[TKonrad.NOLA]

I hope this doesn't come out wrong but is there a reason why you use the same cabinet for multiple designs?

[Rick Craig]

I hope this doesn't come out wrong but is there a reason why you use the same cabinet for multiple designs?

The woofer dictates the overall cabinet volume. Since the Tempesta and Verita share the same woofer the ported version cabinet can be used for both designs. The Grandeur has a different woofer but its' parameters also allow for the identical volume.

[kip_]

I hope this doesn't come out wrong but is there a reason why you use the same cabinet for multiple designs?

To add to what Rick said, they're a high quality, non resonant, inexpensive cabinet. Just on AudioCircle alone, Aether Audio and GR Research use them too, possibly others. If you're willing to pay, they can look gorgeous as well, take a look at the Pau Ferro Tempestas he built awhile back.

[jonbee]

I'll chime in here. I've had over 150 pairs of quality standmounts, as well as a great many floorstanders (including a number of actives and many subs). For the last few years I've been searching seriously for a standmount with full sounding bass so that I could do away with heavy floorstanders.
The four with the deepest bass that I've owned are Revel M20, AAD 2001, Volent VL-2, and Tempestas. All produce useful bass into the 30s, but they are quite different. I now own all but the Revels.
The AADs have good extension, but in my bass eating living room they do shelve down on the bottom compared to the others. They are now in my smaller 17x12 bedroom system, and are nicely full and tight in the smaller room.
The Revels have very nice bass, but I don't care for the top end tonality and integration.
The most powerful sounding bass are the Volents, but this is enhanced some by a judicious peak in the midbass that adds punch, but is not strictly accurate.
The Tempestas go as low as any of them, but are the most accurate across the range. The bass is tight, powerful, but totally controlled and tonally accurate. The fine detail of the bass instruments suffer no bloat or obfuscation. The same goes for the rest of the range. It is very difficult to find any fault at all with its beautiful top to bottom depiction of real music. They rival the best I've heard at any price.
None of these offer subwoofer depth, but these models do offer satisfying bass in medium to small rooms.
Outside of the bass range the two winners are the Volents and the Tempestas, and of the 2 my number one choice is the Tempesta. That said, the Volents in my office and the AADs in my bedroom are each wonderful to hear.
Whether any of these will give you satisfying bass depends on your room size and composition, the bottom end drive of you amp, etc., and your own tastes.
BTW, I own the Pau Ferro Tempestas mentioned, and after 43 years in this hobby I know when I've found the best, by my reckoning. And for me, it is the Tempestas. They are likely my last great speaker.
Just my 2c worth.

[Rick Craig]

I believe that there were outdoor measurements taken and posted, but...

since the manufacturer is on this forum, I'll let him address the measurements if he wants to, as I'm not the one who did them. Just a satisfied customer  .

Forgot to mention that I don't have anything against AJ (the designer) and I'm not trying to be critical of his speaker. I'm sure for that kind of money one could do far worse. I wish him well!

[music lover]

 I have a pair of Tempestas powered by a new Cary SA-200.2, 200 watt amp and it has all the bass that I need in my 15' x 12'

room. With the majority of music I listen to, a sub is not needed. I like the small foot print of the speakers and these speakers

are easy to move around and position if necessary. In my room, I estimate the bass to be in the mid-to high thirties. I am very

happy with the sound of these speakers and have been upgrading my system around it.

[dB Cooper]

If you have $25,000 burning a hole in your pocket, the Magico Q1 was impressive at the California Audio Show.  Bass was phenomenal for a monitor, reaching down to 32 HZ.  Everything else about the speakers sounded great too, although I think that there are likely better values out there.

I would sure hope so...

[TKonrad.NOLA]

Thanks to everyone who replied but $3,000 is a lot more than I am willing to spend. While the Grandeur and Verita are closer to the price I'm looking to pay (2K), I have to say I don't love those cabinets.  Are there other cabinet options?  One without a curved back and with a rear port?

[pslate]

There are the Madisound cabs. You will save quite a bit of money using pre-built cabs. Other than that building your own is a great option. The Veritas produce great bass. Those new active monitors look great too, that would be a hard decision. As a Verita owner I say audition both. The GR N1 X has great bass at a good price point, but I tended to prefer the Selah sound. One thing about Rick is that he constantly helps his clients achieve the sound they desire. He will work with you to find a solution for your needs. 

[Rick Craig]

Thanks to everyone who replied but $3,000 is a lot more than I am willing to spend. While the Grandeur and Verita are closer to the price I'm looking to pay (2K), I have to say I don't love those cabinets.  Are there other cabinet options?  One without a curved back and with a rear port?

