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spendor 3/5 vs era vs avi vs vienna acoustics hayd

i may violate the cardinal rule when making a purchase. i may take a big chance and make a mistake.

i am looking for a mini monitor and have narrowed it down to:

spendor 3/5, era ($600), avi neutron 4 and vienna acoustics haydn 2.

i will not be able to compare them and may not be able to listen to all of them.

i will have to rely on judgements from dealers, manufacturers and serious listeners. i may be able to use logic and "common" sense (hope i have it) to try to wade through all of the comments on these products.

ok: i am trying to find a speaker under $1500, decent bass response (flat to 60 hz), little cabinet resonance, somewhat laid back and a soft upper mid/lower treble response.

which of the 4, if any would be the best choice, and why ?

this would be a second speaker. my primary speakers are quad 63s and maggie 1.6 .

thanks for your help.
mrtennis
mrtennis OP
3,295 posts
 
in my initial post, i did not audition any of the speakers using orchestral material. sometime thereafter, i questioned some dealers regarding small speakers and iwas advised that there would be a "deficit" in reproduction relative to larger speakers.

it's interesting that none of the responses discussed the subject of listening to complex material using small boxes.

if there were a comment on this subject you wouldn't have raised this issue.

i thought one the reasons for psting questions to exchange opinions. whether a purchase is contemplated is irrelevant.
chetlo
4 posts
 
I don't agree that smaller sound box does not give you clarity for orchestra listening. I listen to a lot of orchestral work on my small speakers. They sound great. I think what is leaking is the very low register bass which do make the orchestra sound "fuller". However, if you listen to orchestra playing in concert halls, most of the time the bass is not as “strong” as we hear on records. On the other hand, I think many people using larger speakers also have larger listening environments which help to produce more “roomy” sound. If you have a small room for your listening enjoyment, larger speaker doesn’t neither as the resonant of your room really doesn’t allow you to produce low bass.

Another prove of the fault of smaller speakers can not resolving complex information is that ear phones, which being even smaller, are excellent monitoring devices. The issue of resolving complex information is not the size but the quality of production.
bokifeac
22 posts
 
I think again we should separate two words which came to my mind regarding your doubts: "big" and "complex". it's not the same thing. small monitors could handle "complex" materials very well, but usually they've sound as big as its physical limits. it is normal that bigger boxes sounds bigger and therefore many like to think how big orchestra is 'feeling' better through big speakers.

maybe this theory has its deficits, but I have yet to find and see pocket cello and pocket double bass sounding as big as the big ones :O))
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