[ecramer]

what about these at $325 they are  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=49151.0

[vinyl anachronist]

Since yesterday, I've been listening to the Stirling LS3/5as, and these may be one of the finest sounding mini-monitors I've heard in along time.  I've heard many LS3/5as over the years, but I never remember any sounding this good. This may be due to the fact that I'm driving them with a conrad-johnson ET250s amp, but I just can't get over how warm and full and musical these tiny, tiny speakers are.

I know there's a lot of opinions about the various LS3/5as, and I'm not sure if I want to head down this road, but if I'd love to hear if anyone has compared the Stirlings to other LS3/5as.

[James Romeyn]

French $7k/pr ASA (Atelier de Synergie Acoustique, or Workshop of Acoustic Synergy) Pro Monitor, by a large margin the best standmount auditioned (not the superb $2500 baby/regular Monitor reviewed by 6-Moons)

http://www.smsfrance.com/produits/index,idproduit,40483,page,technique,impression,1.html

http://www.asa.fr/pagesProduits/monitor_pro.php

Beat the new $5500 Esoteric MG-10 magnesium, $6k Dynaudio Confidence C-4, $5k KEF Reference, $4k Dali Helikon, etc., etc. 

[TONEPUB]

what does beat mean and by whos decree?

[James Romeyn]

what does beat mean and by whos decree?

Notes taken shortly after the recent auditions:

Heard $5500/pr Japanese Esoteric MG-10 designed by British Tannoy, all magnesium cone/dome.  Highly etched, wispy, hot top ½ octave, thin upper mid/lower treble.  Coherent output sounded like a single-speaker, goes very deep, great bass power, great dynamics, apparently no audible distortion, amusical & not tolerable for any duration.  Expectations were very high & I was anxious to hear these because Dick Olsher wrote the similarly designed floorstander was one of his favorites.   

Next auditioned Dali's premium standmount $4k Helikon 7” 3-way.  Musically far above the Esoteric, very inviting, fun, warmer sound, smooth FR but could apparently clearly hear the sound emanating from three separate sources, especially between the dome & ribbon; this was heard on the Garrison Keillor movie soundtrack & clearly confirmed on the Arturo Delmoni solo violin: the overtones were disconnected from the fundamentals & when going up through the range there appeared to be a clear line of demarcation between each of the three speakers.  How/why this was not eliminated after careful listening at Dali is a complete mystery.  Maybe it tested good but still, how could this be?   

The audiophile salesman & I agreed on the Esoteric & Dali perceived audible characteristics.  We agreed a cross between the two might be a desirable loudspeaker. 

At the salesperson's request the ASA Pro Monitor was brought in to compare.  For me, all the earlier Esoteric & Dali observations were confirmed.  ASA did seem to have more audible distortion (estimated 4500cf favors speakers w/ higher-output capability) than either the Esoteric & Dali but ASA still preferred.  ASA far more musical & confirmed the Dali's incoherency.  ASA displayed a unique spectral & stage/image characteristic between the two CDs, eliminating a veil between the listener & the performance.  Peculiar & interesting, only adding to enjoyment.  None or little of this effect noticed w/ the Esoteric & Dali. 

The ASA were not present during audition of the two speakers below.  My room has similar dimensions though the store display had several unshorted unused speakers.  Electronic components upstream appeared to be similar in quality or maybe below my own.  IMO, the fact that the two speaker models below sounded quite different (no particular audio imprint common between them) indicates the room & associated components were of good quality & relatively nuetral. 

$6500/pr Dynaudio Confidence C-1: Amusical, uninteresting & uninvolving.  Smooth, coherent, dynamic, very low audible distortion (though I'd guess more than the Esoteric), linear apparent FR & bordered on pathologically boring.  From the start I wanted to move on to something else; this feeling never diminished & only grew in intensity.     

Next heard $5k/pr KEF Reference 3-way Uni-Q.  A relief compared to the Dynaudio.  Far more musical, fun & interesting, though suffered from lightweight bass & a glassy, watery effect (maybe associated w/ the lightweight bass).  Salesman & I agreed the addition of a REL sub might make these a contender, but almost certainly inadequate bass for a standalone.  You'd think a 3-way would allow for deeper/better bass than your typical 2-way but not the case here. 

That's my story & I'm sticking to it! 

[TONEPUB]

So this is all based on an afternoon spent at a hifi shop?

You don't own any of said speakers you are suggesting
or have lived with any of them for an extended period of time?

That's funny! 

What you don't realize here is that all of the speakers you
mentioned can be put in a different system and room
with different cables to achieve different results.  I've heard
all of them provide very musically satisfying results with
the right components.   And I've heard them all sound
great and I've heard em all sound dreadful.

It's all about setup and synergy.

[James Romeyn]

So this is all based on an afternoon spent at a hifi shop?

