A side note: I spent a couple hours chatting with Roy on the horn and he is truly a very intelligent, charming, and down-to-earth righteous dude! Although the Europas will not win any beauty pagents...they are a true GIANT KILLER in a market of over-hyped and overpriced fare...thanks Roy!
Nearfield vs. Ambient sound
After moving from a 10 x 15 room into a 21 x 17 one I realized my criteria for coherent sound had dramatically been altered. My Quad 12Ls which performed so flawlessly in a near-field set-up were being challenged by sheer square footage. In a "reference" application with a listening distance of 5ft they provided a hyper-detailed, imaging galore soundscape....however...in my new enviroment...their forward presentation at a distance of 10ft cames across as very flat and uninvolving. I longed for a more spatial, ambient sound that projected more into the room in a 3D manner. The test: Green Mountain Europas. After reading Roy Johnson's many posts on this site regarding time/phase issues and his phase coherent designs, I had to find out if he was A)full of himself or B)really knew what "time it is" regarding speaker design. Happily, the latter is true. The Europas presented a much more full-bodied, sonic experience...with a soundstage that literally wraps around you...and eery 3-d imaging that is almost "reach out and touch" like in appearance...remembering that phase correct designs are at their best at a 8-10ft listening distance (due to first order crossover/driver overlap)...(and thus a poor choice for nearfield applications)...I was pleasantly surprised to find the answer to my dilemna...an image that is extremely coherent, large, and very "live" sounding...not to mention non-fatiguing....the Europas are a pleasant surprise in the otherwise homogenous monitor world...they are a must audition...
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