Baranyi,
Oops. I meant to say a they cost me a hair less than a USED pair of Avantgarde Duos would have (you can check Audiogon for prices). |
Thank you for the kind words sirspeedy. Music is definitely something which can enrich one's life on a daily basis - I wish I had more time to listen! I actually hadn't updated my system description for almost 5yrs so took the opportunity presented in thinking about and responding to this post. I will try to update the commentary and add pictures as I get the time. |
I was away on vacation (and from internet/email) for 2 wks. Thank you very much mary7c, lokil957, and nilthepill for responding.
Mary7c, I have a few questions so you will have an email in a few days.
Nilthepill, thanks very much for your help. Very nice to finally read it.
Two years on, I haven't found anything in the price/space range to match them. I have replaced the digital player, now have a Jadis pre-amp, and wonder about amps from time to time, but for the moment, I don't even think about replacing speakers.... well... I have to admit, I've heard the Avantgarde Trios with a set of 6 basshorns and if anyone wants to trade that set-up (and a house to put them in) for my good-looking Eurythmies, pls feel free to drop me a line... :^) |
Thanks Ikarus & Trelja for your comments,
I did decide to go for it after a weekend of a home demo and for the last two weeks have been listening to the Jadis Eurythmie 11s in my system most every day. They are wonderful! The speakers lend a "fullness" and "live-ness" to music that was not there with my Martin Logan SL3s (above and beyond the excellent bass they have which the MLs do not). We were not at all unhappy with the Martin Logans, and had not been looking for new speakers. The Martin Logans constantly impressed us with their ability to reproduce detail and seductive midrange. We have since had our standards changed. The Eurythmies are 'seductive' in all parts of the audible range and neither dazzle with detail nor with euphonic (or honky) midrange but make beautiful music with all the detail I am used to (and more in most cases (especially in the super high frequencies and bass, where the detail and body is absolutely fabulous)). My wife and I remain flabbergasted with the speakers' ability to create the desire to get up and dance. We are extremely happy with them.
I had feared that our high-watt VTL push-pull monoblocks would not mate very well with high efficiency (96db) speakers. My fears were misplaced. Last night I had an unpleasant surprise in that an output tube blew on the VTLs so I was forced to use my only back up amp, a reasonably well-regarded SET amp (13W EAR 859) and when listening today, I realize now that the VTLs did surprisingly well. Today, after leaving a friend (who is musically-oriented but not equipment-oriented) with his jaw on the floor, my wife took me aside saying that something was really lacking with the EAR. Even at 96db efficiency, the speakers really need more, and my feeling is that the VTLs are perhaps slightly overkill but 50W/ch would certainly not be and something close to that is probably necessary to get the best out of the bass (perhaps I finally have experienced the idea that I believe Agon member Sean once wrote about, saying that ability to provide real, deep-down power helps a lot of speakers where you might not expect it).
I hope others are enjoying their music as much as I am,
Travis |
The answer: a hair more than the current average asking price of a pair of Avantgarde Duos with subs in the U.S. Whether that qualifies them (or me) as "cheap" is more about context.
The context: 1) Every other pair (save one) that I have seen for sale, before or since, anywhere in the world, has been offered at 60-120% more than what I paid. The sole exception was more like 30-40% more. 2) I ran into my pair at a used equipment dealer, who had bought them from another dealer (whom I also know), who had beeen trying to sell them for almost two years; this dealer had bought them from a person who had bought them new in 1996 (at the same time he bought an all-Jadis set-up from another dealer I know). Japanese home design does not generally allow use of speakers like this, so any dealer who buys them in Japan is going to have to buy them cheap because they are not going to be able to get rid of them easily, even if they took a zero off the end of the price. Neither the dealer who bought them from their customer nor the dealer from whom I bought them had the space to actually set them up as required. |
Tabl10s says... "If they were female, you'd be sitting in a room with a big ugly chick with a nice personality..." Some would say twins... a pair of voluptuous twins with really nice honkers... :^) I'd say that it depends on what you like. I happen to like the looks - much better than a pair of clunky-looking boxes... |
Someone else suggested they look like Yosemite Sam. |
Yet another suggested Spongebob Squarepants. |
The Jadis Eurythmie a.k.a. Jadis J1? Anyone?
