It has been brought to my attention that my review comes off as that of a new owner, fanboy, who may not have very much experience in the world of high end audio .... and that my review may be coming from someone who may be enamoured by his first true high end speaker .... So I will give you a little background on myself, and my experience ...
I started in the world of high end audio in 1982. I started as one of the earliest pioneers in the world of car audio competition in the IASCA scene. I built several early IASCA National winning cars with David George, and became an IASCA judge in 1985. I spent 15 years on and off judging car audio competitions.
As far as home audio, I became an audio salesman in 1985. I sold Luxman, Klipsch, Polk, Coda, McCintosh, and Adcom when they were all considered part of the high end world. I worked in numerous high end audio sales jobs off and on until 1996, when I purchased my own high end audio store, and owned the store until selling it in early 2001. But let me go back a bit. I also owned a Pro Audio sound company for 5 years from 1990 to 1995, and I was a recording engineer with my own studio. My company designed, sold, and installed professional sound systems in everything from studios, churches, and professional sports venues.
In my high end home audio store we had a very liberal open door policy to industry reps ... If they wanted us to consider carrying their product line, they were welcome to bring their products in for evaluation. This policy was PARAMOUNT to learning what was good, great, and not worth considering. In the five years I owned the store, we had hunderds of brands in our store .... This allowed for a knowledge of the products that most stores could not begin to match .... and our customers recognized that. It also allowed us to become masters of system synergy matching. What does this mean to anyone reading this ? As the owner, I was able to take home ANYTHING I wanted and hear it in my system. This means I probably had over 50 pairs of speakers in my home over the years. Here is a short list of some of the better speakers I had :
JM Lab Mini Utopia, Vandersteen Model 5, Alon Model V, B&W Matrix 801 Series 3, B&W Nautilus 802, B&W Nautilus 805, Linn Keltiks Active, Ariel Acoustics Model 10t, Energy Veritas v2.8, Coincident Technologies Total Victory IV , PSB Stratus Gold i, and probably 30 more pairs.
There is simply no way I can talk about each pair, and how it compares to the Cirrus speakers i so do love ... But I will try and give you some thoughts ... Not even one of the speakers above can be compared to the Cirrus in the higs ... The RAAL is just so much better in EVERY way than even the best dome tweeters, that it MUST be heard to be be fully believed and understood. It's dynamics and naturalness are so life like and wonderful, that NO dome tweeter can come close.
The bass of the Cirrus takes the very best of the speakers above ... speed, impact, warmth, resolution, and tone, and combines them into the perfect package. Not bloated, and not lean. Warm, yet resolving.
So here is my offer to EVERYONE reading this post : If you have a specific question about how the Cirrus compares to any aspect of any of the speakers I listed above ... just ask and I will try and answer it.
As far as my current system, I have heard the Cirrus on three different amplifiers : The McCormack DNA-500 modded, a pair of BEL MK1001MKIV mono-blocks, and a heavily modded D-Sonic amp. I have listened to both CD, SACD, and FLAC files from my computer .... all into my modded Eastern Electric Minimax Tube DAC, which sounds better than my Sony SCD-1, my Accuphase DP-700, and my Lexicon RT-20 disc players. All of my cables are what I fully believe are the world's best : the Downsize Audio Handcrafted audio cables made from a proprietary alloy of 97% UPOCC silver and 3% pure gold. What this tells you is that I have listened to the Cirrus on both a very musical and dynamic amplifier, as well as a VERY detailed and almost anylitical pair of amps. I have listened on an infinitely musical disc player, a VERY dynamic disc player, and my VERY neutral and lifelike DAC.
My current room is the one my Nursing company has rented for me, and measures a smallish 19x15 feet with 8 ft ceilings, which opens into the dining area which adds on another 10 feet the entire 19 ft length of the living room. The room is acoustically treated with panels. I plan on hosting an open audition day for the Cirrus speakers in the next 6 weeks or so, and will be setting them up in a huge room that is probably 25 feet x 35 feet with tall ceilings. ANYONE is welcomed to attend this meet in harrisonburg, VA.
So now you have a better idea of my system, and my background. Feel free to ask questions, and I will try my best to answer.
Cheers
