As a member of the "informal" LA Audio Society, sometimes refered to as the LA Audio Mafia, I too was in attendance for this listening session.
As with any get together of this type, there are limitations that do not allow one to develop a full and complete picture as to a speakers strengths, weaknesses and qualities.
That said it does allow for developing an idea of the general sonic charachter of different speakers, in relation to each other.
Firstly Mad Dog has an excellent set up. Many systems I hear are not well balanced and have any number of room interaction problems. His speakers are well into the room. His listening spot (while not on the center cushion of his sofa) is specific and once in the sweet seat, his soundstage and presentation is good.
There is a small wall behind the front speakers (maybe 3 feet high) and then another 3-4 feet behind that which the room wall and what we would call the "front wall" since we face it. So the system is actually set up in front of a stairway that decends behind it. This highly irregular shape behind the speakers lends to very low standing waves and reflected sound. This is a good thing.
He also has drapes and curtains to the right of the right speaker, and "open space" to the left of the left speaker. This is very good for reducing side wall reflections (there are none) and enhancing lateral imaging and soundstage width.
The sweet spot is probably 7-8 feet (guessing) from each speaker and is about 3-5 feet from the rear wall. This positioning also reduces room interaction and reflected sound to the listening position.
All this means that Mad Dog has a set up that allows for reasonable evaluation for those in the "sweet spot".
The two speakers being evaluated were quite different in appearance. While I really don't care what a speaker looks like, beautiful cabinetry is always a plus for those who do.
I think the description of the Ref ones has already been posted so it might be best to just say that the Aurum Cantus Leisure 2Ds looked to me much like the Sonus Faber speakers or as MD stated the Swans. They have canted walls and the top is slightly smaller than the base.
It should also be made clear that the L2Ds, I beleive are in the $500-$600 price range and the Ref Ones (correct me if I'm wrong) are in the $1500 price range, almost three times as much.
While similar in size and weight (with the L2Ds being slightly smaller and lighter) the price difference was significant.
The comparison between these two is roughly equivalent to the difference between the RM40 ($4600) and the Ref Ones ($1500) Again about three times as much. I might also mention that the RM40s however weigh 240# each and are mosters in comparison size wise.
So this price differential should enter in to the equation when making the comparison as far as "value".
While I only spent the briefest of time, with the L2Ds, I did not get the same "ribbon" sense as I do from my RM40s. In fact it would be difficult to compare their qualities since I found them so different.
One of the things most evident of the ribbons in the RM40s is that when you "immerse" yourself exactly into the sweet spot, there is a definate and actually radical sense of clarity and "you are there" sound that has very specific horizontal and lateral boundaries. I didn't find this so with the L2Ds.
Now it did have some "limited dispersion" characteristics, but because the midrange is not driven by a ribbon, it was not the same as the VMPS.
Chances are that since the L2Ds is a 2-way with a rather small ribbon tweeter only, and that the ribbon was covering a smaller frequency area above what my RM40s cover, the ribbon properties I was looking (hearing) for, were limited to the extreme HF info and thus, to me less prominent.
In comparison to the the Ref ones, the L2Ds were "warmer" on the high end and did not have the same "pronounced" detail. Additionally, they did have less dispersion (not nessesarily a bad thing if you are a sweet seat "only" listener)
While the Ref Ones might be considered just a touch "hot" in the high end, which offers a much more detailed sound, with more deliniation of individual instruments, the L2Ds somewhat blended the instruments more into a tapestry of sound. The L2Ds, also did produce the highs, but they were less defined than the Ref Ones and seemed slightly subdued.
Now this evaluation was primarily done standing and if there was a vertical dispersion "lock" position, where if you lowered yourself the highs "jumped" out at you, I never got low enough to hear it.
In bass area I found the Ref Ones to be "very" extended for their size and while not as low as the Refs, the L2Ds also were reasonably good in this department, in fact it might have been one of the better traits of the speaker. I wouldn't doubt but they were reproducing 60hz and maybe even 50 or 55 although minus a few db.
The L2Ds, did offer a pretty good soundstage for their size and output, but did not have the depth and imaging of the more expensive speakers.
I think Apex mentioned that he used them for surrounds and they are actually priced to very easily be used in this application.
So overall the L2Ds are very good looking, well constructed and neat performers. For the price they are no doubt competitive with most any other speaker in the $600 range and "look" even better.
To surpass or equal their performance I would say that you would have to go up a couple hundred dollars and even then the looks might sway you back to the Cantus Aurum.
I don't think anyone would sell their Ref Ones and switch to the L2Ds, but no one expected that to be the case. I think the main idea here was to have a fun get together and explore speaker qualities, properties, build, performance and value.
Thanks to Mad Dog and his wife for having us all over, and Gabe (APEX) for lugging his speakers all the way from Ranch Palos Verdes. It was good to see everyone and I think all of us had a good time.
And for a parting shot, as Mad Dog stressed, these are just our opinions and subjective impressions under very good, but unfamiliar (for me)sonic circumstances.
They are also under very limited time listening to these speakers (including the Ref Ones) I would have liked to have had hours (or even days or weeks) to make adjustments, and try varying hardware and reference cuts to offer real assessments as to just how the speakers stacked up.
Regards,
John Casler
VMPS LA CA USA
SUMMIT Audio Video
310-446-0138
800-320-6884 (order desk)
bioforce.inc@gte.net
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=systems;system=72http://my.register.com/summitaudiovideo.com/index.html
