Bang for the buck....

[DaveyF]

..heard them at AXPONA and couldn't agree more. The company owner is the guy who founded Emerald Physics..

Yes, that is what he told us yesterday.
I think his speakers are an interesting design that seems to mitigate the issues that box speakers have and at the same time are also a lot easier to drive than most panels!
I was quite impressed, specially when he told us that the expected delivery time was but a few weeks...vs. months or more for the Vapors etc.,

 

[es347]

..plus they look pretty cool...nicely finished

 

[DaveC]

Personally, I'm not a fan of dipoles, especially dipole bass. But for those who do it's certainly much more economical to bolt a driver to a board instead of a box! Also, I'm not a big fan of 1" compression drivers that cover from ~1-20 kHz. I'd go for Odyssey or PranaFidelity speakers over them any day... the Prana 5090 or Odyssey Kismets are far better imo and both are about $4k.

 

[DaveyF]

Personally, I'm not a fan of dipoles, especially dipole bass. But for those who do it's certainly much more economical to bolt a driver to a board instead of a box! Also, I'm not a big fan of 1" compression drivers that cover from ~1-20 kHz. I'd go for Odyssey or PranaFidelity speakers over them any day... the Prana 5090 or Odyssey Kismets are far better imo and both are about $4k.

That's how I usually feel about dipoles and compression drivers!

However, these Spatial speakers were sounding very good in the exhibit room. Plus, the pricing makes them very attractive...a $1500- saving over the Odyssey's ( as an example) could be put to good use further up-stream.
Therefore, their "bang for the buck" was a winner.
I'll be at Newport again today, will look and listen for other candidates.

 

[Steve Williams]

Have a listen to the Magnepan room Davey with three $600 speakers

 

[DaveyF]

Have a listen to the Magnepan room Davey with three $600 speakers

I heard them last year, but will re-visit today.
For some reason, last year they were un-impressive, probably some kind of room issue or??

The main reason I rarely recommend Maggie's at the very entry level, is because you need a steam engine of an amp upstream to drive them. When you factor this in, the system tends to get pricier a lot quicker.
However, having said that, there are some ok class d designs that are now in the market that don't break the bank.
The Red Dragon amps that Spatial are using, being a good example.

Today, I plan on visiting our old friend Philip in his room....always like his Vivid speakers.

 

[Steve Williams]

Davey, they were using a cheap multichannel amp sitting on the floor behind the speakers. Everyone who was there and sat in that sweet spot were gob smacked

Joe Cali's demo in Philip's room was the best and mot professional demo of any vendor at the Show

 

[DaveC]

That's how I usually feel about dipoles and compression drivers!

However, these Spatial speakers were sounding very good in the exhibit room. Plus, the pricing makes them very attractive...a $1500- saving over the Odyssey's ( as an example) could be put to good use further up-stream.
Therefore, their "bang for the buck" was a winner.
I'll be at Newport again today, will look and listen for other candidates.

I do agree they are a good deal, relative to the market. Of course it's trivial to DIY a speaker like that too... As far as compression drivers beryllium diaphragms make them far better when used up to 20kHz but lots more $.

As far as powering cheaper Maggies, the Crown XLS series amps are an exceptional deal for those who need a lot of power and are decent amps. Great when used for subwoofer amps with their build-in DSP crossover.

 

[NorthStar]

The Spatial M3Turbo S's ($2595-)] in the room (404) that utilized the Lampi Lite 7 DAC, The Tortuga LDR3 preamp, The Red Dragon S500 amp and source- a MacBook Air on Audirvana. Cabling by Anticables, total system price: $13285-!

Ah, finally. I have looked hard and long on which one it could have been. ...With the goggle function.
Not bad for under fifteen grands for quality hi-fi stereo music reproduction. Can those speakers go down to say 20Hz +/- 1.5dB?
And can you put together 95% of that sound in a system say costing roughly three times less ($4,444)?

 

[DaveC]

Ah, finally. I have looked hard and long on which one it could have been. ...With the goggle function.
Not bad for under fifteen grands for quality hi-fi stereo music reproduction. Can those speakers go down to say 20Hz +/- 1.5dB?
And can you put together 95% of that sound in a system say costing roughly three times less ($4,444)?

The total Odyssey system is half that...

 

[FrantzM]

The total Odyssey system is half that...

Description/Components of this Odyssey System?

 

[NorthStar]

The total Odyssey system is half that...

Good morning Dave,

Half of $13,285 or half of $4,444? ...And what does it consist of? ...And finally; it has 95% of the sound quality of DaveyF's system?

 

[DaveC]

Klaus has shown this system many times. His amps have won TAS awards last 2 years as well. I have a fully upgraded Stratos and it is a very good amp. I'd buy this over the Spatial system.

http://www.theaudiobeat.com/rmaf2014/rmaf2014_odyssey.htm


The fully upgraded amps are exceptional (review is of his cheapest amp):

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/tas-195-odyssey-audio-khartago-stereo-amplifier/

 

[KeithR]

I enjoyed the Spatial system, but the amps were very limiting - would much rather try Vinnie Rossi's LIO. Klaus always puts together a great system for $, although I missed his room this year. I heard the Sanders demo, but didn't find it coherent which was distracting.

The Trenner Friedl monitor was the best budget speaker I heard- although it was on a full Viva rig which isn't cheap

I may or may not start a thread on the Show, but I was disappointed overall in sound quality this year.

 

[NorthStar]

That Odyssey system looks sweet, thanks Dave.

 

[Steve Williams]

The Trenner Friedl monitor was the best budget speaker I heard- although it was on a full Viva rig which isn't cheap

$2995

Was in the same room as Gary Koh. As you said it probably had a $50K front and back end

It was spectacular

 

[DaveyF]

I heard the Maggie room today...
They were demoing the MMG's with Bryston gear... A 3 ch amp, BDA 2 Dac and a computer ( I think ) front end. Sound was good, but I'm not sure why they needed to have the middle speaker?? The rep told me that without it the center image would not be there or would be severely diminished ?.. I don't get that, but?
Overall, I thought the system was a little 'digital' sounding, but certainly would be on my ' bang for the buck' list!
The MMG's at $600 a pair are certainly a great buy, makes one wonder how much better the 1.7's or the 20.7's can sound.... With a three channel set up that is, lol.w

 

[Steve Williams]

Ron and I asked the very same question of Wendell as we felt exactly the same thing. His answer was interesting and that was to demo a 3 channel system to prospective Magnepan owners who might hear such a system at the dealer and want to have it but they are not actively pushing it.


Davey

Not sure what you mean about the system sounding a little digital. That's all that was played was digital

 

[DaveyF]

Steve, I fail to see the logic in the answer, unless you want to sell an extra speaker... And lock into a three channel amp!
Plus, I am unaware of any three channel recordings??? For Wendell, or anyone else,to state that two channel sound with two speakers fails to solidify a center image, just isn't my experience. So, I'm still not getting this approach?.

As to my digital comment, clearly the system was digital based, but there was also a slight hardness ( brightness) that I usually hear with digital....and I do not with analog.

 

[Steve Williams]

There are none Davey and I agree with you. This is a Bryston processor that has the algorithm for converting stereo to 3 channel. Nothing more. They weren't trying to sell it to anyone as Wendell commented