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Sjofen The Clue speakers

I bought a pair of The Clues from Lars about a month ago for my bedroom system. I decided to break them in with my main system, which consists of a Modwright LS100 preamp and KWA 100SE amp, Oppo 105 CD player, Jolida FX Tube DAC, Jolida phono preamp, and a SOTA Star TT. My main speakers are Joseph Audio RM25XL floor mounts speakers, which are fantastic. I have had many stand mounts in my system over the past few years, including GMA Callisto's, EOS HD's, KEF LS50s's, Ascend Acoustics, Usher 718 Diamonds, and a couple others I now have forgotten.

I am simply blown away with the musicality of The Clues, particularly with their dynamic extension. These speakers go really low and are extremely well balanced. They perform optimally when placed directly against the back wall of your listening room.

After listening to them for a month, I will go out a limb and say they are nearly the sonic equal of my $4300 JA speaker! I could go on and on about how fine The Clues sound, but I will say that I have never had a stand mounts speakers in my system that performed as fine as these do. For $1000, they simply have no reason to sound as wonderful as they do, but they absolutely do. You owe it to yourself to give these little gems a listen. Friends that have heard them in my system have come to the same conclusion that I have: they are fabulous, full-range speakers that are modestly priced. Highly recommended!
whitestix

Showing 5 responses by onhwy61

onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,344 posts
 
Soix, the reviewer claims he set them up in accordance with the manufacturer's written instructions. Are you saying he didn't?
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,344 posts
 
The reviewer heard the loudspeakers at an audio show, thought they sounded great and arranged for an review pair. He set them up in accordance with the manufacturer's detailed written instructions and never got them to sound acceptable. They were transparent, soundstaged well and were detailed without being analytical, but they were not tonally balanced. Those are the presented facts.

How different is that reviewer's circumstances from that of a typical buyer? If the review is any way near accurate, then I suspect a large number of buyers have also noted the loudspeaker's tonal imbalance. Whether or not the tonality is critical to them is another question.

Have any owners of the Clue used in a the double loudspeaker setup?
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,344 posts
 
So the reviewer did set up the loudspeakers as per the manufacturer's instructions, but that setup isn't always optimal.

If a product is that demanding in setup and/or system matching, then maybe the manufacturer should be a little proactive in ensuring its optimal use.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,344 posts
 
I wish Stereophile and other magazines would decline direct manufacturer setup assistance during the review process. The exception would be when that setup assistance is performed for every purchaser. I realize this is wishful think on my part.

The most common complaint against audio magazines is that they don't publish negative reviews. I don't know if it's a trend, but Stereophile has recently published a number of "non-rave" reviews, with at least one covering a long time ad purchaser's product. Clearly, the reviewer found serious fault with The Clue, but other than that single issue the review was quite favorable. Based upon the response of the manufacturer and previous Stereophile reports on the loudspeaker, the fault appears correctable. The review certainly wouldn't deter me from considering purchasing The Clue if I were in the market for a monitor loudspeaker.

Swampwalker, I'm stunned that you are stunned. If I were the manufacturer of a loudspeaker that was very demanding in its setup requirements and I wasn't absolutely positive that a reviewer was going to adhere to those requirements, then I would ask for the loudspeakers to be returned and the review terminated. That's my idea of being proactive.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,344 posts
 
In the most recent issue of Stereophile there are separate reviews of a Revel subwoofer and a GoldenEar floorstander. For the subwoofer review the manufacturer sends the subwoofer, a pair of main loudspeakers and the loudspeaker designer is present to handle the setup. The setup involved placement, audio measurements and software controlled EQ and crossover selection. With the GoldenEar the company president shows up to do the setup. Apparently the loudspeaker is sensitive to the listening axis and in the reviewer's listening room needed to be tilted forward for proper treble balance and integration.

In each of the above cases the manufacturer's assistance made sure that their products would perform optimally. This type of assistance is standard in the audiophile review community. What I question is whether a typical purchaser of the products can expect to obtain optimal performance? If I buy the loudspeaker does the president or designer show up at my house and make sure the loudspeaker is properly setup? Should audio reviews include a "results may vary" disclaimer?

In the on-line version of the Stereophile The Clue review the comments section has someone's real world experience with the loudspeaker. I found the comments very informative.
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