gerenidsmith

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.78 of 5, 18.00 votes

Price Paid:  $2000.00 from Audio Dealer

Summary:
Awesome ! One of my best purchases. The sound quality and performance is breathtaking ( price is in pounds BTW ) This is a very high quality loudspeaker that has a very substantial build quality and weight. The speakers are very involving, yet pace/rhythm and dynamic range stand out more than most other speakers. This is not at the expense of clarity and transparency. I preferred the A3s to the B&W 803s and virtually everthing else that I tried in this price range. They are superb on rock / classical / jazz. Once you've positioned them correctly ( I found that they worked best with a little re-enforcement from the back walls, but I've always had this problem in my room with all speakers, so this is probably just my room Five stars no question.

Strengths:
As above

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
B&W, Kef , Quad, Sonus Faber

Price Paid:  $3000.00 from Angel Audio (N.J./US

Summary:
Have had these two years. An absolutely beautiful speaker, with many unique characteristics, especially considering the price. For what you are getting, nothing, absolutely nothing comes close. I would summarize as follows: -Very, very precise, open, focused tweeter that produces amazing amount of detail. You will need to re-listen to almost everything you have to hear what you have missed. The original review in the now defunct Audio magazine made light of this per one of the test recordings; that the soft rumble of a passing bus was picked up during the record recording. Very revealing, but graceful at the same time, yet not in the sense that inferior hardware/recordings will be unattractively highlighted. Not as open as the Focal TLR, but in this 3 way design the sound is again very distinct and pleasing. Offers at times tunning reproduction of piano keys and female vocal, depending on the source quality. -Mids are very detailed, open and warm with depth. -Drummers take note: with the three 8s, coupled with the 7” midrange, you are getting an enormous, monstrous amount of COVERAGE in the mid bass areas. Kick drum reproduction is phonomenal and very realsitic. This is one of the areas where this speaker is unique and truly shines. So much detail in mid bass which I find is omitted/overlooked by other designs/brands. -Bass is very fast, sweet and at times simply overwhelming. But I find that this is VERY dependant upon the source material. With regards to the bass issue, I find these to be very finicky with rock & roll. For upright bass per jazz material, the lows tend to seem to be a bit deeper with more bouquet. This is the reason I upgraded to a Krell KAV-250a (500w/channel @ 4 ohms) from a 400w/channel Rotel. I find that the Krell is getting everything possible out of these in the bass department, where depending on the recording, I believe that I am getting lows down to 30. But again, especially with rock, it depends on the recording. No chuffing or decadent rumble from the bass sound at any time. No boom. Celestion said that the speakers are mica flaked, which helped prevent distortion and preserve sound quality at high levels. What ever the reason, I found this to be true. -Favorable to all kinds of music: jazz, classical and especially acoustic guitar and female vocal. In some ways, more suited to jazz vs. rock. But again, plays very accurate at high volumes. -Ability to play loud, very, very loud with absolutely no compression or sonic wilt. I agree that for loud rock, these speakers have balls. 300+ watts for Live at Leads or Van Halen is truly a moving, almost religious experience. But, at the same time, great balance, nuance, and subtlety is offered up when listening a -The larger the room, the better. Mine is 20x20 ft. I would love to hear these speakers in a 40x100 ft. room. A room that size would also enhace lows. -Crossovers blend very well, but agree with stereophile about the “suckout” as you move off axis. Overall, the sound is at times forward, and crisp. -Yes, very natural sounding. Have experienced little listening fatigue, even after 3-4 hours. -rated at 89 spl, but I find them harder than that to drive. With my Krell, they begin to bloom at level 3 on volume. -Most amazing thing about these is the huge open, effortless sound. Soundstage is big and roomy, lots of air around instruments. But the biggest thing/difference that I find with the sound of these speakers is the VERTICAL depth in the soundstage. The forward presentation is very layered, very three dimensional. Some speakers have good sound stage, but sound as if all the musicians are standing on a horizontal line that is drawn from one speaker to the other. In this respect, these speakers truly amaze me. -Cabinetry is flawless. Very large flitch of Santos rosewood was used. -Addition of Synergistic Master AC coupler power cord made an improvement to bass focus and level of lows. These are very responsize to quality components. Would love to try Burmeister or Spectron equipment with these. -my setup: Krell KAV-250a, Acurus Rl-11 pre, Nohr tube output CD player, Nordhost Red Dawn interconnects, Synergistic Master AC coupler power cord. IXOS speaker cable. Crying shame that Celestion crapped out and dropped the A series.

