Seeking opinions on best compact monitor speaker

roopaudio · « **Reply #40 on:** 13 Mar 2003, 03:28 pm »

John - Thanks for taking the time to reply. Like I said, for pleasure I don't listen at such high volumes. I do, however, require the ability of high SPL's when designing. Transient response is one of the most demanding and stressing tests of audio equipment, and so I make use of it. Again, the 626's are great monitors. And yes they do play at the mentioned SPL's, but it was my impression that the soundstage did not remain coherent at those rediculously loud volumes (maybe I'm spoiled by the excellent imaging the 626's provide at normal levels). And you did ask why I'm sticking with monitors - well I have a fixed budget for room treatments for the listening studio, and it's not reasonable for me to spend exhorbant amounts of money to fix the bass nodes and peaks below 40Hz.

And the 1.3SE's are off the list, after listening to the Special 25's. FWIW, Impedance correction in a crossover really seems to help the transient response.

Thornsten, I think right now the Special 25's are it. I was planning on making a trip over to Boston next week to finally audition the Confidence 3's, but unfortunately they were sold before I could make it over there. I think I'll have the opportunity to listen to the Adamantes Limited in a couple weeks, so we'll see what happens. Slowly but surely, the list is reducing

.

For now, I'm going enjoy the perfect weather here in Nassau...time to lounge on the beach and listen to some music. I forgot how enjoyable a vacation can be

.

Rup

Hantra · « **Reply #41 on:** 13 Mar 2003, 05:23 pm »

Rup:

Do the Special 25's do the lower midrange thing okay? How about vocals?

I am looking for something that will do vocals as wella s a B&W Nautilus, but actually will do an acoustic guitar well. B&W's are not that speaker.

Never heard Dynaudio, and just wondering if I need to make the 300 mile trip. . .

Thx!

B

totti1965 · « **Reply #42 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 12:32 am »

hi roop,

hope your hollidays stay nice,

In Germany we have a very nice stereo hifi magazine called stereoplay.

They like the special 25 of dynaudio very much,
the alternative compact speaker is a larger one:

The KEF Reference 201 is slightly cheaper and the Dynaudio Confidence
C 1 is a representant of a new generation speaker:
Perfect balance, great dynamics, extremely relaxed and detailed.
One of the worlds best compakt speakers.
Check it out in an A / B test against the special 25!

For Pop music and Bass they write, is the special 25 slightly better,
the over all performance (soundstage, plasticity) is the confidence C 1 the ultimative danish speaker.
But: Don´t forget to hear the KEF. I don´t know what they costs in amerika?

Mad DOg · « **Reply #43 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 01:07 am »

Quote from: Hantra

Rup:

Do the Special 25's do the lower midrange thing okay? How about vocals?

I am looking for something that will do vocals as wella s a B&W Nautilus, but actually will do an acoustic guitar well. B&W's are not that speaker.

Never heard Dynaudio, and just wondering if I need to make the 300 mile trip. . .

Thx!

B

B,

I love the sound of Dynaudio speakers! In fact I much prefer them to the sound of the Nautilus and as such would definitely recommend that you check them out...even if it will take a 300 mile trip to make it happen.

KeithR · « **Reply #44 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 01:15 am »

B,

One of my favorite classical guitar albums (Young and Rollins) is absolutely sensational on the dyns. When properly driven, they shine on this music!

KeithR

JoshK · « **Reply #45 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 01:31 am »

I didn't know Neil Young cooperated with Henry Rollins.

Hantra · « **Reply #46 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 01:37 am »

Keith:

What is "properly driven"? I am reading specs, and I think the only one I could drive in my price range, according to Dynaudio, is the Special 25.

Are they musical?

Thx!

B

JoshK · « **Reply #47 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 01:41 am »

I know Keith had a Cary V12i running his 1.3SE's. I even heard his system. Very nice. Those are great monitors. But with guys like Dave Ellis (I keep wanting to write Dale Ellis) offering his 1801's at <$1000, it would seem like they are in pretty tough competition for a two way at $3500.

