@roxy54, please explain how you reconcile your current opinion of the 888s with you earlier statements in the thread.
MoFi Sourcepoint 888 Speakers
I recently found myself with a little extra money, and after some thought and having read so many positive things, I decided to try a pair of the Sourcepoint 888's. I had actually been set on a pair of JBL HDI 3800's, but I couldn't find a set in my price range as they were closing out remaining stock, and they were all the more expensive black lacquer.
Anyway, the MoFi's seemed to fit the bill. I was looking for a gutsier mid-bass, the one failing of my current speakers (Odyssey Kismet Reference), which are actually wonderful otherwise. Still, mid-bass is responsible for some of the oomph and forward momentum in music, especially rock, so my search began. Besides the reviews having seemed to be a good match for what I was looking for, I had a certain amount of faith in Andrew Jones, knowing that he has designed some very good speakers.
I have only had them in my system for a couple of days, so of course there will be a few months of system adjustment as well as the difficult mental adjustments that take place when you (or at least I) get new speakers. That said, I really think that these are wonderful at reproducing music. They're very full bodied, but not at all slow or sluggish, and voices are a bit larger than past speakers I've owned and very intimate, with a level of detail that I haven't had before, but without any exaggerated treble.
Bass is as advertised, very good. Solid, deep and impactful. It isn't loose at all, which didn't surprise me since the woofers have rolled surrounds which are pretty stiff, and he came up with a scheme of opposing magnets at the voice coil (no, I don't really understand it) that is supposed to make the movement of the driver much more controlled.
It'll be a good while before I can really know the speakers in and out because it always takes me a while to get the comparative sound of my previous speakers out of my head, but I am really enjoying these. I'm also wondering what other member's experiences with them have been.
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@kofibaffour + 1 |
It was a bit hard and humbling to write the update because it showed that my first impressions were very premature. I should know by now that , for myself at least, it actually takes months to get the measure of a speakers. My update may seem harsh, but for whatever it's worth, I wanted to let everyone know that I no longer own them and why I don't. I really have no interest in bashing them or the brand, and I certainly believe that they are working well for others. That said, they didn't work well for me in my room where a number of other speakers, large and small have performed well. |
@roxy54 What did you end up with? Sorry if I missed it from previous post. |
That's a good question... After I sold the 888's, I decided to put my Odyssey Audio Kismet Reference floorstanders up for sale. I thought that they were very fine speakers in almost every way, except that the midbass was a little week, taking some of the power that is in that range away, and it bothered me over a period of 2 years. Even at that, they made the Sourcepoints seem lacking (to my ears) in most other areas. in the interim, I started using a mint set of old Celestion sl6si's that I had, and I realized that I really enjoyed the presentation in my room, even though they had obvious low frequency and dynamic limitations. So, I began a search for good, dynamic small monitors and decided to try to get a set of Triangle Magellan Duettos if possible. I located a dealer with a demo pair, but his price was too high for my budget, and I decided against them. That same night, I happened to see on USAM a set of Crites Cornscalas that were being sold for a very reasonable price by a well-off gentleman who owns a number of pairs of very good speakers and was just making room for new Sashas. He had bought these new from Crites and had them veneered in Teak professionally as well as upgrading the mid horn driver and the crossover and rewiring them with Audio Note cable and Audio Note binding posts. I am a long time fan of Klipsch having owned Khorns and Epic CF4's for many years, so I found it irresistible, and I bought them. At this time, I am having custom stands built for them to raise the horn to the correct level. I am enjoying them very much, but as with any speaker, they aren't perfect, and I don't expect perfection. The mid bass that I was missing is back. |
I had Crites Cornscalas for a little while. They were good, just not great. One shortcoming I found was a cabinet resonance in the midbass that once I heard it, it couldn’t be unheard. I attribute that to the removable rear wall that flexes with deep bass passages. Some things I did to improve them was to wrap the midrange horn with dynamat. I also lined the rear cabinet wall with dynamat. But the biggest improvement was a set of ALK crossovers. The Crites xovers are a real weak point in my opinion. Good luck with the speakers. |
Thanks @ozzy62 . I know there will be upgrades ahead. I already damped the horns. |
I should have read your post more carefully before I replied. I see you already have upgraded xovers as well as some other upgrades. I’m sure those things made a nice improvement. The cornscala is a design with lots of promise. I’m sure you’ve seen some of Justin Webers take on these. The sky is the limit. |
Hi @ozzy62 No, I haven't heard of him, but I'll look him up. Thanks! |
I've hesitated in replying again for a number of reasons. * We all have somewhat different hearing acuity. * We have different tastes in music and presentation, along with different experiences with live music and individual systems. * We have different rooms and associated acoustics and a wide variety of different components in our systems. Still, I was surprised to see roxy54's revised listening impressions with the 888s. Not that I doubt his impressions, but my own have been very different. Such differences in perspective can be a big advantage in personal reports compared with "professional" reviews, so I'll expand a bit on my own.. From their initial installation I was pleased by the sonics of the MoFis, and that only increased as I put more time on them. However my current situation is a combination of good news/bad. On the good side I've been an audio hobbyist for decades and have the experience of owning countless systems as well as hearing many others owned by friends. Plus I've continued attending a variety of live concerts my whole adult life. The bad is age-related hearing loss so I admit to missing upper frequency information. After several months of listening to the MoFi SourcePoint 888s I can summarize my experience in non-audio speak. I become immersed in the music. I don't need to evaluate my listening experience in technicalities. The experience brings me into the performance with great tonal realism with a variety of instruments and voices. Musical essence is experienced. I'm happy to keep mine. |