Yes, we can supply a standard rectangular cabinet and mount the port on the rear.

[cstory]

I have the Grandeurs, (the one's Rick has the picture of on his site) and in our living room the bass is sufficient for my tastes. This is compared to my theater/main system that uses Martin Logan Vista's with 2 SVS Ultra Subs. There is a nice weight and balance to the sound of the Grandeurs. Nothing seems to be emphasized or omitted. Acoustic bass, bass drums, electric bass all are quite present and felt.

As for the cabinets, my wife wasn't sure about the looks when we first saw the pictures, but in our living room the curved gloss black really does look elegant and understated. But like Rick said, there are other options avaliable for the cabinets.

[jonbee]

I would second the opinion on the Veritas. The Illuminator woofer does a terrific job with the mids, and the bass is superb. If you can stretch for those I don't think you will do better.
I also own a pair of GR N2x, and they are very good for the price, but not on the same plane as the Selahs. The GRs make some real comnpromises to get the price that low, but Rick holds to a higher quality standard which costs more. All of Rick's designs offer real quality where it counts.  In my experience, if long term satisfaction is the goal, be very careful not to go too cheap. It will just set you up for more trading around, which is costly.
Needless to say, I've done way more than my share of that, but it is at a price. If you want to save $ in the long run, pay for the quality you really want upfront.

[neekomax]

Forgot to mention that I don't have anything against AJ (the designer) and I'm not trying to be critical of his speaker. I'm sure for that kind of money one could do far worse. I wish him well!

No worries, AJ let me know he doesn't want to step on any toes by commenting on your Industry thread. Sorry about the 'ad' for another speaker on here by me, still learning the etiquette around these things. Best of luck! 

[TKonrad.NOLA]

There are the Madisound cabs. You will save quite a bit of money using pre-built cabs. Other than that building your own is a great option. The Veritas produce great bass. Those new active monitors look great too, that would be a hard decision. As a Verita owner I say audition both. The GR N1 X has great bass at a good price point, but I tended to prefer the Selah sound. One thing about Rick is that he constantly helps his clients achieve the sound they desire. He will work with you to find a solution for your needs.

Wouldn't the only way to audition be to buy them?

[Rick Craig]

No worries, AJ let me know he doesn't want to step on any toes by commenting on your Industry thread. Sorry about the 'ad' for another speaker on here by me, still learning the etiquette around these things. Best of luck!

No problem - it was actually good because of some of the input that resulted. One of my goals is to keep the circle informative by encouraging open discussion.

[JLM]

Another AC vendor that does quality monitors is VMPS.  Their 626 is a 3-way with wide range ribbon midrange is appealing to me.  Options take the prices from $1000 - 3000 per pair.

Note that the active woofer in the SAM1 is not a subwoofer (in audio/HT terms of frequency extension) so hopefully won't have problems integrating in individual rooms/tastes.  It offers good (deep) bass for a standmount and presents an easy load from the concentric mid/tweeter for your amp.  Imaging, especially nearfield should be ideal.

Laws of physics dictate trade offs between efficiency, cabinet size, and depth of bass.  To me, more efficient drivers exhibit colorations.  (Of course piles of money can help overcome these hurdles.)  The SAM1 seems to avoid all these issues.

Rick is right, active designs have never been popular with audiophiles.  Rick's offerings include very high quality drivers (especially for the money), but their efficiency is quite low (my speakers are 91 dB/w/m, but would like higher).

[jonbee]

I've owned the VMPS 626 as well. They have excellent bass, the closest to the Tempestas in extension and tonality. I've also owned VMPS RM30s for 4 years, which I replaced with Tempestas. Both of these speakers have great resolution as well, but the planar midrange they use has a peak at 2.9 khz that I never got used to. The VMPS line also has weak lower mids due to the low crossover point to the mids. The Tempestas have equal or better resolution, but are better balanced overall(pretty near perfect, IMO).

[JLM]

Here's a killer active monitor for under $800 USD:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1320627200&/Quad-12L-Active-monitors

And a review of them:

http://totallywired.co.nz/quad_active.html

[cstory]

I think that Rick forgot to mention the SSR as an option. It's the same woofer and cabinet size as the Grandeur, but with a Fountek tweeter. It would have the same bass extension and a similar top end, for a lot less than the Raal based systems. If you search SSR's you will find a lot of positive comments about them.

[JLM]

Yet another cheaper/good standmount with good bass output are Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1's.  I've owned the CBM-170's (Ascend's original speaker, a smaller 2-way) and love them.  Frankly, except for lack of 20-60 Hz, I have a hard time justifying spending more.