Essence V Comparisons to Revel, Totem, Von Shweikert, Triad

colem9 · « **on:** 18 Jan 2006, 12:44 am »

Well, I am finally getting caught up after my weekend in Vegas. "The Show" was incredible! I met Mike D. and got to listen to the XL's and was impressed. Mike is a great guy and those XL's are great looking as well as sounding. I have since changed an order to a pair of Essence V's instead of starting off with the center channel. I wanted to do a little demo at home so I also purchased a pair of Von Schweikert LCR 15's off of Audiogon. So within a few weeks I will be able to compare:

Von Schweikert LCR 15's (On their way)
M&K S150's (Currently Own)
Essence V's (Ordered)

I am also interested in:
Totem Forests or Mani 2's
Revel F30's
Triad Silver Monitors (Used).

I listen to 80%HT and 20% Music and am powering my speakers with a Rotel 1095 (200W X 5).

Any comparisons would be very helpful because I live in Lake Tahoe and Hi-end audio stores are non-existent. I did read one review comparing the Protege's with the Von LCR 15's and that is the interesting kind of comparisons I am looking for. Thanks for any help.

Jason

Anonymous · « **Reply #1 on:** 18 Jan 2006, 01:54 pm »

If you still remember how the xl sounded like when you receive your Essence V, please give us your impressions of that.

thanks

colem9 · « **Reply #2 on:** 18 Jan 2006, 11:17 pm »

I sure will post my thoughts. I think my Essences ship tomorrow.

colem9 · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 Jan 2006, 06:42 am »

I get my Essence V's this Wednesday and can't wait.

I would still love to hear a comparision of the Essence to either the Totem Forest or Revel F30?

colem9 · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 Jan 2006, 05:49 am »

I received my Essence V's a couple of days ago and am in the process of breaking them in (10-12 hours so far) and would like to ask other people if they sound a little bright when you first get them. My girlfriend and I were comparing them to the Von Schweikert LCR 15's and when listening to Nora Jones, the highs were a little bright, almost ear piercing, as compared to the Vons. The soundstage was also better in the Vons.

As far as the good things go: These speakers are much bigger and heavier than I expected, the packaging was top notch, the magnetized grill is excellent and they are beautiful! These speakers also play VERY loud! They blew away my M&K's without even working up a sweat. The funny thing is I will never listen to music or movies anywhere near as loud as these babies can probably go, mucho headroom!

I just hope that other people have experienced the same thing as me and that they will open up and mellow out a little. Mike says to give it 60 hours, so I hope time will go by fast.

colem9 · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Jan 2006, 05:58 am »

I almost forgot to compare them to the Sapphire XL's. From what I remember, the XL's are phenominal. They have great bass, an excellent soundstage, liquid highs and are very classy looking. The Essence's play much louder but I don't really want to do anymore comparisions till my speakers break in more.

jbhungvt · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Jan 2006, 06:59 pm »

Quote from: colem9

I almost forgot to compare them to the Sapphire XL's. From what I remember, the XL's are phenominal. They have great bass, an excellent soundstage, liquid highs and are very classy looking. The Essence's play much louder but I don't really want to do anymore comparisions till my speakers break in more.

yes, let us know when you broke them in.

thanks

Tayler · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Jan 2006, 11:05 pm »

I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that an ACI speaker sounded bright. Probably need time to run in. Another fact to consider is that if you A-B them with a speaker that has more normal bass response, they will sound bright because of their lack of bass. I know they must be used with a sub to sound right.

Harry P · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Jan 2006, 12:33 am »

My Proteges sounded good out fo the box. After about 100 hours they sound terrific! I also noticed that without subs they just didn't sound right of course they wouldn't as they don't have anytying below 80 and that makes them sound tipped up.

colem9 · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Jan 2006, 05:29 am »

I have been breaking in my Essence's for about 30 hours now and can definitively tell a difference especially in the high frequencies. They have toned down alot. I have been running them with my SVS PB2+/2 and have them crossed over at 80HZ. I will have a few nights this week when the rest of the family is out which will enable me to do a better comparison. I sure wish I would have ordered an Essence Center so I could do a complete comparison accross the front soundstage. I still can't beleive how loud these speakers play without distorting. I don't think I could ever push these to their limits. Will post again after I get a chance to demo more.

colem9 · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 Feb 2006, 05:59 pm »

Just a quick update. I was able to pick up a pair of Revel F30's last night on Audiogon and should have them in about a week. I got a great deal on them. I am also pricing the addition of the Essence center as well as a Maestro subwoofer if the ACI's win the shootout. Mike D. and ACI have been great to work with. I can see how they have such a loyal following.

