There's a great thread, "Speakers to hold onto for life". The overwhelming consenses is that they're fullrange speakers. How about us monitor speaker fans? What monitor speaker do you own or plan on purchasing that will indeed stop the quest for a better speaker, or to hang on to for life.
My impressions of the Timepiece 3.0 are too faint to pinpoint with any accuracy the differences to the Ayra C-1.0's, but I find them both very natural sounding - indeed highly honest and insightful. The 3.0's had a physicality that immediately struck me, a direct-ness without being in any way forced or fatiguing. It's the sensation of knowing very well the core nature of the sound of an instrument, for example, and the ease with which they present the music is quite addicting. As you say, they're extremely musical; no fooling around, but just music in a pure and... well, truthful manner.
One of the things I find so fascinating about the C-1.0's is their attentiveness, if you will, to the smallest shifts and nuances in the music. In effect, it produces attentiveness in the listener, and you truly feel the texture and innate-ness of the music. Moreover, they're seemingly capable of coping everything you feed them, unfolding evermore complexities for one to take in - carte blanche. They never fluster or loose sight.
I'd love to hear you more express in more detail the sound of the Timepiece 3.0!
The word "natural" is probably the best way to describe the 3.0 speakers. Everything is balanced so well. Almost every other monitor I've tried seemed to favor certain frequencies, where the 3.0's seem to favor all frequencies, in a very musical way. They are very "truthful" speakers. I think a lot of it has to do with the lower crossover point that Bob uses in conjunction with the waveguide. I've had these speakers for over 2 years now and not once have I felt the need to "search" for something better.
One of the things I find so fascinating about the C-1.0's is their attentiveness, if you will, to the smallest shifts and nuances in the music. In effect, it produces attentiveness in the listener, and you truly feel the texture and innate-ness of the music. Moreover, they're seemingly capable of coping everything you feed them, unfolding evermore complexities for one to take in - carte blanche. They never fluster or loose sight.
This nicely sums my experience of the Raidho Arya C-1.0 as well.
The ribbon has transparency and resolution which is within marching distance of an ESL and the bass cone not only times well with the ribbon (a tough feat) but delivers a truly satisfying low end within the context of monitor speakers
Markeetaux - You had previously asked how the Omega Alnico Super 8 XRS speakers would react to amps on the order of 120 wpc and higher. My Super 8's are about three weeks old and are not yet fully broken in. I have driven them with an Anthem Statement A5 (180 wpc), Nagra PSA (100 wpc), and an Accuphase P-3000 (75 wpc, but drives speakers with greater ease than my former 125 wpc Levinson 334). The Super 8's sound excellent with all three of these amps. They seem to like amps that have high current capability. But I believe they will sound best with a tube amp, and that is something I will begin exploring this weekend.
I'm expecting my new poweramp, a NuForce Stereo 8.5V3, to arrive sometime next week. I'll gladly return with my impressions once the NuForce amp has been integrated in my system. It replaces an Acoustic Reality eAR 202 REF(a fine little amp, though not giving the C-1.0's the "ride" they're really capable of), and I believe I'm in for a substantial upgrade. It must be added that I use no preamp in the usual sense, but outputs from an RME soundcard directly into the poweramp, hereby applying a J River 15 playback application and its internal digital volume control as a "preamp" instead. Many may not feel this to represent an audiophile solution, but really, I'd choose it over most any (hardware) preamp.
I think that the LSA1 Statement deserves a serious look by anybody looking at monitors in the under $3K range. Very, very musical, detailed yet non fatiguing, sweet top end from that ribbon tweeter, precise imaging, huge soundstage and remarkable bass extension. Mine are not nearly broken in yet, but I'm loving them! :-)
The NuForce Stereo 8.5V3 arrived yesterday, and has since been running some 20 hours. Allegedly the V3's require som 150+ hours(preferably past 200 hrs) to settle in, and will up to this mark or point present the listener with a reported rollercoaster ride going from good to bad to flabbergast inducing good. However, not many hours into its run yesterday evening a friend and I did have trouble catching our jaws; the level of resolution, extension(both ends of the scale) and decay, control, clarity, speed, organic-ness, solidity(as in voices exhibiting a very lifelike core and presence), purity, and a difficult-to-describe "energy" was beyond what any of us had experienced in most any home setup. Hard to believe that such a tiny box, and at an attractive price, can make such a difference. And to conclude: I'd say this little amp couples extremely well with the C-1.0's...
