I bought a pair of Clements 103D speakers for a small system that I play daily in my laboratory. The system is set up on shelves against the long wall of a very large room that is subdivided by shelving and equipment but no walls. It is connected to an old Kenwood integrated amp that puts out ~70 wpc, that is in turn fed by an inexpensive Sony SACD/CD changer, or the iTunes library from one of our computers.
In this context the speakers are stellar performers. They play with better than average dynamic authority for such a small speaker, but it is their ability to portray the human voice that is most distinctive. Female and male vocalists, either individually or in chorus are clear and tonally true. There is no chestiness in male voices or ringing in female voices that plagues so many similar designs.
These speakers replaced a pair of Fried Betas that were almost twice the size and price, played louder, and were more extended at the frequency extremes but were not as good with voices. I recently had a pair of Audioengine 5s in the lab and they were much louder, dynamic and extended at the frequency extremes but couldn't come close to the Clements' ability with vocals.
I think these are very thoughtfully voiced speakers that play music as faithfully as they can given their modest dimensions. I like them a lot.
In this context the speakers are stellar performers. They play with better than average dynamic authority for such a small speaker, but it is their ability to portray the human voice that is most distinctive. Female and male vocalists, either individually or in chorus are clear and tonally true. There is no chestiness in male voices or ringing in female voices that plagues so many similar designs.
These speakers replaced a pair of Fried Betas that were almost twice the size and price, played louder, and were more extended at the frequency extremes but were not as good with voices. I recently had a pair of Audioengine 5s in the lab and they were much louder, dynamic and extended at the frequency extremes but couldn't come close to the Clements' ability with vocals.
I think these are very thoughtfully voiced speakers that play music as faithfully as they can given their modest dimensions. I like them a lot.