OK! Esoteric K1 is the winner. ==• now we need to move to the speaker!!!!!}{[]>

[Bernard]

I think E1 is $27K new, I missed the demo pair which was probably high teens from him.

He also had Raidho D3 for $27K demo... which was a good deal, but I didn't bite on that.

The tone of the Ref 1 is nice - but I still *think* the Strads were a little more 3D. But not as good at delivering the "venue" to you as the Ref 1. Ref 1 gave the whole package, but I enjoyed the Strads way of really getting the voices to be near holographic. So with this in mind, I figured, I might as well resign myself to the Strads.

Doesn't sound like a happy choice

If a speaker gets voices right, it sounds like you have a great speaker there. Get the Strads!

 

[bonzo]

Doesn't sound like a happy choice

If a speaker gets voices right, it sounds like you have a great speaker there. Get the Strads!

I disagree Bernard. While I will never choose a speaker that doesn't do voices very well, where 95% of stuff seems to fail is piano and complex orchestral stuff when 40 instruments are thrown at it.

 

[Joey_V]

I disagree Bernard. While I will never choose a speaker that doesn't do voices very well, where 95% of stuff seems to fail is piano and complex orchestral stuff when 40 instruments are thrown at it.

Yes, I agree. Complex and piano are tough acts to get right.

Ref 1 did both easy.

 

[Bernard]

I disagree Bernard. While I will never choose a speaker that doesn't do voices very well, where 95% of stuff seems to fail is piano and complex orchestral stuff when 40 instruments are thrown at it.

True, but (and you and Joey have listened to lots more speakers than I have) have you listened to a lot of speakers that get voices to be "near holographic" but get the rest of the range wrong? Well, maybe there are some?

 

[bonzo]

True, but (and you and Joey have listened to lots more speakers than I have) have you listened to a lot of speakers that get voices to be "near holographic" but get the rest of the range wrong? Well, maybe there are some?

Actually, many. I don't think Logan hybrids are good at that, for example. Pianos don't seem to do well with cabinets, and the hybrid has a very small one. Crossovers which you can hear usually create a problem with orchestral. Horns face the same problem, their bass integration can be really a problem, and while midrange from the horn may be excellent, the bass just doesn't cut it. Estelon is another example where the piano sounds very digital while rest is excellent.

Quads do vocals and imaging beautifully but lack speed and dynamics for orchestra (IMO)

Nowadays I play some midrange vocal stuff first - if the speakers don't do that I am not even interested - it is a rejection criteria, but not an acceptance criteria. Then I play Mussorgsky Orchestral and Piano. After that, Scherezade to check for brass slam.

 

[roberto]

Hola Kedar...did you listen the Montis model? I think it is the best cabinet/panel model, and I listen the best panel integration with the woofer/cabinet. I can not hear the transition, and one of the best instruments to listen is the piano.

I do listen this transition in the Summit x, and I do not know why. Perhaps it has to do with the double woofers and their adjustment for the standing waves.

The Montis is to my ears, the best Martin Logan model so far for what you paid and what you got. You can adjust the bass level to the room where you are listening, very easy, no matter the size of the room. Also, the left hand vs the right hand of the piano player is breath taking. The coherence is astonishing. Happy listening!

 

[bonzo]

No Robert, haven't heard the Montis yet. If I go Mchannel Montis will be a top choice for front two

 

[User211]

Which Scherezade version are you listening to Kedar? Wanna see if Tidal have it.

 

[bonzo]

Which Scherezade version are you listening to Kedar? Wanna see if Tidal have it.

I prefer Fritz Reiner's/Chicago Symphony (Living Stereo), while the one from Reference Recordings (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rimsky-Korsakov-Scheherazade-Jose-Serebrier-LPO/dp/B00001X52M) has better SQ.

On the second movement, maybe around 3 minutes or so a lot of brass starts.

 

[bonzo]

Btw this is what the Animas use for their audition. So you can expect brass. Will put it in recommended recordings. The 7th song on there, Blues in the Basement http://www.allmusic.com/album/jazz-meets-the-symphony-mw0000099001

 

[Bernard]

Actually, many. I don't think Logan hybrids are good at that, for example. Pianos don't seem to do well with cabinets, and the hybrid has a very small one. Crossovers which you can hear usually create a problem with orchestral. Horns face the same problem, their bass integration can be really a problem, and while midrange from the horn may be excellent, the bass just doesn't cut it. Estelon is another example where the piano sounds very digital while rest is excellent.

Quads do vocals and imaging beautifully but lack speed and dynamics for orchestra (IMO)

Nowadays I play some midrange vocal stuff first - if the speakers don't do that I am not even interested - it is a rejection criteria, but not an acceptance criteria. Then I play Mussorgsky Orchestral and Piano. After that, Scherezade to check for brass slam.

Granted this may be the case at the lower end, but is it also true at the higher (more expensive) end where Joey is shopping?

BTW that Reiner is supposed to be THE reference recording performance-wise. I have it on the Chesky-reissued vinyl.

 

[Joey_V]

At this level from my experience, they all sound good. Just that some sound better. Most are SOTA.

I can say with my wife being a piano player, I use the piano also as a way to weed out those which aren't as musical.

Granted this may be the case at the lower end, but is it also true at the higher (more expensive) end where Joey is shopping?

BTW that Reiner is supposed to be THE reference recording performance-wise. I have it on the Chesky-reissued vinyl.

 

[bonzo]

Granted this may be the case at the lower end, but is it also true at the higher (more expensive) end where Joey is shopping?

BTW that Reiner is supposed to be THE reference recording performance-wise. I have it on the Chesky-reissued vinyl.

Glad to know I have a good ear then as I picked Reiner despite recording quality of Ref Recording being better.

I can say for certain with Wilson Alexandrias, Estelons, I find big problems with Pianos. Also B&W 802Ds.

 

[User211]

The only one Tidal had was Fritz. Though they do have quite a lot of Mr Mission Impossible and Jose too.

I have to say that in the small time I have been surfing a bit of classical, the recording quality of some of the classics is shockingly bad. Tape noise, mics that sound as though they were placed in different rooms/way too far away, bumps, knocks, crowds, clicks, pops - the lot!

A bit of a problem. The Fritz recording is kind of cool bad sounding on my little M&Ds though.

 

[Gordon Gray]

I have to say that in the small time I have been surfing a bit of classical, the recording quality of some of the classics is shockingly bad.

Given the amount of instruments, hall acoustics, and other issues at play, they are more likely to show the warts of recording anomalies versus other types of music.

As with all music, you need to know "reliable sources" for good quality recordings.

 

[User211]

Also, it would seem many of the best performances were recorded many decades ago. Which means you have to live with sub-par recordings to some extent.

At the end of the day, I feel it really isn't my genre so not too much of a problem for me. No denying there is some good stuff in it, though.

 

[bonzo]

Also, it would seem many of the best performances were recorded many decades ago. Which means you have to live with sub-par recordings to some extent.

At the end of the day, I feel it really isn't my genre so not too much of a problem for me. No denying there is some good stuff in it, though.

I think you have it wrong Justin. I don't know about surfing Tidal, but the recordings of Classical on CDs/SACDs are actually very good. And The DSD through the Lampi is brilliant.

 

[User211]

I know I haven't got it wrong Kedar.

 

[bonzo]

Have your tried pentatone, channel classics, reference recordings? Just start to see quality

 

[User211]

No but I know there will be some truly excellent recordings around.

As Gordon says a good live performance is much harder to capture well. And orchestras do tend to play live