foodfeak

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I don’t ever post reviews, and to be honest this posting is leaning more to information to some one looking to buy these speakers with a low wattage tube amplifier. I was interested in buying these speakers, as I am very sensitive to higher frequencies, and have read how they are a bit warmer with no harshness compared to a lot of other speakers. My main amplification has a Croft power amp at the end of the chain, which runs at 25watts with an impedance of 8ohms. I also have a DIY power amp a White Noise Audio MOS250 at 250watts with 8ohms impedance, a very nice amp.

Now I came across an ex-demo pair of these speakers so I did a bit more research. Most of the information I found recommended using these speakers with a high wattage electronic amplifier as they were supposable very hard to drive. I asked the dealer about using them with the 25 Watt Croft, pointed him towards some of this information, and he told me they had run them on a 15 watt tube amplifier and there were no problems. He also asked me how big my room was and how loud I intended to play them, and said unless it is the size of a small barn and I was having a dance party that I would have no problems. I then contacted Croft (to make sure the dealer wasn’t just trying to get shot of a pair of speakers), and he said exactly the same – why would there be any problem unless again you are planning on playing them to very very loud levels?

I thought I would then contact one other person I knew; he is a much respected vintage tube equipment engineers here in the UK. I showed him the information, he laughed very loudly at some of what he read, and also said unless my room is very big and I wanted to play them at deafening levels I would have no problems driving these speakers with the Croft. One thing he did say was not to leave these speakers off my list because of the numbers as they are not law, and real playing conditions can be very different to what is down on paper.

So armed with all this information I decided to take the plunge. Having to get these speakers sent via the post there was no way I could audition them first. So the dealer said I could return them if there were any problems, but said he can guarantee they would be keepers.

Any way they arrived a few days back and I still have them. I can say 25 watts is more then enough to drive these speakers. I cannot turn the amp up to any were near full volume, as loudness would get to you before clipping or any other problems occur. People have mentioned bass handling with low wattage amps, but there is none with it being big, deep and controlled. Apart from the presentation there is no advantage between my 250watt solid state power amp and the 25watt Croft, both perform equally well.

As said a lot of reviews here have mentioned needing good powerful electronics, but maybe it is just down to amp’s not matching speaker and nothing to do with power. Also I wonder now how many people who mention needing powerful electronics to drive them have ever heard them with anything else to get a true opinion. May be there is just a general consensuses about these speakers that people feel they have to say because of one of the reviews you can find on line.

Any way these are very good speakers as mentioned in most of the reviews below. So do not be put off buying them if you own lower voltage tube amps, as you will be missing out on something really special. Very nice speakers!

Rafael Quintas

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
3.80 of 5, 10.00 votes

Price Paid:  $2750.00 from 29/10/2007

Summary:
Very well balanced speaker. Mids and highs are very very good . Vocals and timbre very nice . Unbelievable imaging . You can compare it with any of B&W 700 series speaker.

Strengths:
Mids and highs are very good
Perfect vocals

Weaknesses:
Not for moderate hi-fi equipment . Needs hi-end electronics

Similar Products Used:
B&W 603S3 , Sonus Faber Domus

Price Paid:  $0.00 from nowhere

Summary:
Sure, I can help. BUY DECENT AMPLIFICATION. You can't get good performance out of good speakers with third-rate amplifiers, period. Either that or sell your good speakers and go to Circuit City and buy some nice $700 towers that will go with the amp you have.

The amp is not a trivial part of the system!! Good luck.

Price Paid:  $1200.00 from private

Summary:
ive been running these for about a week now and am blown away everytime i hear them!
i paid $1200 NZ for them second hand
i read every review on this site before purchasing them and was expecting to have to fill wth sand and make all sorts of acoustic changes to the room to tighten and increase the bass. i found that they have plenty of bottom end. the lows are no where near as "flabby" as others have stated. Infact i am impressed with how tight and acurate the sound of these speakers are.
i have been trying many genres of music through my setup to test placement and found they perform well with anything from jazz to dub.
i must say they really come into thier own with vocals, the clarity is amazing. i played the vocal onlny version of the beach boys' pet sounds, BRILLIANT!
some people have warned they were in need of goodpower behind them to open up.. im hitting them 70w a side and they sing!

Strengths:
Even new i would consider them value for money.
Small enough for any room
Clarity and quality of sound is great for the money
Sound bigger than they look

Weaknesses:
take a bit of moving to create that wider sweet spot

Price Paid:  $2100.00 from Magnolia

Summary:
These are a great speakers for the person wanting great detail and articulation of sound with just a bit of friendly warmth, far short of an overdriven midrange though. You really get just clear and precise image of what the music sounds like, without an added signature from the electronics.

As a few people before have mentioned - you NEED a very good amp to drive these 4ohm power suckers to let them sing. The top of the line Denon barely got there, rotel and anthem were straining - and I decided on getting a juicy 200 watt / channel McIntosh (MA6900) to actually get these speakers where they need to be. I'm very pleased with the outcome, and they're incredible on orchestral, small blues and jazz ensembles, and do a pretty good job on heavy metal. Go weak with the electronics and they'll sound like a cheap klipsch - don't make that mistake.
It's been brought up that the bass isn't booming, but I see this as a good thing, and moreover, there is no distortion of the bass (which is more important than loudness of the bass - to be able to actually hear the individual bass tones). If you need more bass, you can just turn it up on the equalizer on your receiver and the speakers respond wonderfully.

One of the greatest aspects of these speakers is the soundstage. The clarity of the sound I mentioned earlier is heightened by the wide, very precise, soundstage. I was considering getting a 5 channel surround setup, but except for sounds coming behind you - you get around 160 to 180 degrees of sound during movies and great "close your eyes and point to it" with CD's.

I've listened to BW, paradigm, boston, deftec, martin logan ,RC, and magnepans before buying the Viennas - with the last two being the closest competition (RC-80 had more bass than vienna, but not as clear of sound, maggies were very articulated but the sweet spot was so small and no bass / depth to sound). The mozarts, a slightly smaller Vienna also blew me away! The had more bass and a rich sound. To give you an idea - these speakers wwould have been in a close competition with the 10k+ each, 6ft tall mcintosh I heard in the store... if I had the money!

Strengths:
clarity of sound
no electronic signature
soundstage

Weaknesses:
no booming bass, depending on your tastes, isn't all bad

Similar Products Used:
BW, paradigm, boston, deftec, martin logan ,RC, and magnepans,
with the last two being the best