KeithR's "Dream Speaker" Search

[jeff1225]

that's not entirely true as I've documented/learned an exceeding lot over the past year and, in fact, declined to purchase several speakers and have decided horns probably aren't for me.

i know everyone wants the shiny new box in my room and to congratulate my purchase, but its not so simple. a room change was also a big, new factor (as discussed in the OP) that was ultimately going to sway my direction and timing. I opted not to purchase anything before the move.

We simply enjoy spending your money Keith.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

The JBL M2 drivers were among the ones we´ve tested extensively. We got hold of them through a back door long before they were generally available

 

[spiritofmusic]

We simply enjoy spending your money Keith.

Well, Keith knows if I was spending his money, I'd buy the new Zu Definitions 6.

 

[Folsom]

Keith, how would you feel about speakers that are flatter but up against the wall, and around 25" wide? The main issue is you might want to change curtain type as a corner would probably be blocked. But then again I'm always willing to toss a 3D soundstage for every other characteristic. The upside would be unparalleled dynamics, cohesion of drivers, and not really needing to be in the sweet spot. I'm curious... not expecting a "yes, sounds great."

I could be wrong but the forum does seem to have some people teetering on wanting the intensity of big dynamics over other attributes, the thing is the change isn't as subtle as they may think. The great part? Not terribly costly. At least not until you get into horns, which are not a necessity. (not everything dynamic must be horn/altec sized)

 

[Robh3606]

Based on my reading about these drivers, I think I would prefer their sound to the driver used in the M2...if a pair could be obtained that is...

Well if you want to audition look for the K2 S9900 or the Everest DD65000 that is where the Mg version is used. As far as cost I paid $2250 for my pair back in 2013. That was dealer cost so X2 street, Now??

Check this out on the new generation of drivers for SR/Monitors

Rob

 

[KeithR]

Confirmed to hear the Auditorium 23 Cinema Hommage in the desert on Monday

I fully expect the sound to be excellent but the top end perhaps lacking for my taste. Will be taking Blake Mills, Trio Palabras, Olafur Arnauds, and maybe even the Tron soundtrack for fun.

 

[HughP3]

Confirmed to hear the Auditorium 23 Cinema Hommage in the desert on Monday

I fully expect the sound to be excellent but the top end perhaps lacking for my taste. Will be taking Blake Mills, Trio Palabras, Olafur Arnauds, and maybe even the Tron soundtrack for fun.

Keith - i am sure you know already but I have recognized in myself that the chase can be as exciting as the finale. hope your having fun driving this road cause it looks fun from here .

 

[KeithR]

Pitch Perfect Audio's "wall of Shindo"

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well, a man needs a hobby.

 

[KeithR]

Main lobby with vintage Eurodyns that had been uncrated a few days ago - apparently the birch sides were new, but the speakers had not been fired up yet. They use alnico drivers:



The mini-VOTT looking speakers are Line Magnetics with 18" woofers- SPEC TT for @spiritofmusic

I didn't listen to this system as the back room is the main demo room

 

[KeithR]

what turned out to be the main event- sorry the mood lighting was tough to photograph from an iphone. The room was built out using solid hardwoods of varying types and was 16x25x10'ish, so quite a good size. I didn't use the WE 300b monos shown, but rather started with a 300b Cortese and moved quickly to a CV391 Montille. Front end was a Verdier Platine w/ EMT arm/cartridge, Shindo Giscours preamp/phono

I heard the big Shindo Latours to get started, then moved to the A23 Cinemas. I was quite surprised at the sound, I'll just say that for now

 

[KeithR]

Lastly, I tried Sugden on my Devore Gibbon Xs in the same room - still feel that tubes work much better. I've heard Dart and Sugden now on Xs so that's a pretty good SS lineup to make that call. This dealer also loves the Leben 600 on Devore (no remote though). I'd still like to try hybrid amps (tube input stage).

 

[Dthagerty@aol.com]

Curious what you thought about the Auditorium 23’s and big Latours. I listened to the same system on Saturday. Mainly listened via a Monbrison, but the Giscours was put in just before I left.

The Latours surprised me, at first in a bad way, but ultimately in a very good way. We switched from the A23s to the Latours, which hadn’t been plugged in. The first 3 or 4 tracks I listened to sounded just OK. No sparkle. All imaging between the speakers. A bit dull and lifeless. No hint of “magic”. As the speakers warmed up (I assume this was due to the field coil power supply), the sound started to change. Larger soundstage. Warmth, richness, liquidity, detail. I was thoroughly impressed! But we had to leave, and I’m not sure the Latours had fully warmed up by the time we left. We’re going to go back to listen to both the A23s and Latours so we can be sure both are fully warmed up before listening to them.

 

[KeithR]

Curious what you thought about the Auditorium 23’s and big Latours. I listened to the same system on Saturday. Mainly listened via a Monbrison, but the Giscours was put in just before I left.