So far in the demo I will have:

M&K S150's
Von Schweikert LCR 15's
Essence V's
Revel F30's

I know this is not the most cost effective way to demo speakers, but hearing the different speakers in your home is priceless! Will update in the next week or so.

LoveMusic · « **Reply #11 on:** 14 Feb 2006, 06:53 am »

I look forward to hearing your impressions on this little "shoot-out".

If I had to guess, out of those speakers here is how I think they would finish for music at least. 2 and 3 might be switched around.

1. ACI Essence
2. Revel F30
3. LCR-15
4. M&K

I have heard the LCR-15 and M&K's, based on the fact I did not really care for either with regards to music, I'd put them at the bottom myself. They are great for movies though.

LoveMusic · « **Reply #12 on:** 19 Feb 2006, 09:19 pm »

So what is the verdict after listening to the various models?

Rklepl · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Feb 2006, 08:14 pm »

Bump, any news on this? Been a few weeks. Must be busy enjoying the music.

Herb · « **Reply #14 on:** 28 Feb 2006, 01:09 am »

His last update was almost a month ago. Seems he's left the building. Too bad, I would have enjoyed hearing his reactions.

colem9 · « **Reply #15 on:** 1 Mar 2006, 07:27 am »

Sorry for the delay guys. This took me much longer than I expected.

A couple of weeks ago I took the task of reviewing M&K S-150’s, Revel F30’s, Von Schweikert LCR-15’s and ACI Essence V’s in my home. I want to start out by stating that I am not an audiophile but just an average guy comparing a bunch of great speakers. After a crazy couple of weeks I am finally ready to post, so here goes:

Objective:
I wanted to perform an in-home demo of some of speakers I have been very interested in for quite some time and have not had the opportunity to demo at a local retailer. I live in South Lake Tahoe, NV and high end audio retailers are just not available. I would like to preface my review by stating that it is not my intent to upset anyone, but rather help other users on this board that may have some of the same interests as me without retailers near them. I have received and appreciate the countless support from users on this board in determining my top selections.

Current Equipment & Setup:
I currently have a Rotel 1056 receiver which I am using the pre-outs to a Rotel 1095 amplifier, 200 watts x 5. My universal player is a Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi and my current speakers are M&K S150 LCR and SS150’s for rear surround with an SVS PB2+ subwoofer (dual 12” drivers). My living room is 20’ x 20’ with 20’ high vaulted ceilings with one side opening up to another room. This system will be used 80% for home theater use and 20% music listening.

M&K S150 ($1,750/Pr): I have owned these speakers in my living room for over a year now and thought I was done upgrading. These speakers are excellent for home theater use. I have since moved into a bigger house and the S150’s are having a hard time filling the room. I have read that this is one of the problems of using near-field monitors. Another fault of the S150’s is that I am not too impressed with them during music playback compared to the others on my list. Part of this issue may be the array of three tweeters. I am not knocking these speakers. In fact, I like my M&K system so much that I will end up keeping them and just use them in another smaller room.

Von Schweikert LCR-15($1,600/Pr): I had always been impressed with Von Schweikert speakers since I heard the VR4 JR’s at CES a year ago and especially after hearing the VR9 SE’s this year. One day I saw a used pair for sale and decided to pull the trigger on them to see if they shared any characteristics of the VR4 JR’s. These little guys are rated to go down to 35 Hz. After seeing the size of them I had a hard time believing this until I put in Bob Marley and was assured they do have some bass. I’m not sure if they went that low, but did sound pretty impressive running them full range. These speakers are very accurate. The soft dome tweeter produces very silky highs that are very non-fatiguing and the midrange is equally impressive. They also play very loud without compression or distorting. I also tried one as a center channel during movie playback and was very satisfied with the clarity they offered.

Essence V ($1,800/Pr): I have been reading about ACI products for over a year now and decided the Essence V’s were definitively a speaker I had to demo. I also had the opportunity to meet Mike Dzurko at the CES show this year and to demo the Sapphire XL’s. When I ordered these speakers I had no idea how big they were going to be. They are almost twice as tall as the Von Schweikerts. They arrived at my house double boxed in excellent condition. I ordered the architectural black finish and was impressed with the quality and finish of these speakers. The grill is attached with magnets and sure beats the old peg and hole assembly. One look at these speakers and you can tell that ACI takes great pride in production of their speakers. These speakers are not full range. They need to be crossed over at 80Hz. They also take about 60-100 hours of break-in but once they are broken in you are in for a treat. They also utilize a soft dome tweeter. Essence V’s play very LOUD without any signs of distortion or compression. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t even push them close to their limits and my listening area is very large.

