What's the best small standmount

Interesting to see the comments re the Cremona Auditors, I am currently considering giving them a whirl at home.

Sadly, when my subs arrive, I will probably have to dispense with my truly beloved Merlins as a floorstander will simply take up too much space I suspect

So I am looking for a standmount that is every bit as good, hard one that. Fortunately bass extension is not an issue,as I will be crossing over to the subs at well over 100hz anyway.

But the current list of possibles seems to be Dynaudio Special 25 (don't really need the bass though ), B&W 805 S (didn't rate the 805N though), Cremonas, Wilson Watts, Revel Gems (second hand I hasten to add!). Maybe SF Electa Amator 1's, don't think the Guarnies will do Audioslave!

Just in, a dealer in Vegas is selling off new Krell Lat2's for less than half uk retail (I've heard them and they are excellent). Same drivers as the Cremonas though and twice the price.

They basically need to go loud without strain, have a natural mid, and no treble sparkly hifi shit.

So what is your favourite standmount and why? Have I missed anything important off the list?

 

Give ATCs a listen. (Joel will be along to suggest Harbet/Spendor, so I thought I'd get my stock answer in first.)

-- Ian

 

I'd have something with a ribbon tweeter on the short list personally..

Mark Levinsons Red Rose.. cant remember the model.. small standmount - sure youve seen the reviews.. would be my starting point..

Anyway, I like ribbons so much Id be looking for a speaker that did them justice.

by the way, I dont know a great deal about subs, but isnt 100hz a very high point at which to cross them over?

Chris

 

Merlin,

I guess the 805 sigs will be pretty high up the list, not sure about the others as I am not familiar with them. I like the MFS Ultimatums, but I think my tastes may be a bit more earthy than yours.

It will be interesting to see what the 1SC replacements are going to be like, are they going to be launched at Heathrow? I reckon you are a bit of a Proac man myself

So, the viper is going then

Cheers, Robbo

 

Chris,

I too like the idea of ribbons, and the Red Rose is an interesting idea I might well try to track some down for a listen. My only concern would be their ability and reliability at high levels.

I was thinking of ATC as well, but they don't seem to do a really small standmount with the 3" dome built in Still might need to go custom there.

Chris, when I say subwoofer, I mean the bass driver really. The gear I use allows me to use the built in active crossover and time alignment to use "subs" up to over 300hz, and the results can be really impressive. The subs are going to be similar to the JBL 9800K2, which crosses over at 800hz That's the theory anyway.

I agree Robbo, but sadly I can't get any info out of ST as they are on holiday for three weeks To be honest, being used to the Esotar, I do find the Proac 19mm tweeter to sound a little rolled off. Maybe the new ones are more extended.

Yes sir it is The King Cobra is in situ and with the Hydra in operation as well , I don't really need the extra naturalness that the Viper gives in spades. It really can transform the performance of transports in particular, one for Henry or Graham N I believe

Now anyone out there got any experience with horns.........

 

There's no point on here tbh.

In any case, Merlin's best bet is, IMO, a custom cabinet with high quality full-range drivers (say 50-3K hz) and very high quality compression tweeters with composite dispersion horns. Something a little like the system in my spare room in fact:
spare room system

JBL make the full complement of drivers for this purpose. Another option, if Merlin is feeling particulalry flush, are the Technical Audio Devices (TAD) unobtanium drivers as used in the many of the best speakers in the world eg Westlake & Rey Audio

Caveat: the sonic result will not resemble either Sonus Faber, Krell or Red Rose speakers.

 

My vote would go for the Dynaudio Special 25 of course Having said that, I've heard them against the Contour 1.3MkIIs (the actual pair I now own) and they were better, but not that much better. Not worth the price difference IMO. Needless to say I'm very happy with my 1.3MkIIs, especially at the price I paid for them

The other amazing small standmount I'd recommend (and have heard a few times in a friend's system in Lisbon) is the Revel Performa M20. Good review of them in the latest edition (September) of HiFi News.

Michael.

 

my vote is for http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=8



Sorry not small

 

Says they're only £211 HERE



Looked better before the restyling IMO

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http://www.demon.co.uk/moorgate/forsale.htm

 

Merlin if u get the special 25's then throw away the subs
OMG serious fekkin bass on these monsters caution big FO room needed
I found the more upmarket Dyns to have a slightly recessed or over refined tweeter.
I prefered the more upfront 1.1 tweeter but depends on your electronics.
You still selling the Contour sub???

Curt

 

:duck:

 

I know Curt That 8" driver and huge port give amazing bass for a standmount, somewhat uneccesary for me. I do however have the chance to get a pair in the limited finish, so will definately audition them in situ when the subs are up and running. The new Esotar tweeter is quite special.