No. 

You don't own any of said speakers you are suggesting
or have lived with any of them for an extended period of time?

No.  I own the ASA.

That's funny!

What?  Your question?  Or was the answer predetermined, & you predetermined the unknown & unknowable answer to be funny?  I'm lost.  Please clue me in.   
 

What you don't realize here is that all of the speakers you
mentioned can be put in a different system and room
with different cables to achieve different results. 

How do you come to know what anyone doesn't "realize"? 

And I've heard them all sound
great and I've heard em all sound dreadful.

Have you heard the ASA PRO (not Baby not Standard) Monitors?  Where?  If you have not, & you believe you would disagree w/ my comparisons, you have nothing reliable on which to base that belief.   

We agree the subject speakers are capable of less than good sound.  If you imply the dealers were incapable or unable to make the speakers sound their best, you may be wrong.  You weren't there & you don't know the gear.  The components involved sound very good on a very wide range of speakers.  So your sum total evidence provided so far that my analysis is invalid is: you have heard them sound great.  The chances we listened to the exact same speaker are slim to zero.  So one possibility is that the speakers you heard & the ones I heard sound different, even the same model.  I think the speakers were burned in but can't testify to that. 

What's the elevation where you heard the speakers?
   

[TONEPUB]

And you have no agenda by claiming the speaker you own is the best?

The problem I have is using the word "best".  Seriously if you think
they are the best speakers in the world and you have a big smile
on your face when you listen to music, that's really all I care about.

I don't have an agenda when it comes to defending my advertisers.
If they (or anyone else) sends me something than we don't enjoy
listening to, we send it back.

When I used to work for Harry Pearson at The Absolute Sound, the
best bit of advice he ever gave me was "whenever you want to say
the word best, substitute the word fuck and if it still sounds good, use it"

What I'm trying to get across is that there is no best.  Your speaker
is the only one of the group I haven't heard.  I might think it's as good
as you do, I might even think it's better than you think it is but I would
never  say best about anything.

Our perspective is always to try and share an experience with our
readers and hopefully share what we've heard with them.  You have
to do the rest.  That's why we have never done Class a, Class b, etc
or "best sound at show" articles.  It's pointless.

So enjoy your speakers and chill out...

Im certainly intrigued enough by what you had to say to try and
get a pair in for review and in the sense of a good review it did
what it had to do, it piqued my interest enough to investigate
further.

[James Romeyn]

It's fairly shocking reading your comment that HP advised against using the word "best".  I'd like $50 for every appearance of best (or synonym) in my current issue of TAS.  I have no problem w/ substituting favorite for best.  Favorite & personal best are perfectly interchangable so that's just semantics. 

Your post seemed to imply, though this could be a misread, that people who don't adhere to certain preconceived test parameters you specify have only unreliable conclusions.  I felt your post minimized my critical comments & were intended to steer readers toward "professionals" w/ more reliable conclusions.     

If you think the speakers in question can sound great, fine.  Maybe they can.  The gear/room/setup "synergy" must be known before it is criticized.  The setup was in all liklihood not an issue.  I'll listen to them again first chance & see if they sound better.  When the ASA arrived for audition I perfectly expected to return them.  And here they are six months later.     

I would not have made a conclusion without a high degree of certainty about the setup.  That would be misleading or worse.  That said, I agree the conclusions would have been better at home & after getting amplifier recommendations from the speaker companies.  I would bet all four speaker companies would state the associated components & room were at least good or better (all were costly well-respected brands). 

One of the many joys of owning French ASA Pro Monitors is that only a very small handful of persons know they exist.  They are rare as hens teeth.  The total is unknown & unknowable but would be shocked if it was beyond a few dozen; estimated only 1/2 dozen pairs in the USA.  The small number makes it probably irrelevant to review. 

I may desire to sell them if I find something better but considering the affordable candidates scratched off my list (the ones mentioned above for instance) that's looking unlikely.  I won't mention the person who referred me to the ASA but he is one of the most erudite & well-seasoned persons in the industry, with a wealth of experience in music, music reproduction, & audiophile fields.  He had absolutely no stake in the sale. 

I would still desire a better sounding standmount if one appeared that had less cosmetic appeal, but the ASA's sculpted artisan solid ovangkol panels are a pure delight.

An Atmasphere 30W OTL will shorlty be compared to the Plinius SA50 Mk3 powering the 89 dB-rated ASA (5.3 Ohm minimum, 8 Ohm average, 20 Ohm maximum).   

Only moderate certainty about the following, but I'd pick the $1500 Vienna Acoustics or $2500 B&W (1st order tweeter xo vs. earlier 4th order) as my second favorite standmount.  But I must admit I only started to really appreciate the pleasures of ultra-high quality standmounts in the past year or so.