panel speaker purchase

One of our members, at the Apogee speaker users forum bought a pair of "Analaysis audio Epsilon"...he likes them.

He gave us his early impressions here:

http://www.audioworld.com/sw/Forum1/HTML/006548.html

Dave

i'm a straight shooter. very often i write the review and then buy the component. many times i buy a component with the understanding that i won't write a review.

if you read my reviews you will notice that many of the components i have reviewed, i don't own. also some of the components i do own i have not reviewed.

since i am unbiased in my reviews i could very well criticize a component even if i own it. in the case of the speaker, if i bought it, i would not review it.

i will be able to get a 45 percent reviewer's accomodation discount if buying the analysis audio speaker but it is an expensive purchase

How would you feel about writing a review in this case?

Upon reading this perhaps another manufacturer may up the ante and give you a 50% discount on a similar priced speaker....those Soundlabs are really good but they ain't cheap!

I like the way you play MrTennis ...the ball is in their court. Advantage MrTennis!

one of the reasons i am lookin for another speaker is the treble response of the 1.6. the 3.6 ribbon tweeter is more revealing than the quasi ribbon tweeter of the 1.6 .

i have heard the 3.6 speaker at dealer's and at ces.
i have heard it driven with audio research amps. the speaker is too revealing for my taste. i prefer an apogee-like presentation. a friend has the apogee duetta signature driven by a cj mv 125 amp.

gentlemen:

i have two panel speakers on my short list:

the analaysis audio epsilon and the podium from england.

i am going to ces next month and will listen to both of them. i am not thrilled with the price of the analysis audio speakers, namely 13200.

i will be able to get a 45 percent reviewer's accomodation discount if buying the analysis audio speaker but it is an expensive purchase. the podium speaker is $7900 and therefore would cost much less. we'll see.

if neither pans out, there is a full range martin logan speaker on the horizon, the clx, expected introduction, june to december of 2008.

I would go with the 3.6's as they are an easy load to drive still you need a lot of good old tube power to drive them like AR vt-200.You will need at least 100 watts of tube power to drive anything bigger than what you have.

Mrtennis, I have owned Apogees for the past 15 years (Slant 6s, Studio Grands) and was very satisfied until listening to a pair of Ambience Reference 1600 ribbon hybrids ($12,900) last year. They are 96 db efficient, easy to drive, and can play very loudly for those special occasions (much louder than electrostats auditioned) and are a true dipole so soundstaging is huge. They have a forward, clean, very detailed sound that I simply could not find with cone speakers even in the $30,000+ range and are a nice match with tube gear. The biggest problem is that they are made in Australia and there is not a large dealer network here in the States; it took 4 weeks to receive mine. Definitely worth checking out.

hi terry:

i almost bought one of the models from analysis audio but didn't because of distribution issues. at this point i will probably wait to hear the martin logan clx, the replacement for the cls 2z. expected release date is early 2008.

i also was tempted to purchase quad els, but have not so far.

Hi Mrtennis
Did you by any chance you get a pair of new panel speakers, if so, can you pls say which brand and how it is working out.
I have been a Magnepan listener for 25 years and hoping to find something else. I have managed to order a pair of Amphityron from Analysis Audio and hopefully will add an extra pair of bass panels.

thx Terry

Roger is a great guy to deal with, I wish him all the best in his new venture.

thank you gentlemen for your suggestions. i tend to favor full range panel speakers. thanks again Bob Reynolds. i spoke to roger sanders today and he is sending me his stereo version of his solid state design especially suitable for magnepans and electrostatic speakers.

i am a bit skeptical, as i generally prefer the sound of tubes. i will use a passive pre to avoid sending a dc signal. we'll see how it sounds.

Lesser known hybrids:

Ambience, A.R.T. (Advanced Ribbon Technology), BKS, Davidson and Soundline. There's more I'm forgetting right now. Some of these claim to work with low power tubes. (?)

Is Yankee Audio/John Taylor still around? They made a great full range ribbon system.

http://www.acoustat.com.cn/en/index.asp

Check out this link. The site is a little slow but interesting.

Eminent Technology comes to mind as a possible Maggie alternative, using push-pull rather than single-ended topology as I recall.

I think that Beveridge and Janszen are back in production, under the direction of Harold's son and Arthur's son, respectively.

Gilmore Audio makes a couple of ribbon/dipole woofer hybrids that are can play very loud.

In my opinion, the Maggie 3.6 is real hard to beat in its price range.

Duke

Eminent Technology should not be overlooked, VMPS, NewForm Research, Innersound Eros used can be had for a good price, I own VMPS, Innersound, Magnepan, the VMPS I own has the Bohlender Graebener Planar Ribbons in them, again call Bruce Thigpen at Eminent Technology....great guy and a great product that I never owned but came close and did a lengthy audition of.

What price range?...some of those you have on your list (Analysis, Apogee, Soundlab) are well over $10,000 new. Used Apogees can be rebuilt as new...$1,500 for a used pair...around $3,500 for the rebuild ($5,000 total).

Dave

Have you considered the "ribbons" like Newform Research, VMPS, Wisdom, Genesis and Transmission Audio? Maybe an old pair of Carver Amazings. Some are dipolar.