Excellent imaging, midrange, highs. Quality contruction throughout. Manufacturer is friendly and helpful.

Verticle dispertion

I am very pleased with these speakers. The mids and highs are excellent as is imaging and soundstage. Sound extends well beyond the width of the speakers though this may be somewhat attributable to the TDS Audiophile Passive effects box I use.

These do have a "sweetspot" but it is wide as opposed to the narrow sweetspot of many speakers. One significant difference from other speakers of a normal driver design is that if you stand up you are significantly out of the sound field of the 420DX. I am 6'3" so I really notice this with the 420DX but with the taller 520 series this may be reduced. From what I understand these speakers do not project the sound vertically (they seem more linear) like normal drivers do. This of course helps to eliminate reflections from ceiling and floor. So I am not complaining. When I want to enjoy music through these speakers I just don't get up and walk around. I have considered elevating these about 12 inches.

This is one pair of speakers I will be keeping a very long time.

I have read in reviews here that these require a lot of power. I am using a Madrigal/Harmon Kardon Citation 7.1 power amp and I have not noticed any problems at all driving these speakers and volume actually is same or higher than my efficient 8 ohm speakers driven by this amp. However the Citation 7.1 drives these at 240Watts per channel into their 4 ohm load as opposed to it's normal 150Watts into 8 ohms.

Anyone buying these speakers should be aware that these do require a sub for the lower frequencies of sound. However this is their design and you can't fault them in the rating due to this in my opinion. It's like buying a component system, if you buy a pre-amp then you better buy a power amp. If you buy these speakers the deal is you better buy a good sub. What you get in return with the 420DX is a speaker that excels in the frequency range that it is designed for, excellent midrange and highs. I am running right and left channel passive subs with these via external crossover and using 2 channels of the 4 channel Citation amp. I know the arguement that lower frequencies are not directional but I believe, probably incorrectly, that if the lower range of frequencies are sent to one channel instead of the other then you are going to notice a difference in accuracy of imaging. Most instruments extend below the 85hz low cutoff of these speakers so it makes sense to me that for accurate imaging you need stereo subs.

I did replace my cheap Radio Shack monster cable bi-wire speaker cables with a DIY formula using Belden 89259 cable found on Audioasylum.com prior to this review. These cables made a considerable improvement all around with these speakers. The imaging improved significantly. Obviously cables make a differnce too.


System if it makes any difference:

Luxman TP-117 pre-amp/tuner
Citation 7.1 power amp driving pair Radia 420DX and subs
TDS Passive Audiophile box
Marantz cd-67 cd
Rega Planar 2 turntable
Radio Shack IC's (soon to be trashed and replace with home made Belden 89259 twisted pair IC's)
Mains cable is standard (soon to be replaced with home made TTS TNS braided mains cable formula)
420DX speakers
Pair of noname subs
Paradigm external crossover
Home made Bi-Wire Belden 89529 twisted cross connected speaker cables via Jon Risch formula on audioasylum.com

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This is my first experience with hybrid planer or ribbon speakers

very neutral, clear sound, great soundstage, dynamics

proper positioning is a must, subwoofer needed for the bass hungry, need modest amp.

I have truly enjoyed the 420's for the past 3 months. I prefer them over my dynaudio 1.3 mk 11's, which is one of the very best of the bookshelfs on the market. In my opinion, these speakers are comparable to or better than many of the big names in the 5k price range. A truly great product that deserves a listen, even if you have to drive to the next town to listen to them.

Magnificent clear sound, no sweet spot, totally transparent

Additional price needed for subwoofer-not the 80 Hz cutoff because IMHO it's actually a good feature

This is a review for the 520DX. This is my first venture in planars and I must say I'm impressed. These speakers fill the room with beautiful clear sound. Not sweet spotty like conventional dynamic speakers and completely transparent. They look stunning and the build quality is exceptional. I got these brand new through Ubid even though they shipped directly from BG. For $1475 a pair (including FedEx overnight shipping) it's the best investment I ever made in stereo gear.

Regadring the 80 Hz cutoff, I am glad BG didn't attempt to integrate a woofer (it only has 2 x 6 1/2" mid-bass drivers). Why spoil a good thing. The down side is that you need to buy a good subwoofer which adds extra cost but...you have to pay to play.

I'm planning to pair the BGs with an ACI Titan II. I'm driving the speakers with a HK Signature 2.1 amp which provides 150W/channel at 4 Ohms and a HK AVR500 used as a pre-amp. The manual suggests a strong amp from 125-250W channel which brings me to my next point. I used to drive a pair of lowly Wharfedales with the same amp and they were much louder at the same volume level. So these babies need power. What you get in return is pure clean sound so you won't hear me complaining.

I am not an audiophile and I don't talk the audiophile lingo. I only know what I hear. My music taste ranges from Pink Floyd to classical to new age and these speakers deliver accross the board. Highly reccomended.

