|
Review 1 of 1
Price Paid:
$0.00 Summary:
There's not much to say that the magazine reviews haven't already said...these 4-way towers are simply outstanding speakers for the money, especially now that they're $1500/pair. I've had mine since 2007. They replaced a pair of AR P315HO which I've so enjoyed for many years.
The build quality is fantastic. They are very well-braced an free of resonance. Fit and finish is 1st rate. I have the special dark finish (chocolate color) which is no longer made. It looks like $5000 speakers...very high end looking. Gorgeous, almost furniture-like with amazing sheen. The only cheap part is the plastic feet/stabilizer which are not that solid and squeak a bit. Other than that, you're not going to fine much better built speakers under $5K.
The sound is nothing short of amazing for the price, and I've owned lots of speakers over the years. I'm a musician and sound engineer, so it takes a lot to impress me with all the pro gears I use. These speakers possess massive soundstage and ambience retrieval, owing to its superior ability to put out very low level details and the narrow baffle. You just hear everything. I can hear low level details that I've never heard before on the same CD. The highs are extremely transparent but not fatiguing or harsh at all. Just right and very delicate. The mids are alive -- these speakers excel in vocal reproduction, male and female. The singer is right there because the imaging is so precise and the dispersion very wide for a tower speaker. There's really no sweetspot to worry about. The bass is not going to rock the girders of your house or rattle windows, but it's very tight and goes deep enough for me. In terms of musicality, this speaker does everythiing right. It's very dynamic, very rhythmic with the snap and transient of high efficiency speakers (although it's not that high efficient).
I am driving these speakers with an old Accuphase A50 pure class A amp, and the two were made for each other. Superb transient, dead silent, in-your-living-room vocals, mouth watering highs, and really, really tight bass, the kind that you can hear the string resonance. These have got to be some of the most accurate speakers in term of frequency response. They sound better than my Yamaha MSP10 and Mackie HR824 powered studio monitors!
You cannot go wrong with these speakers for just about any music. I think they show their best on classical, jazz, pop, and especially audiophile recordings (vocals, vocals, vocals!). Rock music on these is so-so, not bad, but there are probably more suitable rock music speakers like JBL and Klipsch.
I highly recommend these. Let them break-in for 100 hours or so (they do take a while to break-in), drive them with a good amp that has lots of current, and be prepared to be shocked. There's no need to spend ridicuous sum of money on KEF, B&W, etc. About the only speakers I would consider over the Classic 4's would be the Gallo Reference 3's.
| 
5 of 5
