Speakers To Replace Castle Edens


My Castle Edens (stand mounted monitors)  may be on their last legs. The woofer is bottoming out with more dynamic passages at louder than average volume. If I could find another working pair, or a pair with, say, damaged tweeters, I could take the woofers out and put them in mine. The company no longer exists, so getting a new set of woofers is rather remote.

 

The midrange on the speaker is gorgeous. It's detailed, tactile, rich, spacious. I was up at an audio shop with them and we compared it with several others, including some costing a few thousand.  We both agreed that the Eden was, by far, the best. Instruments and voices were 3-dimensional and placed distinctly in the soundstage. And the speaker is very communicative. 

 

So... the closest to these Castles I have heard is the Sonus Faber Minima, but that's $5400 with stands ($4000 w/o), more than my budget.  I'm going to listen to the Fyne 500SP, although from reading, I'm not sure if I'll like them. 

 

I've heard a couple of the lowest level Reynaud speakers. I know those who rave about the better ones, including an old friend who had a pair of Offrandes. The ones I've heard (Trente and Twins) were really warm, generous, and communicative, but not detailed and frequency response was uneven down below. 

 

The closest dealer to me, Bob Neill of Amherst Audio, is no longer the distributor. He thinks the Bliss Jubilé is a great speaker, more immediate and lively than the previous Bliss models, but not as warm as previous Bliss. They could be in my budget. But I'd have to order them without hearing them. From what others tell me and what I have read, I'd probably like them, but that's a gamble.

 

BTW, I live on the north shore of Boston. I don't know if there's another dealer within New England.

 

Any thoughts on this? 

analogj

Showing 1 response by soix

If you haven’t been to Goodwins High End in Waltham you should go listen to some DeVore speakers. I think you might really dig their new O Baby speaker, but at $5700 they’re probably out of your price range but still really worth a listen. Here’s a review of it from Steve Guttenberg (not really a fan BTW) FWIW…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c8OrTtqx3s

If you find the DeVore house sound is up your alley, there’s a nice pair of their The Nines speaker for $4000 on USAM that might well be worth a look. Local pickup in NJ only but might well be worth the drive and maybe the owner would let you listen. Best of luck.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649887794-devore-fidelity-the-nines/