with their door open, so I wouldn't say that was perfect listening conditions anyway.

To everyone/anyone, what is the culture regarding auditioning speakers in your home? Will stores let me do this, & if so, how does it work? Would they also let me audition amplifiers, as this obviously has a large influence. Thankyou!

Denis White lent me the Contours & amplier to try them out at home when I bought mine.  I guess you just need to show them that you are genuinely interested in buying the products from them if you are satisfied with the home demo.  It is one advantages to buy/support local store.

[Gutty]

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

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

REALLY lovely speakers in my opinion. Well, atleast the Sig6's i've listened to are... would have to assume the Sig8 are just more of the same.

[blybo]

I recently auditioned the Whatmough P-AV2 5.1 system and it was very flat sounding, in fact too flat for my tastes. At around $12K for the entire system I guess that's in your budget and I'm sure you can purchase separately. May have been their audition room with bass traps etc that accentuated that flatness but may be worth a listen as a bright room would only improve the sound to my ears. The Piano graphite version looks the ducks guts too, if your after a non timber look.

Pity our funds have dried up, I'll be staying with my Dynaudio knock offs from Trevor Less

[perthpete]

B&W usually are not too bright (got CDM7se myself, in the main room which has indeed a lot of glass, tiles on the floor etc). So if you could keep your amp / receiver on the warm/mellow/laid back side, such a combination should fit ...

[mmu16]

I have tried the ProAc Response D40 with the standard tweeter (you can get the R version with the ribbon tweeter) and they were fantastic. warm sound with proper depth in the lower ranges.  Was plenty fast and kept up with some mexican mariachi music without breaking a sweat - also managed to handle morcheeba's deep bass beautifully.  for 8K you could get a pair me thinks.  Have you checked out the Cambridge Audio 650 series AVR? They are pretty musical and plenty powerful - 100W p.c all 7 channels driven at the same time. Its not that pricey either.

[Chill]

I am late to this thread - but for what its worth.

As you admit to listening to high bit rate MP3's then I question the need to $8k speakers at all - but your cash so lets move past that and use it to advantage.

If you are happy with MP3s then digital room correction will not bother you at all - this can be via a quality AVR - or event better for your case in my view the HK 990 stereo amp - this also has a
clean slightly warm sound - and heaps of grunt so will drive anything in your big room ( this needs to be considered as even a bit of strain on a SS amp makes the sound harden ) - the room equlisation
on this amp will go a massive way towards taming your room = brightnes and reflections. The fact that in includes a top line DAC is a bonus as well.

As far as as speakers - Sonus Faber are never bright  ! ( but I am biased ) - if you can geal with the retro 1980's look - then my punt would be Harbeth - you can get these direct from UK at great prices - and if you do not like the have A+ resale
http://www.harbeth.c...=home&page=home

Edited by Chill, 15 February 2012 - 11:27 AM.