Repost of 8-10 spkr shootout on 1/14

[leon55]

The Diana Krall dvd was Diana Krall live at the Montreal jazz festival, very good dvd for me anyway. Your speakers will be in before I could get back down there, I'm busy this weekend. Hope you get yours soon, I had to wait a couple of weeks on mine.

[Gov]

IMHO,
"Live in Paris" is even better

[buddhadas]

I will second that.

[audibleconnoisseur]

Leon55,

I meant if you could do it sometime AFTER I get them and break them in. This way we could test them without having to change speaker or using the A/B feature, assuming they were similar sounding with the break in. Just a thought since you were looking for another one in the future and I am considering it now.

[badassfajita]

Curious as to why you purchased the 826V as well - At $2100 they aren't nearly in the same price league as the other speakers.

[leon55]

I like the Diana Krall in Paris as well, but I like the 4 instruments in the one at Montreal better than the orchestra, just my opinion though.

[audibleconnoisseur]

badassfajita,

I know they are much higher than the others. I did that b/c the Axiom owner has M60's and I wanted him to compare them to much more expensive speakers as I felt the M60's would have held their own quite well. Ironically the 826V's were similar to the 806V's with a little more midrange. The 340's were the clear winner over the others, including the 826's... funny how a speaker that is 1/4 the price can compete with a $2K+ set of floorstanding speakers! Of course you have to add the sub as the floorstanding go lower.

[cyberbri]

This is late, but I just want to say that you can always use your receiver as a pre/pro and get an external amplifier for more power.

Haven't read the review on the 2nd page here, but I'm looking forward to it.

EDIT: Just read your write-up. Great report! Sounds like you guys had fun, and it sounds like you found "your" speakers. I've done something similar a few times with some local guys. Nice way to spend an afternoon, huh?

I have 3 340SEs, 2 170SEs, and the VTF-3 MK2 (basically the same as the VTF-2 MK3 except my 3.2 has 50 more watts). Yes, the sub is incredible. It was incredible when I paid $700 for it last summer, and it's even more incredible now that it's only $470. In Max Extension mode, I get decent output to the mid-teens. I attached an image of a REW measurement. I have bass traps in the front corner (GIK Acoustics) and a BFD eq'ing the sub flat to 100Hz. The graph shows interaction with the mains, with the sub's response eq'd with the BFD. I have the crossover on the sub off, 1 port plugged (Max Extension mode), and phase at 180 deg since that gives flatter response from 100-200Hz.

With the speakers, sub, bass traps and eq, I find that almost all of my CDs have great bass that I never knew was there before. It's great being able to hear everything - the bass guitar (I love the sound of acoustic/stand-up bass -a la Soul Coughing), all the drum hits, etc., rather than it all disappearing into the ether or sounding like a single 60-80Hz thump.

Just wondering where you came up with the "speaker distance = .73x distance to LP" equation. I've always heard that the speakers should be in an equilateral triangle with the LP. Just curious.

Also, a CD you should pick up for great female vocals, instruments, piano, etc. is Fiona Apple's "Tidal" (her debut album). There's a great variety of tracks. Track 6 "The First Taste" starts off with her singing over the piano, and you can hear her lips, like the moisture on the lips and the slight "smack" when she separates them - then part-way through the song an amazing bass line starts in.

[audibleconnoisseur]

thanks for your input. that equation came from dave fabrikant in a few emails we have had back and forth. this is his formula for best sound with his speakers.

[curtis]

It is actually in the Ascend speaker manuals.