EProvenzano · « **Reply #48 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 02:44 am »

Agreed.
I did have the 1.3SE's in the same room with my 1801's for 2 weeks. Very tight comparison. What did it boil down to....
Vocals were equally smooth and seductive with both speakers...I have yet to hear a better monitor than the 1801's on female vocals. The xo on the 1801 is seamless IMO.
I'd have to give the edge to the Dyns for Mid/bass and Low/bass production. They seem to have an ease about them that made the mid bass sound effortless. In comparison, I feel the 1801 sounds a bit analytical in this region. I suspect that the new XO version of the 1801b will address this. I know that Dave has admitted that the midbass of the 1801 is a bit lean and very dependant on the room interaction.
The highs were also a toss up. Both speakers offered exceptional detail and never sounded harsh in my system.
Dispersion, soundstage and image focus were all excellent. Neither speaker ever showed a weakness or strength over the other.

I can't comment on the capability of the 1801's to output high SPL's and uncompressed dynamic peaks. My listening habbits are not very demanding and I have never driven my 1801's into compression. So I really don't know if the 1.3SE's will play louder, cleaner. I didn't test this out.

Price:Performance is NO CONTEST. My 1801's costing $1500 currently, are a far better value. The sound quality is very close and the cabinet is arguably superior and more attractive. The new xo design promises to meke these two speakers even closer IMO.

Insert the usual discalaimer here.
YMMV
Good luck.

Tyson · « **Reply #49 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 03:01 am »

The cabinetry on the 1801 is NOT arguably better, it is clearly superior to the Dyn cabs. I've had both in my home and the 1801's are second only to my marble nOrh speakers for inert/dead/solid cabs. Very nice work on those speakers. As for looks, that's more of a tossup and personal opinion. . .

EProvenzano · « **Reply #50 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 03:11 am »

Thanks Tyson. That's pretty much what I meant. I see my wording was a bit off.

Tyson · « **Reply #51 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 03:13 am »

No problem

It's rare that I see that much care going into enclosures, and I have to say I was impressed, and that takes a lot since some of my other speakers are carved out of solid marble

totti1965 · « **Reply #52 on:** 14 Mar 2003, 12:25 pm »

Hallo Dear Emilio,

My name is Thorsten and I am from germany (Bonn, near Cologne).
I want you to ask a question about your beautyfull pictures from your 1801.
You did the pictures into the newsgroup in the 20th of february.

I am a great fan of the 1801 and I am in a very nice e- mail contact with dave ellis since oktober.
In December I ordered "MY" pair of the 1801.
Dave told me I have to wait about one year because he has about 15 pairs under construction!

So my question is:

Do you have the pics that you have posted also in higher Resolution / Quality?
and could you send me three or four of them by e-mail?

My wife want it in cherry, because it is not so dark, but I think that the finish in walnut
and the quality Dave did for you is one of the most esthetic speaker designs in the world.
I love your pictures and want to have some of them during the waiting time, because waiting time will become hard!

I wich you and your young family all the best in the world, I read, you are a father of twins now.....

hope you will find the time for a short answer anyway.

Sincerely,

Thorsten Wieszniewski uzsxb8@uni-bonn.de

EProvenzano · « **Reply #53 on:** 15 Mar 2003, 03:38 am »

Hi Thorsten,
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I am a very busy and proud dad! This hobby is one of the few luxuries I still have time for...albeit little time!

I was very lucky to be in buying mode when Dave had these cabinets available. I have yet to see another walnut cabinet that looks as seductive as mine. In fact I'm scouring western canada for premium hard woods, like this, so that I can build another set of monitor speakers on my own. It will be very challenging to create equally impressive speakers as my 1801's because they are so beautifuly crafted by Dave.

