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Hello all,
I'm a noob to this forum but not to audio...been in it for 3 years now...
to be helpful I thought I'd offer my take on many many first class store bought speakers
yesterday I spent the day in audio heaven... running all over this state auditioning the best of store bought speakers... Paradigm, B&W, Wilson, Magnepan, Martin Logan, Mcintosh.
to do my part as a currently learning audiophile I thought I would give my hopefully unbiased feelings about every one of them... also I took a friend and will give you her impressions...
the songs played were several 3 doors down songs (one of them live) which I used as a reference as I saw them in concert 1 week ago from this audition (good reference no? ) also I used some classical tracks from mozart, etc. I also used some punk rock like Sum 41 etc... listening tests on every speaker was a minimum of 2 songs... and on most I listened to 5+
let's get to it: Please take the time to read it all as I spent 10 hrs of my time gathering this
Paradigm 11 ($1000 a pair) - 10 feet away - powered by Yamaha receiver 120x5
highs were quite extended. I believe these are the best speakers at $1000 out right now. it was missing significant low end material. Standing up I noticed that the midbass (what little there was) was still pronounced but midrange and highs all but disappeared. 4 meters away the highs were better while standing but SPL was dramatically reduced
Paradigm 100 ($2200?? a pair) - 10-20 feet away- powered by mark levinson
the midbass problem with the 11s was fixed. midrange was muddy and harsh at times. Vocals generally were strong but also could overpower midbass. Off-axis reponse was improved but like the 11s distance dramatically reduced output. There was no midbass impact at any signifcant distance over 3 meters away.
Paradigm Signature S8s ($6000+ a pair) - 10-20 feet away
vocals were strong and pronounced and hardly ever over powered the strong midbass. standing up hardly did anything to SQ even within 10 feet. midbass was strong. There was a thump in my chest with some songs.
Martin Logan Ascent i ($4600 a pair) - 10 feet away in a very nice sound room (only room in all tests I was in that was DESIGNED well)
there certainly was a distinct lack of midbass output, even with that 10/12 in the bottom. the ESLs dipole effect was quite breath taking in this room even though they were only 1.5 feet from the back wall. sound did not change at all while standing and walking around the room. Massive sweet spot. Highs could have been improved significantly with a dual ESL design like the E2 statement.
B&W 803 ($6000+ a pair) - 10-20 feet away- heard this at 2 different shops.
guitar music seemed very transparent. Standing up noticeably changes sound to the detriment of the speakers. deep midbass. the tweets were unimaginably harsh. I absolutely hated them, as did my friend. She in fact hated them so much that they gave her a headache and she had to leave. The tweeter was AWFUL.
Wilson Watt Puppy 7- ($24,000 a pair) - 10 feet away- chase amplification
Words can not describe this speaker. It amazed me. there was a breath taking "innocence" to the music I listened to. the midrange and tweeter is what I loved most about these. The guitar was incredible. you could hear as the soloist would pluck his string and hear the reverberations as they came off. I heard more "music" from these then I realized was ever recorded in those songs. They were incredibly dynamic
Wilson Sophia ($11,000 a pair) - 10 feet away- simple amplifier configuration
it seemed obvious to me what wilson did with the puppy. They simply stuck the puppy part on the sophia and just put large midbasses in the watt puppy 7 to make customers "value" that $13,000 price difference. Midrange was the same as the Watt 7 as were the highs. Midbass was lacking, however, it was simply because wilson used smaller midbasses (did this on purpose of course to sell the Watts)
B&W 802 - ($12,000 a pair) - Chase amplification
problem with the very very harsh tweets was fixed with these. they however still lacked midbass when compared to the wilson's. it sounded good. But not anywhere near any of the speakers in it's price range. no where near as dynamic as the wilson. Midrange is too subdued
B&W 800- ($16,000+ ???) - again the same Chase amps
better than the 802 significantly. all the components finally seemed to fit together. However switching between these and the Sophia's made me and her instantly realize that the midrange and highs were no where near as dynamic as the wilson's. midbass was strong, but the watts ate them alive.
Magnepan 20.1 ($19,000++++++????) - mark levinson powered
for have such great praises I was very disappointed. there was quite a lot of bass output, however their low efficency seemed to "mask" the music. there seemed to be a fog throughout all the music I listened to. I came to the conclusion that these speakers simply seemed to "reproduce" music but had no uniqueness or personality. they seemed to be saying, "look a me I play music well", but not a thing stood out to me.
Martin logan summit ($10,000+ a pair)
beautiful sounding. highs were not as extended as the watts, but it was a single panel ESL so I took that into account. My friend liked this one the best. She liked that the highs were pretty much non-existant. it was undoubtably a great speaker. The midbass was loud and the midrange was room filling. these pretty much killed the Sophias, but didn't quite have the dynamic nature of the Watts. it made me wonder what the E2 statements sound like.
Mcintosh XRT29 (no midbass model) ($18,000+?? a pair)
these are the ones I listened to for the least amount of time. Not because I couldn't listen longer, but because they absolutely sucked. I was so disappointed. there was little to no impact in the midbass. They were soooo tweeter heavy that I honestly couldn't take it for long. they were the loudest by a long shot, but sounded the worst. they were so "in your face" that they sounded like cow dung.
