Mid range & sound stage.

At this price nothing at all.

I was lucky enough to win the CA30 on ebay for only £410. They were ex-demo'so as new. Used with Naim amps and Meridian CD player with Chord Signiture IC. As mentioned before, the first thing to hit you is the clarity of the midrange. The bass and tweeter join seemlessly. Bass is well controlled, not over the top. Treble, also as pointed out is there, but not over loud. Can sound alittle bright with some CD's. Have the feeling it was designed with Vinyl in mind where it is a nicer, more subtle affair. If care is taken with positioning they have a very large sound stage. Especially the bass, it is everywhere without being annoying. I can't say I've yet found a genre of music that doesn't agree with the speakers. I've had them now for over 6 monthes and have no regrets with my purchase.

Similar Products Used:

Audax speaker kits, Various Meridian active speakers.

Well balanced and natural sound. Lovely midrange.

Not the most dynamic sounding. Needs good ancillaries.

A very neutral but involving speaker. It does need extended run in time before it gives its best. Not as dynamic as similar designs, but gives a far more realistic sound.
Bass extension is better than it might at first seem due to a lack of any 'boominess'. Exceptional presentation of voice,electric guitar and acoustic strings.

Similar Products Used:

Linn Keilidh

Warm realistic sound

Not for dance or others requiring really high frequencies

Hi...

I'm no expert but I'd like to think I have a reasonable ear. My system is Roksan Caspian CDP, MVL 2A+ amp (150W) with Van den Hul First I/Cs and DIY speaker cables.

The speakers I'm using is actually the Cura CA30s which is exactly like the CA21s but with an extra bass driver located in the rear and a rear bass port.

The speakers are very lush warm and realistic. Like mentioned in previous reviews, the mids are excellant and transparent. The have a sense of control and realism. Sounds come out nicely rounded and with feeling especially jazz albums (trumpet sounds will make you melt). Playing rock music with male vocals are also excellant... you'll feel the growl of the singers.

Because of the extra bass driver, the bass is much much reinforced in this speakers. This provides a more taut and punchy bass with loads of weight. But some might say the bass would crowd out the frequencies and in smaller rooms might tend to be abit boomy. But I think it's needed as I tested the CA21s and I didn't like the speaker at all.

I've tested the Missions and the Linns at the same time. A brief mention on this. The Misssions provide a more in-your-face sound. Very clear but to me abit plastic. Great for rock and hip-hop, pop, dance etc but loses the subtlety and timbre required for my taste. The Linns were great too. Similar to the Curas but just slightly less points in each category.

The real strength in this speakers are their presence. They will fill up your room with music and can handle high loads. They will literally disappear from your room. This is amazing! It's not like the sound comes from two points but emanates from everywhere. You'll have to play it loud to really appreciate this though. On the softer volumes, they seem subdued as though they are complaining that they're not fed enough power =)

Criticisms. The upper frequencies (4 kHz plus) lack the ooomph factor in sparkle. I think you get a more warm sound rather than a bright tinkly sound as seen in most newly designed speakers. This can be abit annoying at times when you just want really sharp music. Transparency is not as brilliant as others (eg. a horn speaker I recently listened to), more so in the front to back spacing. Side to side is great. Dedicated classical music fans might want to have a more specialised speaker.

In summary, this is a great speaker for jazz and most others with great mid-range warmth and excellant taut bass (CA30s). A little lacking in the high frequencies. Very realistic and controlled. Plus the cabinets are made of really expensive looking wood veneer (very hard and stable) and look really cool! Since there's no 4.5 I'll have to give it a full 5 stars.

Similar Products Used:

Linn Keilidh, Mission 783, Cura CA21

Allow loads of time (a month or more) for the drive units to break in, but when they have what you get is a totally transparent midrange, smooth sweet treble and a very broad dynamic range. It needs an amp with clout and bass control, so don't go for this if you're limited to spend less than $1500 on the amplification. With the Plinius 8150 it's a dream, and betters other speakers that cost 60% more such as Dynaudio Contour 1.8II easily in my book. Perhaps you don't get quite the same thump, but the imaging is better, and it's a more natural listen. They sell themselves on this point, and they're right.