Castle Conway 3 (Cherry)

Nudge.

 

Boing.

 

Going up!

 

I think I might keep them and sell the Dynaudios instead.

After hearing Tony's system again yesterday, I decided to have a fiddle with mine to see if I could improve things. My biggest problem is room boom. I have a lounge/diner which makes it harder to arrange for good sound. I have to avoid sitting near the boundaries or anywhere near the half way line. This is easiest to do when firing the speakers across the width of the room and having the sofa well out from the back wall with bookcases behind. This however means that I am sitting closer to the speakers than is ideal. The Castles don't integrate well at such a short distance and need a bit more distance. 10 - 11 feet is fine. 8 feet doesn't quite cut it. With the Dynaudios, the sound is well integrated but the stage is a little smaller than I would like. Plus in the present arrangement they are too close to the wall which means they produce far too much bass. It's good bass, just too much. I don't have any stands for them at the moment.

I know that firing either speaker down the room is a disaster. The only satisfactory listening position is in the middle of the dining table

However, yesterday evening I had a flash of lateral inspiration and decided to try it. Why not put the sofa where the speakers would be and put the speakers close to the walls either side of the dining table. This should put the sofa in a non-boom zone. So after much sweating, grunting and a few choice epithets, I moved it all around.

Well, there is no more room boom :MILD:

The Castles sound great. Really very little to criticise. A touch of resonance at one point in the lower midrange that I shall look into. Might need a little damping somewhere. Probably the cabinets. Otherwise very good. Punchy. Tight. Deep. Powerful. Transparent. Treble is not quite as tinkly as the Dynaudios which have a better tweeter, but it's not that far behind.

The Dynaudios sound drier and a little clearer, I suspect due to an almost total lack of cabinet resonances. Bass definition is very good and truly astonishing for such a small speaker, but without a wall behind them (at least not for some 7 feet) they are not weighty enough in the bass for rock or metal.

So I did some AB comparisons of things I know sound really good on the Dynaudios to see how much of that magic is retained by the Castles and the answer is, a surprising amount. Enough that if I didn't have the Dynaudios to compare to, I wouldn't be disatisfied with the Castles.

And that brings me to the difficult bit

Having heard Tony's system yesterday, I realise that while my system produces enjoyable music, it is miles off of the kind of realism that is possible. The Dynaudios take me closer but only a bit. I don't think I can afford the money or the time to get to that higher level.

I'm thinking I should keep this new room arrangement, keep the Castles because they work well in it, and sell the Dynaudios happy in the knowledge that good as they are, they are still well short of what is possible. I should settle for what I have and be thankful.

 

Took some piccies so you can see what I'm on about

Where'd the hifi go?



Ah! There it is?

 

I think I may be going slightly mad, but never mind, the room is back the way it was, the Dynaudios are back in effect, and the Castles are once more available for some lucky soul. If you like rock/metal/techno/trance then you will especially love these speakers but they also work wonders with female vocals, blues and chillout.

 

SOLD