I have to echo the sentiments of the other GMA owners here, @Dave122 and the rest..I love my Europa's!
I've been a Green Mountain Audio customer for over 20 years, and have even had the opportunity to visit their Colorado Springs, Colorado factory. I currently run a modest system that uses Green Mountain Europa's, and couldn't be happier.
Over the course of my many years of audio, I've learned that truly listening to the music is what really matters, and stop worrying about the gear and the latest-and-greatest gadgetry. The GMA speakers, by design, just let the music come through as the upstream components pass along; meaning there is no coloration, distortion, phasing issues, etc that are introduced by the speakers themselves...they just play what's sent to them.
I don't like to use all of the buzzwords and platitudes that are often thrown around in forums and in audio review magazines, so I won't. Each time I fire up my system to listen though, it puts a smile on my face, as I am able to hear and "feel" emotional queues in the music, I hear the little nuances that the mic(s) in the studio/venue may have picked up, I can "hear into the music"...All that is possible with a system as modest as mine (some of my gear are thrift-shop finds), but only when I hooked up the GMA speakers was this possible. Before I lucked into the Europa's, I had a constantly revolving door of speakers through my system (Altec 604s, DIY open baffles, an orignal pair of Karlson K-12's, Klipsch Heresy's, DIY bookshelves, etc) trying to find "that sound" that I wanted and was looking for. None of those actually made my toes tap or made me smile like I do now...because to my ears, the music was there, but missing "life"...The GMA speakers, have given my music life.
The only downside to them, is that they have made me realize that some of the recordings in my collection are actually not that great (phasing issues, "Fake" stereo from an original mono recording, etc), the speakers allow that to be portrayed accurately, and don't cover those things up, like some that I've had in the past do...
Don't discount the GMA lineup, you won't be sorry you've given them a listen!
I've been a Green Mountain Audio customer for over 20 years, and have even had the opportunity to visit their Colorado Springs, Colorado factory. I currently run a modest system that uses Green Mountain Europa's, and couldn't be happier.
Over the course of my many years of audio, I've learned that truly listening to the music is what really matters, and stop worrying about the gear and the latest-and-greatest gadgetry. The GMA speakers, by design, just let the music come through as the upstream components pass along; meaning there is no coloration, distortion, phasing issues, etc that are introduced by the speakers themselves...they just play what's sent to them.
I don't like to use all of the buzzwords and platitudes that are often thrown around in forums and in audio review magazines, so I won't. Each time I fire up my system to listen though, it puts a smile on my face, as I am able to hear and "feel" emotional queues in the music, I hear the little nuances that the mic(s) in the studio/venue may have picked up, I can "hear into the music"...All that is possible with a system as modest as mine (some of my gear are thrift-shop finds), but only when I hooked up the GMA speakers was this possible. Before I lucked into the Europa's, I had a constantly revolving door of speakers through my system (Altec 604s, DIY open baffles, an orignal pair of Karlson K-12's, Klipsch Heresy's, DIY bookshelves, etc) trying to find "that sound" that I wanted and was looking for. None of those actually made my toes tap or made me smile like I do now...because to my ears, the music was there, but missing "life"...The GMA speakers, have given my music life.
The only downside to them, is that they have made me realize that some of the recordings in my collection are actually not that great (phasing issues, "Fake" stereo from an original mono recording, etc), the speakers allow that to be portrayed accurately, and don't cover those things up, like some that I've had in the past do...
Don't discount the GMA lineup, you won't be sorry you've given them a listen!