Triangle Antal ESW speakers experience please

Well, I owned a pair of RS6s, one of my local hifi buddies has a pair of Antal ESWs, I have heard 802Ds a couple times with Mc gear, and I have had tons of McIntosh gear in my system, so I suppose can offer some insight.

First thing I have to say is that whoever thought to pair up McIntosh and Triangle knows what he is doing! That is a super good marriage - their synergy is without a doubt part of the magic you heard. They will play to each others' strengths and that always makes for a winning combination. Kudos to that dealer IMO.

I believe the reason the 802Ds sounded similar to the Antals is that they both have a similar sonic signature: remarkable transparency. They tend to make edge definitions very clear, although I admit the 802Ds are considerably smoother at doing so. But, they will both let the McIntosh sound come through loud and clear - that is what you heard IMO.

As for the RS6s being bright, my experience makes me want to disagree. They do however have a prominent top end that will not be friendly if the amps aren't good quality but I fail to see how they would be bright with a Prima Luna. Maybe your room? I thought my RS6s were too laid back with 6L6 tubes in my Mc240 but then I thought they were too forward with my Kora monoblocks. KT66 tubes ended up being the way to go.

If you are thinking of trying Antal ESws, I wouldn't hesitate particularly if you like your RS6s. The ESws will have a much larger soundstage and incredible bass impact but will retain that midrange definition the RS6s do so well. Mind you the Antals will take FOREVER to break in - particularly the midrange. Only after hundreds of hours will that latex paper cone clear its throat. In the end, I feel the Antals are definately in a class above the RS6s - but they do cost nearly double...

As a final note, you may really like having a McIntosh amp. Their latest designs really are special. You weren't making it up. And if you mate them with clean transparent speakers, that magic will come through at its best. Sounds like you have already had a taste of it.

Arthur

Well interestingly enough, I have some Triangle Antal ESw's and my buddy just sold some RS6's. He was running the RS6's with an Audio Aero Prima MkII through a Mac C42 and then Mc-240 tube amp. I hope he chimes in because he should be able to give you some comparitive insight after having heard my system.

I can say that I do believe that the Primaluna and the Apollo would be great with the Antals. I have a Cary SLI-80 and a Sony XA777ES with them myself. The Antals do very well with tubes, better than the solid state I tried with them. Depending on your person preferences, your room and your ancillary equipment I think they would be a great match and certainly a lot cheaper than the 802s. My last bit of input is that I believe that the Antals are not a bright speaker, as some claim, rather it is accurate and will reveal harsh electronics.
Rush

He beat me!
R

Arthur/Rush, Great to "meet" you guys, especially since you both have RS6 and Antal experience.

Arthur, thanks for confirming my thoughts on the MC sound, and the match between Triangle and Mc. It was a dealer in SoCal, actually an ex-dealer who came out of retirement to start another dealership because he missed it. So he only carried limited range of Triangle/Dali and McIntosh.

So you are currently running RS6 through Mc gears, right?
Then do you hear the Mcintosh sound?
For me, the RS6 play classical music very well, pianos notes are clear, violins reach their high notes, orchestral pieces have very good soundstage and depth but jazz is just hard to enjoy. Jazz pieces tend to be too seperates and strangely, bass tends to fade to the background? For example, in Kind of Blues, the bass player seems to stay well back and not really playing, just feathering the strings to almost non-existent.

I am just scratching my head to figure out why. True that I have not treated my room with any kind of bass traps etc and that the room is very lively and bright. So for the moment, I am not buying any more speakers until I get the room fixed.

Rush, please do get your buddy to chime in. Did you say he just sold the RS6, I'd be interested to know why or what is about the sound that he did not like or simply just to upgrade. Did he sell the RS6 to buy the Antal?

Did you run your system through the RS6? If so, anything to share?

Cheers

Actually, Arthur is my buddy that I was hoping would chime in. We have not heard the RS6s through my system or the Antals driven by his system. Hopefully he will respond again to help you with the comparison.

I would suggest treating the room immediately. I think that it helps greatly. I have corner bass traps, just dense fiberglass panels (rockwool). They work great. I would also at least treat the first reflection points with sound damping materials. If your room is bright I would put a rug in and some furniture or something to damp the reverberation in the room. Happy listening!
R