Incredible soundstage. Accurate and non-distracting placement

none that I can tell

I have been amazingly pleased with the purchase of these speakers ( and their surround sound partners) With my NHT Sw2P they provide a clear and distinct soundstage for everything from Bach to the Beatles. Metheny sounds particularly good... They arte also excellent in sync with the home theater DTS/Dolby 5.1 I feel the best speakers are the ones you don't notice until you say, "Wow!' These are those speakers. They are run through my marantz sr8000 and dv7010 progressive scan. I highly suggest buying these speakers as affordable, audiophile/enthusiast listening tools.

Similar Products Used:

Teledyne AR M1 Holographic imaging

Working for a subcontracted company of Mordaunt Short, I was able to obtain these speakers for my 21st birthday at cost, and I'm glad I did. I was torn between this and some Eltax Symphony 8.2's. A fine looking pair of speakers, they certainly aren't all show and no substance. Twin aluminium woofers deliver clear and involving bass, particularly when bi-wired. Coupled with a Cambridge Audio Amp I have no need to place the volume above approximately 10% at home. Even at this level, the sound is clear and undistorted. However when at university, the volume is cranked upto 50% and not a hint of distortion can be discerned. They can handle all genres of music from Britney to Limb Bizket via Handel and Mozart.

Linking my DVD player upto the amp sound tracks become enveloping, and that's from a stereo speaker setup. Although I could be seen as being biased as I work for a subcontracted company, I can honestly say that these are a fantastic and overlooked pair of speakers

clarity of sound specially tops and midrange

none as far as i can tell

i have been using these speakers for about 2 months now. i first heard them in a shop being powered by an arcam alpha 7 cd player and and an arcam alpha 7 amplifier. All i can say is wow i was dumb struck by the quality of sound the clarity and the airyness < a new word i made up that left me routed to the spot and made me have to keep on listening.

after buying a pair i was slightly disappointed after plugging them into my kenwood av amp ( but this is understandable) as they seemed still have the wow factor but not as amazing as the first time i heard them.

i proceeded to fill the cavity in the bottom with sand which tightened the bass immensely but seemed to dim the mids slightly which is what i had liked about them initially. i later found out that putting sand in the speakers had actually improved the control of the speakers and meant that the inefficiences of the amp were now more promenent. i then placed them on the spikes that came with them which made an amazing improvement in sound and also put them ontop of paving slabs, as they were on wooden floorboards before. the improvement in sound is amazing. all i can say is if you have £350 to spare or even if you don't buy these speakers i can't wait to hear them on the system i am going to buy soon

arcam avr-100 dd receiver
arcam cd-72 cd player

as you can see my experience hearing the whole system i mentioned before has biased me towards these products and left me longing to have this sound in my home and not just in the shop

detailed sound, fast bass, solid construction

long break in period, sensitive to quality of components

I have had these speakers for about 5 months now and really like them although it took a while to fall in love with them. I have also had the chance to use two different amps with them over this period.

To start with, they look great and I got them in the light cherry finish. The gold plated bi-wireable binding post are top notch and a great set of floor spikes. Take off the grill and the silver finish face plate and white drivers are really cool. I have them in a 12x20' room with hardwood floors. Use them largely for 2 channel music (90% of the time).

My previous speakers were the Paradigm Monitor 9s. After about 1.5 yrs of owning the Monitor 9 and a change in house, I decided that they no longer did it for me. I had recently purchased the Senn. HD-580 headphones and an X-can V2 amp, and found that I much preferred my headphone set up than my main system (I became real spoiled with my headphone set-up). My biggest complaint with the Monitor 9s is that they sounded congested at higher levels.

So after listening to a few floor standers (Paradigm, PSB, Totem, Monitor, Soliloquy), I was about 90% sold on the Paradigm Studio 60's. After seeing a previous post on the MS 906 being compared to the Studio 60's I decided that it couldn't hurt to check them out (I had never heard of the MS line before). So down I went to the dealer and did the A/B test between the two speakers with I believe was Adcom separates. Well was I surprised. The difference between the two was quite striking. Although the Studio 60's had a "bigger" sound the MS 906 sounded more detailed, faster midrange bass and much better separation. Bottom end was close with the Studio 60s probably taking a bit of a lead. I listen to a variety of music including alternative rock, and have developed a great taste (thirst) for acoustic jazz. I'm a huge trumpet and double bass fan.

So I bought the MS 906 with the understanding that I had a week to return them. So I hooked them up to my Yamaha AX-592 Integrated Amp (with Kimber Kable 8TC wire and Cambridge Audio D-500 CDP) and the sound was......well different. I guess my main complaint was that they sounded a little thin although the speakers improved with respect to detail, mid-range and smoother highs. This problem with sounding thin was mainly with electric rock styles of music. Anything acoustic sounded pretty good. I could also enjoy music at louder levels than with my Monitor 9s although I lost the "slam" that the Monitor 9s provided. In any event, I came real close to returning them it that first week but for whatever reason decided to keep them.

It took about 150 to 200 hours on them before the sound started to become "fuller". I also filled the bottom cavity of the speaker with sand which helped with the bottom end.

During this time I had also been shopping for a new Integrated Amp. I ended up getting a 1.5 year old Sim Audio PW-5000. (plan to provide a review of the fabulous amp soon) After hooking up the amp to the MS-906 all I could say was WOW!. It was like a totally different sound coming out of the speakers. The sound became fuller, richer, warmer, great bottom end (no longer did I think I needed a sub), and a much wider soundstage. The sound no longer seemed to becoming out of two boxes but felt almost 3-D.

The test of my new set up was when I came home one day to find my wife dancing around to the stereo at maximum volume. All she could say was that it sounds great loud! (she never plays CDs). Test #2 was a "Sony surround-sound loving" buddy of mine giving me hell when after hearing my new set up thought his now sounded like crap.

So to sum this up. I still think that the MS 906 is best suited to jazz and acoustic styles of music. You would probably be better off with the Studio 60s if you were mostly into rock, techno etc.. and looking for some "slam". Now don't get me wrong, I like bass in my music and feel that the MS 906 really delivers in that department. The MS 906 also seem very sensitive to the components they are matched with it. With the Yamaha AX-592 amp I would have given these speakers around a 4 star rating. With the Sim Audio amp, a solid 5 stars!

Happing listening

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Studio 60, Monitor 9

all round sound, bass response

none

wow, these speakers are good, I recommend them to anyone with 350 quid burning a hole in their pocket, I am using them as the front speakers in my A/V setup with a kenwood krfv 5050 amp, they handle speech and music excelently as stereo speakers, and the whole range of sounds as part of a surround system. From quiet classical all the way to the T-Rex scene in jurassic park or the music in Human Traffic or GO they perform with grace and style. Aesthetically they are great, for those of you who like to hide speakers, in the corner with the cover on they look good, for those of you who are proud of your equipment, with the covers off they get some jaw dropping looks.
The fact that these babies have gold plated bi-wireable inputs, twin rear firing bass ports and come with a lethal set of floor spikes (that are not hard to put together) means to me that they are the total package, Go buy them now you will not be complete without them!! Seriously these are well rounded in all departments of sound production and in looks a very worthwhile addition to anyones setup

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eltax symphony 6.2