[Angaria]

Very interested to hear your comparison vs the stats - for blackness and clarity I haven't heard a typical cone that can match quads.  You're one of the few who could A/B them with planar magnetics.

[jeffreybehr]

Very interested to hear your comparison vs the stats - for blackness and clarity I haven't heard a typical cone that can match quads.  You're one of the few who could A/B them with planar magnetics.

Might get the S-7s running this WE, but, as one can see in the pic, I don't have any 'extra' space in front so will have to move the Quads.  We'll see.   

[jeffreybehr]

FINALLY got around to walking and sliding the Quads away* and the '7s in place;  everything worked perfectly.

Have them standing on Wagner/DiversiTech 2" pads...

...with an angle-adjusting screw in the rears.. My normal slouching position in my recliner has my ears at least a foot below the center of the tweeter, so the systems are tilted slightly to point the tweeters downward at my face.

The slab-steel stands I built (rather amateurly) when the '7s were new; I really didn't like the looks of the 'flying-nun' feet.

With the systems not being connected for about a year, the sounds were a tad rough initially, but within a couple hours, the '7s were sounding good to very good.. They sound a good bit like the Quad '2905s except the '7s have better-defined and more-extended bass.. I left the 140-Watt Atma-Sphere MA-1s in place; today I'll switch in the M-60s.

Will be doing a few things to finish them.. Each x-over will get a couple new inductors and a new, heavy, damped-granite doublefloor, and I'll rewire the drivers with a combination of 18g. Mundorf Silver-Gold and 23g. Neotec UPOCC-silver-in-Teflon..  Am currently using hardwired (to the x-over) AQ GO-4 15g. speakercable; will probably replace that with (probably) custom cable made with the 18g. Mundorf and 23g. Neotec.

I do believe I'll be selling the Quads.   

* ...sort of; they're parked behind and to the outsides of the '7s.  Probably they're great reflectors with all that plastic film.

[jeffreybehr]

First, I am surprised these S7s sound as good as they do with VERY little--maybe 30 hours--break-in after being still for a year.. And to think they'll get better over the next few months! The two speakers sound remarkably similar, and they should IMO--they're both high-quality, thin-film-driver, point-source, open-baffle speakers. 

In the treble, the S7s sound to me just like the Quads, that being excellent--transparent, NOT edgy, extended enough for me--simply VERY nice. 

The midrange of the S7s is, I think, a tiny bit less transparent, a teency bit less revealing of the complexities of the music..  This difference is so small that I'm not sure it exists, and if it exists, it may be more from lack of break-in than anything else.
Subequent note.  I believe one reason the MR is as transparent as it is is that there are no hi-pass filter caps in the network--and, after all, there's no capacitor that sounds as good as no capacitor.   

The bass is where the big differences are.. The S7s are significantly more resolved, extended, and powerful than the Quads.. The Quads are adequately powerful in the upper- and midbass but disappear quickly in the bottom octave.. The S7s' bass quantity varies significantly depending on where one sets the two bass-amp level controls; mine are set so that the woofers' output does not make the lower MR sound thick (IMO, of course).. (Both low-pass filters are set to c. 80Hz.)  The bass is quite resolved and integrated with the MR in my opinion; for instance, one can hear the fuzzy harmonics of massed bass fiddles in an excellent orchestral recording; with the Quads, not so much.. The S7s sound quite natural performing this magic of combining different systems to play the sounds of ONE instrument.. The Quads require a subwoofer for a system to have much bottom-octave energy..

The S7s driven by my 45-Watts-into-4 Atma-Sphere M-60s are somewhat more lively dynamically, I think, compared with the Quads driven by the Atma-Sphere 140-Watt MA-1s.


All in all, I'm amazed that I gave up all this last year; I must have been REALLY annoyed by the bassamp hum-buzz.. BTW the bassamps are dead quiet after having their main-PS caps replaced.

I'll be replacing a few parts in the crossovers and rewiring the system in the near future, but none of that will change the basic excellence of the Super-7s.. TYVM Danny; they're better than I thought.               

[lacro]

Have them standing on Wagner/DiversiTech 2" pads...

A Black marker pen will get rid of the blue. They look a whole lot better in black.

[Tyson]

Jeff, your experience exactly mirrors mine.  The OB servo bass is world class and very few speakers can match the super's in the bass.  Then throw in the world class mids/highs and you have an unbeatable combo.  There are other speakers out there that can match the mids/highs of the Super 7s (the quads, the Martin Logan Statements, the Spatial Audio X2, the King Speakers), but none of them have the top-to-bottoms excellence of the 7s.  It's just amazing what Danny's been able to achieve with this design.

[Danny Richie]

Thanks guys, I appreciate it.

[SteveKi]

These are the production Super-7's?

Didn't somebody say that on these speakers both Sub woofers faced out?
Steve

[Rocket_Ronny]

Nice comparison with the Quads. I guess I am a bit sceptical regarding the Super 7 being as revealing and transparent as electorstats. I would see it more like a Maggy in that regard.

The neo 3 is a great, natural, non fatiguing, tweeter, but for me, not the very last word in detail retrieval. So I would expect the same with the mid drivers. Still very good. 

Steve, if you had an active crossover and the desire, it would be interesting to try the Super 7 woofers with the Quads. I know, that's a bit of work and we just want the music, ha. BTW, how is the image height on the Super 7s?

Rocket Ronny

[Tyson]

Nice comparison with the Quads. I guess I am a bit sceptical regarding the Super 7 being as revealing and transparent as electorstats. I would see it more like a Maggy in that regard.

