chrisauto

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Great depth in clarity and bass. Can pick up even the most minute details, (try listening to Eagle's Hotel California) details which you may have never heard before. Matched up with my MENTHOR 300-B valve amp which was custom made by a japanese friend of mine who have 30 years building valve amps. To get the most solid bass from the pair it is advisable to chuck them right into the corner with a little gap and you'll get really solid bass. Clarity is unsurpassed because of the Focal driver. Comes in beautiful red or blue marble like effect which really looks great but have to give it a polish or two to enhance its gloss. You can pair the kompact with almost any amp due to its high dB (above 92 i think) and believe me you have not heard a great speaker if you did not give them a try.

Strengths:
Solid Bass Exceptional clarity Good to look at

Weaknesses:
The care needed to maintain its glossy looks.

Similar Products Used:
Pro-Ac Tablette 3 & 5

Summary:
These speakers can deliver an amazingly big, life-like sound despite their size. When placed near the wall on a stable surface, they deliver great bass, very clear imaging and tremendous depth. My father has used these speakers for about 5 years by now, and we have listened to them many times together, with great pleasure. I can say that, without a doubt, these are the best small, near-wall placed speakers in the price range.
My tips for getting the most out of this speaker is placing it on small rubber feet such as the ones sold by Transrotor, and if it is placed on a shelf place a 25mm (1") thick plate of granite under the speaker and feet. Don't buy an expensive base in a high-end stereo store, it's a total rip-off. Just order the granite bases from a business for building tomb-stones or similar, and it shouldn't cost more than a few dozens of dollars tops. I also recommend using a speaker cable with strong bass, such as M.I.T Terminator or the much cheaper Straight Wire entry-level cables, which sound great with this speaker.
The only excuse for not buying this speaker is if you can afford far-from-the-wall placement, in which case the Chario Academy 1 gives a wee bit wider stereo image and a bit more punch in the bass, or if you can afford a bigger size and a bit more money, in which case the Beck bk2 gives again a bit bigger image. With the size and placement limitations, however, and when following the above-mentioned tips, this speaker is impossible to beat.

Summary:
These speakers are a real treat for the eyes. open the box and you can easily mistake this for a furniture or a piece of art. The erable red finish is right at home with opulent surroundings. But beneath those great looks is a cabinet design that is very well engineered. Fire it up and you will se why ypu paid $1800 bucks for a pair of these bookshelves. The equipment i used with it includes: JADIS ORCHESTRA, TRANSPARENT PREMIUM CABLES, THETA PEARL CD PLAYER, MIT INTERCONNECTS AND ATACAMA STANDS. Although the amp is quite new, only a few days old, the boleros sounded very good. Very good indeed when matched to these JADIS. The speakers were broken in a long time ago, i was jsut waiting for the money to buy the JADIS. And so i bought the Jadis a few days ago. I slotted in my favorite disc, ASTRUD GILBERTO's Girl from Ipanema. The stunning imagery and transparency blew me away!Its as if the speakers disappear. The boleros really do a good job of floating a big soundstage. You could easily mistake that a bigger speaker was playing! Next disc was Linda Ronstadt. Again, the terrific mids just took my breath away. It sounded airy and natural, very lifelike, these maybe attributed also to the Jadis. To display the lucidity and speed of the speakers, i listened to Dave Bruebeck Time Out. The cymbals sounded perfect together with that good bass line.Instrumental placement was very good. U wouldnt end up asking for a subwoofer for the bass/mid driver had a good response. Tight and controlled but extended when needed. The low requency responce was surprisingly very good for a speaker of this category, it seems a turbo mechanism kicks up and takes the bass to the next level. For all these qualities, i give the Boleros a 5 star rating. It rivals the much bigger and more expensive speakers.