In answer to there being few efficient speakers on the relaxed side of the fence, try the Living Voice Auditorium range range. They are detailed, musical, but certainly relaxed, too much so for many people. They are not immediately striking, but non fatiguing in the long term. I have been caught before, being struck by a dynamic piece of kit, I ultmately could'nt live with i.e Naim CD players. Nothing wrong with them, just not my long term cup of tea.
My Living Voice Avatars sound great with a 17 watt 845 SET integrated. If I did move on, I find the Coincident range a good home for tube lovers. |
Philjolet, I'd gladly tip my hat to you if I gave them a listen and found myself in agreement with your perspective. They would certainly win my recommendation without hesitation. For now, I'll just give you the benefit of the doubt...
Though my experience shows scant few efficient loudspeakers that are on the relaxed side of the fence, I'm coming to terms with the opinion that room, amplifier, and cabling has perhaps much to do with the speakers sounding forward or not. Still, I say what I say from an "all things being equal" stance.
I want to acknowledge you bring up a stellar point in that the numbers game in terms of sensitivity and impedance curves should often be tossed out in favor of how things work in the real world. A lot of speakers are way too optimistic, and many a match is found in not reading ad copy but in listening. |
Trelja,
The Trentes are supremly musical and not the slightest bit forward or bright and also extremely forgiving and detailed beyond belief. They offer a very well balanced sound going down to about 45 hz and ignore their 88db rating they lit up with my 18 wpc Soro SE amp.
Bluemike,
I have not heard of the Tonian speakers but all the best to you and what you land with... I may finally be settling down on my stereo adventures but find it hard to give up the 'gon' :) |
I parted with my trentes as well ...
I now have a pair of Tonian acoustic monitors
Very similar to the trentes only faster and much more musical ..if that's at all possible
To my ears they are natural sounding and very realistic
overall i'm quite impressed |
I have to disagree with most of what has been suggested. But, to be fair, it's not so easy to meet the requirements put forth by Rapogee.
Most of these speakers are quite sensitive, yes. And, some are even tight in the lower end. But, he also states he doesn't like forward sounding speakers, and most of what I see here definitely fall into that category. That seems to be the case with more sensitive speakers in my opinion. |
bluemike,
No but I remember them fondly, I have my Audio Note kit 3 speakers in the corners not in the middle of the room like the Trentes demand. I find even with the Audio Note amp the Trentes tended to sound better - the Kit 3 is more picky of input source...
all the best
Phil |
You might want to consider the decware 1.5s. I'm breaking in a pair right now and they are a most beguiling speaker. Airy, articulate as hell, and downright spooky with the right recording. Not the last word in bass but what it does have is pretty much spot on (down 3db @ 37hz.) They are a bit polite, placing you at the venue rather than an in your face kind of presentation. I'm told that they'll loosen up as time goes on (the 8" driver is only 4 grams of doped paper and is pretty tightly mounted) but the dynamic swings and transients can be breathtaking. You tend to 'see' more anatomy of vocalists and notes have that initial bite, followed by the body and then decay in a most natural manner. Separation is outstanding; nothing is congealed or homoginized but their is a slight lack of oomph from the lower mids on down (again, they haven't broken in yet, but are getting better every time I hear them). My only caveat is that a mediocre or bad recording will not be enhanced by these speakers: they reveal flaws like a magnifying glass. I haven't heard everything out there but plannars, stats and box speakers now sound like they're playing through a bolt or two of cheescloth. They are 92db efficient, use a ribbon tweeter from 3000 on up with only a capacitor, and have a passive 8" woofer firing downward. I'm presently using a TAD modified Cayin CA-30 and it's a match made in heaven. The sound is so good that I've put off getting a new CDP for now and am still using my old Rotel RCD-971 as source. Check them out at decware.com and enjoy the music! |
ZU Druids, 101db & play down to 40hz. $2800 www.zucable.com and check out the reviews on 6moons.com |
Hi Phil
You still have the trentes ?
Good to hear from you |
JMR Trente
a little bit of heaven you will find |
Check out www.audio-resolution.com/zhorn/
I think all of Tom's speaker could work for you. All at a great price. |
Green Mountain Audio Callisto fits your question perfectly. I have driven them with an AES Superamp with 15 watts and now drive them with a Cary Rocket 88R with 30 watts in triode. The Rocket is 10 times the amp in sound quality and speed, but the Callisto sings with both. First order crossover with 90-91 db effeciency and the most satifying speaker I have owned in 30 years. See the 6 moons review:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gma2/callisto.html |
Check this review here on Audiogon:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rspkr&1116803821&read&keyw&zztriangle
Triangle Volante, 93 db sensitivity, fast, tight bottom end, great resolution. A little beyond your price tag when new, but might just be your ticket if you can find them used. |
it depends on the amp. as a generalization, a 25wpc tube amp will probably be a good fit with a rather 'forward' horn or one of the above mentioned speakers. the more mellow/laidback stuff tends to love ss and big watts |
MM de Capo i by REFERENCE 3A are really nice speakers and will do the trick. If my amp was smaller, I would probably own them.
You could also check out some JM Lab Micro Utopias BE. Not a bad way to spend $4k.
KiD |
"25 watt tube amplifier" and "tight/fast bottom end" are generally mutually exclusive.
I love tube amps (and use tube monoblocks in my main system), but aside from the megabuck ones, the bottom end most tube amps produce, regardless of the speaker, will be neither tight nor fast, especially if they put out only 25 watts (at least not compared to a decent solid-state amp). |
check out tyler acoustic speaker website. their speakers can be played with both tubes and solid state. the owners name is ty lashbrook. call him, he is great to talk with . i own two of his speakers the woodmeres and the linbrook signature monitors/w/stands. save big money comapered to what others ask. to me they are the best speakers i have owned.
www.tyleracoustics.com you can find him on this site as well. the sound you are describing is exactly what you will get with his line of speakers. i highly recommend them to everyone who asks about new or even used speakers. his entire line and company was given best at show from robert e. greene of the absolute sound at the last ces 2005 show. very rare a magazine recommends a factory direct company.
BILL L. |
