Soliloquy SM 2A3 Floorstanding Speakers

Soliloquy SM 2A3 Floorstanding Speakers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-4 of 4  
[Jul 10, 2003]
H Yang
AudioPhile

Strength:

Neutral tonal balance Low power tube amp compatible

Weakness:

Nothing significant

system - VAC preamp, 30/30 amp & Cary Int, CEC TL1, Siltech, Well-tempered TT. Very similiar to the sound of Quad ESL 63 Little bit of box coloration Very neutral tonal balance A bit less solid sounding than Quad ESL(ex., drum brushed sounded a bit fuzzy, only noticeable when compared to Quad or Guarineri Sonus Faber, Martin-Logan Quest) Overall very good

Similar Products Used:

Quad ESL, Martin Logan Quest, Guarineri Homage(spelled right?, Epos

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 18, 2000]
geneo50
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Amazing build quality, simply great 2 way monitors

Weakness:

Possibly not as efficient as expected ; & system / component matching is very critical , but
overall these are minor.

I purchased these Gems approx. 8 mo. ago to complete an all tube low volume bedroom system.
Which was and still is succesfully competeing with my SS home theater system. These were demo's
in Rosewood with same iron stands.I would strongly suggest the extra $ for these stands should be
considered as the price for the speakers.The stands are manditory. And well worth the $. As stated
above these speakers(+ stands) are very well built , & this is an understatement.Mine are Rosewood,
and beautiful. No veneer ; just solid wood ; when attached to the stands they are heavy !
To make a long story short these speakers MUST be auditioned
with the components before $.I would also strongly suggest the cabeling should also be considered
prior to $. I have tried several SET's on these puppies and still ; to this day have not found the match .
You are cautioned that these speakers are not to be used with gear over
25 wts. But if you are careful on the volume this is not a problem . I have talked with dealers , and
other owners and agree that the low wt. SET. to consider if you do , most likely will have to be one
that puts out good juice , and have the 300B as the producer of that juice. The few 8 wt. Se's I tried
even though they were 300B's were not dynamic enough.
So as we speak the system is such. Amp. is the C. Johnson MV 55 / 45 wts.PP with EL34's.
Pre amp is VTL 2 .5 tube linestage. Rotel 991 CD . and Mag.Dynalab FM tuner. As it stands this system
works very , very, well. Again it's meant to be a low vol. system; so caution is still there on the vol. level .
The rest of the story is the cables ; both interconnects & speaker.
These monitors need to be messaged , and cared for inorder for them to shine.And if done so they will
shine. As I write this I just today put the last piece of the puzzel in place ; The speaker cables.
When they arrive this week it should be finished. I have tried interconnects ( CD to Pre, Amp t6o Pre) from Tara Labs( RSC 2 Gen.), Synergistic (mark 1) ,MIT (T2000), AudioQuest ( Opal.Emerald) etc etc
also the A.Core Quartz , and Straight Wire. The speaker cables were Audioquest. Then Harmonic Tech.
Pro 9's, recently the Analysis Plus Silver Oval.
The final config. is this: FM = Pre. the A.Core Quartz : CD=Pre . the S.Wire Serenade.
Pre=Amp , the S.Wire Virtuoso Gold. The speaker cable will be a 15ft run of S.Wire Virtuoso Gold.

Basically the S.W. brought out top to bottom bloom , transparency , and dynamics.
When I auditioned the SW Virt.speaker cable the music jumped out of the speakers . It was truely
amazing , almost scarey. The Harm.Tech is great cable but to big in size for my room config. It's now
in the H.T.system. The Analysis Plus Silver is also great cable but so neutral & Non present it's too
laid back for me.It will be put to very good use at another time .
So this week I will have 2 way monitors with fast tight bass,and good extensionn.
Incredible midrange to treble , and hi's going thru my roof. 3-D soundstaging and basically heaven.
Matched well the Soliloquy 2A3's are stunning. N'ough said.








Similar Products Used:

Too many

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Dec 26, 2001]
Kelly B.
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

soundstage,low level resolution,imaging,fabulos midrange
speed and very beautiful(with matching stands)!!

Weakness:

None

Only one thing i got to say-----hook them up with SET preampl. & SET amlif. and be patient for about 500 hours!!
You 'll thank me you've got them!!
Please" NO RECEIVERS" with these guys!!
They love "upscale" gears.25 w max.!!

Similar Products Used:

Reference 3m De Capo,Meadowlark Shearwater(stand.),Silverline SR-15

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 26, 1999]
HD Audio
an Audiophile

This seems to be a speaker designed for single-end tube amplifiers, in that it does not require a great deal of power; 3 watts. I had the opportunity to listen to these speakers using Cary electronics. The amp used the Western Electric 300B tube and was rated at 15 watts. I think this combination does a very good job of demonstrating what esoteric audio is all about. It really is useless for me to describe this, you really need to experience this for yourself. I'm curious to see what these speakers will sound like with an amplifier equipped with 2A3 tubes.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
Showing 1-4 of 4  

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