Revel F30’s ($3,500/Pr): Last but not least are the Revel F30’s. I have wanted a pair of these ever since I heard a pair of Gems a couple years back. At $8,000 a pair I realized the Gems were way out of my budget. After reading just about every review I could find on the F30’s I decided they also had to be in my demo especially if they sounded anything like the Gems. I picked up a used pair in excellent condition for less than half of retail.

Well here are my results from 1st to 4th place:

1. Revel F30's - Imaged the best, best soundstage and liked that they were full range. The only caveat with the F30’s is that the metallic dome tweeter can be fatiguing at times to certain individuals. It is a good thing that they have a high frequency control dial on the back so you can customize it to your liking. Even though I liked the Revels the best, I would like to make it clear that I am not that bothered by speakers being a little forward, that is probably why I love B&W 802D’s. I would take the dead-on imaging and soundstage for a speaker that is slightly forward. Keep in mind that I had the tweeter control set right in the middle and did not experiment turning it down as it didn’t bother me that much.

2. Essence V's - I loved how loud and clear they played but thought the Revels imaged slightly better and had a better soundstage. I preferred the Essence’s tweeter over all the other speakers. I think that for a home theater setup they would be hard to beat. They were just so dynamic, non-fatiguing and produced enough spl’s to fill the largest theaters. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I have heard a speaker that can fill a room like these speakers can.

3. Von Schweikert LCR-15's - By far the best bang for the buck, loved the soundstage and the way they imaged. It was a very close race for second place between these and the Essence V's. I only wished they were bigger because even though they full range they had a hard time playing as loud as I wanted. It left me wanting more – I wonder how those Von Schweikert 4-JR's would sound?

4. M&K S150’s – Great speakers but feel my top three speakers outclassed them in every manner. I still think I will keep them for a second system as long as the room is small to medium in size.

It is very funny, but before my audition I was about 80% HT and 20% Music and after it I am now the opposite. I have rediscovered how incredible music listening is and that is why I am re-evaluating my entire system.

Part of the reason for my re-evaluation is because I actually found a local dealer that carries Quad 989's and Magnepan 3.6R's. Welcome to the world of planar speakers! I guess you see where this is going. I absolutely loved the Maggie 3.6's. I couldn't believe the sound that came from these planar speakers. I even got to demo the Quad's in my home for a week. I thought the Quads were great but still liked the 3.6's better. As much as I loved the Maggie’s I felt that I couldn’t justify spending close to $8,000 on a complete system so I would have to put that purchase on hold. Not only were they expensive, but my current system would not do them justice. That is part of the reason that I have begun upgrading my other components. I figured I better get a couple of amplifiers that would do great with the low impedance Maggie’s as well as any other speaker I could through at them.

In the interim I found a great deal on a complete system of Von Schweikert 4-JR's, LCR-15, TS-150's and the sub for about half of retail delivered. They will be here next week. I also ordered a pair of Butler Audio amplifiers that will most likely replace my Rotel 1095. I have also bought a Bryston 4SST to demo against the Butlers and Rotel. I will try this Von Schweikert system as a dual role of HT and Music and if it doesn't satisfy me I will go with a separate 2 CH and HT setup. If I do end up going with a separate home theater system I may even go with (5) Essence V’s all around and a Maestro or two with the Maggie 3.6R’s for my 2 CH set-up. I was that impressed with the Essence’s!

I hope this review was informative and that you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Jason

circularduck · « **Reply #16 on:** 1 Mar 2006, 12:49 pm »

Thanks for the detailed review. I do have a question about your room. It is the one of the worst possible shapes (cube-ish, well, square with vaulted ceilings) for listening to speakers in. Do you have room treatements and bass traps? If you don't, your impressions of the speakers might change. Others here would have more specific and complete information on how to treat the room, it just caught my eye when you mentioned it.

Your review however, was great and will certainly help a lot of people.

Thanks.

Anonymous · « **Reply #17 on:** 1 Mar 2006, 03:55 pm »

You are exactly correct about my living room. I am currently renting and will be moving in about three months so I didn't really want to dump any money into room treatments till I get into a place a little more permanent. Thanks.