Dave is the kind of guy that you meet occasionally who can learn something and excel at it, no matter what it is. You just get that feeling when you talk to him, and his work is a testament to that. I'll digress a bit because I'm sure I sound like an Ellis cheer leader. Most people would agree tho, that Ellis Audio is one of todays great values in high end.

The wailting time is soooo long...1 year, I don't know how anyone can do it. You may consider buying from Darren (?) who recently began producing excellent 1801 cabinets (check out the Ellis forum for his info). I don't know if his work is as nice as Dave's, or better, because I've never seen his cabs up close. The pictures look at least as nice as my cabinets, but so much more can be see in person.

Quote

You did the pictures into the newsgroup in the 20th of february.

What do you mean by this???

I'd be glad to send you hi res. pictures of the shots in my gallery. Let me know which ones you are interested in.
PM me because we're taking this thread off topic.

BR,
EP

totti1965 · « **Reply #54 on:** 15 Mar 2003, 01:25 pm »

Dear RUP!

Perhaps a word about the KEF 201

Price in germany 3800 EUR

Maximum SPL (tested in stereoplay): 104 db(A)

The dynaudio special 25:

Price in germany 4000 EUR

Maximum SPL (tested in stereoplay) 102 db (A)

so it came slightly later into comprimation.

totti1965 · « **Reply #55 on:** 15 Mar 2003, 01:29 pm »

wanna say: the 201 cames slightly later into comprimation!

If you are searching for an excellent monitor, you have to check the
KEF 201 out, the frequency responce is absolutely perfect, it seems to be a real studio monitor with high end qualities.

roopaudio · « **Reply #56 on:** 16 Mar 2003, 02:53 am »

Thorsten - Thank you for taking the time to post the specifications and suggestion for the KEF 201; I'll add the monitor to my list, as it should not be difficult to audition KEF in my area. I did have a question regarding the numbers posted - you listed "Maximum SPL" as 104dB and 102dB respectively...I'm curious as to how they measured those figures. At 1m away (including room gain), the C weight on my SPL meter did display numbers in excess of 110++dB for the Special 25. Dynaudio confirmed the Special can play above 110dB, and the specifications at the website indicate the monitor can handle +200wpc continuous, for a speaker that is 87-88dB/W/M efficient (I was told 500 watt instantaneous is the limit for the tweeter).

UPDATED NEW SHORT LIST:
Diapason Adamantes III (auditioned)
Diapason Adamantes Limited (NOT auditioned)
Dynaudio Special 25 (auditioned)
Dynaudio Confidence 3 (NOT auditioned)
KEF 201 (NOT auditioned, pending the meeting of SPL specifications)

Regards,

Rup

KeithR · « **Reply #57 on:** 26 Mar 2003, 02:58 am »

Quote from: Tyson

No problem It's rare that I see that much care going into enclosures, and I have to say I was impressed, and that takes a lot since some of my other speakers are carved out of solid marble

Tyson- did you ever have the 1.3SEs in the home? The finish/cabinetry is much better than the Audience/Contour series.

Rup- go hear the horns....i'm still waiting for mine from Germany

hibuckhobby · « **Reply #58 on:** 26 Mar 2003, 03:54 am »

A number of great monitors have already been mentioned. For my taste, I think the Audio Concepts Jaguars are awfully hard to beat. I use tubes with them and love the sound. I've not heard the Ellis's but there have been several comments about a high end that can be overbearing with the wrong equipment.

The Jags use a silk dome tweeter (one of my favorites) with a Scan Speak mid/woofer. Imaging and staging are absolutely first rate. If there was any complaint (which you won't hear from me), the top end is very sweet and smooth, rather than analytical or hyper-detailed.

my .02
Bob

Arctos · « **Reply #59 on:** 26 Mar 2003, 04:18 am »

Its a shame that the Eggleston Works Isabel comes in at 55lbs. They are beautiful and sound very nice also!! At $2,900 US they come with Italian granite side panels.

Regards,

RDS