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Speaker shootout update; aggressive treble eliminating some (fairly?)

I've been trying out speakers in a complicated shoot out, both bookshelves and towers — all in my home with my gear. I'm looking for speakers obtainable up to about $4k but could go up (or down) a bit if the right thing came along.

Basic facts: All speakers were run in at least 100 hours. Room is 27 x 14 x 6.5 ceilings. Powering with all QS tubes, 60w, NOS, tube R2R dac, and decent cables. No terrible reflection points; room not overly live or dampened. REL R 328 sub available but I did most listening without it.

Recent auditions, type:

Klipsch RP 600-M (budget singleton of the group)
Fritz Rev Carbon 7 mk II (bookshelf, 2 way, soft dome)
Focal 936 (tower, 3 way, inverted metal)
Martin Logan Motion 60s XTi (tower, 3 way, AMT)

Coming soon:

Salk SS 6M (bookshelf, 2 way, beryllium)
Dynaudio Evoke 30's (tower, 3 way, soft dome)

Let me speak just to the problems, rather than what was good about the speakers. So far, I've found the Klipsch, Focal, and especially the Martin Logans were all too bright — forward, aggressive, "turn it down" treble.

The ML's were the most impossible to tame and hardest to listen to on more tracks. (I did a lot of hanging of towels and other dampeners and other soft things to try to see if I could bring them to heel. I varied the recordings used. Changed cables/wires. No luck.)

The Focals were occasionally too bright; their bigger problem was a bit too much energy in my small listening space. They were better when I plugged their ports with socks.

I'm looking forward to how the next two speakers sound. The Dynaudio towers, I notice, are 10 inches shorter and half the weight of the other towers; not sure what that might mean, but it could just be right size for my space. I'm looking forward to seeing if the Salks bring more detail to the treble without also being too rolled off or harsh.

Hearing is very personal for physiological and taste reasons. However, if anyone has any thoughts about why I might be experiencing some of the phenomena I am (harsh treble, especially) based on my room or gear, etc., that might help me understand factors I'm not fully appreciating. Thanks.


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Showing 2 responses by larry5729

larry5729's avatar
larry5729
1,000 posts
 
You would be very dissatisfied if you settled for the Focal 936 or the Martin Logan Motion 60's.  You will get ear fatigue from the Martin Logan's.  

I ended up buying a pair of Paradigm Prestige 85F towers and adding a pair of REL S3 SHO subwoofers.  They sound so much better than the Focal's and the Martin Logan's.  For $6,000 the SALK Song3 Encore's are much better.
larry5729's avatar
larry5729
1,000 posts
 
If you can afford to spend $6,000, I would buy a pair of SALK Song3 Encore towers.  I heard these at the RMAF in Denver and they sounded better than a pair of $60,000 speakers down the hall.  Call Jim Salk and tell him Larry Edwards from Denver sent you.  There is nothing in this for me, but I think you will be blown away by the sound.  He sells only direct and because he does not have to discount his speakers to dealers, he can afford to use the best speaker components.  His cabinet build is also incredible.  Wish I had waited to buy these myself.  Hopefully, one of these days I will buy a pair.
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