Speaker Hunt

jeff1225

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Jan 29, 2012
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Yesterday i had the chance to listen to the Rockport Cygnus at length. This was my first proper audition of Rockport speakers. I have to say the appeal to me in spades. They are not an analytical speaker at all. Full bodied, warm, engrossing and captivating are words I would use to describe the sound. If the Lyra sound like the Cygnus, just better, then it is definitely a contender.

I'm happy that you had a chance to hear this speaker. I believe the Lyra is a great choice for your room and current amps.
 
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howiebrou

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This past weekend, I compared Lansche 5.2 to Marten Bird 2 speakers. These speakers are roughly the same size, although the Lansches have 80 pounds on the Birds. Moving 180 pound speakers with only two people was doable, although back-breaking.

It was an interesting comparison. The room was pretty good size and the Martens with 2 x 9" bass drivers struggled to keep up with the Lansche single 10" driver. Martens sounded boomy and uncontrolled in the bass. Their boom and bloom overpowered the mids and obscured midrange detail. Comparatively, the Lansches sounded tighter and well controlled in the bass if not slightly lean. Both feature bass reflex cabinets but the port tuning is clearly different. I feel the Marten port should be tuned a bit higher in frequency. On the treble side, the Lansche plasma tweeter sounded pure with perhaps a tinge of brightness, but a bit laid back in comparison to the Marten. The Marten diamond tweeter at times sounded slightly more detailed and dynamic, a good thing. At other times it tended to sound a bit hard and edgy. But I could live with that. In terms of detail, the diamond tweeter beat the plasma for me. Treble timber differed as well, and I thought the Lansche was preferable in this area. Overall, the Lansche sounded quicker, cleaner and more precise while, to me, still retaining sufficient body. The Marten sounded slower, thicker, and warmer with its prominent bass overhang. In terms of integration, I felt the plasma tweeter, paper mid, and aluminum woofer in the Lansche sounded just fine together. The results were interesting and unexpected to me.

Pics or it didn't happen...

Very nice. I have always liked Lansche. Never had a chance to listen to them properly though. The big ones are meant to be really good.
 
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howiebrou

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I had two suggestions, that have been partly mentioned elsewhere:

Why don‘t you try something like Pap Trio Voxativ (which I have and love) or Pap Trio Horn, don‘t hesitate because they seem cheap..

Or: Get Yourself the Berning Quadrature Z‘ (Disclosure: I own nearly all of Berning electronics, currently selling exactly those, too much power for the Pap, which will remain..)
I have heard it: They turn Aidas into different speakers!

Thanks for the suggestions. I am not familiar with the Paps or even the Bernings. Need to do some digging.
 

egidius

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Feb 13, 2011
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Thanks for the suggestions. I am not familiar with the Paps or even the Bernings. Need to do some digging.
David Bernings original ZH270 was Franco Serblins favourite test amp for his early designs, including my then Guarneris. And the Combination of Beauty and Speed still works wonders in their current iterations.
Only Caveat, I have never heard the more expensive Kondos; nevertheless, my recommendation for Berning stands. I use his amps alternating with an Audio Consulting MIPA.
 

christoph

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Dec 11, 2015
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Very nice. I have always liked Lansche. Never had a chance to listen to them properly though. The big ones are meant to be really good.
My favorite Lansche Speaker by far is the Lansche Cubus driven by very good tube amps :cool:
Unfortunately they often demo with Mola Mola and that is a very big no go for the Cubus :eek::rolleyes:
 
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howiebrou

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David Bernings original ZH270 was Franco Serblins favourite test amp for his early designs, including my then Guarneris. And the Combination of Beauty and Speed still works wonders in their current iterations.
Only Caveat, I have never heard the more expensive Kondos; nevertheless, my recommendation for Berning stands. I use his amps alternating with an Audio Consulting MIPA.

Maybe i should start a new thread about high powered tube amps :eek:
 

howiebrou

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Sorry for the deviation, it was triggered by somebody pointing in that direction. And at some stage, „best“ turns out as just something else rather than better..
oh no worries! A system is all about synergy so just talking about the speaker is a little bit artificial but I guess it helps focus the mind. Thanks.
 

bazelio

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Sep 26, 2016
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Estelons sounded very good today. Diamond tweeters, 6.5" ceramic mids, and 11" woofers. Paired with Chord electronics, which I'd not heard previously, I thought the sound was refined, balanced, moderately detailed, and very musical. Bass was fairly tight and never boomy. I think it was ultimately held back somewhat by the Chord gear. Micro detail and dynamics weren't quite on par with expectations. Treble was a tad rolled, and bass was not as textured and palpable as I'd prefer. The speakers themselves though should ultimately scale up. The cabinets seemed completely inert, and the sales dude claimed they contain no wood nor MDF but are formed out of crushed (to smithereens?) granite somehow. Interesting if true. I'm interested in hearing these again with different electronics.

Pics...
 

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sujay

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I have heard the estelon XC driven by the mighty Moon 888 monos. A bit of an overkill, but boy, did that sound good! Excellent soundstage, imaging, and all the detail one can ask for. So I think you may be right in that the Chord electronics may have been the limiting factor in your audition. I will be auditioning the XA diamond soon and will report back.
 

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