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Review: Green Mountain Audio Europa Monitor

Category: Speakers

They finally arrived and the fear that I just sold a great sounding pair of Legacy Studios for speakers I have never heard, is beginning to fade. I know I still have 200+ hours of brake-in ahead of me to really know...but some things I can tell already. There is a sense of 'more power', and less effort for the speakers to produce more sound. I descibe it like this: let's say you have a Honda Civic that you have been working on making it faster, with the latest electronics and turbo and all the trick stuff..and its really fast. Then Larry the mechanic moves next door and comes over and says "Let's put a Chevy V-8 in that bugger and see what it does". So we cram this V-8 into it, change the suspension etc. so its driveable. Now remember, Larry isn't soffisticated and has grease under his finger nails and the instalation isn't all pretty and color coordinated....but when you turn the key to turn it on you get goose bumps and your heart rate increases...and it now does stuff your pretty little sooped up Honda engine could never do. The Europas aren't pretty and they are very hand made and come in a plain box; but wait till you turn the key! More after 200 hours.

Associated gear
B&K avr202, Denon DVD-2800, Signal Cable cabling.

Similar products
Legacy Studios
jceisner
the_kid's avatar
the_kid
465 posts
 
Yep, you will not miss the Legacy Speakers one bit. Nice purchase and great upgrade! Good Listening...

KiD
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drubin
3,274 posts
 
C'mon, Jceisner. You must be 200 hours in by now? Maybe not.

By the way, does everyone subscribe to the break-in prescription of putting the speakers closely face-to-face, wiring them out of phase with one another, and playing a monaural source through them at high volume (but not too high)? I'm told most of the sound cancels out and this makes it tolerable to live with the things playing 24x7 for however long it takes, or at least playing for time than you would normally play them during the day. Of course, you miss out on the simulated bipolar disorder we get to go through as our new speakers sound awful, then good, then mediocre, then great, then dreadful, then...
jceisner OP
16 posts
 
Approaching the half-way point of the first 100 hours; hoping this isn't like watching mold grow, or irritating the more knowledgeable among you, I wanted to check in. I wish the Europas came with a 'Roymeter' for keeping track of listening time, so I'm just guessing on the actual time...but about 3 weeks. Tonight my Europas 'disappeared', wow. I was just sitting on my couch and all of a sudden I noticed they were gone. Something changed! I know how it is...did that really happen, am I just imagining that, do I just want them to be like what others have said...... Well, they are gone now and they just sound better. For those that continue to be skeptical of these changes that come with tweaks and upgrades, just do yourselves a favor and make your wives happy and get that Bose system with those cute little speakers that aren't so big and ugly. Speaking of tweaks, I wanted to mention another thing that has performed beyond its price (like the Europas), www.dakiom.com its like spending an extra $1-2000 on your system for under $100. Bigger soundstage, more clarity, more sound.... Get this upgrade, keep your lesser electronics and buy the Europas for under $900 and you will feel like you bought a whole new system. Honest. Its like stealing.
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