Aside: Does anyone have a copy of the Stereophile review (1996?) they could summarize or paraphrase?
The reason I ask is that I have access to a REALLY good deal on a used pair (just now noticed a pair for sale on Audiogon - that's not the pair I'm thinking of!). I listened to them in an unbelievably bad room in the dealer's shop which, in addition to its acoustic faults (low ceiling, glass side wall and back wall, speakers stuffed in the corners, linoleum floor, hard back wall, not a single soft thing in the room, etc), was far too small for the speakers and despite that, I walked away really impressed after having a stupid grin on my face for 90 minutes of foot-tapping. I did it again this evening and had the same stupid grin.
My initial impressions:
- extremely coherent and seamless presentation (despite having 3 crossover points) - the music just flows from the speakers;
- completely non-fatiguing - I have never found a speaker as easy to listen to as this. Perhaps this is NOT a good thing but I am not experienced in these things. I had not thought it "difficult" to listen to music at home, but these seem to produce a different level of "musical whole-ness" than my Martin Logan SL3s and are just plain "easy to listen to".
- excellent at low volumes but they beg to be turned up. In fact, I could not turn them up enough to make them "annoying" (just annoyingly loud), despite excellent treble extension from the super-tweeters. I could not imagine doing that with lots of speakers. Is this a horn thing?
- really fantastic bass
- really great note decay
- they are big and they would visually dominate a room, even a big one. This one is a baddie but... what can ya do?
Why do I ask and not just do the "just listen and make up my own mind" thing? For one, I wouldn't mind knowing that just one other person in the world had owned them and enjoyed them. I also wouldn't mind knowing that there are no glaring problems which I missed b/c of the room I listened in. |
Atrahern, thanks for the kind words, though as much as I would love to be able to say that the combined sonics and beauty were such that I had to have them at any price, alas it would not be the case - I'm cheap. Though your comment brings up an interesting coincidence... I heard Avantgarde Duos and discovered what horns could be but dismissed them because of the price, and a year later, I found these for sale at a much lower price. I could say that it was the Duos that put me on to horns and I got these when I was "financially able to take the plunge."
Danaudio1, I can relate. Though I try to keep it down in the evening so that the neighbors cannot defend the practice of their daughter to play rap at 3am.
Arthur, I have not heard the DA88s. I simply don't get out much as of late to hear what is on offer. In the past, I have heard a DA-something but don't know recall which one, and the Jadis Orchestra, which I thought was great bang for buck. I have heard the 300Bs, the 845s, and some of the larger push-pull amps over the past few years and have been impressed with each though obviously they are far from interchangeable. I have the JP80 pre which I also bought used a few years ago. I love it to death - not the quietest pre-amp in the first place (though in the last few months it sounds like it some of the caps may be showing their age) but it seems to show up other "more transparent" pres on a regular basis... I do not know if I will go down the road of Jadis amplification. My gut says that bi-amplification (or more?) may get the best out of the speakers but am unsure as to how I would want to go about this. |
Dario, in terms of valuation, I have not seen enough pairs out there to know what "the market price" is, though I have a general enough idea about the general range of what it is where I live. It will also depend on whether it is the earlier version, the later version, the later version with active crossover, etc. The newer version (which does not have the gray legs going all the way to the floor) is usually offered at a higher price than the older one. The active crossover unit is another few thousand USD added on to that I would guess.
In addition, I do not know what the used market for CLSIIs + Entec subs [though if I had a pair of Entec subs, I might keep them for something else :^)].
As far as 'value for money' is concerned, if you find you like big horns like that, I am not sure they are going to be a better deal than BD Oris/Orpheum horns, which will probably go for less. If one got an unbelievably good deal on Avantgarde Trios, I might take those instead too. On the other hand, I got a good deal on mine, competitive with anything else out there of the type (used) and so I am happy.
I would be loathe to suggest that the Eurythmies are "better" than CLSs which are properly set up, especially with nice subwoofers. They, and all large horn speakers, "project" sound differently from both stats and dynamic speakers. I find they do not image in the same way, instead they 'envelope' and 'embrace' the listener. They are not dry, instead are quite 'wet' in my opinion, at least with tubes. They deserve quite a bit of listening in a decent room and if they strike you they will strike you and you will probably find the decision made by itself. If the decision doesn't make it by itself, I might wait or keep looking. |
