YG Acoustics add in Stereophile


I saw the YG Acoustics add in Stereophile and was wondering if anyone knew what "Competitor" speaker they were refering to in the measurements. I heard the YGs at CES and they sounded great to me.
dawa5309
Atmasphere, as an owner of these speakers I think your analysis of the design path of the crossover is probably correct.

And I have heard the midrange driver bottom out as you did. But it only occurred once when my former Wilson dealer was testing the system at his request. I have never caused it playing any of my music at all levels at any time.

I agree that the single advantage of this design is clearer mids and highs.
Much clearer IMHO.
So much clearer that resolution is largely independent of volume.

But the speakers do not function well with tube amps.
Even your superb designs, I suspect.
I own a pair of YG Anat Reference II Studios, and I have never experienced the "bottoming out" mentioned by Atmasphere and Khrys. The Anats have two mid-woofers per side, whereas the Kipods have one per side. YG literature maintains that the Kipods should be selected for rooms of a certain size and the Anat Studios for larger rooms (and the Anat Professionals, with two subwoofers per side, for still larger rooms). Unusually enough, YG maintains that, allowing for differences in capacity to energize different size rooms, all of their speakers will sound much the same. That is, unlike most other speaker manufacturers, where the sound quality of their speaker lines is claimed to increase with the relative costs of different models, YG claims that the sound quality of Kipods and Anats is very similar, and that the major difference relative to costs is that the more expensive models play louder than the cheaper ones. If this is indeed the case (I myself have never heard the Kipods), then it may be that the Kipods can more easily be driven to some form of distortion than ther Anats if played very loudly. The different YG models, ideally speaking, are selected for their appropriateness in different size rooms. The benefit of adhering to this principle is superb sound in medium or small size rooms at the relatively modest cost of the Kipods (compared to more expensive Anat models). The reciprocal potential cost would be a greater likelihood of overdriving the Kipods as compared to the Anats. In loudspeakers as in life in general, there is usually a trade-off of benefits versus costs.
The advertising claims that disturb some Audiogon members are, I agree, extravagant. It is unlikley to the point of impossibility that the authors of those claims have heard all of the speakers in the world. But YG does maintain a serious and consisten program of testing the loudspeakers of other manufacturers. And, so far, none of the speakers examined test as well as the YG speakers. The YGs are not only remarkably flat, but the drivers in the main modules work together, with very little phase difference. This enables the YGs to achieve the sonic benefits of single driver loudspeaker systems without emulating some of the drawbacks of single driver loudspeaker systems. The results are a clarity and coherence that are a delight to experience.
A real problem in getting the best one can out of the Anats, I have found, has to do with partnering suitable electronics and cables. I started out with a really fine integrated tube amplifier, a unit that I had purchased originally for Sonus Faber Amati loudpeakers. In the years that I had owned the Amatis, I tried quite a number of amplifiers and preamplifiers, and the tube integrated was the best I heard in partnership with the Sonus Faber speakers. It sounded fairly good when I connected it to the Anats (my wife especially remembers it with fondness in handling some of her favorite vocalists). But there were some problems. I have recently shifted to all solid state electronics and new speaker cables, and the sound has very markedly improved. In addition to usual worries about impedance matching and the like, YGs really should be coupled with "neutral" components. I understand "neutral" to mean a minimalization of either adding or subtracting information to or from the signal received. The YGs are carefully designed to be as neutral as possible, and in my opinion one would be subverting their design by coupling them with tone controls. Better, in my opinion, to buy one's personal tastes in euphonia by buying cheaper speakers than to start off with something neutral and then, in a manner of speaking, unneutralize it.
I also own a pair of YG ANAT Ref II professional speakers and I agree with Kusina. Additionally, I have a pair of Kipod studios as rear channels and an ANAT Ref II center channel.

My listening position is 16ft back from the ANATs in an L-shaped room that is 16x32ft on the vertical part of the L and 35x16ft on the horizontal. I listen at realistic levels (well over 100db at the listening position) and have never had an issue with the speakers "bottoming" out or showing any stress whatsoever.

In my experience, typically, when a speaker shows signs of stress like that it is the amplifier not being able to maintain control and not an issue with the speaker. I certainly don't know in the cases that were cited.

I've heard many speakers, and while I've not heard every speaker, the YG are the best I've heard (and yes all speakers that I've heard have been on the Earth :) )! They sound realistic at any volume. I would highly encourage an audition of them.
Kusina and Kevinm, it is most definitely possible to overdrive the midrange unit of the Kipods but it is highly improbable that it would ever occur in any listening session unless you were trying.

YG knows this and offers an optional outboard high pass filter but I can't imagine ever needing one.

The Kipods are perfect for my tastes in music in my listening room.

They are certainly the best I've heard.

On this planet, anyway.
There is much more to loudspeakers performance then flat FR. Many cheap 2-ways have as good or better (off-axis) FR then YG. Have a look at a $1500 Paradigm (And they actually also go below 80Hz). But YG does not seems to know that or, quite successfully I suppose, rely on the gullibility of its propaganda readers. Just few point for thoughts: Look at Soundstage Anat Reference measurements. Does the 30 degree off-axis resemble the measurements in their ad? Not even close. How about, MAJOR distortion levels in the 300-500 Hz and 2K-6K region (Some of the highest I ever seen). These high THD figures tell much more about the speaker then its FR alone. How about his ridicules claim that he is one of the only “foreigner” to ever win Japanese Stereo Sound Grand Prix (Basically 90% of the manufactures to win are, not Japanese – that will make them foreigners right?). Now YG speakers might be fine (Although the idea of adding a powered sub to a full-range monitor is marginal at best), but I can’t see how anyone can take any of their claims seriously.