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Wharfedale, Infinity

Dynamic Range, Power Handling, Installation Options

Slightly rolled off high end, beaming off axis, fairly inefficient (88dB)

Got these new, as a raw driver, at a bargain price. These are not the 42 inchers, but the 50 inch version. I can honestly say, short of electrostatics (THESE ARE NOT ELECTROSTATICS - THEY ARE PLANAR MAGNETICS!) there is nothing that will come close to them in dynamic range, and sheer power handling. On axis, and with proper setup, they have wonderful presentation, frequency response, microdynamics, macrodynamics, dynamic range, transient response, and other large words as well. :P Placement, as with all speakers, can be critical, but they are far more forgiving of bad room placement and treatments than a dynamic system would be. Installation options abound... in wall, dipolar, sealed enclosures... mine are in custom cabinets that have approximately 350 hours of CONSTRUCTION time in them, paired to a Dayton Titanic 12" woofer (don't laugh until you hear them!) with a 200Hz, 48dB/Octave, custom built pair of mono electronic crossovers, all silver plated, teflon insulated wire throughout the system, NAD 216THX amplifiers bi-wired and bi-amped, (with an independently VERIFIED 880 watts RMS [@ 4 ohms] to the whole 2 channel system) and I can beat the stuffing out of them (for the occasional party night), and never worry about blowing them! Cannot rave about these drivers enough. If you have the meansýhighly recommend picking them up!

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Nothing else like them available

Transparent, clear mid range and highs.

Requires a powerful amp--75+watts

This is a beautifully made speaker. Rick's comments are right on the mark. I am also using the 220DX center channel and the same comments apply. Mfg. is very helpful. I bought these for rear surrounds. My "mains" are Polk SDA-SRS (the big ones) and they mate perfectly in the mid and high frequencies. They were designed to use a subwoofer so I don't think anyone should fault them for that. Buy and enjoy!

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Crown electrostatics

Sweetness, clarity, ribbon sound

They are large, bass to 80 HZ

If you can get these speakers for $1500 or less, you should. They will compare to speakers costing thousands. I understand the price on Ubid is going up. The list price is over two grand. I use them for side speakers in my 7.1 set-up and they are excellent. Their dipole design is perfect. They are tall and so create a large, enveloping soundfield. They would make excellent front (main) speakers as well. I have Newform ribbons as mains and the BG 220 DX center, which is an excellent ribbon speaker as well. These front speakers are not dipole however. Happy listening.

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OHM, Newformresearch

Great clarity, exellent imaging, maidrange and highs. Look awesome! Great price!

I have owned them for a year now and I am still searching for a negative!

Never having owned a hybrid Planar Magnetic Driver Loudspeaker before(Radia 520), I was blown away! The sound that these speakers produce is a little scary due to the realism of their "sound reproduction". These speakers are chrystal clear and transparent with a wonderful soundstage. This is the best deal that I have received for the money, as they are worth 2-3 times what I paid for them.

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Bose, Klipsch, B&O

beauty

neees power, but still sweet loud(er)

520's: wow, add a sub and these speaks will please. even without a sub much musical satis. can be played loud without fatigue. i can't stand speaks that hurt my ears, low or high volume, and these never hurt, even very loud. the sound is very nice, they ring.

must be seated for best vertical stage, stand up and lots of loss in a living room. but keep vertical at near mid level of speaks and -wow. very good left to right stage -horiz sweet area very wide.

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infinity, bose , ar, klipsh

dynamics, detail, presentation

power HUNGRY, power hungry, power hungry

i'll keep it short. these speakers require TREMENDOUS current to make them sing. I almost gave up on these speakers until I matched them with an Aragon X5 amp! what a difference- the bass finally there and the soundstage is huge. if you power these speakers with an amp without high current, you WILL get bad results. Watts alone DOES NOT matter with these speakers!

I used to power them with a sunfire cinema grand amp with terrible results. I then tried two citation 7.1 amps which was also lacking. then I went for a cinepro which was loud but too unrefined. I went to classe cav150, but lacked bottom end. I also tried the ATI 2505 and the Parsound 2205 but both of them made the speakers harsh. I was so frustrated with these speakers that I was about to sell them. These speakers were a nightmare to match an amp to. I even demoed a pass labs x5. It sounded VERY smooth until you turned up the speakers to THX reference levels.

finally i went with the aragon X5! I am now finally happy with them. Everything I wanted in an amp and it delivers!!!! Check out my review of the aragon X5.

I finally think the upgrade bug will not bite for some time.........

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citations, martin logans, soundline, newform research, wisdom, merdians

Looks and sound,

none so far.

This is my first hydride speaker and probably my last since it will last a live time. It is crystal clear. I wasn't impressing when I first heard it without subwoofer. Things changed after I hookup the subwoofer. It fills up my living room even without a surround sound speaker. So far I only have 2 main speaker 520 DX and JBL subwoofer and it doesn't the job if want. Extremely satisfy with the product.

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none