[cstory]

Hi,

Things seem to be a little slow on the site, so I thought maybe I would ask a question to see what others thought.

I am starting the process of trying to convince my wife that it's time to replace our Vandersteen 1C's with one of the Selah speakers. Budget wise, I think I need to keep the parts < $1000 otherwise I would be all over a pair of the Mejor's. 

I was pretty sure that I wanted to do the SSR's, but I began to think about how we actually use the speakers. The speakers will be in our "living room" which is in an L-shaped space, with the kitchen occupying the short portion of the L and the dinning area/living room the rest. The speakers would be along the long wall of the L, about 2/3rds. towards the closed end. A lot of the time listening to this system is spent listening from the kitchen i.e. with us standing up. Should I be concerned about the limited verticle dispersion of the Ribbon tweeter in the SSR?

Obviously I am not as picky about the sound when I am pottering about the kitchen, but I would not want the highs to be MIA. My Martin Logan Vista's suffer from the same problem, but they are in the basement theater space where they only get listened to sitting down in the sweet spot.

Does anyone listen in the extreme far field to their SSR's and how are the high frequencies if you are 20 feet from the speaker and on your feet?

A follow up question is that there are several speakers/kits around that $1000 price (chosen becuase that is the price of the California Monitors). If the Fountek Ribbon will work for me, should I really be considering the RC3R's or Tanzanites? Are these a step up, or is their main advantage improved dynamic range? Alternatively I could make my wife really happy and settle for the SA-2's, if their sound is close to that of the SSR's.

A little more information about the intended application. I have a Dynaco ST-70, for the amplifier, Squeezebox and Sony DVP-7000es as the sources with a Dynaco Preamp. I like various music, but classical (chamber and full orchestra), Spyrogyra type jazz, Jessie Cook, James Taylor, Steely Dan, Eagles, and occasional Who, Led Zepplin, Bob Seger, stuff like that. I value midrange purity most of all, but the Vandersteens seem a little veiled and lacking a bit in detail, though I like the open soundstage they produce. My Vista's (with SVS PC-Ultra) are my reference and I am quite happy with the balance and sound that I get from them. I will probably add a compact sub to what ever set we get later. (No SVS-Ultra's in the living room) 

Thanks,

Chuck

[Cacophonix]

I owned the SSR for a while, and never had any problems with vertical dispersion. My room layout is very similar to the one you described, and they sounded very good in it. I had the tanzanite for a little while when Rick had sent them out on a tour ... while they sounded better than the salk HT1 in my setup, i preferred the SSR.

[drmike]

hello
i have the ssr's, i use a wyred for sound amp. also use a aci titan sub with them. they are easily the best speakers i've ever had.
they are in the living room, alot of the listening is done around the corner in the kitchen. i used dsk's cabinet design, very nice!
drmike

[Rick Craig]

Hi,

Things seem to be a little slow on the site, so I thought maybe I would ask a question to see what others thought.

I am starting the process of trying to convince my wife that it's time to replace our Vandersteen 1C's with one of the Selah speakers. Budget wise, I think I need to keep the parts < $1000 otherwise I would be all over a pair of the Mejor's. 

I was pretty sure that I wanted to do the SSR's, but I began to think about how we actually use the speakers. The speakers will be in our "living room" which is in an L-shaped space, with the kitchen occupying the short portion of the L and the dinning area/living room the rest. The speakers would be along the long wall of the L, about 2/3rds. towards the closed end. A lot of the time listening to this system is spent listening from the kitchen i.e. with us standing up. Should I be concerned about the limited verticle dispersion of the Ribbon tweeter in the SSR?

Obviously I am not as picky about the sound when I am pottering about the kitchen, but I would not want the highs to be MIA. My Martin Logan Vista's suffer from the same problem, but they are in the basement theater space where they only get listened to sitting down in the sweet spot.

Does anyone listen in the extreme far field to their SSR's and how are the high frequencies if you are 20 feet from the speaker and on your feet?

A follow up question is that there are several speakers/kits around that $1000 price (chosen becuase that is the price of the California Monitors). If the Fountek Ribbon will work for me, should I really be considering the RC3R's or Tanzanites? Are these a step up, or is their main advantage improved dynamic range? Alternatively I could make my wife really happy and settle for the SA-2's, if their sound is close to that of the SSR's.

A little more information about the intended application. I have a Dynaco ST-70, for the amplifier, Squeezebox and Sony DVP-7000es as the sources with a Dynaco Preamp. I like various music, but classical (chamber and full orchestra), Spyrogyra type jazz, Jessie Cook, James Taylor, Steely Dan, Eagles, and occasional Who, Led Zepplin, Bob Seger, stuff like that. I value midrange purity most of all, but the Vandersteens seem a little veiled and lacking a bit in detail, though I like the open soundstage they produce. My Vista's (with SVS PC-Ultra) are my reference and I am quite happy with the balance and sound that I get from them. I will probably add a compact sub to what ever set we get later. (No SVS-Ultra's in the living room) 

Thanks,

Chuck

The Fountek ribbon is fairly short so it still has good vertical dispersion - not an issue. The 3-ways (Tanzanite and RC3R) are actually a little smoother vertically because of the dome mid. Because of that you might prefer them in a situation where you'll be doing some listening while standing. If you plan to add a subwoofer the Tanzanite is the best choice. If the wife reduces your budget then the SA-2 is a great buy. 

[cadobhuk]

By all logic the midrange clarity should go to Tanzanite among those options - or even among all sub-2k speakers of any brand, most likely.
My room is 25x23x9 with front SSR's about 3-4 feet away from the front and side walls. They sound very clear off-axis vertically or horizontally from any distance, just the tonality is a bit changed.

[cstory]

Thanks a lot for the replies.
It seems that I will be free to go with any of the designs using the Fountek ribbon tweeter. That's good news. The real question as Rick said, is do I want to step up to the three way systems to get the added benifit of the dome midrange. I have been intrigued with the Tanzinites partially becuase I think that the Seas Excel might be the closest thing to the speed of my Martin Logan's. I'll definitely have to give them some consideration.

We get a company bonus (for 2008, not for this year) in a few weeks. We'll see how it is and I'll run it by the financial advisor.