Sweet sounding speakers?

I’m sure they have much to commend them as regards their sound. However, this is a company which takes the exclusive approach to their marketing it would seem. Lots of warm description and impressive close ups of sumptuous veneers. No mention of prices, almost as though this is a selection device to make sure only the true cognoscenti darken their door. Like entering an antique shop in the Cotswolds, “if you have to ask the price then you probably can’t afford it”.

So, a firm meh from me. 50 year old blokes in rumpled Harris tweed should not try to play coy like some cute 18 year old. I did see an effusive review on a US site which mentioned pricing from $7000 upwards. Pretentious or what? But then, I’m just a vulgar Brummie.

You are not wrong.

I did, from idle curiosity, look these up. On the one hand you can get them in a lovely beige colour with oak trim. On the other hand they are 48cm wide and 165cm tall. So that’s a hard no from me.

But thanks for the suggestion nonetheless.

Prenez guard, je parlerai Francais.

Je fais coucou á vouz! You have a GSOH Monsieur Le Coq, but I like the cut of your jib. A tout a l’heure, alligateur.

Please do not retaliate, otherwise I’ll have to go back on to Google Translate. Je t’en supplie.

Or even two words perhaps? An observation for literal thinkers only.

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Even three now. I added GSOH and jib to my vocabulary.
Salutations from the chicken :chicken:
image

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Haha sorry Jeff just missed your max budget.
Perhaps the Auditorium R25 Anniversary is an option, should be around £5k and with some discount from a friendly dealer….who knows :grin:

I haven’t read through the entire thread but most of it and didn’t find any mention of source or pre but maybe that is beyond the ops budget. Otherwise I have found harshness to emanate from electronics and setup of said electronics also. So it might be worth trying different setup of the electronics to start with and see how that goes. Experiment with what the gear is on and how cables are dressed. It could make a worthwhile difference at the cost of nothing. If budget alows then a different source or pre could also be a way forward keeping the speakers as they are. However I have never heard any of the ops system let alone in his room.

Best of luck though. It’s really annoying with harsh sound.

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These do look sumptious in those carefully book matched veneers. Price converts to £5400 at today’s rates, so a comfortable £1k more than I have, or would want to spend. For another lifetime perhaps?

You know the one, where a £5k price increase from Naim can be shrugged off as you are chauffered across town to the opera in your Roller, relaxing on your Connolly leather with a nonchalant shrug of “so what?”

Kit is detailed in my sig. Nothing fancy, just a music store, streamer and amp.

Thanks for those thoughts. Have to say though that this brand new perception of hard and harsh treble was not there the day before I had the new hearing aids but had arrived from nowhere the first time I lined up a playlist and hit the play button when sitting in front of the thing in my new ones, with great expectations rapidly dashed. So to me that shouts cause and effect, right there.

As to whether a bit of judicious tinkering might ameliorate it is certainly worth pursuing, so point taken, thank you.

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Haha ok got it. Not sure if there are secondhand LV in the UK for a more suitable price.
Sound is really excellent.
Anyway good luck searching Jeff

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Surprised no one has suggested reducing the toe in of your current speakers. This usually has a taming effect on brightness and is a free tweak! Might be worth a go.

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I did actually mention that upthread in post # 51 or 52 but easy to miss in a long thread.

Whoops, missed that!

No worries. It’s hard enough to remember what I wrote myself just a matter of a few hours ago :roll_eyes:

Meanwhile I’m sitting here at the desktop computer in my mancave listening to Angela Hewitt playing Scarlatti courtesy of the Presto Music website and it sounds bluddy marvellous, courtesy of Win10 and an old Denon compact hifi with £100 Denon bookshelf speakers. No harsh highs at all.

But that happens when you forget to listen to the kit and only listen to the artist and the composition, I find. K481 in F minor never sounded so good…

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Very good suggestion, I think. And I feel these might fit the bill here better than ATC.

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Quite possibly so. The Ministra is a bit on the small side perhaps? The Ekstra is too tall and spindly (and a dealer said he thought the build quality of these was not all it could be - too liable to topple over maybe?) The Orkestra is too expensive. So it could very well be that the Majistra is in the Goldilocks zone for me? They don’t give frequency range information on these speakers but apparently it uses the same drivers as the Orkestra so it should have some heft. Don’t know if they are actually out in circulation yet at dealers? More expensive than the Sonetto 3 however. So not cheap for a stand mount which does not boast premium finishes. All the cost is hidden inside no doubt.

In other news, I tentatively approached the wife with the tape measure earlier (I know, you don’t want to hear the sordid details), pulled the standmounts out so that the front was 52cm from the wall and said that was where an Audiovector R3 would be best positioned, according to the wise heads on here. She took the view that this was not a problem for her and would even provide some welcome variety, more so than having everything lined up with its back to the wall like a row of soldiers.

You could have knocked me down with something they use to knock people down with. A shillelagh perhaps? I always knew that seven shillings and sixpence I forked out 54 years ago was a wise investment.

So the R3 Signature goes back to the top of the list for now. Probably.

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A speaker out of budget might come in on price when ex-demo. I think it’s worth having a word with dealers. You might be surprised.

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I heard somewhere that Widex hearing aids were more ‘audiophile’…

Sorry if they’ve been mentioned or ruled out but find the Dynaudio speaker in your price range as from budget right through to eye wateringly expensive all of their speakers that I have heard are excellent. Nice mids, excellent tuneful bass and beautiful though not bright treble.

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Look at Goldnote speakers. They have a reputation of sounding very sweet . Italian brand too.


Picture from Actual Hifi.

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The Evoke 20 or 30 were amongst the first potential choices I thought about as I had the impression they were at the sweeter end, but perhaps that only applies to their top models using the Esotar? When I asked my dealer, who stock this brand, they did not agree, suggesting I would likely find them quite bright compared to others, so they seemed to dismiss them immediately, as they did with KEF. Yet when I was listening at their place to the Fyne 501s and the Sonetto they also thought the B&W 702 might be in the same ball park, when surely these are well known for bright treble?

Also, I had assumed that Dynaudio designs are universally rear ported bass reflex, so needed a lot of air around them?

So its hard to know sometimes when you are being served or swerved, or even both at once.

Now those are pretty indeed.

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@Jeff105
I’d really recommend the R3 , room friendly and even more importantly wife friendly. Very well made, smallish footprint, not just an oblong box. I’m sure John can arrange a home trial.
BobF

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as an owner of the evoke 10, i know its the baby of the range but the treble is sweet and uses the hexis thungy form the special 40’s, and if anything they are a little rolled off but there is more than enough detail and way better than the screeching pmc’s ive owned. Although small, bass goes to 47hz and yes they are rear ported but i find 20cm behind is all they need

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