The Latours surprised me, at first in a bad way, but ultimately in a very good way. We switched from the A23s to the Latours, which hadn’t been plugged in. The first 3 or 4 tracks I listened to sounded just OK. No sparkle. All imaging between the speakers. A bit dull and lifeless. No hint of “magic”. As the speakers warmed up (I assume this was due to the field coil power supply), the sound started to change. Larger soundstage. Warmth, richness, liquidity, detail. I was thoroughly impressed! But we had to leave, and I’m not sure the Latours had fully warmed up by the time we left. We’re going to go back to listen to both the A23s and Latours so we can be sure both are fully warmed up before listening to them.

Funny, I did the reverse as the Latours were on first. I think they are somewhat different sounds - Shindo is smooth and rich with a big soundstage while the A23s were more lively with sparkle and disappeared more like a modern speaker. That said, I switched amps mid-way so had more A23 experience with the Montille. I don't prefer 300b set (at all really).

I did hear that pair of Latours had been sold over the weekend.

 

[Dthagerty@aol.com]

Funny, I did the reverse as the Latours were on first. I think they are somewhat different sounds - Shindo is smooth and rich with a big soundstage while the A23s were more lively with sparkle and disappeared more like a modern speaker. That said, I switched amps mid-way so had more A23 experience with the Montille. I don't prefer 300b set (at all really).

I did hear that pair of Latours had been sold over the weekend.

If you listened to the system on Saturday, we just missed each other. The dealer said he had another customer coming in at 4.

 

[KeithR]

I was on Monday, but the Latour buyer must have been the 4pm

 

[KeithR]

Auditorium 23 Hommage Cinema:

Sometimes the journey takes you on a road less traveled that ends with a surprise - and this is what happened while visiting my Devore dealer, Pitch Perfect Audio, out in Palm Springs this past weekend. As the room was new to me, I had Matt keep the Shindo Latours ("refrigerators" as I call them) in the mix on a full Shindo rig with 300b SET amp. Analog only with a Verdier Platine TT - that is stunning btw.

The Latours sounded like I've heard them before - big, rich, organic, and very non-audiophile sound without the hifi "fireworks". As @Ron Resnick quipped hearing them last time, it's like enjoying a fine scotch while sinking in the chair. That said, while I respect the Shindo sound its never really been my cup of tea. A bit too old school for my taste and music. I should also add that the 300b Cortese was just too soft for me.

So after a half hour we moved to the A23s and my ears instantly perked up - sound was quicker, more alive, and vivid even on the 300b. After 2-3 cuts we switched to the Shindo Montile CV391 version and the sound further improved. The soft top end was gone and I felt the better match for the speaker. I also noted the bass improved (and seemed better than the Latour in the larger cabinet). What surprised me was how good electronica sounded - both on Olafur Arnauds and Ry X - it was just super enveloping and I wasn't focused on individual sounds. We switched to a Heifetz classical piece and the speaker scaled nicely, but the soundstage wasn't as big as on the Latour. The string tone was really clear, vivid, and dynamic in a different way from other horns I've heard - and not fatiguing in the least. The Hommage Cinemas disappeared much more than the big Shindos, unsurprisingly. I also didn't notice any coherency woes, even with the active bass.

The top end from Dudley's review was my big concern and I joked with Matt and Jonathan Halpern about it - they laughed. Either there isn't much data above 10khz that I could hear in my limited demo, or as they relayed, the amount of HF information from the replica WE drivers is much more than normal tweeters as they are so sensitive (105db). The A23 speaker is interesting to me as it uses top notch drivers ($10k/pair), active bass with dual Class AB amps per speaker on the woofers, and field coil voltage adjustments for the mids/highs. In many ways, its a very modern speaker with vintage replica drivers and a much better integrated horn. Art Dudley says its the most competent high efficiency speaker he's heard - and I might agree with that. It certainly deserves a full audition in the new year after the speakers have another 500 hours on them (they had crossed 100 when I was there). While $50k + $5k for the field coil power supply isn't cheap, it lives on amps that cost no more than my own. In fact, the dealer said the little Montille is perfect for it.

I've heard some vintagey sound stuff before (Branckos at the Long Beach Show, Shindo, etc.) but these sounded much better to my ears. And walking into that room, I certainly wasn't expecting to be this surprised. It was really good sound, folks.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Auditorium 23 Hommage Cinema:

Sometimes the journey takes you on a road less traveled that ends with a surprise - and this is what happened while visiting my Devore dealer, Pitch Perfect Audio, out in Palm Springs this past weekend. As the room was new to me, I had Matt keep the Shindo Latours ("refrigerators" as I call them) in the mix on a full Shindo rig with 300b SET amp. Analog only with a Verdier Platine TT - that is stunning btw.

The Latours sounded like I've heard them before - big, rich, organic, and very non-audiophile sound without the hifi "fireworks". As @Ron Resnick quipped hearing them last time, it's like enjoying a fine scotch while sinking in the chair. That said, while I respect the Shindo sound its never really been my cup of tea. A bit too old school for my taste and music. I should also add that the 300b Cortese was just too soft for me.

