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Review 1 of 1
Price Paid:
$2200.00
from Ebay Summary:
I actually own the complete Platine 7 channel speaker system, which in my personal opinion, is as good as any system I've ever listened to. The floor standing fronts are excellent. It's a rather interesting design; each speaker has 1" MDF, four 4" aluminum cone drivers, two silk dome tweeters and one 10" passive radiator. Two of the 4" speakers actually drive the 10" passive radiator and it sounds great on the low end plus, it has a small/narrow foot print on the floor with this configuration. I would have never believed that two 4" cones could smartly drive a 10" radiator until I listened to these. I've never been a big fan of two tweeters in one speaker but, these flow perfectly with the other drivers. They are silk dome, which are my preferred type (many metal and ceramic domes can harsh for my ears). The 4" metal cone drivers are light, quick and detailed. The two cone drivers that power the passive 10" do a rather amazing job at giving clear/deep bass into the hmmm....I would say 28Hz zone. That being said, I still have my HSU sub going...with a little work on the sub adjustments, they blend very well together.
Clearly Earthquake has put plenty of thought into the cabinet design and have produced a smart speaker. The cabinets are very thick and dampen well. The cabinet shape is excellent, a trapezoid, giving the inside uneven side surfaces until it hits the narrow back of the cabinet. Each cone driver is recessed with a plastic surround rolling out almost to the edge of the cabinet and that edge of the cabinet is tapered...very smart acoustically. The base is composed of two aluminum legs with a spike at each end; it is very well grounded for bass extension. I would love to see the internals of the speaker; they seem to be very well braced. The finish is thick and elegant. I have the black/silver models. The elegant design is very acceptable to the wife. The matching center channel is another story...basically it's one of the towers layed horizontally...it's really big and can be somewhat obtrusive...this didn't impress the wife. Having a center with the exact same divers/radiator with a slightly different cabinet makes for a super great 3 channel front end.
I would imagine you could do without a sub pretty easily however; I would supply plenty of power. These speakers are 8 ohm 89dB speakers. I use a Denon 3800 receiver and I was going to go back to separates...but I was never tempted to after listening with the Platine speakers combined with this simple receiver (after using a quality room compensator). I'm sure that separates will sound better, but I'm very content with the current setup...I never thought I would say that about audio equipment! In my opinion these speakers offer the best of both worlds, musicality and theatrically speaking. Neutral and smooth. They offer great detail without being harsh and can reproduce music and theater powerfully. Easily powered, but more power is always better if you have a really large room. My living room was a perfect rectangle, 30' long and 15' wide with a very tall ceiling. The towers will handle 500w so, don't be bashful with the power (even the surrounds will handle 200w).
I had only two problems; one was shipping...FEDEX ground is (and has always been) horrible and smashed the grill on one of towers and chipped the finish. I repaired it. The eBay person I bought from said he had insurance, of course he didn't and I never received any compensation. My other problem...I was living beyond my means, got hard-up for money and had to sell the system to my brother!
My system is very simple (or I should say used to);
Denon 3800 receiver
Denon DVD-910
Monster and Audioqest interconnects
Basic Monster 12 gauge speaker wire for mains
Monster THX architectural speaker wires to surrounds
and one of my favorite components.. a simple ipod
I have used and listened to plenty of setups and personally - I stopped buying $600+ speaker cables, given they offer a diminishing level of return compared to your good quality 12 gauge wires and price. I do like good quality interconnects, but still, I don't go overboard here...I get them on sale and pay no more than $45 for a pair of RCA cables. If you want these speakers to truly shine musically, I would go with separates...but, it is not absolutely necessary for good sound. I like Meridian and B&K. If you get all 7 speakers, I would recommend a preamp or receiver with a mic and room compensator...or get a device that does just that. All of the speakers are well matched however; you may not have a truly perfect listening space.
Strengths:
Very smart cabinet design and great build quality
Excellent finish and elegant in appearance
Excellent Musical and Theatrical sound
Deep and clean bass response for a non powered tower
They will handle tremendous power to handle large rooms
Weaknesses:
This isn't really a weakness but, the system isn't cheap - over $7,000...the towers are about $2700...while expensive, it would cost you much much more to get anything better. So, they are a great value comparatively.
Over all I can't think of any sonic weakness...they are absolutely great!
Similar Products Used:
I'm far to lazy to list the many products used or listened to
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