The neo 3 is a great, natural, non fatiguing, tweeter, but not the last word in detail retrieval. So I would expect the same with the mid drivers.

Steve, if you had an active crossover and the desire, it would be interesting to try the Super 7 woofers with the Quads. I know, that's a bit of work and we just want the music, ha. BTW, how is the image height on the Super 7s?

Rocket Ronny

Have you heard the Neo3 horn loaded and in OB config?  It really amps up that tweeter's performance.

[Rocket_Ronny]

I believe at Captainhemo's place. I thought they were open baffle.

Myself, I prefer the highs on the Super Vs over the Neo 3s. Now others feel the opposite. So it's more of a personal thing I guess. Either choice is good really.

Rocket Ronny

[jeffreybehr]

These are the production Super-7's?

Didn't somebody say that on these speakers both Sub woofers faced out?
Steve

Don't know what anyone else said, but these bass systems are stock and in original condition.

[Captainhemo]

These are the production Super-7's?

Didn't somebody say that on these speakers both Sub woofers faced out?
Steve

No, the original SA  versions did not, one was forward, one  was  rearward. 
I've got them both facing   forward in the new   ones

jay

[jeffreybehr]

A Black marker pen will get rid of the blue. They look a whole lot better in black.

TYVM, lacro; never thought of that.   

[pk]

Hi Jeffreybehr,

Thanks a lot for the extended review of the S7s - Your setup looks absolutely amazing!

I have never had a chance to hear any of the B&G Neo drivers, but I am very interested in knowing more about the S7s, so I would very much like to hear: Do they have the same punch as cone drivers in the low mids? I ask because I mostly play rock, and fear missing out on that part.

Thanks a lot!

Best regards
Peter
 

First, I am surprised these S7s sound as good as they do with VERY little--maybe 30 hours--break-in after being still for a year.. And to think they'll get better over the next few months! The two speakers sound remarkably similar, and they should IMO--they're both high-quality, thin-film-driver, point-source, open-baffle speakers. 

In the treble, the S7s sound to me just like the Quads, that being excellent--transparent, NOT edgy, extended enough for me--simply VERY nice. 

The midrange of the S7s is, I think, a tiny bit less transparent, a teency bit less revealing of the complexities of the music..  This difference is so small that I'm not sure it exists, and if it exists, it may be more from lack of break-in than anything else.
Subequent note.  I believe one reason the MR is as transparent as it is is that there are no hi-pass filter caps in the network--and, after all, there's no capacitor that sounds as good as no capacitor.   

The bass is where the big differences are.. The S7s are significantly more resolved, extended, and powerful than the Quads.. The Quads are adequately powerful in the upper- and midbass but disappear quickly in the bottom octave.. The S7s' bass quantity varies significantly depending on where one sets the two bass-amp level controls; mine are set so that the woofers' output does not make the lower MR sound thick (IMO, of course).. (Both low-pass filters are set to c. 80Hz.)  The bass is quite resolved and integrated with the MR in my opinion; for instance, one can hear the fuzzy harmonics of massed bass fiddles in an excellent orchestral recording; with the Quads, not so much.. The S7s sound quite natural performing this magic of combining different systems to play the sounds of ONE instrument.. The Quads require a subwoofer for a system to have much bottom-octave energy..

The S7s driven by my 45-Watts-into-4 Atma-Sphere M-60s are somewhat more lively dynamically, I think, compared with the Quads driven by the Atma-Sphere 140-Watt MA-1s.


All in all, I'm amazed that I gave up all this last year; I must have been REALLY annoyed by the bassamp hum-buzz.. BTW the bassamps are dead quiet after having their main-PS caps replaced.

I'll be replacing a few parts in the crossovers and rewiring the system in the near future, but none of that will change the basic excellence of the Super-7s.. TYVM Danny; they're better than I thought.               

[jeffreybehr]

Hi Jeffreybehr, Thanks a lot for the extended review of the S7s - Your setup looks absolutely amazing! I have never had a chance to hear any of the B&G Neo drivers, but I am very interested in knowing more about the S7s, so I would very much like to hear: Do they have the same punch as cone drivers in the low mids? I ask because I mostly play rock, and fear missing out on that part.

Thanks a lot!

Best regards
Peter

The lower-MR region is carried mostly by the bass systems, and based on the music some friends bring over, I think they would do very well on rock.  Perhaps other owners of S7s can opine on this.

[mikeeastman]

I play mostly rock and R&B and the lower MB sound fantastic on my system, especially since I upgraded my electronics.

[Tyson]

One neat trick you can do with the Super 7s.  Since the bass woofers transition to the mid panels around 200hz, ALL of the bass is handled by those super powerful big ass woofers.  So they are outstanding for rock because of this.  Better than any other OB system I've heard, and as-good as even the best sealed box speakers. 

OK, here's the trick.  If you want greater clarity/precision to vocals, turn the crossover point down a little bit.  If you feel "vocals are a bit thin", then turn the crossover point up a little bit and it fills in the lower mids very nicely.  Man I love having flexible, tunable speakers

[Rocket_Ronny]

I mostly play rock, and fear missing out on that part.

Why not get a rock speaker like the JBL M2s or 708s.

Rocket Ronny

[Tyson]

Why not get a rock speaker like the JBL M2s or 708s.

Rocket Ronny

Or just do what I do - have 2 systems!  My "rock and roll" system is upstairs and I jam out to it with my daughter frequently (Klipsch Heresy IIIs) and my ultra-audiophile system is downstairs, and I usually listen to classical/jazz/movies down there.  That way each system is optimized for the music it plays, no compromises, no tradeoffs.