What a day!
First and foremost, a HUGE thank you to Anand and his family for opening their doors and allowing me in for hours of Anand's time away from his familiy.
The first thing that struck me upon entering the listening room was the size. They're not nearly as big as I thought. Actually they're smaller than the 3-way I use now. I could really care less about aesthetics anyway at this point. I like a clean professional look and they accomplish that. Performance is everything to me. It's taken awhile but I've reached it.
Anand had a playlist ready for me that he made so we first started with some tracks of his that he thinks show off the speaker. Music selection was all over the place which I really liked. He played a track from Celtic Woman that was just in your face with female vocals. It was absolutely superb in every way.
After coming home and listening what really strikes me is the soundstage. It is just awesome! The best part is that it doesn't stop there...
Some quick points in no particular order:
Volume-WOW!!!! These things will crank the music at concert levels with NO distortion. I've read the comments from all the other owners but really couldn't grasp it until I heard it. Anand says it best: "You are row 1 at a concert. You're not at it, you're in it." Truly an experience. Wish I had brought my SPL meter.
Dynamics-A very dynamic speaker that just does most right.
The tone of this speaker is different but in a good way. Still extrememly musical, non fatiguing and FUN. I'm sure I've heard speakers with an incredible amount of engineering applied to them but I highly doubt that I've heard a speaker that not only had engineering applied to them but the listener was also considered (i.e. hearing and psychoacoustics). Dr. Geddes has truly immersed himself in the "behind the scenes" part of audio.
This is where Dr. Geddes and others will probably disagree: electronics do make a difference. First let me say that Anand is a very talented diy'er. Really, just great work. I wish I had his talent.
Fortunetely I've been able to purchase some great equipment.
When we switched to my front end it opened the sound up to another level. I even think that Anand was surprised. Now, the cost to do that we'll leave out.
The cost for that much performance gain VS the speaker suddenly makes the speaker, subs and crossover look like an absolute bargain. No joke! The Abbey with 2x GedLee subs and two Rythmik subs is still less than my dac. Yes, it's true but we will not go there. Crazy? Yes, it sure is but the last bit is always tough no matter what you're doing. Right?
So I came home, hooked my equipment back up and pressed play on a couple of tracks that I was in awe over on the Abbeys. The first track was from the Manger test cd. It sounded really good and clear but so darn compressed. The sound stage seemed 5' narrower. It just doesn't have the same "feel". Next track was Igor "Poker Face". Absolutely no comparison on the Abbeys. I've always thought this was insane at my house...until I drove 1 hr north. This track REALLY brings out everything of the Abbey. It's truly a winner!
It was asked above to listen to the Abbey and subs....This speaker
requires a minimum of three subs. No question about it. Further, I completely disagree with Dr. Geddes (sorry) that any sub can be used for best sound. The Abbey is quick, very quick. The two subs that you would use closest to the Abbey freq in my opionion should be the GedLee subs. This is my thought. Why should the speaker not be from the same family as the Abbey? It just makes sense to me. The third and fourth sub can be whatever you choose that can go low but it also
must be fast. I really do think speed is important here. The Rythmik does just fine in this department.
What my rambling above means is that if you're not willing or able to have any of the GedLee speakers with at least three subs you will not get optimal sound.
If you're willing to make the investment this is a speaker that may be hard to beat without spending tens of thousands of dollars. Even with that, I'm not sure you'll get better rather that just different. With that said, my order will continue for a pari of Abbey 12A's and two GedLee subs (they need a name btw).
**NOTE**
It was mentioned that I must be careful about the external crossovers that Anand had built as they are much better than the stock. My response to this is that I'd bet money that my electronics had a larger overall impact than the crossovers. Only Anand can answer this and I welcome his thoughts.
