I have owned my 705 for a few years now and have often felt that they were a disappointment. Currently I have them as rear speakers and use them as a second system for radio via my Marantz 7300OSE (multichannel stereo with my main amp off) via cheap (and fairly long) speaker wire. It sounds quite adequate but nothing more.
I often felt that they were edgy, bright and simply not very good in all the setups I tried. The 7300OSE receiver I use retailed for about $2800(AU) in Australia, although I had no trouble getting mine for $2100. Yesterday morning just for the hell of it I took my $1,000 power cord off my main amp and put it on the Marantz. (of course I would never have considered an expensive cord like this with the Marantz - it only made sense with the CJ after an audition in my system)
OK - the 705 has always made classical sound ho hum to yuk -boring and flat. Not any more. At reasonable volume these things sound great. Nice separation of instruments, nice dynamics, lower distortion generally, bass has a nice solid bomp bomp - these are really enjoyable speakers to listen to. Ironing is now enjoyable, just like the ABC classic radio advert
Sorry 705. Seems all of those good reviews were right after all. My 804s system is better (and I know more performance is available with more tweeking) but these little speakers are more than good enough in their own right.
How hard is it to evaluate a hifi component if it took me years to find the key and getting these things to perform. Obviously I have nasty power so this may not work for everyone. I did notice that Greglett in audio hideout recently solved a preamp issue by fixing his power supply problems.
I am starting to think that the Audiophile Club of Athens guy (look on U tube if you have not seen the video) got it right. Clean electricity might just be 50% of the sound- even for a modest system.
PS for the power cable doubters - as much as this experiment worked for me I am not advocating power cables per se - I think of it as more of a power supply issue. It is also a matter of experimenting for yourself to determine where problems in your system might lie. I have heard this same cable make almost no difference at all in one system (although stupid - ie me - plugged into a fancy power board rather then straight into the wall)
I often felt that they were edgy, bright and simply not very good in all the setups I tried. The 7300OSE receiver I use retailed for about $2800(AU) in Australia, although I had no trouble getting mine for $2100. Yesterday morning just for the hell of it I took my $1,000 power cord off my main amp and put it on the Marantz. (of course I would never have considered an expensive cord like this with the Marantz - it only made sense with the CJ after an audition in my system)
OK - the 705 has always made classical sound ho hum to yuk -boring and flat. Not any more. At reasonable volume these things sound great. Nice separation of instruments, nice dynamics, lower distortion generally, bass has a nice solid bomp bomp - these are really enjoyable speakers to listen to. Ironing is now enjoyable, just like the ABC classic radio advert
Sorry 705. Seems all of those good reviews were right after all. My 804s system is better (and I know more performance is available with more tweeking) but these little speakers are more than good enough in their own right.
How hard is it to evaluate a hifi component if it took me years to find the key and getting these things to perform. Obviously I have nasty power so this may not work for everyone. I did notice that Greglett in audio hideout recently solved a preamp issue by fixing his power supply problems.
I am starting to think that the Audiophile Club of Athens guy (look on U tube if you have not seen the video) got it right. Clean electricity might just be 50% of the sound- even for a modest system.
PS for the power cable doubters - as much as this experiment worked for me I am not advocating power cables per se - I think of it as more of a power supply issue. It is also a matter of experimenting for yourself to determine where problems in your system might lie. I have heard this same cable make almost no difference at all in one system (although stupid - ie me - plugged into a fancy power board rather then straight into the wall)
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