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Classical speakers that do violins well??

All my serious listening is classical.

I hate nothing more than steely shrillness on violins or a glare on a soprano's voice.

I love nothing more than the faithful reproduction of the tone colors of unamplified instruments (the wood body of the violin and cello, the felt pad excting the sinewy strings of a piano).

YET, I hate bloated, indistinct, overly warm, billowy lower mids and upper bass (what I gather some think of as "musical").

Do you have any experience with speakers that might meet these needs for $2K, give or take (new or used)? Can be either floorstander or monitor, but with at least enough bass to perform decently on orchestral music. THANKS.
-Bob
hesson11
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
1,174 posts
 
My SF Guarneri Hommages reproduce violin and in fact all stringed instruments about as well as any speaker i have heard.
mrtennis
3,295 posts
 
in order to do a definitive test of a speaker's ability to reproduce timbre accurately, it is necessary to record an instrument in one's living room and compare the recording to a musician's presentation of the same music.

of course one will need a musician who is willing to particpate in this experiment as well as a way to method for recording, such as an open reel tape deck, a dat, or a cd recorder. hopefully, the quality of the recording is sufficient to make a meaningful comparison.
guidocorona
4,114 posts
 
I agree MRT, I will herewith get in touch with Mr. Ma, as I am partial to the sound of Stradivari cellos. I am positive that Mr. Ma will immediately be sympathetic to the plight of this obscure audiophile, and will rush to Austin to facilitate my comparative analysis. I will report to this thread as soon as I have some hard data to share. Oops, I now remember that I really couldn't care less about the sound of his cello recordded in my room. . . I really want my room to emulate the sound of Ma's Stradivari at the Teatro Alla Scala. . . oh dear, this is now getting a little complicated. . . Oh well. . .
guidocorona
4,114 posts
 
Daveyf, I am not at all surprised about your observations on SF Guarneri with violins. Like Vienna Acoustics, Sonus Faber are known for their extreme usicality, and by the way, they are also imported by Sumiko.
hesson11 OP
233 posts
 
Again, thanks so much for the wealth of responses—even if a few are just a tad beyond my budget! :-)

Guidocorona, the Aragon 2004 is listed as having a damping in excess of 200, so I think I should be okay in that category.

MrT, until I can fit a symphony orchestra into my 21" x 12' room, I'll just have to compromise and go by my memory of what music sounds like in a concert hall—and get as close as I can, knowing I might fall a bit short. THANKS again, everyone.
-Bob
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