VAF l-93 Signatures vs Equinox Jupiters - Anyone heard both?

Mondie · « **on:** 23 Nov 2003, 09:38 am »

l have been a very satisfied VAF l-93 owner for several years now.

HOWEVER, l am very curious about the Equinox Jupiters, they appear to be amazing value for money and if the sound they produce is the sum of the excellent drivers and cabinet work, they must sound awesome.

l have been in contact with Rick, and at this stage are content to wait until the HES in Melbourne in April next year before hearing them for the first time.

In the meantime , has anyone had the good fortune to have heard either the l-93's and/or the Jupiters? l would love to hear your thoughts on each.

Cheers Mondie

ARAM · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Dec 2003, 02:02 am »

I am not from Australia but I also saw them on the website..I was impressed..I actually posted about them on Audio Asylum..I did not get many replies but one was helpful..I am still looking for people who have heard them..As you said that kind of a design for that price is a steal..big deal..

Mondie · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Dec 2003, 12:29 pm »

Thanks for the reply Aram.

l will do a search over at the Asylum.

l am going to get the opportunity to hear the Jupiters next April, but in the meantime was hoping to hear of any others experiences. l can fill you in on if the sound matches the looks and perceived value then.

Cheers.

ARAM · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Dec 2003, 01:31 pm »

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=speakers&n=124915&highlight=equinox&r=&session=

nigel_pl · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Jan 2004, 07:53 am »

Here is a review of the Jupiters.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_9_4/jupiter-speakers-11-2002.html

Mondie · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Jan 2004, 12:35 am »

Thanks Nigel.

l have had the opportunity to have a pair of Jupiters in my place for over a week, and was blown away by how great they sound. A significant step up from my l-93's. Myself and a fellow hifi nut will be posting an aricle up soon on our impressions.

Needless to say the l-93's have moved on to be replaced by a a pair of Jupiters

nigel_pl · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Jan 2004, 02:46 pm »

I'd like to audition both those speakers one day with a proper blind test...especially when that much money is involved

Rocket · « **Reply #7 on:** 11 Jan 2004, 12:48 am »

Hi,

How much do the jupiter equinox speakers cost in oz?

What drivers do they use?

It might sound silly but why not fly from melbourne to sydney and have a listen to these speakers. much better than waiting until april. it will cost you less than $200au.

regards

rocket

Mondie · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 Jan 2004, 04:20 am »

Rocket,

l have been fortunate to have Rick from Equinox personally deliver me a pair of demo Jupiters. So for close on the last 2 weeks l have had these and my l-93's in my listening room. So all my comments are based on me hearing them in my room through my system.

The Jupiters use Audax Aerogel drivers, here is a link;

http://www.equinoxaudio.com.au/speakers/index3.html[/url]

Rocket · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 Jan 2004, 12:18 pm »

Hi Mondie,

If you are going to spend $7000au you seriously need to consider listening to a pair of W.A.R. Audio speakers.

http://www.warco.com.au/waraudio/

Pat O'Brien (owner and designer) is the designer of the speakers, plus they have designs from orca and joe d'appolito.

For $7000au you could have a floorstander design utilising raven 1 ribbon tweeter and 2 6 inch accuton drivers. Very expensive components.

The sound from his speakers are unbelievable. I have a pair of speakers which use the raven 1 tweeters and 2 x 7 inch focal kevlar mid/bass drivers. they cost me $3500au finished in a nice piano black.

Just another speaker to consider.

Regards

Rocket

ARAM · « **Reply #10 on:** 8 Apr 2004, 02:02 am »

On W.A.R website I saw that behemoth speakers next to Duntech Sovereigns..Are the WAR speakers good??I wonder how much that one would cost??
here is the link.....
http://www.warco.com.au/waraudio/kits/kits.html

Rocket · « **Reply #11 on:** 8 Apr 2004, 05:13 am »

Hi Aram,

I would say they would cost in excess of $10k au to build those speakers.

Looks like they are using 2 x 7 inch focal mid/bass drivers, 2 x 10 or 12 inch focal utopia bass drivers and i think it uses either the raven 1 or accuton tweeter.

My speakers cost me about $3kau and are mtm utilising raven 1 and 2 x 7 inch focal kevlars mid/bass drivers.

regards

rod

bhobba · « **Reply #12 on:** 13 Jun 2004, 01:56 am »

Wow some guys really have some money to throw around on Hi Fi. My take is if you have that sort of money to spend on speakers (> 7K) then you owe it to yourself to consider what I believe is one of the (if not the) best loudspeakers in the world - the Orion (see http://www.linkwitzlab.com) Now I have not heard it but know Seigfried Linkwitz by reputation. He claims 'I would not know which speaker can beat the Orion in overall accuracy and integration' and coming from him that is high praise. I guess to assemble one Australia would cost a bit more than 7k but since it is an active that includes amplification. If I wanted to assemble the best, cost was no object, and had the space I would buy the Orion without hesitation. Just something more to consider.

Malcolm Fear · « **Reply #13 on:** 13 Jun 2004, 05:49 am »

Hello Bhobba
Err, I am confused. How can you consider something to be the best without even hearing it?

EchiDna · « **Reply #14 on:** 13 Jun 2004, 11:53 pm »

perhaps you could try doddsy's DIY orion clones "Bob"? he is in Oz....

I've heard the orions in less than ideal setup (room wise) and they were fantastic...

http://www.doddsy.net/steve6_009.htm

bhobba · « **Reply #15 on:** 15 Jun 2004, 12:50 am »

This is in reply to Malcolm Fear's comment 'Err, I am confused. How can you consider something to be the best without even hearing it?'. It boils down to how much faith you have in someone of Seigfried Linkwitz's reputation. He is one of the great loudspeaker designers - without doubt. He has heard many loudspeaker systems, and even designed them for audio artistry, some costing absolute fortunes ( > 40K). If he says the Oriens are among the best, if not the best, in the world then I am inclined to believe him. When I was purchasing my Hi Fi system I listened to a bucket load of loudspeakers, and the spin of sales people, before making my choice. However I did not have the opportunity to listen to everything Seigfried would have had. On that basis I in fact have higher regard for his opinion than mine. You may hold to the idea that selecting loudspeakers is like wine tasting - a personnel thing. I do not agree with that. I side with Seigfried Linkwitz who says 'Loudspeaker evaluation is not like wine tasting, though a majority of audio sales persons and magazine reviewers treat it like that. Unlike in wine tasting, you have an absolute reference in naturally occurring sounds. Familiarize yourself with a wide range of un-amplified sounds and keep them in mind when you try to judge the accuracy of a loudspeaker'.

Of course when making a statement like 'these are among the best or even the best' no one can ever be sure he/she is correct even if they have actually listened to them - the bottom line is what a reasonable person would accept. If you do not consider it is a reasonable thing then that is fine by me. If I had that type of money to spend I would buy them without hesitation having not even listened to them - but that is me based on the faith I have in Seigfried Linkwitz.

Rocket · « **Reply #16 on:** 15 Jun 2004, 02:38 am »

Hi Bhobba,

I think what Malcolm was getting at, it is very difficult making comments about a speaker if you haven't heard it (even if it has a good reputation). Most audiophiles have different tastes when it comes to speakers and electronic components. If you listened to the linkwitz's you may find that they weren't to your liking.

If you have a spare $400au you should drop by perth and have a listen to some W.A.R. audio speakers. They are custom designed here in perth and utilise, focal, phl, axon and accuton drivers. You would be amazed at how good they sound.

Btw Malcolm and i share a common amplifier. You should also check out an Aksa amp.

best wishes

rod

bhobba · « **Reply #17 on:** 16 Jun 2004, 12:15 am »

Hi Rocket

Point taken - yes I agree. Perhaps a better way of expressing it would be my faith in Sigfried is such that I would be prepared to make that classification and hand over my cash based purely on what he says. I can understand others may be reluctant to do that.

Again I also want to emphasize that I do not believe loudspeakers are like wine - how well they reproduce the original is the criteria - and if someone of Sigfrieds status judges them good on that basis - I am willing to risk it. My loudspeakers are Axis LS88's. I purchased then after going to a number of Hi Fi shops in Canberra and Sydney. Now each seem to sell speakers peculiar to them - eg at the time Duratone in Canberra were pushing Canadian speakers (I can not recall their name - Magnat or some such and totally rubbishing Australian speakers as all crap); making all sorts of claims about how good they were, another place was selling some Danish brand and rubbishing the others speakers etc etc. I would listen and to be honest none were as good as the Gales I owned at the time (interestingly I purchased the Gales unheard - I simply walked into the shop and said that is what I wanted - every review had said they were fantastic and I was always happy with them) - eg the treble was shrill not sweet. The sales people would say either Gales were crap (which of course they were not - in their time they were one hell of a speaker) or say my amp was crappy or interconnects not good or some such rubbish. To counter this I decided to find what speaker most faithfully reproduced something I knew well - the human voice (cranky Frankie was good for that test). Electrostatics came up trumps on that test so I compared all speakers to electrostatics. If the shop had no electrostatics I would simply walk out. I found this immediately 'shut' sales people right up - the shrillness of the speakers or other fault was only too obvious. Although one sales person, who also owned Gales, said I may have been 'Galeised'. Exactly how this affected my comparison to electrostatics I never did understand - salesman's license I suppose. Now during that period two speakers of roughly the same price stood out - the Ambiance ribbons and Axis LS 88's - surprisingly both Australian speakers. They compared to both the Gales and electrostatics very well. I made my final choice on the fact the shop auditioning the LS 88's was willing to do a very good deal and I did not really have enough room to let the Ambiance's breathe.

Regarding the AKSA, no I have not heard it but like the Orions have no doubt it is as good as everyone says it is. So again on that basis I would be prepared to hand over my hard earned cash. In my youth I was a mad keen electronics buff and built radios amps and all sorts of things. But that was years ago and I was never a dapper hand at manual things to begin with so my desire to actually build something nowadays is pretty low. But from what people say about them I have no doubt sometime quite soon pre built units will be available - although your friendly neighborhood electronic technician would probably be able to do it for you. And regarding your comment about listening I note the AKSA was basically designed that way rather than by engineering spec so I suppose that is another factor.

As for WAR audio - if they are using drivers of that quality and assembled by people that know what they are doing (and that seems very likely) I have no doubt they will sound wonderful - probably out gunning my LS88's. But alas if you read my introduction my health is not that great (arthritis) so my jaunts around the country are limited to trips between Canberra and Brisbane and infrequent ones even then. Such is life.

BTW I still recommend the electrostatic test for selecting loudspeakers. I know a number of people who were going to spend more on speakers than the LS88's cost but after doing that test purchased the 88's instead. It is interesting to note however that the owner of the shop I purchased the 88's from thought they were 'crap' - too dry - he liked big spendors instead - so each to their own I suppose. The salesman thought they were great for the opposite reason - he owned Martin Logan electrostatics (that is what I was auditioning them against) and thought they were a lot like them (they were).

Thanking both you and Malcolm for your interesting replies and discussion.

Malcolm Fear · « **Reply #18 on:** 16 Jun 2004, 12:51 am »

Hi Bhobba

If ever you're in Sydney (north shore), come and have a listen to an AKSA set up. They are very nice.

regards