Grandeur

Rick Craig · « **Reply #20 on:** 23 Jul 2009, 05:10 pm »

Quote from: rahimlee54 on 8 Jul 2009, 09:36 pm

Will you still have those Thursday of next week? I'll be in the area and would love to come by and give them a listen if possible.

The MTM demo set and matching subwoofer are ready to listen to. I'll have them here just for a few days before they ship.

John Salvini · « **Reply #21 on:** 24 Jul 2009, 05:56 am »

Quote from: Rick Craig on 22 Jul 2009, 01:54 pm

Quote from: John Salvini on 22 Jul 2009, 02:14 am
Any luck getting a good listen in?

Are you interested in a demo or feedback from some of the other guys?

Hi Rick,

I thought you were going to share some of your impressions of this speaker with us. I've been hoping you'd design an MTM monitor with this combination of drivers for a while, & now you've done it, so I'm anxious to hear how you like it.
Anyone else's thoughts would be appreciated as well.

thanks, John

Rick Craig · « **Reply #22 on:** 24 Jul 2009, 10:16 pm »

Quote from: John Salvini on 24 Jul 2009, 05:56 am

Quote from: Rick Craig on 22 Jul 2009, 01:54 pm
Quote from: John Salvini on 22 Jul 2009, 02:14 am
Any luck getting a good listen in?

Are you interested in a demo or feedback from some of the other guys?

Hi Rick,

I thought you were going to share some of your impressions of this speaker with us. I've been hoping you'd design an MTM monitor with this combination of drivers for a while, & now you've done it, so I'm anxious to hear how you like it.
Anyone else's thoughts would be appreciated as well.

thanks, John

The driver combination has been a huge success and the sound is excellent. When pushed hard the Illuminator drivers remain effortless and very clean which I think is a result of their advanced motor design. The sound has good detail and is very neutral. I'll have pictures up soon for the subwoofer which also can serve as a stand for the MTM.

Rick Craig · « **Reply #23 on:** 6 Aug 2009, 11:36 pm »

Quote from: cstory on 8 Jul 2009, 06:31 pm

Just a guess, but if you wanted dual 7" revelators in a floor standing system, why not think about something like the TRT with the 70-20 as the tweeter? I know I did, it's just that my budget this time could only afford 1 revelator per speaker and not 2.

Rick,

I know you usually don't say a lot about the sound of your speakers, except to say that they all sound good , but can you share any impressions you might have about the difference in sound between the Prestigio and the Scan Speak Illuminator MTM in the photo above?

Regards,

Chuck

Cue Tom Petty, "The waiting is the hardest part". (referring to the Raalevelator of the original post)

You are in for a special treat.

The integration of these drivers is just outstanding and I challenge anyone to find a better 7" 2-way monitor at any price. We have a winner!

Brucemck · « **Reply #24 on:** 7 Aug 2009, 12:37 am »

Is there a picture (or, is it the MTM pic earlier in this thread)?

Rick Craig · « **Reply #25 on:** 7 Aug 2009, 01:29 am »

Quote from: Brucemck on 7 Aug 2009, 12:37 am

Is there a picture (or, is it the MTM pic earlier in this thread)?

This is the MT (think of the SSR but with a Raal ribbon for the tweeter). Pictures and a name for the new creation next week.

cstory · « **Reply #26 on:** 7 Aug 2009, 12:32 pm »

Rick,

That's great news. You always hope that good drivers will make good speakers, but the magic is in your crossover.

Knowing that you think they are special makes me even more anxious to get them in my hot little hands.

Thanks for the update.

Chuck

Rick Craig · « **Reply #27 on:** 17 Aug 2009, 02:03 pm »

Officially christened now, the "Grandeur" is shipping for $2,095/pr.

richidoo · « **Reply #28 on:** 17 Aug 2009, 02:51 pm »

Rick, I like the new name Grandeur. I liked Raalevelator too, funny...
Is this first pair active or passive? Subs? Do you have a price worked out yet?
I'll PM to set up a listen.
Thanks
Rich

Rick Craig · « **Reply #29 on:** 17 Aug 2009, 04:23 pm »

Quote from: richidoo on 17 Aug 2009, 02:51 pm

Rick, I like the new name Grandeur. I liked Raalevelator too, funny...
Is this first pair active or passive? Subs? Do you have a price worked out yet?
I'll PM to set up a listen.
Thanks
Rich

Passive crossover and ported to run full-range. We can also do a smaller sealed box that works great with a subwoofer like the Fondazione. The price for a pair will vary from $2,095 to $2,895 depending on the type of cabinet. You could easily pay twice as much and not get this type of performance.

cstory · « **Reply #30 on:** 18 Aug 2009, 01:03 pm »

I like the name.

Chuck

cstory · « **Reply #31 on:** 20 Aug 2009, 03:10 pm »

Rich,

Have you had a chance to listen to the Grandeur's yet?

Chuck

richidoo · « **Reply #32 on:** 20 Aug 2009, 05:14 pm »

Tomorrow morning!!