So after a half hour we moved to the A23s and my ears instantly perked up - sound was quicker, more alive, and vivid even on the 300b. After 2-3 cuts we switched to the Shindo Montile CV391 version and the sound further improved. The soft top end was gone and I felt the better match for the speaker. I also noted the bass improved (and seemed better than the Latour in the larger cabinet). What surprised me was how good electronica sounded - both on Olafur Arnauds and Ry X - it was just super enveloping and I wasn't focused on individual sounds. We switched to a Heifetz classical piece and the speaker scaled nicely, but the soundstage wasn't as big as on the Latour. The string tone was really clear, vivid, and dynamic in a different way from other horns I've heard - and not fatiguing in the least. The Hommage Cinemas disappeared much moreso than the big Shindos, unsurprisingly. I also didn't notice any coherency woes, even with the active bass.

The top end from Dudley's review was my big concern and I joked with Matt and Jonathan Halpern about it - they laughed. Either there isn't much data above 10khz that I could hear in my limited demo, or as they relayed, the amount of HF information from the replica WE drivers is much more than normal tweeters as they are so sensitive (105db). The A23 speaker is interesting to me as it uses top notch drivers ($10k/pair), active bass with dual Class AB amps per speaker on the woofers, and field coil voltage adjustments for the mids/highs. In many ways, its a very modern speaker with vintage replica drivers and a much better integrated horn. Art Dudley says its the most competent high efficiency speaker he's heard - and I might agree with that. It certainly deserves a full audition in the new year after the speakers have another 500 hours on them (they had crossed 100 when I was there). While $50k + $5k for the field coil power supply isn't cheap, it lives on amps that cost no more than my own. In fact, the dealer said the little Montille is perfect for it.

I've heard some vintagey sound stuff before (Branckos at the Long Beach Show, Shindo, etc.) but these sounded much better to my ears. And walking into that room, I certainly wasn't expecting to be this surprised. This was really good sound, folks.

Hi Keith,

That would be a sub zero cool choice of new speaker if you got that!!

Can you send some piccies as I would love to see them. I have often ogled them before and wondered how good they would be.

 

[morricab]

Auditorium 23 Hommage Cinema:

Sometimes the journey takes you on a road less traveled that ends with a surprise - and this is what happened while visiting my Devore dealer, Pitch Perfect Audio, out in Palm Springs this past weekend. As the room was new to me, I had Matt keep the Shindo Latours ("refrigerators" as I call them) in the mix on a full Shindo rig with 300b SET amp. Analog only with a Verdier Platine TT - that is stunning btw.

The Latours sounded like I've heard them before - big, rich, organic, and very non-audiophile sound without the hifi "fireworks". As @Ron Resnick quipped hearing them last time, it's like enjoying a fine scotch while sinking in the chair. That said, while I respect the Shindo sound its never really been my cup of tea. A bit too old school for my taste and music. I should also add that the 300b Cortese was just too soft for me.

So after a half hour we moved to the A23s and my ears instantly perked up - sound was quicker, more alive, and vivid even on the 300b. After 2-3 cuts we switched to the Shindo Montile CV391 version and the sound further improved. The soft top end was gone and I felt the better match for the speaker. I also noted the bass improved (and seemed better than the Latour in the larger cabinet). What surprised me was how good electronica sounded - both on Olafur Arnauds and Ry X - it was just super enveloping and I wasn't focused on individual sounds. We switched to a Heifetz classical piece and the speaker scaled nicely, but the soundstage wasn't as big as on the Latour. The string tone was really clear, vivid, and dynamic in a different way from other horns I've heard - and not fatiguing in the least. The Hommage Cinemas disappeared much moreso than the big Shindos, unsurprisingly. I also didn't notice any coherency woes, even with the active bass.

The top end from Dudley's review was my big concern and I joked with Matt and Jonathan Halpern about it - they laughed. Either there isn't much data above 10khz that I could hear in my limited demo, or as they relayed, the amount of HF information from the replica WE drivers is much more than normal tweeters as they are so sensitive (105db). The A23 speaker is interesting to me as it uses top notch drivers ($10k/pair), active bass with dual Class AB amps per speaker on the woofers, and field coil voltage adjustments for the mids/highs. In many ways, its a very modern speaker with vintage replica drivers and a much better integrated horn. Art Dudley says its the most competent high efficiency speaker he's heard - and I might agree with that. It certainly deserves a full audition in the new year after the speakers have another 500 hours on them (they had crossed 100 when I was there). While $50k + $5k for the field coil power supply isn't cheap, it lives on amps that cost no more than my own. In fact, the dealer said the little Montille is perfect for it.

I've heard some vintagey sound stuff before (Branckos at the Long Beach Show, Shindo, etc.) but these sounded much better to my ears. And walking into that room, I certainly wasn't expecting to be this surprised. This was really good sound, folks.

I heard a very good sound western electric replica system (Line magnetic drivers and horns) with big 18 inch field coil woofers (non-replica) that was also worth the price of entry at around 40k euro...it was huge but glorious sounding.

 

[KeithR]

Hi Keith,

That would be a sub zero cool choice of new speaker if you got that!!

Can you send some piccies as I would love to see them. I have often ogled them before and wondered how good they would be.

You can see the picture above - it was really tough to take photos inside the listening room with only mood lighting on the iphone.