James,
My musical tastes are very eclectic, so I need a speaker that can load my 23X23 room for listening to all my musical genres. In my reference collection that I use to audition sources, components, cables and speakers, you'll find some amazing tracks from superb classical recordings, old jazz, as well as brilliant cuts like ZZ Top's La Grange, Ted Nugent's Stranglehold, Jeff Beck's Goodbye PorkPie Hat and other well recorded uncompressed rock. When I demonstrate my system, I use every genre, and invariably, my guests are stunned, especially by the sheer power of the hard rock tunes. The room just lights up with music that sounds live and sweeps you out of the room and to the recording venue. I usually have to clean up the drool on the carpet after the demo.
The Thiels replaced Von Schweikert Audio Unifield 3 and a pair of REL subs. The U3s are amazing in near-field listening, and with the subs they really rocked, but they don't compare with the ridiculously good performance of the 3.7s in my open plan living space. I still have the subs and will audition them with the 3.7s after the break in period. I believe that most, if not all systems benefit greatly from correctly set-up subs. I'll keep you posted on that.
Vhiner,
My next upgrade is adding another VAC Phi 200 so I get all 200Watts for each channel... I just don't have a place for another amp right now due to WAF considerations. VAC amps are known by fans as being able to control and drive excellent bass from power-hungry speakers. The 100W per channel they put out doesn't sound like much until you realize the massive amount of current they generate. There are no wimpy amps in the VAC line-up. Current is king for bass impact. I fantasize about the VAC flagship amp that puts out 450 per channel, but the monoblocks are about $80,000.
My musical tastes are very eclectic, so I need a speaker that can load my 23X23 room for listening to all my musical genres. In my reference collection that I use to audition sources, components, cables and speakers, you'll find some amazing tracks from superb classical recordings, old jazz, as well as brilliant cuts like ZZ Top's La Grange, Ted Nugent's Stranglehold, Jeff Beck's Goodbye PorkPie Hat and other well recorded uncompressed rock. When I demonstrate my system, I use every genre, and invariably, my guests are stunned, especially by the sheer power of the hard rock tunes. The room just lights up with music that sounds live and sweeps you out of the room and to the recording venue. I usually have to clean up the drool on the carpet after the demo.
The Thiels replaced Von Schweikert Audio Unifield 3 and a pair of REL subs. The U3s are amazing in near-field listening, and with the subs they really rocked, but they don't compare with the ridiculously good performance of the 3.7s in my open plan living space. I still have the subs and will audition them with the 3.7s after the break in period. I believe that most, if not all systems benefit greatly from correctly set-up subs. I'll keep you posted on that.
Vhiner,
My next upgrade is adding another VAC Phi 200 so I get all 200Watts for each channel... I just don't have a place for another amp right now due to WAF considerations. VAC amps are known by fans as being able to control and drive excellent bass from power-hungry speakers. The 100W per channel they put out doesn't sound like much until you realize the massive amount of current they generate. There are no wimpy amps in the VAC line-up. Current is king for bass impact. I fantasize about the VAC flagship amp that puts out 450 per channel, but the monoblocks are about $80,000.