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First round of auditions disappointing

Well, I finally got out and did some actual listening over the weekend, and I can see that I have quite an adventure ahead of me.

I listened to the Focal Profile 928, Polk LSi15 and a couple of Martin Logan's (Vista and Vantage). The Focal was by far the worst of the bunch; as a matter of fact, it was downright awful, and at a price of $5K for the pair?????????? Good grief...

The Polk LSi15 was better, but far and away from what I expected, given the good press. I use to own Martin Logan Sequel II's, and liked them for their midrange qualities. The newer Logan's were pretty nice, but far too dead in the dynamics department. Very nice rendition of vocals though, and great soundstage presentation.

The more I listened to the typical box speaker, the more I believe that design won't satisfy me. My wife, who is really not "in" to music, commented to me that the Focal sounded "like a box," so there you have it.

I'll probably have to wait until CES, because there is little in the way of "high end" in my area.
seadweller

Showing 1 response by bombaywalla

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bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
Seadweller,

I 2nd Boa2's recommendation of Green Mountain Audio speakers & I do this from my personal experience.

Like Boa2 said - their form takes on the conventional box speaker look BUT they DO NOT sound like box speakers at all.
They have superb all-round qualities: Excellent imaging and soundstaging, wide response, excellent midrange, excellent highs, NO excessive midbass warmth, NO slow presentation that lacks pace and transient attack, NO loose bass, excellent total dynamics and punch.
Given that they are 1st order x-over speakers they do compress earlier than, say, 4th order x-over speakers. However, the SPL level at which they compress is reasonably high. For example, in the 3-way speakers I have the woofer compresses at 105dB SPL. I've never found it to be an issue in the 3+ years I've owned the speaker. I usually listen to music on average at 85dB SPL 10' away.

Several of Green Mountain Audio's models would fit your budget - the stand-mount Callisto, the Pico Medeo & a used C3 (flagship speaker). Also, Roy Johnson, the owner/designer is a fantastic person to deal with.

Disclaimer: I have NO (zero) financial or economic affiliation with Green Mountain Audio. I'm just a satisfied customer.
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