Hi Bol, I don't think that setup you heard did the S5's any favors. Firstly the ARC preamp would be a bit slow for the S5's fast drivers. Also I found once my S5's reached 500+hrs they begun to open up, sound more relaxed and graceful, more beguiling, with faster transients, deeper imaging and greater micro detail. The S5's size allows them to throw a wide sound stage in an appropriate size room, but need some experimentation with setup. DCS to my ears is very good "hifi", but lacks the heart and soul of the Vitus SCD-025 for example. I've heard the D'Agostino mono's with Wilson Alexia's & a full DCS Vivaldi stack which didn't do it for me. I think any of the amp choices I mentioned before would have been a better match. Re: the coloration issue you heard, placing a set of Stillpoints Ultra 5's + Ultra bases under the speakers would have likely addressed that & further improved the sound. I agree with your description of their stage focus which is excellent. |
I can't say I found the S5's slow at all Bol. They use the same midrange driver as the Q3, although optimized for that speaker of course & basically the same berylium tweeter, only not manufactured in house. As for the twin 10" bass drivers, ok they may not be as fast as the smaller 7" bass drivers on the Q3, but imho they are plenty fast and more importantly, give a solid foundation to the sound with large orchestral pieces with kick drums, timpani, organ pipes and double basses. Perhaps most important of all (for me atleast), the S5's are wonderfully balanced and coherent, and a bit laid back and very easy to listen to. Some speakers like YG & Marten can be fatiguing to listen to in long listening sessions. Yes, the Q3's may be better, but for $10k less, frankly i'd rather put that into adding some Stillpoints isolation & bringing forward electronics upgrades. In other words, build around your speakers and optimize your system to get the very best out of them. |
@Bol, most high end speakers have some level of compromise, unless you're as rich as you apparently are. |
@Bol, that's true. No loudspeaker can claim to be capable of faithfully reproducing the live event. I also agree throwing money at audio along does not guarantee good sound. I think what you were trying to say is the secret to great sounding audio is system synergy. We're on the same page here. The S5's for example due to their resolving nature and tonality can sound rank with some amps and haunting with others (eg: Vitus). Cables also make a difference. Siltech and Jorma both have great synergy with Magico. In the end it's all about personal taste. |
Hi Peter, yeah I'd believe that as the smaller Pass amps in particular sound warm and a bit tube-like. The new XA.8 series is apparently very good, though as far as integrateds go, Pass don't have anything to compare to the SIA-025. |
Bol, I respect your view of cables as we all have a subjective view of what sounds good or not. I personally find the top Audioquest cables such as Wel bright and lacking musicality. In comparison, I find Siltech's Royal Signature series has much better presentation of tone and timbre, better bass and are the quietest cables i've ever heard. Also, Siltech's metalurgy is the best there is. That is why their cables actually improve, not degrade in sound over time. That is also one of the reasons their cables hold their value so well over time. The other is their awesome design/build quality. Siltech use the same computer program that Porsche use to design their cars and have sota build quality. In regard to Nordost, I have a buddy who has a good ear. He compared Odin to Jorma Prime and preferred Prime in every application except between his turntable and preamp. In that application, he preferred the silver cable for synergy, but he preferred Prime everywhere else. Jorma Prime to my ears are the most natural sounding and musical cables i've heard & is half the price of Odin! |
Bol, your views regarding Siltech vs Nordost are quite unique. By that I mean I haven't run into any such similar comments before. |
10-20-14: Peterayer
I chose a Mini II over the V2 and did not really like the S1 when I heard it. The S1 is the entry level speaker, has lower quality parts and sounds fairly thin to me. The Mini II was an all out effort for state of the art in small speaker designs. It is a much more refined and capable speaker than the S1, IMO. + 1. Though I wouldn't say the S1 has lower quality parts per say. The Bass-midrange driver is a version of the current Q series drivers. But I agree with your sound description though. I heard the S1's a couple of times and they just don't do it for me. The Mini II is a classic speaker & as you said, was an all-out effort to build the best stand mount. It also looks beautiful and has a very solid integrated stand. If you find they're a bit bass-shy in your room, you could always add one or two Wilson Benesch Torus subs which i'm told is a good combo. Of course not on the same level as the Q-sub 15, but still very good. |
Hi Bol, i'd be curious to ask what upstream gear you heard the S5's with? Were they fully played in? & What size room did you hear them in? A fully played in pair, in a medium to medium-large size room matched with Soulution, Vitus or Vac amps and the sound is rich, smooth, coherent, notably well balanced and has many layers in the bass. The S5's are fairly neutral, though are a bit on the warm side and transparent to source. They need a lot of run in time (500+ hrs). Would the Avalon Eidolon Diamond or Vandersteen 7 have better time coherency? Yes perhaps a little bit, but to my ears the S5's are plenty coherent. But if you weren't hearing many layers in the bass, I wouldn't blame the speakers. I would be looking at the upstream gear or run in time as likely culprits. |
I had a rethink about why I didn't like the sound of that setup with the Alexia's, D'Agostino mono's & DCS Vivaldi stack. I couldn't escape a sense of 'noise' (distortion?) and brightness which gave me listener fatigue. Surprising really considering the tremendous cost of the amps & front end. On reflection, the culprit may have been the DCS stack. I don't know if any amps could fix those speakers. But Vitus would make them suck less. |