Strengths:
Mid bass coverage, weight, balance, taseful grace, moxy(when needed), open sounstage, depth of sound.

Weaknesses:
None whatsoever at this price.

Similar Products Used:
PSB, Paradigm, Thiel, Talon, Eggelston, JM Lab, Martin Logan, Vandersteen, and Aerial Acoustics.

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Wilkinsons HiFi

Summary:
Just had the A3s about a year now . What's to add to other reviews here , they are excellent . Having upgraded from A1s I am very pleased . I use them with Pink Triangle Integral and Krell 300CD . Sound . Sound great whether blasting out Zep or getting soulful with Laura Nyro . Nailed a great deal on last of new Rosewood examples . I should say there has been a great improvement on detail , control and punch since I also upgraded from Arcam cd and amp set up .

Strengths:
Power , clarity and warmth . I get plenty of bass .

Weaknesses:
At this price ?

Similar Products Used:
A1s .

Price Paid:  $2000.00 from Authorized dealer

Summary:
I have owned this pair of A3's for 2 years now. Bought them used but they still looked brand spankin' new and at 2000$ for just under 2 years old. Great deal .I've also changed my whole system ( CD, Amp & pre-Amp) in the last year and because of this what I'm about to write should be of interest to a lot of reviewers such as Mr. Szabo, Bruczkowsi, duke, Lacoste to name a few. So guys here goes. First these speakers will play well even with a good amp of 100W/Ch. But they will do better with a good 200 - 300W/Ch. And again the higher end the amp the better also. But as any informed audiophile knows Watt figures for amps don't mean much. It's the engineering and build quality that counts and the current output that matters (amperage). A Parasound HCA-3500 spec sheet is impressive and the size of the amp also but for driving A3's to their full potential it doesn't cut it. First it doesnt like to drive 4 Ohm nominal load speakers at high volume. I did the test with my previous amp (SIMAUDIO CELESTE 4250 Reference) against a friends HCA-3500. He changed the HA-3500 soon afterwards. Now I drive my A3'S with a LINAR 250 along with it's stablemate preamp (Model 2 ). The sound is awesome. And guys hear ( read ) this; WITH THE RIGHT AMP YOU DON'T NEED A SUBWOOFER. If you find the A3'S lack bass (punch) try another amp. Here are a few that will do the job; LINAR 250, PASS LABS X-150, KRELL KAV 250, MARK LEVINSON # 33 just to name a few. Put the right gear behind the A3's and they will not deceive. In my opinion for the price; one of the best bang for the buck. To beat these you will spend a lot of extra $$$. Associated gear; LINAR 250 Amp LNAR Model 2 Pre KRELL KAV 250 CD Interconnects and Speaker Cable; PRO 1 by conceptor Patrice Albert.

Strengths:
Very smooth sounding thru the whole frequency range. Excellent detail even in the bass & mid-bass region.With the rigth gear (especially the amp) the impact (punch) of these speakers is impressive.Good build quality, very solid for a large box.

Weaknesses:
For some people with cramped space the size could be a problem. These speakers play better in a large room.

Similar Products Used:
Tannoys, KEF Studio 2, Theil CS 5.3

Price Paid:  $2800.00 from Los Angeles

Summary:
Actually, I have four (4) A3's in an array at the wide end of a rectangular space. I also have a pair of A1's for ambience and a pair of Sunfire subs for lf extension. MIT wire, re-clocked Elite cd player, Elite front-end, and Spectron digital amp running the A3's and a Sunfire driving the A1's. My comparisons have been with vintage IMF transmission lines, Tannoy Autograph Pro's, and Stax E/S phones. I listen to opera and classical music almost exclusively and I settled on this sytem with the mentioned transducers in mind--a layered presentation with a large wave-front with bottom weight on an orchestra in full flight with SLAM. Did I say SLAM? These speakers have it in a way that I have only previously seen on speakers considerably north of $10,000. Try Shostakovitch, Mahler, or Vaughan-Williams on these. They do need a good amp. I use a Spectron. The only other amps in the running would be Burmester or Lamm. I like these speakers.

Strengths:
Octave-to-octave balance. Detail--and the detail extends into the bass. Astonishing.

Weaknesses:
Slight lack of transparency but only when compared to electrostatic sources.

Similar Products Used:
Tannoy Autograph Pro's, Tannoy Belvedere Sr's, IMF III, Double Advent, Rectilinear X (6), Rectilinear III (4), Klipschorns, KLH 9