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Review 2 of 3
Price Paid:
$4000.00
from A&B Sound, Vancouver Summary:
I have owned these speakers for about 10 days and felt compelled to write. These are absolutely fabulous! Stunning is the word that comes to mind. They have replaced a pair of PSB Stratus Gold i's. These were very nice speakers, but I was ready for an upgrade. I listened to about 8 or 9 speakers in the $3000 - $5000 Cdn price range and the hands down winners were the Joseph and the Totem Mani 2. Since the two were at different dealers it was hard to compare them, but I preferred the Joseph and the fact that A&B was clearing out their high end audio resulted in them being about $700 cheaper than the Mani 2's. I paid $4000 Cdn ($3000 US). This was the clincher.
The sound of the RM25Si Mk2 is a wonderful balance between polite and revealing. I find the JMLab line to be just a bit hot in the treble for my taste (your ears may vary..). The British speakers are a bit too polite. These Josephs are a wonderful middle ground. The imaging has to be heard to be believed! The amount of bottom end is also amazing - far better than the PSB even though that speaker has a 12 in. woofer. You would never believe the Joseph only has twin 6.5 inch drivers plus the tweeter. Believe me most of you will not need any more bottom end! When you first hear these speakers they seem a tad bit bright, but then you realize you are simply hearing information you never knew was in your recordings. I have listened to a broad selection of my CD library with music ranging from Bach to Zappa. Everything sounds wonderful. The imaging is incredible and all vocals are very clear and sound very uncoloured to my ear. While I do not have a super audiophile system, it is decent gear: Krell KAV300i integrated, Adcom GCD750 CD player and good balanced cables. I am currently using a single run of Wireworld speaker cable and may experiment with bi-wiring in the future. I am now thinking about a source upgrade when I can afford it just to see how good these speakers can sound. Believe me if you are considering speakers in this price range please hear these before buying anything - the imaging and full range sound are not to be believed at this price point! These are twice as good as the PSB's they replaced...... I have heard various models from B&W, PMC, JMLab, Gershman at this price point and I would take these in a minute. Again second choice would be the Totem Mani 2. Happy listening. Strengths:
Incredible imaging and very uncoloured sound. Amazing bass extension for a speaker in this price range. Weaknesses:
None that I have heard so far...You'd have to spend double to significantly improve on these... Similar Products Used:
PSB Stratus Gold i, JMLab Electra series, Gershman Avante Garde, PMC FB1,Totem Forest, Totem Mani 2, others in that price range.
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5 of 5