Rick Craig · « **Reply #33 on:** 21 Aug 2009, 07:32 pm »

Pictures...

richidoo · « **Reply #34 on:** 22 Aug 2009, 01:22 am »

As usual, I had a great time visiting with Rick today. The Grandeurs really impressed me, so it's time to share. First they are beautiful. Black painted curved cabinets are large but not overly so. I liked the look, they look like they are very serious about making music. These are not cute little bookshelfs... and they don't sound that way either.

Grandeur is balanced and truthful. It is clean and detailed, but not sterile or analytical at all. The richness of tones on the recording come through. The mid driver is very detailed and musical and blended perfectly with the tweeter, which is of course, mind blowing. These two drivers together are really something special. I played some violin concertos which showed off the great integration of the 2 drivers. I tried to hear the crossover effects but could not. There is a lot of resolution in this speaker. I asked Rick how it would do with tube amp, he said it's an easy load.

Rick played a Harry James Big Band 70's recording of April in Paris. It was amazing to hear those small speakers play so loud, and so clearly. It really brought the band to life. On some well mixed music with more compression (pop, modern jazz, etc,) it could really fill up the room with dense tone and wide soundstage. Bass was surprisingly clean and detailed, and extended. I missed some low frequency reverb and felt a little compression compared to my big speakers at home, but that's to be expected from any smaller speaker. But the Grandeur never made me feel like anything was missing from the music. Even the lowest notes from bass violins and synth bass were clear and textured, and kick drum and electric bass were punchy.

When he told me the price, I really couldn't believe it. I don't know of a speaker with this kind of sophisticated and realistic presentation for so inexpensive. State of the art midrange and treble, with more than adequate bass detail and power to remain balanced at all times.
Nice job Rick!!

cstory · « **Reply #35 on:** 28 Aug 2009, 01:58 pm »

The Grandeurs arrived here in North East Ohio yesterday afternoon, and I got some time last night and a little this morning to give them a preliminary listen. These are very good speakers.

Actually it was interesting listening to them. They were ordered to replace a pair of Vandersteen 1C's, because I did find the Vandy's a bit veiled. And I can say that the Grandeurs definitely are not veiled, but at the same time they are definitely not in your face with the treble. They seem to be pretty balanced and on a couple of tracks in our living room I almost thought the bass was too much.

For me there isn't one area that stands out more than the other, but the naturalness of the RAAL tweeter takes a little getting used to for me. A prefect example for me was the tambourine in Sting's Set Them Free from the Dream of the Blue Turtles. On the Vandy's it seemed more prominant, but with the Grandeur's you could clearly hear each of the little metal bits shaking. If sounded more natural. I never understood the term grain when reviewers talk about speakers, but now that I have heard the absense of it, I think I can better understand what it is.

The pitch definition of the bass is quite good, the way that the sound of a trangle floats above an orchestra is almost spooky.

When my wife came home, I was playing some music that she doesn't listen to much, so she didn't really say antyhing about the speakers other than they look better than she thought, but when I changed the Squeezbox to a CD that she knows, she said, yeah, now I hear the difference.

Oh yeah, I just briefly heard a pair of Focal 1007Be speakers this past Tuesday. Very nice, but based on an all too brief listen, I would say that the Focal Be tweeter is probably a bit more agressive than the RAAL in the Grandeur. Some might prefer the more obvious definition of the Be, but I like the subtle excellence of the RAAL.

Looking and sounding good so far.

I may add more, once I get more seat time with them, and have a chance to swap them into my main system.

Cheers,

Chuck

richidoo · « **Reply #36 on:** 28 Aug 2009, 03:00 pm »

Sounds about the same as my experience. Rick's speakers all share the same basic trait that they just get out of the way. It's hard to hear traces of "speaker sound" in any of them.
Congrats cstory!

Carl V · « **Reply #37 on:** 28 Aug 2009, 03:55 pm »

I own his SSR & his Garnet. Pleased with both.

I've auditoned many of his other desings against other mfg's.

I'm curious as to which has the greater influence on sound--
the Tweeter or the Midwoofer. The Grandeur & SSR provides
a wonderful oppurtunity to make such a comparison & contrast.

Jeff K · « **Reply #38 on:** 28 Aug 2009, 08:02 pm »

Even though Rick has never offered upgrade kits (at least not that I know of), a RAAL and new x-over would seem to have a ready market from SSR and Galena owners. I'm guessing it would have to sell in the neighborhood of, say $800? So it would have to be a big improvement.

Carl V · « **Reply #39 on:** 29 Aug 2009, 01:08 am »

Another close apples to apples comparison
might be the Essatto (RAAL-Accuton Midrange -Accuton midwoofer-sealed)
and the KP3 (Fountek-Accuton midrange-Accuton midwoofer-ported)
again the tweeter has changed...& yes the alignment is now different.
The Tanzinite has too many changes, clouding the comparison.

Sorta curiious which contributes to the unique soundscape the most.