Speaker Recommendation needed

Bill Baker · « **Reply #20 on:** 4 Apr 2006, 11:34 pm »

Hi 2bigears,
Where are you located? I know most of the speakers mentioned are sold direct so it makes it hard to audition. If you are anywhere near Broome County NY, you are more than welcome to bring you amp along and audition a few speakers here.
What I have on hand that would [could] be a very good match for the amp are the Daedalus DA-1 (last pair - demo) and Musica Bella SP/AV-2. There is also the Usher D2 but quite a bit higher in price than the others. Buy hey, you are still more than welcome to hook them up.

2bigears · « **Reply #21 on:** 4 Apr 2006, 11:48 pm »

thks much for the offer Bill,i am in Canada where speakers of any weight are not....that's a big part of the problem.you guys down there have all the good stuff!! try to find a speaker through word of mouth to let Gerry Rafferty and Van Morrison sing sweetly is becoming some-what of a pita!!love to come to your shop though! thks..

mcgsxr · « **Reply #22 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 12:20 am »

where in Canada are you?

2bigears · « **Reply #23 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 12:26 am »

close to Edmonton,AB.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #24 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 01:37 pm »

Ahhh, well, just over the mountains from you (in the greater Vancouver area) is RAW acoustics, they might have some speakers for you...

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=27086 might be a thread you want to follow, in order to hear some thoughts on some of the RAW speakers, using 30-50wpc. I have a couple of amps to choose from, but nothing as nice as yours!

Good luck in the hunt, if you had been closer, you could have joined us, and brought that amp!

2bigears · « **Reply #25 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 02:04 pm »

Mark,i have talked with Al,i am not sure his sets are efficient enough for the little amp i have.i would love to hear the Apex though. more confused every day!!

Jason1 · « **Reply #26 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 02:22 pm »

Quote from: 2bigears

Mark,i have talked with Al,i am not sure his sets are efficient enough for the little amp i have.i would love to hear the Apex though. more confused every day!!

I think the RA8 would be perfect for your amps power level.

http://quicksitebuilder.cnet.com/wrnch2/ra8.html

mcgsxr · « **Reply #27 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 02:58 pm »

Good point about the lower efficiency, I will report on how 30-50wpc does in my room etc, and you might want to follow the development of this one at 95-97db efficiency...

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=25792&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

2bigears · « **Reply #28 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 03:14 pm »

Mark,thks for that.here is a list:Silverline.... Coincident TV's....VSA DB-99'S ....Sonus Faber amanti's .... Meadowlark BH2's ....Zu definitions .... Daedalus DA-1's .... Avantgarde DUO's -not sure if these are for all types of music..... anyone with speaker 101 please jump in.thks much

miklorsmith · « **Reply #29 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 05:04 pm »

Jiminy! That is a hugely divergent list - way too wide to get anything meaningful from the likes of us.

Are there no hi-fi shops anywhere nearby? It might be time to jump on a plane and take a long weekend somewhere you can hear some of this stuff. It's cheap insurance against winding up with speakers you don't like.

2bigears · « **Reply #30 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 05:12 pm »

i may have to just take a chance on Zu Definitions.... i can get them new for 11k,they gotta be good for that kinda scratch!!!! it would be nice to find a used pair broken' in allready,just push play.they don't come up to often??

toobluvr · « **Reply #31 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 05:24 pm »

Quote from: 2bigears

Mark,thks for that.here is a list:Silverline.... Coincident TV's....VSA DB-99'S ....Sonus Faber amanti's .... Meadowlark BH2's ....Zu definitions .... Daedalus DA-1's .... Avantgarde DUO's -not sure if these are for all types of music..... anyone with speaker 101 please jump in.thks much

I hear the ML Blue Heron 2 are incredibly good, but I don't know if they will give everything they got with 30wpc. When I use my 22wpc 845 SET monos on my Heron "i", I get a deep, liquid, beguiling and musical sound on simple stuff (vocals, jazz, folk, acoustic, etc) at moderately loud volume levels. But my room is 20 x 14 with partial cathedral ceiling, and openings into other rooms. (check my gallery for room photos). Maybe in a smaller room the 30/30 will work.....I dunno. In my situation, it took my Dodd 120 monos to open up the Herons and really make 'em sing on all types of music.

My buddy owns a pair of Blue Heron 1 and he uses huge VTL triode mono-amps. Haven't heard it yet myself, but he reports that he is getting very good sound....deep, spacious, full, rich, warm, detailed, musical.

If I am not mistaken, I think Pat McGinty favored the Music Reference RM-200 (100wpc) on his Heron speaker lineup. I believe he used it when developing and voicing the original Heron loudspeaker, and possibly at shows.

PS: You might wanna look into the demo Daedalus DA-1 that Bill at Response Audio is selling. I just pass this on as a bit of information. I am in no way affiliated with either Daedalus or Response Audio.

