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am I missing something ?........have heard these in three different
setups in the past couple of months.......just leave me cold

 

No, it's just that loudspeakers are the most personal choice when it comes to system building.

I rate them highly, one of the few small floorstanders that retains the life in the music whilst sounding relatively uncoloured. I find them fun, but they do need careful matching with amplification.

One of the only speakers I might consider replacing the Merlins with, but on second thoughts they aren't that good

 

ooh a thread about me speakers.

biggest thing about them is getting the placement right on them. Get them set-up incorrectly and they sound nothing special.

They need to be very far apart, and preferably in a largish room.. Ive never met a speaker thats more fussy about where and how its placed, and its very dependant on the signature of the room aswell -

I know Im only getting 60% of what mine can do... if you live anywhere near Nottingham, definitive audio have them setup beautifully, and they sound awesome in the shop.

Cheers
Chris

 

I had the obx's which are the same apart from a posher tweeter and an oubtboard crossover....I was well pissed...they were ok but for the cash...plenty of cheaper speakers gave me more...esp the base model of the range...

 

Hi

I agree with Merlin. Speakers are a personal thing. I too own a pair of Avatars OBXs & have enjoyed using them. Good number of strengths over weaknesses. I'm in no hurry to change them. having said that, I having fun with some Impulse horn speakers.

It's no problem if you don't like them just buy stuff you like.

I have generally heard them sound very good but did hear a pair sound bad at the heathrow show in the Icon room. But there are many variables to get a good sound.


SCIDB

 

Just a thought Chris, I think you will find their pair are somewhat different to the ones that you buy

 

interesting replies chaps.................yes i did hear them closer together than i would have thought.....{baywindow}
heard them with a Opus 21, 2 box and my perpetual Pa1+PA3 monolithic combi using sugdenmasterclass and T class es labs amp, also with Icon valves and Krell ksa 150a

MW often poke's fun at me,{light heartly}regarding my Like of what he terms hifi sound and not groove sound
I disagree with his description of my system, to my ears
its detailed ,transparent, 3D and very musical.....BUT...does lack the mega base some crave..
Well I think all these terms are subjective....Imo all the above
with Avator's sounded how I,d define as "the hifi sound"

clearly the Krell could not be called boring/bland having owned
a KSA50 untill a yr ago

I,d love to hear Avators sound as they are suppposed too

 

You need 'Proper valve amps then' see under Border Patrol/A/R,Caries, that makes em work proper

 

..true..

..except I bought his demonstrators!

 

that's a co-incidence they are in bed together :buddies:

 

I've heard OBX-Rs sounding very good with Canaries.

I was serioulsy tempted by the lowly Auditorium but felt that £1700 was rather a lot for what is a fairly basic speaker. I'm glad the Castle Conway 3s came along when they did. Saved me 800 quid

 

believe it or not the auditoriums use vifa bass units and tweets that are about £30 each, thats round about £100 of drivers in each one...add a box and crossover and it'll cost you another £750

how good is that amp, technobear?

 

Thats what puts me of them a little bit, the quality of the drivers looks less than special apart from in the OBX versions which use the Scanspeak Revelator tweeter, which is a class unit. Allegedly, the bass can be a bit boomy with port resonances as well.

Having said the above I would still like to try them out in my system sometime (the OBX-R versions) to see how they match with my CA50 amp.

Robbo

 

The ATC? Well naturally since I own one and since I paid a lot of money for it, it's utterly fabulous of course

Seriously, just like the Castle speakers, it has a tendency to 'disappear'. Signal in. Same signal out only much louder. And it doesn't take any crap from the speakers either. Dynamics and slam to die for. Bass is well under control. It sweet and clean and smooth and very powerful. Hard to criticise really.

It's very revealing so it might show up a less than top notch source. Fortunately the Alpha 9 is a top notch source.

It also doesn't add any artificial warmth or bloom so partnering it with cool or dry sounding components might not be a good thing. It works well with the Castle Conway 3 as the latter do add just a touch of warmth and euphony without hiding the details or dynamics.

 

I my limited experience of the Avators, that would be something to bear in mind. There does seem to be a lot of energy from the rear firing bass ports, so this isn't a speaker you'd want to shove in a corner or too close to wall. As long as you have a decent amp to control them, things should be OK. Not ever heard the OBX's.

 

to be honest, I don't think the avatar, and the obx would be much different soudning....the avatars have the scanspeak 9500 tweeter, which is superb in its own right....all, what £80 pounds worth...I am sceptical myself about the value of an ob xover, but can't do any harm....I have yet to verify it in my own mind...

reason I am asking, techno, is I fancy a big pair of active atc's sometime, secondhand of course....trouble is, I would hate to think they would be all accuracy at the expense of music

 

Chris,

Time to stir it a bit

Sorry, but IMO the Arcam doesnt really count as a top notch source. It's a good sub £1K player for sure but thats about it really. Still it sounds as though it goes well with your setup at the moment.

Robbo

 

I can't believe that took two hours Not that i've heard the Alpha 9 or know anything about it, but i was still expecting that quote's rapid demolition, for some reason

 

Yes, the Alpha 9 is utter rubbish, not nearly as good as [insert product name here]

-- Ian

 

I thought anything by arcam was uttercrap:crazy::duck: