[spence]

OK guys, I've been getting tired of looking at this Forum every few days and seeing absolutely nothing new here. Nada, zilch, the big goose egg. I find it hard to believe that Bob's speakers aren't getting more recognition, and that people aren't talking them up. Certainly more people should be getting their speakers by now I would hope. I know that the economical situation we're in can dictate sales, but with all the leaps and bounds that Bob say he's made in the past year or so, you'd think we'd hear more. I know that SP Tech was represented at RMAF, but why is it that I don't see anything mentioned anywhere about them? There was a huge thread over at A-Gon about which speaker people liked best at the show and not a single mention of SP Tech. Maybe I'm just ranting here, and Bob knows I'm good at that once in a while, but sheeesh, speakers this good should be talked about a little more often don'tcha think?

P.S. Hey Bob, got any speaker grills around there?

[lonewolfny42]

OK guys, I've been getting tired of looking at this Forum every few days and seeing absolutely nothing new here. Nada, zilch, the big goose egg.

spence....Might be that Bob is still ..Frozen Stiff In Indiana......damn its cold out !!!

I've been enjoying my Minis.....and switching back and forth with the TP2's....

I know that SP Tech was represented at RMAF, but why is it that I don't see anything mentioned anywhere about them? There was a huge thread over at A-Gon about which speaker people liked best at the show and not a single mention of SP Tech.

The RMAF room was mentioned in the blog that Stereophile posted...I thought the room sounded good. Both the Revelations and Minis were played.

You do have to remember....there are a lot of speakers "out there"....and many still do not know about SP Tech speakers. Everything takes time...

[spence]

Everything takes time, that's for sure. I'd just like to see somewhat of a regular dialogue carried on around here instead of the looooong breaks before anything gets posted. I'm sure some of you guys have noticed the dry spells that frequent this forum. I guess I'm partly to blame too. I got my speakers 8 months ago and don't frequent this place as much anymore (because of the lulls) and it disappoints me to see the time go by....... I try to mention Bob's speakers as much as I can over at A-Gon, but I seldom see anyone else speaking up about them. I want to see SP Tech front and center, not cowering in the corner somewhere. Lack of advertising hurts, but I understand the expense. My case is different than most (I was looking for a great mixing and mastering speaker and had the patience to wade through the crap), but if I were a regular customer shopping for speakers, I'd have a hard time going this route because of the uncertainabilty. In the end, I hope there's greener grass for SP Tech, but it needs to be SHOUTED OUT, not whispered about. HEY GUYS,THESE SPEAKERS ARE WONDERFUL!!!

[ted_b]

I have about 200 posts about SP Tech speakers, and ran the room at RMAF (we got ok coverage, but nothing like we deserve).  My own SP Tech setup is a dedicated 5.1 layout, with Revelation Ultimates (mundorf external), and three Continuum Ultimates (mundorf external).   The speakers are world class, and everyone who's come over and heard them are blown away by their capability.  My buddy, Teajay, a well-known Audiogon regular and Maggie 20.1 owner, went to Bob's place on my behest..and was more than overwhelmed by the sound of Revs-in-a-warehouse.  In fact he wrote about it in Audiogon.  He says he can sell at least 3 addtl sets of minis to local friends if Bob could produce one for demo (that's a big stumbling block; Bob has yet to get production up to speed enough to get a few demo pairs in the hands of SP Tech fanboys like Steve McCormack, Jim Merod and others.  I saw Steve and Jim at CES and they mentioned it again.)  Bob is pedaling as fast as possible, but it's only so fast with a small crew.

I think what we really need to do (aside from kicking up the activity here) is to introduce them to other forums.  AC is but one, and althougjh intensely loyal and civil, is fairly self-regulated (i.e not the number of new users or guests that an AVS or other more general-type audio forum has).  We need to sing the SP tech praises on AVS (I've got a cursory review over there), Audio Asylum (argh!), Steve Hoffman, etc.  I've done some, but will renew my efforts.  thanks

P.S.  Chris (lonewolf) deserves special merit mention for his generous demo tours of his SP tech speakers.  They've been heard by many throughout the Northeast, and is singularly responsible for a lot of the SP Tech traction up there. 

[Rapt]

OK guys, I've been getting tired of looking at this Forum every few days and seeing absolutely nothing new here. Nada, zilch, the big goose egg.

spence....Might be that Bob is still ..Frozen Stiff In Indiana......damn its cold out !!!

I've been enjoying my Minis.....and switching back and forth with the TP2's....

I know that SP Tech was represented at RMAF, but why is it that I don't see anything mentioned anywhere about them? There was a huge thread over at A-Gon about which speaker people liked best at the show and not a single mention of SP Tech.

The RMAF room was mentioned in the blog that Stereophile posted...I thought the room sounded good. Both the Revelations and Minis were played.

You do have to remember....there are a lot of speakers "out there"....and many still do not know about SP Tech speakers. Everything takes time...


   Bahahah! nice avatar  aa

[Rocket_Ronny]

I know I am too busy L I S T E N I N G to my mini's to post much.

Did I ever mention to anyone that I absolutely LOVE these things?   

Hard to get work done as well. Oh, man, just one more song. Oh listen to that, wow, and there the tonal balance, oh listen to shimmer on those chimes and bells, etc, etc.

Got to go. Another song is cuing up. 

 
Rocket_Ronny

[ooheadsoo]

I'll be sure to write something when my TP3.0s arrive.  In the meantime, I've been enjoying my AV-2 kit speakers.  It will be interesting to hear the difference.  These AV-2s are already really good.

[bbchem]

OK here I am again, I check the SP TECH forum regularly, but not every day. You have seen my posts regularly but sporadic. I have stopped writing about other speakers I have owned, because the Minis and the Timepiece blow them all away to the Nth degree. I know most people have trouble believing us on the forum since there are so many models out there and even on this forum. Let me again reiterate that these speakers go beyond anything out there and here is why. Most of us whom consider our selves audiophiles listen closely and then decide if we like the product. The ultimate compliment to any kind of  stuff is when someone who is just an innocent bystander or casual listener gets blown away without being asked!! This the case of my wife, and umpteen friends and relatives. When they heard my SP Tech speakers, they commented without me asking. Most have listened to music over the years and never said anything about the equipment.

Bob is still a small shop and the economy of course is poor, but If you want to purchase something that you will hold all others against as the standard, then come over and listen to mine!!

 

[seadogs1]

Any SP Tech speaker owners in Minnesota or Western Wisconsin?

[ted_b]

The guy who bought Cacophonix's Timepiece 3.0's called me today and was over the top!!  Bob put him (Lance) in touch with me earlier this week cuz he wanted someone who had heard both ATC's and SP Tech's.  My experience with both were at the upper end (my Rves and my ealrier ATC 150 actives), and he was interested in the Mini's vs a set of ATC pro 20 monitors.  Anyway, we talked for an hour.  He was frustrated that he could hear neither of them in Houston, TX area, but seemed determined to make a purchase regardless.  Lo and behold he calls me today and says he drove 4 hrs to hear some others, the Timepiece 3.0's, and loved them so much he bought them.  It was only then that I put two and two together!

I told Lance to join us here on AC.  He says he's heard dozens and dozens of speakers worth $40k and up (including Avante Garde horns, etc.) and has NEVER heard the realism, depth and accuracy of these Timepieces in his life!!!     In fact, he says they are so accurate he is worried that the average joe listener won't "get it" cuz they don't have that showroom sizzle and wow factor (I likened it to buying a tv from Best Buy and choosing the one where the color saturation is turned up).

Anyway, another happy SP Tech owner is born today.   

[mixsit]

The guy who bought Cacophonix's Timepiece 3.0's called me today and was over the top!!  Bob put him (Lance) in touch with me earlier this week cuz he wanted someone who had heard both ATC's and SP Tech's.  My experience with both were at the upper end (my Rves and my ealrier ATC 150 actives), and he was interested in the Mini's vs a set of ATC pro 20 monitors.  Anyway, we talked for an hour.  He was frustrated that he could hear neither of them in Houston, TX area, but seemed determined to make a purchase regardless.  Lo and behold he calls me today and says he drove 4 hrs to hear some others, the Timepiece 3.0's, and loved them so much he bought them.  It was only then that I put two and two together!

I told Lance to join us here on AC.  He says he's heard dozens and dozens of speakers worth $40k and up (including Avante Garde horns, etc.) and has NEVER heard the realism, depth and accuracy of these Timepieces in his life!!!     In fact, he says they are so accurate he is worried that the average joe listener won't "get it" cuz they don't have that showroom sizzle and wow factor (I likened it to buying a tv from Best Buy and choosing the one where the color saturation is turned up).

Anyway, another happy SP Tech owner is born today.   

Given ATC's nice rep on the pro side' it'd be nice to hear if he got to hear those also.

[ted_b]

He hasn't yet.  I tried to tell him my experiences re: ATC (all very very good) but they were limited to the VERY large ATC active pro 150's, about the size of washing machines, and way too large, ultimately, for my music room/HT (being that I ultimately wanted a 5.1 setup).  I also heard the 150's and 100's in a 5.1 setup at Telarc (Grammy-winning engineer Michael Bishop gave me a tour and then visited my home and room, which i posted about a couple years ago) and they were all they are cranked up to be.  Incredible dynamics, etc.  But I truly believe the Sp Tech family is on the same part of the continuum (pun intended) and worthy of pro use (Jim Merod and others, of course, agree).

[bbchem]

He hasn't yet.  I tried to tell him my experiences re: ATC (all very very good) but they were limited to the VERY large ATC active pro 150's, about the size of washing machines, and way too large, ultimately, for my music room/HT (being that I ultimately wanted a 5.1 setup).  I also heard the 150's and 100's in a 5.1 setup at Telarc (Grammy-winning engineer Michael Bishop gave me a tour and then visited my home and room, which i posted about a couple years ago) and they were all they are cranked up to be.  Incredible dynamics, etc.  But I truly believe the Sp Tech family is on the same part of the continuum (pun intended) and worthy of pro use (Jim Merod and others, of course, agree).

  Gentlemen, I have a comment/ question about the PRO word in Loudspeakers, I guess that when you try to differentiate regular loudspeakers from "PRO" loudspeakers you are trying to separate the Musical type from the Accurate Type (??) This is all well and good, but I think you will find that SP TECH,  ( Have not heard ATCs yet) speakers are both accurate and musical but add a new dimension, that is life like or 3D or HD or Stage-like or Like Being there etc; etc; no small feat>> my 2 cents worth

[opnly bafld]

  Gentlemen, I have a comment/ question about the PRO word in Loudspeakers, I guess that when you try to differentiate regular loudspeakers from "PRO" loudspeakers you are trying to separate the Musical type from the Accurate Type (??) This is all well and good, but I think you will find that SP TECH,  ( Have not heard ATCs yet) speakers are both accurate and musical but add a new dimension, that is life like or 3D or HD or Stage-like or Like Being there etc; etc; no small feat>> my 2 cents worth

Would the term "studio" speakers work better?
I have heard a lot of "pro" speakers that are neither accurate or musical.

Lin

[bbchem]

   Studio would be a good one, people who do recordings in the studio want the sound to be as analytical as possible to best match the recording to what they are actually hearing live. When I had cut a master in the studio, we used monitors that when played back would best represent how we sounded. I use Powered Studio Monitors at home for my keyboard. They don't however,  sound that great playing Cds through.

[konut]

High decibel levels, all day long, without distortion. Linear. Sp Tech. Whats not to like? Side note. Anti-cables doing really nice mid-range with my Minis.

[mixsit]

  Studio would be a good one, people who do recordings in the studio want the sound to be as analytical as possible to best match the recording to what they are actually hearing live. When I had cut a master in the studio, we used monitors that when played back would best represent how we sounded. I use Powered Studio Monitors at home for my keyboard. They don't however,  sound that great playing Cds through.

I'll take a different angle to the same question.
There is accurate' as a pure goal. Practical considerations and compromises aside, 'good monitoring is accuracy! to a large degree. So on the surface, pursuit of 'HiFi is the same. Or is it? Perhaps sometimes but not always. See 'compromises' to favor euphonic' and the very real shifting of goal re what and where ever the desire for good musical experience', the chase for the illusion etc, may lead one. 

Compromises on the 'pro side- often many. Rugged! Inexpensive -(they're doing their job very well enough thank you very much at 1-$3k a pair and less in many cases, often including active guys)* comfort in name recognition, and in some case known and/or excepted bumps' in freq. response. (Let's see; 'more revealing'? How do you get 'more revealing', on midrange detail' for example, other than two ways- Tighter image (that's a 'more accuracy' factor not a 'hype-) or bump the mid?
The case has been also made for 'too accurate to a fault for mixing' out there. Ie, one might not go far enough on 'clean up/optimizing' tracks so they work in/on/for the real world customers. Yeah. 
 
When is 'High Fidelity', pursuit of the illusion, ever, let along the business of' been a simple task to pin down.
I am (rather) 'low on experience' with various speaker systems vs both you full time pro' and high end' guys. But comfortable enough to say with enough time, listening, playing with and manipulating the basics, the variables, the cause and effects- SP's walk the walk. And I feel these concepts can be thought of in very straight forward manner once you get the motivations and goals clear.

Most of the rest of differences are fluff and flavor IMHO.
Be happy. Enjoy aa

*Hey, how much was that x-over upgrade again? Hmm, guess I need to back on the ball playin this room. 
I know. 
Did i mention I was pretty lazy?

[Cacophonix]

We had a long chat about these speakers....and Lance was very keen on speakers that sounded extremely accurate, dynamic and detailed. I was moving that weekend, so i had to setup the system in a hurry at the new place before he could come in for auditioning. He was happy with them, and decided to buy it. Later on in the evening, he left a message exclaiming how good these speakers were. I was very happy for him, but still cannot shake off the feeling of regret for having sold this.  economy!!! .

I had it for a very short period of time, but SP tech speakers are something special. A real pity that Bob is not getting enough recognition for his amazing design. Maybe he should really really think of outsourcing the cabinet making...so that he can concentrate of the R&D part.

The guy who bought Cacophonix's Timepiece 3.0's called me today and was over the top!!  Bob put him (Lance) in touch with me earlier this week cuz he wanted someone who had heard both ATC's and SP Tech's.  My experience with both were at the upper end (my Rves and my ealrier ATC 150 actives), and he was interested in the Mini's vs a set of ATC pro 20 monitors.  Anyway, we talked for an hour.  He was frustrated that he could hear neither of them in Houston, TX area, but seemed determined to make a purchase regardless.  Lo and behold he calls me today and says he drove 4 hrs to hear some others, the Timepiece 3.0's, and loved them so much he bought them.  It was only then that I put two and two together!

I told Lance to join us here on AC.  He says he's heard dozens and dozens of speakers worth $40k and up (including Avante Garde horns, etc.) and has NEVER heard the realism, depth and accuracy of these Timepieces in his life!!!     In fact, he says they are so accurate he is worried that the average joe listener won't "get it" cuz they don't have that showroom sizzle and wow factor (I likened it to buying a tv from Best Buy and choosing the one where the color saturation is turned up).

Anyway, another happy SP Tech owner is born today.   

[rms]

I was trying to think of something new to say here but it occurred to me I would just be repeating what I have already posted, and I'm not sure I could say it better. So I'm going to quote myself, I hope that's okay. I really don't have time to write up anything new anyway, I'm too busy listening, playing, recording, mixing. I still can't believe how great these speakers sound!

So here it is again, I love these speakers!;

My background in music and audio is primarily as a musician. I have played in many different genres which have taken me from small bars to concert halls and everything in between. I have also worked in some very nice recording studios and have a small home studio of my own. I don't have a lot of high end gear but what I do own seems to be well regarded and suits my  needs. My current signal path is my PC playing .flac files > Foobar > RME 9652 spdif out> AVA Omegastar DAC > B&K Pro10 MC in passive bypass mode > Hafler DH500 with Musical Concepts mods, SP Tech Continuums. I also have a Technics SL1200 with Ortofon OM30 Super.

My main reference recording is the Sheffield labs drum test disc. If a system can reproduce all the nuances of a well recorded acoustic drum set it will be a good performer. For verification of what I hear in the recordings I can play the drum set that is in my studio - so I have the Sheffield disc and the real instruments right there. To get to the point, when I cranked up the Sheffield drum test disc through the SP Tech speakers I was blown away. It sounded like my drummer was in the room with me playing his kit. Every nuance was present - and the soundstage had every piece of the kit in its proper place so that when I closed my eyes I got an immediate 3D image of the drums being played. Several drummers and other musicians, as well as non-musicians, have heard these since I bought them and the comments have all been "that sounds live" and " I have never heard music sound so real". The dynamics, clarity, and speed of these speakers are such that I find the music playback sounds, and feels, exactly as it does live. I have also listened to a huge variety of other recordings from Bach to Zappa and everything that is recorded well sounds phenomenal. When listening to the recordings of Annar Bylsma playing the Stradivarius Cello from the Smithsonian collection the depth and sonority produced by the centuries old wood of the instrument is reproduced in a way I have never heard before. The best way I can describe it is that Annar is in the room with me, I am sitting directly in front of the cello, and could reach out and touch it. When I open my eyes I find that the virtuoso cellist and priceless Stradivarius are not really there after all.

The speakers really shine on those recordings that most others fall short on, directly recorded acoustic instruments and vocals, as on some of the Sheffield recordings and other truly well recorded lp's and cd's. You can really hear and feel the nuances of the instruments, the way the players handle them, and the effects that the room in which they were recorded have. The level of detail is a real step up from anything I have heard in studios or audiophile systems in the past. Simply put it is best described as real, dynamic, present, truthful. I have found it very easy to lose myself in the music sitting for hours enveloped in my new 3D soundscape. And when I have torn myself away from listening to other people's work and developed my own music I have found these speakers to be amazing tools for mixdown and mastering. I can focus on details that I could not pick out before with other monitors or my headphones. And even though I now have many hours of listening time in with the Continuums I still find myself saying WOW! after playing a really great recording

[spence]

I'm sitting here listening to the Eagles "Long Road Out of Eden" on my 3.0s......just incredible. I listened to Mark Knopfler's "Shangri-La" and Donald Fagen's "Morph the Cat" before that. Right now I just can't see getting a better sound than this. I slipped a Pass Labs X1 preamp into the mix in place of my Simaudio pre and all I'm hearing is just pure pure music. Every instrument sounds exactly like it should. These speakers are seamless in their presentation. And this is with CDs! My album collection? Whoa, it has never sounded better. Long live analog. Bob, I'm standing up right now applauding your pieces of art. I feel like a little kid again!