[Jonathan]

"Oh no, not this guy again..." is probably what you're all thinking, but, hey, where else am I going to ask these questions?  

I'm still trying to sell my De Capos, and while waiting for a local buyer I'm doing lots of research into alternatives. The Harbeth C7 es are still at the top of my list, but I'm also looking at options like the Spendor 1/2 and the Gallo Reference III. A dealer in Michigan has a used pair of ATC passive floor standers that retailed for under $6K that he's asking around $1700 for; these are intriguing to me, too.
 
I'm  curious what others who have sold their De Capos have gotten into that they like better, and why. Thanks, guys!

Jon

[CMM]

Hi Jon,

I thought I might chime in since I currently own the Reference 3A Dulcet, Spendor SP1 (forerunner of the 1/2), and Living Voice Auditorium speakers.  I am trying to sell my Dulcets, but I will explain.  I have two set ups,  one in the basement with a Audiomat Arpege and Vecteur L4 CDP and the other in the family room with a Unison Research Unico, Musical Fidelity A3, and Rega P3.

I will probably keep my Spendors forever.  They always sound right to me.  Smooth, relaxing, and musical.  They are magic for me.  They were my first really good speaker and everything I listen to gets compared to these.  My ears have been Spendorized.  They are exceptional for classical, folk, jazz, and bluegrass.  Probably not the best for rock and pop.  They sound very good with tube amps.  They will not impress the audiophile that listens for sound effects or heart pounding bass, but music lovers will be won over.  

The Living Voice are similar to the Spendors.  They have better bass, detail, and are a little more exciting sounding.  Not as sweet sounding.  Not better than the Spendors, just a little different.  Much nicer looking the the Spendors perched on there stands (WAF).  I am currently using them with the Unico.  

The Dulcets are more detailed and revealing than either the Spendors or the Auditoriums.  I was using the Dulcets with the Unico for the first six months.  I was impressed with what these small speakers could do, but I was not totally satisfied.  They sounded very detailed, great bass, great imaging, great all around small speakers, but they were a little edgy and a little too harsh for my ears.  I recently hooked them up with the Audiomat Arpege and I am now very, very impressed and happy with the Dulcets.  They apparently love tube amps.  Its funny the Dulcets are still revealing and detailed, but the Arpege really smoothed out the sound.  The fatigue and edgyness are gone and replaced by a smooth, detailed, musical sound. I actually now really like the extra detail.  I am going to probably purchase the DeCappo I if I sell the Dulcets, in my 14 x 30 room I feel the DeCappo may be a better fit.  If I don't sell them that will be OK.  I am just now seeing what these speakers are really capable of.

If I had to keep only one set of my speakers,  I would chose the Spendors.  However, I could be very happy with the Living Voice or the Reference 3A.  I would definetly want a tube amp to drive the Reference 3A's.

Hope this helps.

Chuck

[jj2]

before you sell you de capo , try it with pathos classic II, it works really good with the speaker.

[mcrespo71]

Jonathon,

So are you a former MMDC owner yet?  This seems like it's been a major trial for you, but I hope you found the right speaker.

Michael

[Jonathan]

Hey, Michael.

Nope, I still have them. I'm holding out for a local buyer, and although I've had a couple of nibbles from guys out of town, I've yet to hear from anyone nearby. I think my price of $1600 including stands is pretty close to fair (even though Heavystarch is killing me by continuing to drop his price ) so I'm just going to wait until the right deal comes along. Meanwhile, I still have many wonderful moments with the DCs, so it's not like I'm dying to get rid of them.

I still think I'm going to go for a pair of Harbeth Compact 7es, but the Audio Note AN/J is very interesting to me too.

Anyway, thanks for asking.

Jon

[mcrespo71]

Jon,

Never heard the Audio Notes, but have heard good things about them.  They sure are ugly, though.

Michael

[Red Dragon Audio]

the killing has stopped.  

[audiojerry]

CMM (Chuck), I liked your response. I think you make a very good point about matching a bright, edgy speaker with a tube amp that leans towards the polite side. Great synergy can be achieved with diverse types of components. The source equipment, power cords, and cabling can also make a big difference. Don't give up on those Dulcets just yet until you've experimented a bit.