Which Hi-end monitor for near field listening

Marco: believe me, I was just as surprised as you are! I went in to the dealer ready to love and buy the SR17s. I heard the SR17s, and the dealer said 'wait one sec'. He put the SR15s up, same room, electronics, etc, and they really were markedly better in every area. The SR17s just sounded a little muddy in comparison.

This is really subjective, and I'm sure others disagree. Just my opinion.

Also, you're absolutely right to be mentioning production cycles. Alan Yun changes things in significant ways, and sometimes it's impossible to tell what's what unless you ask him.

Beheme, I can say that with respect to the Revelator in the Taylos, while it can be swapped out for a SEAS Millenium at no extra charge by Tyler... I have not found the Taylos in Revelator form to be forward at all...

---Dave

I would rather have a little more backward than forward sound.

I wouldn't call them "mini" monitors, but if you like a laid-back sound I might suggest listening to the Harbeth line. I've listened to a friend's Harbeth Compact 7's at length and they are very nice indeed, but in fact a bit too laid back for my taste. I was not using them near-field so could not comment there. He loves'em and I can see the appeal if you are into that kind of sound. I'd say the SR17's I prefer would be somewhere in between, but definitely not a 'forward' sounding speaker that puts the performance out front. They use the Dynaudio Esotec drivers (both woof and tweet). They definitely do a disappearing act like nobody's business. I wouldn't call the midrange "thin" so perhaps, again, not the right recommendation for you. Take a listen to the Harbeth's if you have the opportunity.

Marco

Thin midrange with recessed tweeter. Sorry the FS688's arn't what you are looking for :)

The terms thin and thick, of course, mean different things to different people. When I think of thin I think threadbare with a lack of harmonics and overtones. Thick I think bloated, slow and congested. The FA's midrange is far from either.

As Drseid mentioned the Revelator is definitly not forward IMO. Sweet liquid and extended. No harshness or grain. I could see how someone might think it too prominent. At first I thought it too prominent as it extends to ribbon territory and has fantastic detail. After getting use to the new extension and detail almost everything sounds "thin" and rolled off.

Seriously though we all hear different and have different tastes so I doubt if the FS688's would be your cup of tea. Fact is most of the speakers on your list may be too "Forward" for your taste. The Esotar, Morel and Hiquphon used in the Dynaudio, Merlin and Ellis are anything but recessed, rolled off, backward or what ever similar term you want to apply.

I noticed the Tyler linbrooks on your list. With the size of your room and the nearfield listening not sure if the 3 driver Linbrooks would be what you are looking for. You may want to look at the Taylor monitors and have the Seas Millennium substituted for the Revelator. Same midbass as the Linnbrook but in a two way at a substantially cheaper price.

Good luck in your search.

Bw Maxx

I have auditioned the Focus 788's and the new smaller 68SE's. While they can sound musical, I found the smaller ones slightly lacking in low-level detail retreval as compared to my 97 db efficient ribbon-tweeter speaker (I suspect due to the lower efficiency and second-order crossover). Morever, I do not feel the Focus lineup will work with SET- they need more power IMO.

HOWEVER, I DID enjoy he 788's VERY much in a BIGGER room, and at higher volumes- once cranked a bit, the sound very good (and that was with a 25-watt Air Tight ATM-4 believe it or not), and that was an INCREDIBLY musical combo- I could live with it actually.

I find this thread interesting though, as I am moving next week, and looking for a pair of speakers for a second bedroom system with the EXACT same room size- except I want high efficiency for an SET amp...