Diva by Swans 6.1

Had a chance to do some careful listening to the Diva 6.1s over the past few days with a vintage but well maintained Dyna ST-70 and a variety of material from both CD and music DVD. First let me say that the difference was nothing short of dramatic in a positive sense, even given the known shortcomings of the vintage stock ST-70 amp. The simblance is totally gone and the speakers disappear remarkably and very musically. The soundstage depth has increased signficantly with a more defined sense of air around individual instruments. Most importanly, no fatigue!

Of course, the mid bass is not quite as defined nor with required punch as with the solid state Adcom amp that I was using, and there is a slight softening of the high end detail, but in a natural way ... or perhaps I was just used to the more over etched sound of the solid state amp. Switching back to Adcom amp is now totally unlistenable and this is with crappy interconnects and speaker wire with aged connectors on the amp! I am going to upgrade the input and speaker connections on the stock ST-70 amp and look into some alternate tubes. Using them with the 2 HSU TN1220HO and 500 W amp crossed over at 34 Hz, though I am experimenting with 51 Hz as well. The HSU's dissapear and you forget they are there until some very low end energy presents itself or there is some low frequency hall ambience. Pioneer PD-65 as a transport with Perpetual P-1A / P-3A / SOCS combo. Hmmmm ... getting close to VERY natural sound for the total cost of this budget system! I need to acquire a more neutral tube amp with some punch to really get a final perspective on the Divas, but they look to be a very very good value at this price with the right amp combo. Any tube amp suggestions for under $1k ?

I have had the Diva 6.1's for about 2 months, and they are not totally broken in, thus this assessment is with caveats. Very strong value for the price. Smooth midrange. Tight bass that extends to the mid 30's and has extended much lower during break in. Transparent high end, most likely due to the tweeter mounting. On good quality recordings, the Diva's do a reasonable job of dissapearing, with the presentation being slightly laid back in mids.

However, after careful listening, I think that the tweeter is about 2-3db too hot for my tastes. Not necessarily "bright" but more of a very slight lower treble simblance. Leads to some level of listening fatigue. Some may prefer this "voicing". It could also be my equipment as Perpetual recommends tube amps with them. I may try padding down the tweeter to really assess and am going to fire up my old, but well maintained Dynaco Stereo 70's to see what results.

I think they are very competitive in the price range ($1300), but don't expect a $3000 speaker. You do have 30 days to eval, and this is plenty of time. However, the speakers are a heavy ship and the double boxes they come in are HUGE. BTW, the speakers are gorgeous in the room and the finish is flawless.

Take a look at the 80's on auction here-no reserve for these fantastic speakers and there's only one day left -I bought a pair from the guy who is selling them 3 months ago and love them. good luck.