I built a pair of Paul Carmody's S2000s for my home office to listen while I work, and ... realize my living room setup could use some work. I eventually want to go to a HT setup, but I expect that 80% of my listening will be music with 20% home theater, so I want to start with the music setup and build HT later.
I think either the Statement II or Anthology might be the best option for me, based on all the research thus far, since my primary concern is music reproduction. Nobody seems dissatisfied with them, except maybe that it's a long build. (COVID means that build complexity is maybe not as a big a factor as it otherwise would be, given that I'm not exactly able to leave the house.)
I don't have a fully dedicated woodworking space or complex tools like a table saw or router, nor I don't have a garage to put a shop in. If possible, I'd like to get a flat pack like I did with the S2000 - I found flatpacks for both the Statement and Anthology at speakerhardware.com, and even better for me, the flatpacks are Baltic birch instead of MDF. (I'd rather stain and polish something that looks like wood than veneer.) I have no idea if they're approved/authorized by the designers, though.
I think I'm leaning towards the Statement because it's a little more future proof with electronics upgrades, and there's a center channel flatpack available for when I go to my HT setup.
As far as making the decision between the two: I listen mostly to classical music and jazz, though my classical collection is varied. I started with big orchestral pieces, but have started listening more to smaller ensembles - string quartets, piano sonatas, and the like. I also have a fair amount of early/medieval vocal music (many groups, but the highlight is Anonymous 4, where everything is four pure unaccompanied voices).
My main source (90+%) is FLAC, so it's faithful to the CD, but original master quality varies widely. I have Glenn Gould's Goldberg variations, and I thought I had a weird problem in my desktop audio chain because there was an odd hum in the 1981 recording. As it turns out, Gould would often drive recording engineers nuts because he'd hum and they'd try to take it out - with the S2000 I was hearing the remnants of his humming. Other recordings are not as good - for example, there is nothing as good as the 1930s Pau Casals recordings of the Bach Cello suites, but they were recorded in mono with the state of the art in the 30s. Yes, they're on CD, but the original masters aren't close to modern quality standards.
My living room is a 20x20 open-plan room with a vaulted ceiling (and a loft off to one side), so it's not massive but it does take some work to fill.
I think either the Statement II or Anthology might be the best option for me, based on all the research thus far, since my primary concern is music reproduction. Nobody seems dissatisfied with them, except maybe that it's a long build. (COVID means that build complexity is maybe not as a big a factor as it otherwise would be, given that I'm not exactly able to leave the house.)
I don't have a fully dedicated woodworking space or complex tools like a table saw or router, nor I don't have a garage to put a shop in. If possible, I'd like to get a flat pack like I did with the S2000 - I found flatpacks for both the Statement and Anthology at speakerhardware.com, and even better for me, the flatpacks are Baltic birch instead of MDF. (I'd rather stain and polish something that looks like wood than veneer.) I have no idea if they're approved/authorized by the designers, though.
I think I'm leaning towards the Statement because it's a little more future proof with electronics upgrades, and there's a center channel flatpack available for when I go to my HT setup.
As far as making the decision between the two: I listen mostly to classical music and jazz, though my classical collection is varied. I started with big orchestral pieces, but have started listening more to smaller ensembles - string quartets, piano sonatas, and the like. I also have a fair amount of early/medieval vocal music (many groups, but the highlight is Anonymous 4, where everything is four pure unaccompanied voices).
My main source (90+%) is FLAC, so it's faithful to the CD, but original master quality varies widely. I have Glenn Gould's Goldberg variations, and I thought I had a weird problem in my desktop audio chain because there was an odd hum in the 1981 recording. As it turns out, Gould would often drive recording engineers nuts because he'd hum and they'd try to take it out - with the S2000 I was hearing the remnants of his humming. Other recordings are not as good - for example, there is nothing as good as the 1930s Pau Casals recordings of the Bach Cello suites, but they were recorded in mono with the state of the art in the 30s. Yes, they're on CD, but the original masters aren't close to modern quality standards.
My living room is a 20x20 open-plan room with a vaulted ceiling (and a loft off to one side), so it's not massive but it does take some work to fill.
Comment