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Speaker Choice: Narrowed down, need final opinions

Hi All,

I had a few posts trying to narrown down my choices for high quality, small to midsize floorstanders. As a bit of background I have downscaled from B&W Matrix 801 Series 3 which were too big for me, so I needed to dowscale in size but I do not want to lose in terms of quality. Here are all the details I can think of, if there is anything else which may help please let me know.

I have 2 options now, one of which is the Elac speakers: either the 207.2 or preferably the 208.2. Has anyone got these or heard them somewhere? What were your thoughts? . I also enjoy a decent amount of bass and that is why I would prefer the 208.2, but has anyone heard the 207.2? How is their bass extensions? (by the way the 209.2 is out of my budget)

My other choice is the Monitor Audio Gold Reference 60's ( can get at a fantastic price). I know I won't have a problem with bass with those. In the mids and highs though, is their quality comparable to that of the Elac's, and/or the 801 S3's? My previous options (now ruled out) were the Revel F30's which I could only afford second hand and the pair is now sold, and the Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home which unlike the previous Grand Piano's are not biwireable and I do not want to replace/alter my cables.

Associated Equipment:
-Bryston 4B-ST Amplifier
-Electrocompaniet EC 4.5 Preamp
-Kimber KCAG interconnects
-Zu Cable Wax biwire speaker cable
-Shanling CD-T100 CD Player

Room:
-fairly large (about 35ft x 14ft, but divided into 2 by an arch so my room is effectively 17.5ft x 14ft)
-long wall setup
-speakers around 8-9ft apart and listener about 8ft to each speaker

Thanks for the help,
X
xenithon

Showing 11 responses by xenithon

xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Hi There,

I am using the system only for stereo and not HT, and have read in many threads that the newer GP Home's are geared more toward HT, and the older ones better suited to 2-channel. Have you found this perhaps to be the case?

Also like I said the new GP Home's are not biwireable. I do not really want to change my speaker cables which I really like (Zu Cable Wax Biwire).

Thanks,
X
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Thanks for the input guys!

I actually may be able to get a pair of Audes Blues at a reasonable price within my budget. How would you compare the Audes Blues to the others such as the Monitor Audio and the Sonus Faber Grand Pianos??

Thanks!
X
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Hi There,

Thanks for the suggestion but I am not really looking for a standmount/sub combo. I would only consider a floorstander right now.

Cheers,
X
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Hi There,

Well the N803's are out of the question. They are way out of my budget. As I stated earlier, unfortunately prices vary tremendously from US/EU countries so some products cost roughly the same as overseas and some cost as much as double (different importers, different markups etc.). Also, a few of the choices I have are dealer demos at great price, such as the GR-60's, which would normally be out of budget.

About the speaker with single wire terminals: I really do not want to change my speaker cable. It is the Zu Cable Wax Biwire. This is not available here and was a special import, so sending it back for retermination is not an option really. They are banana plugs all round and that's the problem (can't connect two bananas to a terminal). However I am trying to find a banana to spade adaptor, since then I could connect the cable properly by connecting two spades per terminal. The only problem is finding such an adapter - do you know of any?

Now looking at single-wire speakers, it does not really open up more options unfortunately. Many of the speakers are simply too expensive here, such as the Audio Physic, Vienna Accoustics, Dynaudio. These are single-wire speakers but are hellishly expensive here for some reason, much more than overseas. Others I can look at are the new SF Grand Piano Home (the old versions are not available anywhere). Would those be better than something like the Elac 209 or Monitor Audio GR-60 (my current 2 options).

Thanks for the help,
X
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
hi there,

Rsbeck: the 803's would still be too expensive. The GR-60s and F30s I can get are dealer demos at a greatly reduced price. The 803s even second hand are out of budget. Also as I said before, unfortunately you cannot compare prices here to those in the US/Europe - for example B&W are a lot more expensive here making them out of reach. There is also a limited market here so you may find a used pair of 803's once a year if you are lucky.

Sean34 - I was thinking about the Audes especially after all the great reviews and awards. The problem is that they are not actually available here. I have spoke to Audes and they can ship a pair no problem that means I am buying 'blind' so to speak and have no recourse if they fit terribly with my room or equipment.