Well thanks for reading... hope this helps someone, somewhere. remember these are just MY OPINIONS and my friend's. I just wann a present my views on these speakers.
favorties for my friend and I:
Me: Wilson watt Puppys
Her: Martin Logan Summits
I'm a noob to this forum but not to audio...been in it for 3 years now...
to be helpful I thought I'd offer my take on many many first class store bought speakers
yesterday I spent the day in audio heaven... running all over this state auditioning the best of store bought speakers... Paradigm, B&W, Wilson, Magnepan, Martin Logan, Mcintosh.
to do my part as a currently learning audiophile I thought I would give my hopefully unbiased feelings about every one of them... also I took a friend and will give you her impressions...
the songs played were several 3 doors down songs (one of them live) which I used as a reference as I saw them in concert 1 week ago from this audition (good reference no? ) also I used some classical tracks from mozart, etc. I also used some punk rock like Sum 41 etc... listening tests on every speaker was a minimum of 2 songs... and on most I listened to 5+
let's get to it: Please take the time to read it all as I spent 10 hrs of my time gathering this
Paradigm 11 ($1000 a pair) - 10 feet away - powered by Yamaha receiver 120x5
highs were quite extended. I believe these are the best speakers at $1000 out right now. it was missing significant low end material. Standing up I noticed that the midbass (what little there was) was still pronounced but midrange and highs all but disappeared. 4 meters away the highs were better while standing but SPL was dramatically reduced
Paradigm 100 ($2200?? a pair) - 10-20 feet away- powered by mark levinson
the midbass problem with the 11s was fixed. midrange was muddy and harsh at times. Vocals generally were strong but also could overpower midbass. Off-axis reponse was improved but like the 11s distance dramatically reduced output. There was no midbass impact at any signifcant distance over 3 meters away.
Paradigm Signature S8s ($6000+ a pair) - 10-20 feet away
vocals were strong and pronounced and hardly ever over powered the strong midbass. standing up hardly did anything to SQ even within 10 feet. midbass was strong. There was a thump in my chest with some songs.
Martin Logan Ascent i ($4600 a pair) - 10 feet away in a very nice sound room (only room in all tests I was in that was DESIGNED well)
there certainly was a distinct lack of midbass output, even with that 10/12 in the bottom. the ESLs dipole effect was quite breath taking in this room even though they were only 1.5 feet from the back wall. sound did not change at all while standing and walking around the room. Massive sweet spot. Highs could have been improved significantly with a dual ESL design like the E2 statement.
B&W 803 ($6000+ a pair) - 10-20 feet away- heard this at 2 different shops.
guitar music seemed very transparent. Standing up noticeably changes sound to the detriment of the speakers. deep midbass. the tweets were unimaginably harsh. I absolutely hated them, as did my friend. She in fact hated them so much that they gave her a headache and she had to leave. The tweeter was AWFUL.
Wilson Watt Puppy 7- ($24,000 a pair) - 10 feet away- chase amplification
Words can not describe this speaker. It amazed me. there was a breath taking "innocence" to the music I listened to. the midrange and tweeter is what I loved most about these. The guitar was incredible. you could hear as the soloist would pluck his string and hear the reverberations as they came off. I heard more "music" from these then I realized was ever recorded in those songs. They were incredibly dynamic
Wilson Sophia ($11,000 a pair) - 10 feet away- simple amplifier configuration
it seemed obvious to me what wilson did with the puppy. They simply stuck the puppy part on the sophia and just put large midbasses in the watt puppy 7 to make customers "value" that $13,000 price difference. Midrange was the same as the Watt 7 as were the highs. Midbass was lacking, however, it was simply because wilson used smaller midbasses (did this on purpose of course to sell the Watts)
B&W 802 - ($12,000 a pair) - Chase amplification
problem with the very very harsh tweets was fixed with these. they however still lacked midbass when compared to the wilson's. it sounded good. But not anywhere near any of the speakers in it's price range. no where near as dynamic as the wilson. Midrange is too subdued
B&W 800- ($16,000+ ???) - again the same Chase amps
better than the 802 significantly. all the components finally seemed to fit together. However switching between these and the Sophia's made me and her instantly realize that the midrange and highs were no where near as dynamic as the wilson's. midbass was strong, but the watts ate them alive.
Magnepan 20.1 ($19,000++++++????) - mark levinson powered
for have such great praises I was very disappointed. there was quite a lot of bass output, however their low efficency seemed to "mask" the music. there seemed to be a fog throughout all the music I listened to. I came to the conclusion that these speakers simply seemed to "reproduce" music but had no uniqueness or personality. they seemed to be saying, "look a me I play music well", but not a thing stood out to me.
Martin logan summit ($10,000+ a pair)
beautiful sounding. highs were not as extended as the watts, but it was a single panel ESL so I took that into account. My friend liked this one the best. She liked that the highs were pretty much non-existant. it was undoubtably a great speaker. The midbass was loud and the midrange was room filling. these pretty much killed the Sophias, but didn't quite have the dynamic nature of the Watts. it made me wonder what the E2 statements sound like.
Mcintosh XRT29 (no midbass model) ($18,000+?? a pair)
these are the ones I listened to for the least amount of time. Not because I couldn't listen longer, but because they absolutely sucked. I was so disappointed. there was little to no impact in the midbass. They were soooo tweeter heavy that I honestly couldn't take it for long. they were the loudest by a long shot, but sounded the worst. they were so "in your face" that they sounded like cow dung.
Well thanks for reading... hope this helps someone, somewhere. remember these are just MY OPINIONS and my friend's. I just wann a present my views on these speakers.
favorties for my friend and I:
Me: Wilson watt Puppys
Her: Martin Logan Summits
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