Four months ago my wife & I spent a weekend visit reveling in music of all types through our friend's Jean Marie Reynaud Concorde speakers. My wife -of all people!- has actually been lobbying ever since for us to move up from our beloved JMR Evolution 3s to this model. In three decades of using & auditioning high end audio equipment we have heard nothing that serves the music that we love better than the Concordes.
Any WARM, MUSICAL speakers out there?
I have been auditioning a number of speakers in the under $12k category, and I am frustrated at the almost total absence of any "warm", "musical" speakers out there. They are almost entirely the so-called "accurate" or "analytical" variety. Example, to my ears anyway: the Wilson Sophia. Very accurate, analytical, COLD and non-engaging, even through CJ tube gear. One would think that some of the CJ warmth and musicality would have come through, but the Sophia did not alow ANY of that!
I would like to find a musically engaging, warm speaker that does an excellent job with human voices and midrange detail, as the Cremonas do. I will be pairing the new speakers with Conrad Johnson tube electronics. (Yes, they are lush and warm, but that is what I like!)
The ONLY ones providing the warm musicality I seek that I have found are the Sonus Fabers, such as the Cremona. I found the midrange and uppers magical and musically involving.
However, they are not good at rock and roll. Electrostats such as Quads are even worse in that regard. As Sam Tellig pointed out, they (Quads) do NOT rock.
Note: There are no Legacy dealers (for the Focus 20/20) anywhere near me, and the Klipschorn so-called dealer near me only had two of the very smallest models available for audition.
My only two remaining ideas I have are Silverline (as in Sonatas or the new Bolero) and Vienna Acoustics, such as the Mahler or Strauss.However, the Vienna dealer only carries solid state electronics, and I want to hear them through tubes. Does anyone think that either of these might fit the bill?
In his review of the Sonus Faber Cremona in the Aug/Sept. 2003 issue of The Absolute Sound, Wayne Garcia writes,
"...It is one of the few full-range speakers from the non-analytical school (particularly those under ten grand) that I would even mention in the same breath as MartinLogan or Quad." (p.75 of TAS)
Does anyone know what the other "few" might be????!!!
Any ideas?
Thanks
Steve
I would like to find a musically engaging, warm speaker that does an excellent job with human voices and midrange detail, as the Cremonas do. I will be pairing the new speakers with Conrad Johnson tube electronics. (Yes, they are lush and warm, but that is what I like!)
The ONLY ones providing the warm musicality I seek that I have found are the Sonus Fabers, such as the Cremona. I found the midrange and uppers magical and musically involving.
However, they are not good at rock and roll. Electrostats such as Quads are even worse in that regard. As Sam Tellig pointed out, they (Quads) do NOT rock.
Note: There are no Legacy dealers (for the Focus 20/20) anywhere near me, and the Klipschorn so-called dealer near me only had two of the very smallest models available for audition.
My only two remaining ideas I have are Silverline (as in Sonatas or the new Bolero) and Vienna Acoustics, such as the Mahler or Strauss.However, the Vienna dealer only carries solid state electronics, and I want to hear them through tubes. Does anyone think that either of these might fit the bill?
In his review of the Sonus Faber Cremona in the Aug/Sept. 2003 issue of The Absolute Sound, Wayne Garcia writes,
"...It is one of the few full-range speakers from the non-analytical school (particularly those under ten grand) that I would even mention in the same breath as MartinLogan or Quad." (p.75 of TAS)
Does anyone know what the other "few" might be????!!!
Any ideas?
Thanks
Steve
- ...
- 35 posts total
- 35 posts total