Nice user review here:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1141168433&read&keyw&zzdaedalus

and some nice pro and user reviews here:

http://www.daedalusaudio.com/review%20JCC.html

By these accounts, it looks like it offers the warm, round, musical and fatigue-free sound that you seek. Their 96db efficiency suggests that the 30/30 will drive it nicely. But sometimes multi-driver systems need current and high damping factor to really get going. Check with Bill on this count. I'm sure he has listened to it with many amps, including SET.

FWIW...he told me of a customer who replaced his BH2 with a pair of DA-1.

mr_bill · « **Reply #32 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 05:31 pm »

Quote from: 2bigears

Mark,thks for that.here is a list:Silverline.... Coincident TV's....VSA DB-99'S ....Sonus Faber amanti's .... Meadowlark BH2's ....Zu definitions .... Daedalus DA-1's .... Avantgarde DUO's -not sure if these are for all types of music..... anyone with speaker 101 please jump in.thks much

Looking at your list, I see the Sonus Faber Amatis. I heard that speaker once and it was really good - very clear and detailed and not overly warm, with greata resolution. Besides that, I don't think you can find a better looking speakers than those.
Bill

toobluvr · « **Reply #33 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 05:31 pm »

Quote from: miklorsmith

Jiminy! That is a hugely divergent list - way too wide to get anything meaningful from the likes of us.

Are there no hi-fi shops anywhere nearby? It might be time to jump on a plane and take a long weekend somewhere you can hear some of this stuff. It's cheap insurance against winding up with speakers you don't like.

Buy used at good prices (ie. where you can resell them) and this risk is all but eliminated. If they don't work out, it is basically an in-home audition...with some additional hassle of selling, buying again, and shipping. But if you are as remote as 2bigbears appears to be, what are the options?

toobluvr · « **Reply #34 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 05:34 pm »

Quote from: 2bigears

.... i can get them new for 11k,they gotta be good for that kinda scratch!!!! i.......

This is definitely not a good assumption to make!
Sometimes it is true....sometimes not.
If they are expensive, but don't match your taste, are they good?

miklorsmith · « **Reply #35 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 06:04 pm »

No, but the Zu risk is even less than used, you don't need to resell them if you don't like them, just ship 'em back.

I wholeheartedly agree that pricepoint does not dictate sonic bliss. Speakers at every pricing level sound different from each other. I guarantee there are $11k and $20k and higher speakers that you would not be happy with in the long term.

For instance, I think you can get some used Wilsons for about the same price as the Def's. I doubt there are many folks who would be equally happy with either, even if they are the same price.

toobluvr · « **Reply #36 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 06:35 pm »

Quote from: miklorsmith

No, but the Zu risk is even less than used, you don't need to resell them if you don't like them, just ship 'em back.

True...very true.

But if he is like most of us in this hobby.....afflicted by the "grass is always greener" syndrome....and unable to hold onto gear for any period of time.....then buying new usually results in a greater resale loss than buying used.

I am so conditioned to his dynamic, that I always look to buy used whenever I can.
Sad, but true.

2bigears · « **Reply #37 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 06:46 pm »

thks all,slowly getting somewhere.hey toobluvr,i think me and you are on the same page,thks to you.scratch Meadowlarks---need too much power.what the hell was i doin' buying 32w/c anyway.these Sonus Faber sound interesting,don't really care what a speaker looks like.the Daedalus DA-1 sounds like it may be a winner.and ZU will give you your money back,only you need to run them hard for 400hrs to get them to play,i would need to buy a break-in amp.man i really need someone to sell me something before my head implodes..what to do......

toobluvr · « **Reply #38 on:** 5 Apr 2006, 07:15 pm »

Quote from: 2bigears

thks all,slowly getting somewhere.hey toobluvr,i think me and you are on the same page,thks to you.scratch Meadowlarks---need too much power.what the hell was i doin' buying 32w/c anyway.these Sonus Faber sound interesting,don't really care what a speaker looks like.the Daedalus DA-1 sounds like it may be a winner.and ZU will give you your money back,only you need to run them hard for 400hrs to get them to play,i would need to buy a break-in amp.man i really need someone to sell me something before my head implodes..what to do......

Don't give up. It is a great amp.
Those 32wpc will sound glorious...on the right speaker!

Like I suggested in my other post, I strongly urge you to visit audioasylum.com and do a search on your amp name. You will get TONS
(I mean TONS) of posts from owners experienced with good speaker matches. You will learn lots over there, and it will help you narrow the field.

For your needs that board will be more helpful than this one. It has more participants oriented to low power tubes and SET. From what I can see, this board in general, is more oriented toward high powered SS, and less efficient speakers.

Also...either call or email the folks at VAC. Tell them your amp and what you seek in terms of sound. Ask them for a short list of speakers that they KNOW provide good synergy.

Tedp · « **Reply #39 on:** 26 Apr 2006, 06:40 pm »

Not sure if you have purchased anything yet but I'm not to far from Edmonton (Drayton Valley) and am in the process of building some RA8's. With their efficiency they should do you nicely... if you want to set something up after they are done (should be less than a couple of weeks) I would be happy to host it.

Ted