Glad to hear you're happy with the NuForce (haven't checked in here at audiogon for awhile). What preamp are you using? I've heard the C-1.0s with high-end Simaudio (awesome) and also with a Bel Canto integrated (good but not great - I could definitely tell that the amp was holding back the system).
Im banging my head with these ones but they are so good they deserve a LOT more attention. Irrespective of the definition of floor stander or monitors, they are placed on stand but are quite large, they are the finest speakers I have heard period and the ones that have stopped my search for another speaker, now my quest is for a headphone that can be even remotely close, although that feels more of an utopia, but the speakers are the APL Gravitas NB-1
I use no preamp in the usual sense, instead going through the software-based J River 15 playback application in my mediaserver, using its internal digital volume control. I output directly from an RME HDSP 9632 soundcard into the NuForce, with great results. My music is stored lossless(WAV) on the harddrive. Since both the RME soundcard and J River 15 appl. are ASIO-supported, they're exclusively "linked" during playback. IC's and speakercables are Mundorf's Silver/gold.
It appears a software-based preamp may seem controversial almost, at least with regard to higher aspirations in sound reproduction, but in my experience it's the route to go. I also like the minimalist approach this setup offers.
Phusis, I have Audio Physic Virgo IIs, an ASR Emitter I amp, and a Reimyo DAC. I think the ASR would be a great match with the Raidho - both are neutral, have incredible amounts of detail without being fatiguing, and produce soundstages with tremendous depth and width.
After more than a year, I'm really enjoying the heck out of my Fritz Carbon's.
When I first got them, they obviously did a lot of things really well, but I heard a vocal glare that really disappointed me.
I heard it, but for the most part it wasn't a flaw in Fritz's speakers. Low cost DIY stand and room upgrades/treatment and improved cables, and it's like I'm listening to a whole new system.
The reason I qualified that statement with "for the most part" is that I think the speakers seem quite sensitive to the wall behind them.
I have now got my system sounding good for the first time since I sold off a sonically terrific but too-high-maintenance system and moved homes about 8 years ago and can whole-heartedly recommend the Carbon 7s.
Fritz Carbon 7's are amazing. For those who haven't heard of it, go to www.sonicflare.com and check out Sean's review. I believe he accurately captures the traits of the Carbon 7.
Best monitor I've heard under $4K! And I've heard almost all the mainstream brands (B&W, Paradigm, ProAc, Dynaudio, Usher, Totem, and the list goes on.)
Just aqn update - Fritz didn't have the Carbon 7's, he had sold the demo pair before we met up. He did have the Grove Towers I was interested in. I spent about 3 weeks with them, going from hot to warm, and finally decided I really like them. I now own them. Fritz feels they are direct competition to the Totem Forrest, and has a small shop I think in Dana Point that has agreed to floor a pair of his Grove Towers next to a pair of Totem Forrests in an A/B set up. I wish I was in So. Cal. just to check that out! Dang, I just remembered this is a monitor speaker thread... Sorry for the OT, but I'll leave the post, because I think Fritz' speakers are awesome, and he is one of the nice guys, and deserves the added exposure.
I previously stated that the Sonus Faber Guarneri Mementos would stop the quest for me. That impression/opinion was based on several auditioning sessions at the home of my dealer. Now that I have owned these superbly musical marvels for about a month now, I will reaffirm unequivocally that my monitor speaker quest is OVER! Thank you Sonus Faber!
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