[Spirit]

I am planning to take advantage of Sanders 30 day home trial next year. I have a couple of questions:

For those of you that did the 30 day home trial did the speakers sound good right from the start or did they need a fair amount of run time to sound good?

For those of you who either own the 10c’s or have heard them do they do justice to rock as well as classical and jazz?

The Sanders 10C are my all-time favourite speakers. Roger Sanders is a true master designer of electronics and speakers and I know you won't be disappointed when you receive them.  My suggestion to you is to call Roger and pose some questions and he will answer with honesty and candor.

[bernardo]

I have communicated with Roger a couple of times already by e-mail - he has been very responsive and provided a great deal of info which is not on his web site. I just wanted to pulse some who have heard or owned the speakers on their ability to satisfy on rock and roll as well as classical and jazz.

[catastrofe]

I have communicated with Roger a couple of times already by e-mail - he has been very responsive and provided a great deal of info which is not on his web site. I just wanted to pulse some who have heard or owned the speakers on their ability to satisfy on rock and roll as well as classical and jazz.

Where are you located?  Maybe there's an owner nearby that would let you hear them. . .

[bernardo]

I'm in North Carolina - Raleigh area.

[kiwi_1282001]

I have also had a great experience with the Sanders Magtech and wrote a review on them which can be found HERE

As far as Kingsound ESL's are concerned, I've had a mixed run with them.   I owned the King ESL for some time review  HERE later playing with the Prince II which I still have.    I think the Sanders ESL's are more robust and reliable and definately perform more evenly in the bass region.

[twitch54]

Rodgers speakers sound superb I agree, my complaints are but two........they look like they made in a High school shop class and there ia 'a' sweet spot, moreso than Logan's for example.

[jsm71]

Kiwi, I did read your excellent review along with everything I could find before buying the Magtech about a year ago.  The amount of praise that exists for this amp kind of sealed the deal for me as well as everything Roger said and did for me.  Thanks.

[Delacroix]

I really came away from RMAF very impressed with the Sanders speakers playing SRV but I hear the comments about sweet spot and looks. I sat right at the front of the single line of seats in the room and felt the music was truly excellent sounding so I cannot speak too directly on how important the seating position was as I did not move to the side other than to leave. At that point I was too busy processing what I'd heard and shaking Roger's hand to attend to any impact moving aside made. I think sweet spots are true for all speakers but Sanders do seem to have earned a reputation (justifiably or not) for being particularly sensitive in this regard. Were these the speakers that TAS reviewed with the caveat that one needed to keep one's head still while listening? I did not keep mine still at RMAF and still loved the sonics.

As for looks, I hear folks who feel this. A colleague with me just dismissed several lines at RMAF on looks alone -- as he sees it, if you pay serious sums of money to bring something into your home, it should look good too, and if it does not, he moves on. I can't disagree too much with this view but while I could get used to the Sanders kit-look, he definitely could not. I suspect more people feel this than would admit it (my wife chief among them)

[worldcat]

Rodgers speakers sound superb I agree, my complaints are but two........they look like they made in a High school shop class and there ia 'a' sweet spot, moreso than Logan's for example.

All speakers have a sweet spot, i sat in the Sanders room for awhile 3 or 4 times and felt they sounded fine off axis.  The only thing they are magical in the sweet spot making you think that they have only small GOOD sounding spot.   Most people listen by themselves maybe sometimes with few others.   Usually when others are over everyone wants to talk not listen.   

[kiwi_1282001]

Rodgers speakers sound superb I agree, my complaints are but two........they look like they made in a High school shop class and there ia 'a' sweet spot, moreso than Logan's for example.

Martin Logan ESL speakers have much wider dispersion than the Sanders models.   The curved panel used by the Logans is a factor in this.  Cynically, I would say here that the wider dispersion speaker one intents to employ – the more time and money one will spend on extensive room treatments to address the unwanted reflections wide dispersion creates. My personal preference after listening to a number of ESL’s including Martin Logan’s Summit X and CLX, QUAD’s 2905 and Sanders Sound Model 10b is for narrow dispersion as highly directional ESL speakers (IMHO) exhibit better imaging, transient response, detail and output compared to wide dispersion ones. I reason that much of this is down to the ear not having to decode unwanted and colored reflections.

[jtwrace]

including Martin Logan’s Summit X

That's not saying much.  I owned mine for 6 months and was thrilled to get rid of them.  My QuestZ's were so much better...

[bhakti]

That's not saying much.  I owned mine for 6 months and was thrilled to get rid of them.  My QuestZ's were so much better...

So happy for you!!

[twitch54]

Martin Logan ESL speakers have much wider dispersion than the Sanders models.   The curved panel used by the Logans is a factor in this.

that's what I was implying

 

Sanders Sound Model 10b is for narrow dispersion as highly directional ESL speakers (IMHO) exhibit better imaging, transient response, detail and output compared to wide dispersion ones. I reason that much of this is down to the ear not having to decode unwanted and colored reflections.

truth be told room interaction / acoustics have an awful lot to do with this as well.

[twitch54]

That's not saying much.  I owned mine for 6 months and was thrilled to get rid of them.  My QuestZ's were so much better...

strange jt........what was wrong with them ??

[jimdgoulding]

I don't think you can go wrong with these based on my experience firing into the length of a rectangular room.

[worldcat]

Sanders invented the curve panel.  Now he is making a flat one because it sounds better.  The 10c is better than any Martin Logan.

[catastrofe]

Sanders invented the curve panel.  Now he is making a flat one because it sounds better.  The 10c is better than any Martin Logan.

+1

[Doublej]

Sanders invented the curve panel.  Now he is making a flat one because it sounds better.  The 10c is better than any Martin Logan.

Define better...

[rw@cn]

Sanders invented the curve panel.  Now he is making a flat one because it sounds better.  The 10c is better than any Martin Logan.

There are those that would argue with that. Then there are many long time ML owners (me for instance) will tell you that they are both excellent but different.

[josh358]

To some extent, there is no right or wrong here. Curved panels have superior power response and directivity. Flat stats never sound quite right because they become progressively directional with frequency. However, not all curved panels are created equal. They have to be large compared to wavelength to achieve controlled directivity. The Sound Labs are, but the Logans are a lot smaller and so they don't have a uniform power response: they have a wedge-shaped radiation pattern in the highs, and a dipole pattern lower down. Also, curved panels have higher distortion. I don't think either design is really right. The right way to do it is with strips and a delay, like the ESL-63 family. That can give you a completely uniform power response, without the need for a crossover. Ideally, make it very large, and go for a pie-shaped radiation pattern in front and a delayed signal to the sides, but it would also work nicely as a conventional dipole. I don't think electrostatics will reach their potential until somebody does thiat in a full-height line source.