Urgent Please Help Eggleston Savoy

Both great speakers. The Osiris are huge and a little laid back in the highs (I believe all Avalons were so prior to Eidolon era), you can maybe ask Deshapiro, he owned them prior to big Dynaudio's. I have the Savoy's in my showroom (DISCLAIMER: I'm the EW distributor for Italy) and they are a real reference speaker. They also weight a lot (410 lbs each) but not as the Osiris and come with custom casters. Their sound is timbrically similar to the Andra II but, because of the different load, your feeling is quite different. Keep in mind that they are designed mainly for mastering studios: dynamic capability, high spl and extreme timbric fidelity are the real targets. They also image extremely well, as the Andra's do. However, while the Andra's are more "musical" and sound "good" even with non perfect recording, the Savoy's, being more revealing and accurate, are less accommodating. This means that with the best recording you will be bring to the concert. As always, you should listen both for yourself before to make a decision. Best, luca.

Luke,

Thanks a million for replying, I have replaced the Wilson Benesch with the Savoys. I am breaking them in right now, I used to own the old Andras and I liked the dynamics so I am now trying the older brother now. I did listen to the Osiris for quite a while at the dealer, and somehow I felt the music had a very holographic image and I did like them very much. I did make the decision already, My room is a bit too small for Osiris, and I needed to move my room 180 degrees if I bought them.

It seems that these Savoy do use a lot of power, or maybe the gain on my ML 32 preamp is not enough. My pass XA 200 monos are driving them now, do you have any good Power amp
advises for the Savoys ? I was thinking of driving them with 2 pairs of Pass XA 200s, or even AR Ref 300MKIIs,

If possible could you give me more information of the Savyos? The dealers here are not that helpful...

Thanks,

Hugo

Hugo:

I think the best power amps for Savoy are CAT JL2/JL3. EW showed them in Las Vegas couple of years back with JL3 monos. I think you can find the photo on Audiogon show reports. It would be a much better choice then ARC, if you are going with tubes. Or with any other solid state for that matter.
I drive my Andras with JL2 and there is more then enough power together with triode class A magic. Get JL3 monos and you'll never look back.
regards, George

Dear Hugo, thanks for you words. I am glad you decided for the Savoys. Here I am powering them with Pass X600 monos. Savoys are less efficient than Andras, they have just 85 db/w/m whereas Andras have 88.5 (91 in room), so basically you need much more power. Out of crates the Savoys do not "sound" at all, you are probably hearing just the highs; when new they are dynamically compressed with no bass. Be quiet, this is absolutely normal. They need 150/200 hrs to open up completely and to raise the same efficiency in all frequencies. This is what Jim Thompson of EW wrote me about: ****The Savoy will generally take about 150 - 200 hours of playing to run in completely. The thing to keep in mind is that you have a lot of drivers there and they need to all get some movement during the break in. The important part is loosening up the woofers so that they can keep up with the tweeters and mids.*** Hope this helps.
About amps to match with them, I think the Pass are great but, at least the X600's, don't give me that sense of absolute control over the drivers. I don't know the X200's, so I cannot help you here. I know that the CAT JL3 are a very good match with Savoys and so I suspect would be with the ML 33's. I will get the new Viola Cadenza/Symphony electronics for evaluation very soon: they are designed by Tom Colangelo and Paul Jayson, the same guys of MLAS and Cello. I'll let you know my thoughts in a few weeks more. If you have any further question, feel free to e-mail me privately. Best, luca.

Now with almost 3weeks with my Savoys..

The PASS XA 200 are definately breaking them in...the highs sounds more sweeter by day, the bass is more defined..and the mids were always deatiled.

I just hooked them up with AQ Everest and OH boy did they come a live. I have traded my Krell 650MC monos with another pair of PASS XA 200, so soon my savoys will be run by 2 pairs of XA 200s.

Luke, the XA 200 is the pure A class version of X-1000 which has same chassis but s different inside, it is so much more muscular...

will keep you guys posted...