Wolf,
I like the Preludes, but I do think that you're overselling them a bit. I own a pair and agree that they will amaze you with their ability to reproduce rock music from such a tiny footprint, but...
The Preludes' have no output in the deep bass, at least in my room. I moved them briefly into my listening room (they're featherweight) to measure their on-axis response with my RTA system (studio EQ wizard, at that time), because I do this with all of the speakers that I own. (I'm building my knowledge base as best I can.)
The Preludes are very satisfying in their overall tonality and, particularly, bass response because they manage some very clever trade-offs to present a "sense" of deep bass where none is present. This goes well beyond the ol' mid-bass hump trick and is more a function of a smoothly falling FR from their low end peak (pretty sure it was low 50s in my room) right on thru the midrange, where things begin to reverse themselves. There is usable, tho rapidly declining output into the mid/high 40s - not half bad for a speaker this size.
I've never meausred for THD (don't have the capability) but I wouldn't want to see those results, either. These speakers still live in my gym where they are played loud enough to distract me from the fact that I'm on a treadmill. Distortion was quickly evident at the high spls I initially tried and I've backed off from LOUD to loud. Break-up can still be heard ocasionally when the program material gets challenging.
I bought them a while back, maybe in '07 - IIRC, so I'm doing my best to recall the details here, but I remember that this misbehavior at volume was also evident on the demo pair I auditioned (a local dealer had special ordered them for a customer who bailed on the purchase) and nearly dissuaded me from buying them. However, floor space is very tight in my gym and the Preludes proved the best compact option at my price point, so I made the trade-off, and I'm happy that I did. They still get "worked out" regularly (pun intended).
It's always possible that these speakers will behave differently in a different room, but IME...
The Prelude is a very good little speaker that provides really satisfying bass from a tiny footprint. They are a great value when you need the impact of a kick-drum, but I don't expect that at very high SPLs and I don't expect the lowest register of bass guitar/organ/tuned drum to have the same presence. IMHO, it's not reasonable to expect the Prelude to hang with a subwoofer and -in my room- it doesn't.
Marty
I like the Preludes, but I do think that you're overselling them a bit. I own a pair and agree that they will amaze you with their ability to reproduce rock music from such a tiny footprint, but...
The Preludes' have no output in the deep bass, at least in my room. I moved them briefly into my listening room (they're featherweight) to measure their on-axis response with my RTA system (studio EQ wizard, at that time), because I do this with all of the speakers that I own. (I'm building my knowledge base as best I can.)
The Preludes are very satisfying in their overall tonality and, particularly, bass response because they manage some very clever trade-offs to present a "sense" of deep bass where none is present. This goes well beyond the ol' mid-bass hump trick and is more a function of a smoothly falling FR from their low end peak (pretty sure it was low 50s in my room) right on thru the midrange, where things begin to reverse themselves. There is usable, tho rapidly declining output into the mid/high 40s - not half bad for a speaker this size.
I've never meausred for THD (don't have the capability) but I wouldn't want to see those results, either. These speakers still live in my gym where they are played loud enough to distract me from the fact that I'm on a treadmill. Distortion was quickly evident at the high spls I initially tried and I've backed off from LOUD to loud. Break-up can still be heard ocasionally when the program material gets challenging.
I bought them a while back, maybe in '07 - IIRC, so I'm doing my best to recall the details here, but I remember that this misbehavior at volume was also evident on the demo pair I auditioned (a local dealer had special ordered them for a customer who bailed on the purchase) and nearly dissuaded me from buying them. However, floor space is very tight in my gym and the Preludes proved the best compact option at my price point, so I made the trade-off, and I'm happy that I did. They still get "worked out" regularly (pun intended).
It's always possible that these speakers will behave differently in a different room, but IME...
The Prelude is a very good little speaker that provides really satisfying bass from a tiny footprint. They are a great value when you need the impact of a kick-drum, but I don't expect that at very high SPLs and I don't expect the lowest register of bass guitar/organ/tuned drum to have the same presence. IMHO, it's not reasonable to expect the Prelude to hang with a subwoofer and -in my room- it doesn't.
Marty