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Can you get "bookshelf sound" from a floorstander?

Listened to B&W's 6 series and much prefered the 686 and 685 to the more expensive floorstanders. I'm a junkie for clear and coherent vocals and the floorstanders seemed to muddy the sound.
Listened to Dynaudio Focus 110s and loved them. Compared them to the Contour 5.4s and I loved the top end of them even more than the Focus' but was again bothered by what I want to call an incoherence... lack of focus... integration... with the low end.

Owned Totem Arros and Dreamcatcher monitors with Dreamcatcher sub and prefered the dreamcatcher monitors over the Arros and without the sub, too.

Am I just a bookshelf guy? Was it my choice of floorstanders? Setup? Anyone have better words to describe what I'm trying to say? I certainly love the low end and dynamic grunt of the big ones but not at such expense.
eyediver
bobbyapalkovic
729 posts
 
9rw, the vsm se was voiced around se triodes and is now, a 10 to 12 year old product. it has been out of production for at least 9 years. the millennium, the mm and the mme were listened to extensively with ss and tube amps and sound very different than the se. i'll bet you you had an ac bam. as i said we have gone a long way since you have listened to our product. the vt 100 was a great amp but the pre was not indicative of what you could have had for sound.
none the less, imho it is pointless to discuss the sound of a product that has not been made for almost 10 years and present it like it has a bearing on current production.
best, b
bobbyapalkovic
729 posts
 
9rw, the vsm se was voiced around se triodes and is now, a 10 to 12 year old product. it has been out of production for at least 9 years. the millennium, the mm and the mme were listened to extensively with ss and tube amps and sound very different than the se. the later models are more room filling and coherent. you may have even had an early ac bam. as i said, we have gone a long way since you have listened to our product.
the vt 100 was and is a great amp but the pre was not indicative of what you could have had for sound.
none the less, imho it is pointless to discuss the sound of a product that has not been made for almost 10 years and present it like it has a bearing on current production.
best, b
9rw's avatar
9rw
278 posts
 
Bobby: It's still a speaker that isn't phase- and time-coherent. Plus you equalize it to achieve your desired results and upgrade it continuously, making all previous models virtually worthless in the audio world. Also, the cost is prohibitive compared to the competition. Be totally objective and listen to a pair of Totem Arros -- at about 1/10th of the price. Then ask yourself if your speaker represents a good value.

The ARC LS25 was actually highly regarded and still is by many members of Audiogon.

Again, your passion is admirable, but the speakers you made many years ago were better.
bobbyapalkovic
729 posts
 
9rw, you are entitled to your opinion but imho, you are very wrong.
the vsm is now a very mature and finshed design and is capable of remarkably life like sound with little or no distortion. there are different kinds of coherence and perhaps if you had heard one of the latest models you would understand what i am emplying. i equalize and filter bandwidth to control distortion components which all speakers are riddled with. the things that you did not like about the se are maybe, not there any longer.
but how would you know.
best, b
bobbyapalkovic
729 posts
 
and by the way 9rw, i have heard the arro and it is indeed a very good speaker system, especially for the price asked. but it does not do what the merlin is capable of doing. again imho.
best, b
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