I have experience with several of these speakers (and a few similar models), so here are my thoughts on how they sounded in my 12x15 living room with decent solid state amplification:
1. Dynaudio - haven’t tried the Evoke series, but I have always found Dynaudio tweeters to be smooth and non-fatiguing (based the X12, X14, and Special 40). Their bookshelf speakers tend to have a big bass response which may make it a bit difficult to blend with a subwoofer (although I’m just guessing on this).
2. Ascend Acoustics Sierra 2 - I didn’t have the EX model. I loved the Raal tweeter in this speaker. However, I didn’t feel that the woofer was at the same level of detail and clarity. It appears that the EX model addresses this, so I have a feeling that this would be an excellent speaker with great imaging.
3. Revel Performa3 M105 and M106 - I tried them both and really liked the M105. The M106 was too boomy in my room. Even thought the specs are fairly similar, the M106 seemed to have much more bass. The M105 was crystal clear and never got ruffled. Ultimately, I felt that the Revel sound appealed more to my analytical audiophile side than to my music loving side, if that makes any sense. I just didn’t feel quite as connected to the music with the Revel, but they are technically flawless, as far as I could tell. It’s the upstream gear that makes the difference with these.
4. Quad S2 - my favorite of the bunch. The ribbon tweeter on these is the best tweeter I’ve heard among the sanely priced bookshelf speakers I’ve tried. Incredible imaging and no harshness. My only reservation about them is the Kevlar woofer. It was clean and clear, but it didn’t quite capture the tonality of instruments as well as some of the other speakers that I tried. I’m not a fan of Kevlar drivers in general, so it may just be a personal taste issue more than any flaw with the speakers.
5. KEF LS50 - I liked a lot of things about these, but I just couldn’t really get them dialed in. I brought them to a friend’s house, and we listened to them on a high-end system with an ARC pre/power combo and a Pass phono stage. They sounded amazing in that set up, which is a testament to the quality of the speaker. However, on my 100-ish WPC integrated, they just didn’t live up to the hype.
Hope some of my experience helps. As always, the only way to really know is to hear them in your system with your gear. Several of these speakers are sold online with a 30-60 day return policy (I just noticed Quad is now available at Crutchfield), so you can find out how they work in your room with your system and your ears.
Good luck, and have fun!
Scott
1. Dynaudio - haven’t tried the Evoke series, but I have always found Dynaudio tweeters to be smooth and non-fatiguing (based the X12, X14, and Special 40). Their bookshelf speakers tend to have a big bass response which may make it a bit difficult to blend with a subwoofer (although I’m just guessing on this).
2. Ascend Acoustics Sierra 2 - I didn’t have the EX model. I loved the Raal tweeter in this speaker. However, I didn’t feel that the woofer was at the same level of detail and clarity. It appears that the EX model addresses this, so I have a feeling that this would be an excellent speaker with great imaging.
3. Revel Performa3 M105 and M106 - I tried them both and really liked the M105. The M106 was too boomy in my room. Even thought the specs are fairly similar, the M106 seemed to have much more bass. The M105 was crystal clear and never got ruffled. Ultimately, I felt that the Revel sound appealed more to my analytical audiophile side than to my music loving side, if that makes any sense. I just didn’t feel quite as connected to the music with the Revel, but they are technically flawless, as far as I could tell. It’s the upstream gear that makes the difference with these.
4. Quad S2 - my favorite of the bunch. The ribbon tweeter on these is the best tweeter I’ve heard among the sanely priced bookshelf speakers I’ve tried. Incredible imaging and no harshness. My only reservation about them is the Kevlar woofer. It was clean and clear, but it didn’t quite capture the tonality of instruments as well as some of the other speakers that I tried. I’m not a fan of Kevlar drivers in general, so it may just be a personal taste issue more than any flaw with the speakers.
5. KEF LS50 - I liked a lot of things about these, but I just couldn’t really get them dialed in. I brought them to a friend’s house, and we listened to them on a high-end system with an ARC pre/power combo and a Pass phono stage. They sounded amazing in that set up, which is a testament to the quality of the speaker. However, on my 100-ish WPC integrated, they just didn’t live up to the hype.
Hope some of my experience helps. As always, the only way to really know is to hear them in your system with your gear. Several of these speakers are sold online with a 30-60 day return policy (I just noticed Quad is now available at Crutchfield), so you can find out how they work in your room with your system and your ears.
Good luck, and have fun!
Scott