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Do my ears deceive me??

     The money is in the bank, thinking of upgrading speakers, but everything I demo is no better or worse than what I have.   Willing to spend up to $6,000.      Upgraditis??   My main system is Mcintosh MX 134 that I bought in 2003, with a pair of Focal 836v's and a Parasound 5250  (250w/channel) amp I bought around 2012.   I either blew the tweeters or crossover on my 836's, so they are in for repair.   Since I've owned them for 10 years, I was considering new speakers.    The blades are way more than I would spend, but I also demoed the Kef R11s, Martin Logan xtf 200's, Mcintosh XR 100s, and B&W 703 S3.   

       None of them sounded better than what I'm hearing right now from my BP 2006s.    Would I really need to demo them in my room to make a fair comparison??  Or are speakers just not much better than they were 20 years ago?   I know I love detail, and tend to lean towards aluminum tweeters.  I pretty much only listen to classic rock and roll.   Of all I demoed, I really like the B&W 706s.   They sounded much brighter/cleaner than the others.   But they had the reciever set up so I couldn't adjust the treble/bass.  I love a V equalizer curve, and bump up the bass and treble a bit on my home/car systems.   Maybe I just have the good luck of prefering cheaper speakers.   

 

  

fenderu2
doyle3433's avatar
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doyle3433
266 posts
 

@jonwolfpell  I'm completely smitten with my Razz. Spent all day yesterday with them, avoiding all the outdoor chores in the process. 

jonwolfpell
342 posts
 

Hilarious! I really enjoy my Volti Rivals too! Very few (if any) speakers are as sensitive,  dynamic & live sounding along with tone, imaging & detail as both the speakers are in their respective price categories. 

fenderu2 OP
22 posts
 

Did you guys buy the Razz without a demo?   They read like they would be something I love, but doubt I can demo in Minnesota.   

larryi
3,729 posts
 

It is VERY hard to get old school horn system sound from commercial products that are not extremely expensive.  The better modern systems I've heard are custom-built using either vintage drivers or extremely expensive modern drivers.  

The Volti speakers are not in the same league, to me, as vintage-based systems.  But, they still sound very good for someone looking for the liveliness of horn type systems and value the great wood working of Volti.  There are no speakers, regardless of price that are strong on all aspects of performance; all have certain areas where they are not as strong as other aspect of performance.  To me, the Razz exhibits a bit of discontinuity between the bass and upper end sound.  Still a great performer for the money, but, I would listen for this to determine if it is a big deal. 

jonwolfpell
342 posts
 

I went to the Capital Audiofest in Maryland to see & listen to both of them which I did multiple times over the weekend. Trip cost me about $1000 which I figured was just the cost of the speakers.o bought the pair at the show ( Red Gum w/ black grille cloths) & Greg Roberts gave over $1000 off the regular Rival price & included shipping! It all worked out well. I also was there to check out servers & Dacs  & wound up w/ the Innuos Zenith Mark III & the Border Patrol because I liked the sound in the Volti room so much! It was the best, most live sounding & enjoyable sound for me that I heard by far maybe besides the Goebel speakers at $80K! 

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