Yep, the Contour Sub is going true 20hz extension and proper bass Cherry finish, the perfect compliment to a pair of 1.1's to give afull range setup

Couldn't see the pic posted by Antonio, but I can guess Nice standmounts but I would be looking for Mk1's as I prefer the Esotar that SF dispensed with in the Mk2's for cost reasons only.

Now I know Joel likes to have a go at me usually but I think he may well be on the right track here The problem for me would be finding a compression driver happy to work down to 300hz, all the JBL systems and others seem to crossover at 500-800hz, which is sadly out of the question. I'd also need to biamp and purchase a horn loaded supertweeter, the JBL is FO expensive.

So the shortlist seems to comprise Dynaudio S25, SF Electa Amator 1, SF Cremona Auditor or ATC SCM20. Unless someone knows better..............

 

Are you anywhere near the Hertfordshire area Merlin?
Wouldnt mind hearing it in my setup.
How much where u looking for again?

Curt

 

I've not properly heard or audtioned any standmounts or mini monitors with a more hefty price tag than the ones I currently use, Verity Audio Parsifal Monitors, but for my particular tastes have yet to find anything cheaper that has their particular ideal balance of "hi-fi" and "musicalness". They're very uncoloured, texturous and informative in the mids; and very delicately extended, airy, spacious and detailed but without being aggresive or fatiguring at the top. All this without being boring, over anaytical or cold sounding.

The only caveat I'd say is that they're rear ported, so may interact badly in certain listening rooms if you have a 50Hz hump, but seeing as you're intending to roll off at 100Hz...

http://www.verityaudio.com/ver01.html

For a little less money than the Veritys, I'd be seriously interested in hearing a pair of Eathworks Sigma 6.2's:



http://www.earthworksaudio.com/ns/speakers.html

A little off the beaten track for a hi-fi speaker recommendation I guess, as these are near-field studio monitors (I'm sure this forum's other Sound-On-Sound reader DominicT will know of these speakers too). Apparently they are musical too, for a studio monitor, and not just an analytical studio tool. As you can probably guess from looking at their cabinet design, time coherency is of major factor importance in their design.

 

Moi? and there was I thinking it was just my witless repartee.
I seriously doubt these on the shelf solutions are going to give you what you are want, or provide a suitable blend with the jbls. It may be worth a try, but tbh, if you must go with the usual suspects (Vifa, Scanspeak et al) why not just get the drivers and stick them into cabs desigend for your system and your room and without the expensive marquetry?
I think having a full-range driver doing duty in the mids could give you the flexibility you need to optimise xover for both bass and tweet.
You may want to have a look at the very reasonable EJ Jordan drivers. Not saying they are what you need, or that they would work even, but worth a look I think.
There is a Chinese clone of the ElectroVoice PA speaker series that comes with a compression driver and sells for about 100quid a pair here in Japan. If you look hard, I'm sure you will find something.
Alternatively, fined a nice used pair of early yammie NS1000s and rip the midrange drivers out of them...

 

Another vote for the Dynaudios....

 

Henry,

had a listen to some a few months back at Digital Village.....not really my cup of tea All airy and spacious with no body whatsoever to my ears, even when used with a Dynaudio Air sub.

Good point Joel, but although the bass/mid crossover would be handled by the RCS, the mid/tweeter would either require the addition of another Tact amp (programmed with the crossover in the digital domain) or designing a standard crossover, which I feel is a true art and way beyond me

I had looked at the JBL Berrilyum compression drivers, the super tweeter looks effectively self contained with it's own crossover. But I am unsure as to the ability of the midrange unit to go down past 500hz, hence the need for normal standmounts.

The Dynaudios are looking a good shout, I suspect they will give the required robustness and treble detail, whilst I spend the next few months looking at BiRadial horns and the like

Yes Curt I am, but there ain't no way I'm lugging this beast around to other houses, have you any idea how much the Contour sub weighs

 

OK, not heard them myself, but fair enough. Interesting though, I'd have thought the required body (warmth??) could be dialed in by careful setting of the sub. I even find that in my set-up, the merest subtle adjustment of subwoofer levels affect the perceived body, clarity and openess of mid and upper frequencies!

Maybe it's the immediacy of ultra high efficiency drivers you're after then ultimately, hence horn loaded drivers?

What other gear were they using in the dem at DV?

 

If bass is not required, what about a pair of AVI Neutrons?

Chris

 

DOES NOT COMPUTE. DOES NOT COMPUTE. DOES NOT COMPUTE. DOES NOT COMPUTE. DOES NOT.........