2 more alternatives I have added though (single wire speakers previously left out of the equation) are the Vienna Acoustics Mozart and the Audio Physic Spark or Tempo. What are your thoughts on those? I also did not think about them before since they both only have 2 5.5" drivers and thus I fear they may be lacking in the bass region, although I know their sound and build quality are superb.

Cheers,
X
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Hi There,

That's a good idea, I will list them below. However please note that the Bryston *MAY* be sold. If the speakers are efficient (which I think all the candidates are) I may get a pair of Shanling SP-80 Class-A monoblocks to partner with my Shanling CD-T100 CD Player. I am quite a firm believer that partnering components yields a synergy which mixing and matching sometimes cannot. But that will be much later though, nothing in the very near future.

The candidates which are available and I can currently afford (some new, some dealer demos) are:
1. Monitor Audio GR-60
2. Elac 209 Jet
3. Audio Physic Spark\Tempo
4. Vienna Accoustics Mozart
5. Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home
6. Paradigm Signature S4 ***
(*** not currently available here but will be in around 2 months)

I am not trying to be arrogant/stubborn but guys please try not to say that I can get speaker X for the same price, because pricing here is very different to overseas, and also many brands are simply not available. For example there is the Audes Blues which I have heard is amazing, and within my budget, but not available here and I do not want to import something without ever even hearing it.

Thanks for the help
X
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
SOrry, here is a quick update. I made quite a lot of calls today to confirm availability, new pricing etc. and the end result is this: I currently have two choice:

1. Monitor Audio GR-60
2. Elac 209 Jet

The others are not feasible at the moment for various reasons. The Paradigm Signature S4's are still an option but the have an ETA of 2-3 months.

Thanks,
X
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Hi There,

I do not mind it too bright. I may very well be moving to tube amps which I am sure will tone it down if need be. The main question is quality: how does it compare to the other. How does it compare to something like the N804's (I cannot get those but at least I know there sound so have a good reference point). Talking about tube amps: anyone know how well the Shanling SP-80 amps will do for speakers like these? Almost all the candidates are rated to around 200W and 90dB or more sensitivity. The Shanling amps are tube rated 50W.

I can have the Audes Blues shipped to me directly from the company (I have contacted them in the past few weeks concerning the matter), but the question is: is it worth doing this special once off import? What if the sound is not good (to my ears at least)? It will be difficult to sell and will have a low resale value since no one really knows the product and there will be no product support.

Cheers,
X
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Once again, the problem is that there is limited availability here. Thus the Green Mountain Audio speakers are not available. I have heard the same thing about the Audes Blues which are not available here and I am in the same position: I do not think it is at all worth importing them specially (without ever hearing them) and end up not liking them. On top of that they will have little resale value and no support. It is much safer to go for something available here.

Anyways, heard the GR-60's and some others. Bought the GR-60's, they are fantastic. Now its time tom hunt for an amp.

I also have Zu Cable Wax Biwire speaker cable going to the speakers and Kimber KCAG interconnects: is it a good move to look into the Zu Cable interconnects as a replacement for the KCAG's? Something like their Varial (top of the line) or the Gede just below it?

Cheers,
X
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
Yes I was thinking about that more and more Greg - there is a guy here called Gunther Steinhart, makes a brand called Steinhart amps. They are actually quite fantastic (perhaps ther are people in the UK that know his amps as he has started exporting and has one a number of awards in Britain (and been reviewed in a number of magazines). He actually lives around 10 minutes from me so I will pop in and discuss it with him.

One thing to bear in mind though (not sure if I mentioned it) is that a change in amp is a future prospect only. I do not have funds for both speakers and amp, otherwise indeed my choices for speakers would have been a lot greater. The amp will only come if and when the funds become available and my current amp is sold.

Thanks for the help guys!

BTW. Anyone interested in HGA cables? I actually brought in a whole lot about 6 months ago to see if they could be marketed here but with no luck. I thus have like 5-6 pairs of their cable (all three types of interconnects) just lying around.
xenithon OP
130 posts
 
One more questions: has anyone here had experience with the Paradigm Signature S4? They are only coming out here in around 2 months but I wanted to check if anyone has heard them in the US/Europe. How do they sound in comparison to others?

Cheers,
X
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