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Advice about warm, gentle speakers...


Help. I need to use a home theater system for 2 channel music. The system is based on a mid-level Denon DVD player and a Denon receiver and right now the ONLY variable I can change is the brand of front left and right speakers (presently Paradigm Titans). I would like to get something that can soften the digital glare (besides turning down the treble!). The speakers need to be either monitors or small floor standers and I am aiming for a price less than $4,000 new or used. Finally, I am not in a location where I can audition different brands so I hope to narrow it down to a few choices for in-home trials. I listen to all types of music but not louder than about 80-85 db. From reviewing the forums it appears that more “serene” brands include Green Mountain, Spendor, Sonus Faber and Vienna Acoustics. I really appreciate any input on this—thanks in advance for the advice.
aitchnu
boa2's avatar
boa2
1,551 posts
 
The Green Mountain speakers are awesome, but probably too revealing with the Denon gear.
Good point, Jerrym303. The Tylers are certainly warmer, and probably a more forgiving match.
drseid
201 posts
 
They are warmer, but they aren't more forgiving IMO. I have tried my various Tylers on several pieces of electronics at various price points and manufacturers... Each time the speakers revealed differences in the electronics feeding them to my ears, at least. As such, I am not saying Tyler/Denon is a bad match (as that is not a combo I tried), but only to be careful there as the Tylers will reveal the Denon's character through them, and that may or may not be a good thing.
jerrym303
54 posts
 
I plan to hlod onto my Taylo Reference Monitors until they die or I do, whichever comes first.

It's just that folks were recommending that Aitchnu look at both Callistos and Tylers. Having compared these side by side in my system with various electronics over the past 45 days, I got good a feel for the comparison.

Aitchnu noted that he was getting some digital/treble glare. I think that I can say for sure that the Tylers will be more livable with that situation. The Callistos will put it right back at you.

I agree with you that Tylers don't sound the same regardless of electronics. I bought them as a finalist becasue they are very good speakers plus Ty is great. Each piece sounded different through the Tylers, but they were generally more comfortable sounding with brighter electronics/cables then the Callistos were. I guess that you could say the they are more forgiving of bright electronics while the Callistos might be more forgiving of darker electronics.
boa2's avatar
boa2
1,551 posts
 
Each time the speakers revealed differences in the electronics feeding them to my ears, at least.
Every speaker reveals the differences between upstream components. However, warm and neutral are not the same, and yet your post would suggest that the Tylers are both. I find them to be quite warm, even softening the sound of gear that I have otherwise found to be harsh, or edgy. In my vocabulary, this translates to also being forgiving in nature. On the other hand, Dynaudio or B&W, for example, are not similarly forgiving.
drseid
201 posts
 
I hope you did not misinterpret my post as an attack on your analysis Jerry... That definitely was not my intent. My point was that a Denon/Tyler combo may not give the results the OP is looking for, as the Tylers will reveal the character of the source electronics quite readily. The same can be said of GMAs, I am sure (and I too am a big fan of those as well). I have only heard the Callistos on a Manley Steelhead (that was a perfect match, I might add), but have no experience as to their sound differences on various electronics as I don't own them and only heard them on one system. No offense or attack was intended.

---Dave
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