The weakness of the speakers are the cabinets, they literally fall apart, a friend of mine had the cabinets replaced 3 times during his ownership of the speakers. Every time it was done he was told they have "improved" the cabinets and it won't happen again, when he sold them they were starting to seperate again.
My friends speakers were the Trente's, and they were ok for monitor's, if you like monitor's that is. I tend not to like monitors so they never really moved me. |
Wow Tireguy,
I had mine for 5 years and never had any problem. I live near the beach in Southern California resulting in dampness and fog at least 4 months of the year, you'd think that would lead to problems, but no ever. A lot of wood and metals do not fair well around here due to the salty air. The workmanship and veneer on them was absolutely first rate.
Tmoon,
Reynaud speakers, like everything else in this hobby, are a mater of personal tastes. They have a rich, engaging, quality that - to me- is intoxicating. Some would call this warm, I don't see it that way. Reynaud speakers are spectacular when mated with the proper tube components, but don't necessarily shy away from solid state.
Most of the speaker line is extremely easy to drive at ~90dB and a stable 4 ohm load. I drove mine with everything from 5 watt SET's to 40 watt push-pull and 250wpc solid state amps.
Let us know a little more about your personal tastes inmusic, the types of audio components you've listened to and liked/hated, and the room you'll be setting them up in. |
I have J-M Reynaud Evolution 3's.
I love them.
I auditioned everything available here in New Zealand up to $10,000. I preferred these to Thiel, Maggie, Proac, Von Schweikert and all the English stuff we get here.
They are a little soft/warm but very musical - to me they sound emotional, immediate and so inviting - I do not notice any lack of detail or accuracy. They are easy to drive with both my Cairn 4808A (30 watts) and my Bryston B100.
I preferred their overall balance and integrity to the Sonus Faber Cremona's - which were uneven, though the Cremona's had a more extended treble and tighter bass.
JM-Reynaud is now designing and delivering a new speaker range while his son Claude runs the business operations.
They respond personally overnight to any emails I send them.
I suggest you contact Bob Neill at Amherst Audio - he is the U.S. importer and seems very straight-up and helpful to me, even though he knows he will never get a sale as I am so far away.
http://www.amherstaudio.com/
Good luck. |
Sorry Tireguy I am with the guys on this one. I never had any trouble with my Trent cabinets (when I still owned them) and they are among the most delicious speakers I have ever heard. Immediate, forward, holographic, balanced and easy to drive to boot. they are missing some at the extremes and are not thin or 'accurate' just lovely. I sold mine because they like to be in the middle of the room and my Audio Note kit 3 can be near the corners but has its hand full keeping up with the Trentes midrange. Also try something like a Stingray or Soro SE to drive them I bet you will be happy too. |
ok guys this is my gear;
Threshold SA/6.9/e 60 watts per.
Threshold fet/10 preamp
Threshold dac 1/e
speakers; polk SL-70
my room size is 13'X 13'. I may move to a bigger room at some point around 25'X 25'. For now I'm in the smaller room I just want to keep the bigger room in mind for the future. As far as music goes, I really like alot of different stuff. Big on jazz. Love insturmentals.
Then the other side, Dave Matthews, Eagles, Stevie Ray Vaughn. The main thing I'm looking for is detail in my music. I'm big on soundstage. I want to be able to idenify the insturmrnts without them sounding they are on top of my vocals.
I have a good sound now. I would like a deeper soundstage. With the 70's sometime the music is a little forward. I really would like them to disappear a little more. I am running MH750 biwire cales from MIT.
Can anyone tell me of a dealer that carries these speakers. Maybe an email address.
Guys thanks very much for your help as you can tell I'm new to this game, but I'm having a great time learning.
So anymore good tipps I would be greatful. |
Bob Neil of Amherst Audio is now the US Distributor for Reynaud speakers and the best place to start for information. Believe it or not, he actually started out a reviewer for 6Moons.com and loved reviewing the Reynaud's (and others) so much that he decided to become a dealer. Bob is a great guy to deal with, no "hard sell", just honest opinions about equipment. His reviews of the JMR line perfectly nail the essence and common traits of the line: Twins MKIIITrentéOffrandesConcordes |
Hey Y'all,
I'm the gent that Tireguy is referring to in his post. I owned the Trentes for 5 years and I did have the cabinets replaced three times. The only inaccuracy in what Tireguy said was that when I sold the speakers, they where not coming apart again. What was happening was the old battanboard cabinets would separate at the seams. I had an email correspondence with Jean Marie and he mentioned that in dryer climates, I live in NY; the wood that made up the cabinets had a tendency to separate. That is probably why Darkmoebius has never experienced this. He must either have the newer solid cabinets or the moisture from his local helps prevent this condition. I've been a big fan of JMR and particularly the Trentes but they are notorious for the separation of the battanboard cabinets. I think sound wise, they are a very competitive monitor system and I do recommend them. That is, if they have the solid cabinets.......John |
Thanks for clearing things up John! |
Hi John,
Thanks for filling in the details. I got my speakers right after JMR switched from the Battenboard to the newer cabinet construction.
How do you like the Von Schwiekert's?
I heard the VR4.5 jr(?) last year and they were incredible. |
Hey Y'all,
I think Von Schwiekert is currently putting out the best speakers on the market. I've had the pleasure of listening to every speaker in VSA's current line up except for the VR-1. The best, and most un-appreciated speaker is the DB-99. They Exceed 20Hz-20 KHz on both ends and you can drive them with an 8 watt set amp to 99dbs, incredible. I also think the most over looked speaker in the line up is the VR-2. They are not hard to drive, have very smooth and full mids and very pleasing highs. If you don't need the very last octave of bass or you have a smallish room, these are the floor standers you should be looking at. I've heard all of these speakers driven by different amps, (solid state, tube and hybrid) but they really have synergy with VAC. If you put any of the VSA's with the right size VAC, you will be very happy. I hope this babble helps.........John
PS
No problem, Tim. |
