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Silverline Preludes : Still a good buy?

Hi, thought I'd ask the question as I know there are a few owners of the Preludes here at AG.
I'm very close to signing up for a pair of these slimline floorstanders and it's a bit of an undertaking as I'm in Australia and they'll end up costing me about $500-600 over their US starting price by the time they arrive at my door down here.
I looked at Totem Arro's and I've looked at several Aussie manufacturers as well but I keep coming back to the Preludes and everything I read about them pleases me but I'm probably breaking cardinal rule #1 Audition your speakers...listen before you buy!
I can't of course but I see them as a way for me to advance my modest system as it stands at the moment.

I'll be driving them with either of my two intergrateds, my Rega Mira3 or my Redgum SonofaGum(you may not know this amp in the US) with a Rega Apollo doing cdp duty and I'll try bi-wiring and single but I've read that these will go well with tube amplification and that's what I'd like to do eventually.

Do you think these are still a good buy, are there any other slimline floorstanders I should be thinking about in this price range?
The Silverline company itself has been very helpful so far in quoting for freight and providing info and that also helps sway you when people come across as helpful and not every company does as I know from exp.
Buying from overseas can be fraught with pitfalls but I'm hoping that this will go smoothly if I take the plunge.

Any advice you could supply would be appreciated.

Cheers TL
thelid
9 responses Add your response
thelid OP
15 posts
 
Well I guess no ones too interested to offer any advice...nevermind.

I went ahead and bought them from a supplier here at AG and shortly they will be winging their way to gods own country...Australia!

Can't wait to hear them in my system.
wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 
OH NO!!! Kidding...I've upgraded everything around my Preludes and they've responded by sounding better and better, and they were great right out of the box!. I use an older REL Q150e sub with them and in my room they sound AMAZING. The most recent tweak was simply moving to the 4 ohm tap on my Jolida tube power amp, and that seems to have improved things a little more...made the amp happier it seems since a minor low level mechanical buzz lessened. I have my Preludes on butcher blocks to raise them up 3 or 4 inches and stuck Vibrapods under them instead of using the spikes. Not sure why that works, but it does. Note that the Preludes take some time to break in, so be patient and you'll be rewarded with some mojo. Note that Alan Yun told me to NOT biwire them as they're more coherent with single wiring...I tried both and I ended up agreeing with him. You can carefully pop off (flat screwdriver used carefully) the plastic rings that cover the woofers and tighten the wood screws once in a while...the tweeter has a rubber damping thing that I have not messed with, so that's been left alone.
thelid OP
15 posts
 
Hey thanks Wolf :D I appreciate the advice. So don't biwire them eh,well I'd not heard that before, I've got both types of cables so I'll have to test myself and see.

Is your room carpeted or a polished timber floor or concrete with carpet over it?

Sounds like a great system, I'm hoping to move into tubes with these speakers, I'm currently running two SS amps which I switch between depending on mood+music.

My listening room is on the small-ish side and kinda hoping I don't have to go down the Sub road as the boss doesn't like them...

The butcher blocks idea is something I've not heard before. What made you think of that, was it just to raise the listening level up a bit or...?
bondmanp
1,816 posts
 
In their price range, the only other slim tower speaker I'd consider that I've heard is the Ohm Micro Walsh Tall. However, the Ohm is designed for smaller rooms. If your room exceeds the maximum recommended cubic footage for this model, go for the Preludes (which I see you did). The Preludes are very impressive speakers. Small in appearance, large in sound. You will probably love them. Alan is a talented designer and a nice guy. He just needs a better distribution network.
wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 
I wanted to raise the Preludes up a little (just to line up the tweeter with my ears, which likely isn't necessary but hey, I couldn't help it and didn't want to move my ears) and I found some butcher blocks at a Home Goods store that were cheap and exactly the footprint of the Preludes. Painted them flat black and stuck small rubber feet on them so they don't move (a stack of 2 per side), and they look like they belong there. The Vibrapods are under the Prelude bases on top of the blocks in an Oriental rug based environment, although the Preludes are on the floor just missing the rug. I informally tested the Preludes low frequency limits with a test CD and although they are surprisingly full range, they don't have much going on below 50hz...the REL just sweetens everything and charges the room somehow to make it sound simply better, and it really makes the Prelude system sing (the REL is unobtrusive...you barely see it behind the left speaker). I had been using a Forte' 55 amp but changed to the Jolida out of curiosity and because they're so inexpensive it's hard to lose (plus they accept the nice XLR cables I had).
thelid OP
15 posts
 
Thanks Bondmanp, yeah I've taken the plunge and now the waiting game plays out with hopefully undamaged speakers when they arrive way down here.
Yeah, I gotta admit that it was really tough going trying to buy them direct from Silverline and I gave up after about 8 or 9 emails so I've bought them off a seller here at AG via an Oz company that buys direct from the US and then moves stuff on to down here...convuluted to say the least and i understand why the majority of sellers don't sell outside of the US/Can area: Simply easier to do.

Still, I'm as keen as mustard to get my hands on them and try out all the different ways of playing music.
thelid OP
15 posts
 
Thanks again Wolf for the info. :D
Once I get to hear them and get them a bit run in, I'll look at maybe getting a sub if the SQ calls for it.

Can't wait to try them on some tubes but that may take a bit longer unless I grab one of those ultra cheap Chinese models which some people just bag and others say they're ok for what you pay...plenty of time of course.

Have you listened to any classical through them? While it's not my main listening music I do like to listen to it when I'm on the PCtyping or reading every now an again.
martykl
3,578 posts
 
For big bass energy from a small footprint, I think that the Prelude is pretty tough to beat.

They're not exactly neutral tonally (and - as Wolf notes - they don't go particularly deep), but they can deliver the thump of a kick drum with surprising oomph given the tiny footprint. Even if they won't produce a particularly flat FR graph (they produce a serious bass hump in my set-up), they're definitely close enough - especially over +/- 150hz - for my purposes. I have a pair in my exercise room where floor space is tight and loud rock is essential (if I'm going to survive on a treadmill for more than 10 minutes). IME, the Preludes fills that particular niche as well as anything I've ever heard anywhere near the price point.

Marty
wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 
I do listen to Classical and the Preludes do that just fine. I'm a believer that good speakers should work with everything. Musical information among different genres is the same thing really...complex acoustic piano harmonics, orchestras, well produced bands...all have lots of things for a speaker to sort out.

The Preludes in my room don't have a bass hump (in my listening spot anyway), but there are some standing waves around the room that are interesting but harmless.
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