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?
The Bliss seller entered shipping info in the ad. You have to register to see the shipping quotes. Also there are filters for searching (I use North America/United States or whatever it's called). Perhaps try contacting them to see if they are willing to ship (if they have the original boxes). Shark is my main search tool (been looking for Audio Note AX Two Sig's for a couple of years now).
DeKay
|
BTW, I'm currently auditioning a pair of Harbeth C7 XD. The only thing they have sonically in common with the Castle Eden is that they render large images that can fill the room, but otherwise, they're very different. The Harbeths aren't as rich sounding and don't offer the harmonic tonal color that the Castles do. With the C7, I never believe I'm actually listening to real instruments.
However, it's easy to listen to. I think the top end can get peaky at times. And it's not all that airy at the same time. Bass is tight and has some presence, but this speaker never seems to fully let loose on larger stuff. I can see some liking this speaker, as it has pretty good liquidity with smaller scale music, and a wide open midband. |
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/ |
