Vantages, a giant killer...

[roberto]

Hola, I just want to share with you this recent history. I lent a dear friend for this past week-end one pair of Vantage. He owns the Dunlavy SC-V, a pair of Golliath speakers of 325 pounds each and almost 6 feet tall. I have to tell you too, that these are a very good sounding, well balanced sound overall dynamic speakers. They do provide the right size of the instruments, with an outstanding image...but David (Vantages) was better to our ears. The transparency, the inner detail, the quality of the bass, the coherence in the upper low-mid-range to top, made him of wanting a new pair...He also told me that he had being listening many new models from Focal JM-Labs to Magnepan, and he was very happy with Dunlavy sound until now!...now he is selling them to buy a pair of Vantages...happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[lugano]

Great success story, Roberto. I always have a mixed feeling when people and friends listen to my ML's. The kernel of the whole story boils down to a certain sadness: it becomes quickly clear that a lot of them spent too many years listening to music through the wrong loudspeakers. Many were driven away from music because of that. And there is no way to overcome all this waste, all those years won't come back.

 

[roberto]

Great success story, Roberto. I always have a mixed feeling when people and friends listen to my ML's. The kernel of the whole story boils down to a certain sadness: it becomes quickly clear that a lot of them spent too many years listening to music through the wrong loudspeakers. Many were driven away from music because of that. And there is no way to overcome all this waste, all those years won't come back.

And they don´t really care of their sound quality...yes, I share with you the same feeling. On the other hand, this man is a keyboard player with a small recording studio. He is truly aware of the size and timbre of the instruments...he is now on our side, and saying that for the first time, he just found a better sounding speakers than his Dunlavy. There is no perfect speaker, but truly these (the Dunlavys) are good sounding speakers. When I saw them again, I forgot how big they were, and my first thought was that the music was going to be very big...how wrong I was, one of the best dynamic speakers that I had ever listened. Great with the right size of the instruments and vocals...very good indeed. But the new sound, and new panels from ML are truly musical, with a big extension from bottom to zipp, making him wanting the new Vantages...thanks Lugano!...happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[lugano]

On the other hand, this man is a keyboard player with a small recording studio. He is truly aware of the size and timbre of the instruments...he is now on our side, and saying that for the first time, he just found a better sounding speakers than his Dunlavy

I agree with you, Roberto, but how many people are aware ? You know, I've spent my childhood looking and listening to my uncle, a classical music composer. (http://www.ucmr.org.ro/scripts/pagini.pl?pag=1479&mod=&opt=A&set_lang=en) He was there, at his piano, hitting a note, listening to it, then hitting again in another manner, waiting for the echo to disappear, and I had a feeling of happiness whenever I saw him eventually picking up the pen and writing down the note he just produced. Sometimes he stood up, picked up the phone and called the piano expert in order to fine tune his Steinway, because he felt something was wrong. I remember those discussions, in which he claimed the piano was not sounding right, and the specialist was clueless because for him there was nothing wrong with the sound. If you think about it, about all the filters and equalizations and compressions that come after this, and to end with, the result is played by some transducers, you realize why people's ears are not educated. I guess you can't really enjoy a steak when all you ate a life long has been hamburgers. You can't really speak about music reproduction if you never heard the music directly. What you are rating is not the music or the gear, it's the sound engineer's ability in the psicoacoustic domain...."real" and "enjoyable" are like a woman in the morning and in the evening, if she's beautiful at 7:30 AM, she will keep on being it the whole day. But if you only happen to look at her after 7 PM at a restaurant, you're not entitled to emit an opinion about her.

 

[garmtz]

Hi Roberto!

These are indeed very classy speakers. I have also had the pleasure of listening to them and was bowled over by the real-life size of the voices and instruments, just like you are telling. The sound had a certain 'realness' to it. Truly very special speakers! Compared with the Vantages though, I agree they can have a somewhat less open, less airy, less fast perspective on things. Music is always 'over there', not 'over here'...

 

[Joey_V]

Great story Roberto! Another Loganite is in the works, eh?

Great conversion.... I, too, think that the Vantages are a superb hi-end speaker.

Joey

 

[roberto]

Great story Roberto! Another Loganite is in the works, eh?

Great conversion.... I, too, think that the Vantages are a superb hi-end speaker.

Joey

When Mr. Ortuño put a Reference Recording CD through his levinson digital gear, with Conrad Johnson CT-5 pre and a SS also C-J 2500 power amp, and the Dunlavys started to sing, I had a dropping jaw with my eyes wide open ...and I said to myself, Roberto, you do have guts to try them (the Vantages) here. This is a truly high end sound and a very nice musical experience...when the big drum came out, boy, fantastic sound!!!, great with fullness and strings with body, with right in harmonic texture with outstanding winds...then I said, lets put now the Vantages...let me listen what these babies can do...and wow, WOW!!! the Vantages were better in all aspects, better image, better bass, better soundstage, better with voices, better with strings and it not was only me who was saying it!!! The Dunlavy´s owner Mr Ortuño was feeling and listening the same thing...it is a pleasure to enjoy such great speakers singing as they did!...happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[Joey_V]

Hooh.... reading your last post scared me for a little bit there.... thought the Vantages were going to get handed the smackdown or something, Roberto!

Joey

 

[roberto]

Hooh.... reading your last post scared me for a little bit there.... thought the Vantages were going to get handed the smackdown or something, Roberto!

Joey

but they did not!!...I was scared with such big guys playing like heaven, and singing like they were, a giant sound. Believe me when I say that I was very nervous...the Dunlavys are very good high end speakers as I said before...now, Mr. Ortuño took them to his house and he had previous listened the Vantages before than me, and he just smiled and a funny look when I jump from my seat when I listened the Vantages...I truly thought that they were good (Vantages) but not that good against such giant!...then I started to laugh of me and my poor trust on ML sound!...it was a lesson for me. I had being reading other posts regarding the small size of the new ML panels...let me tell you guys, here size does not matter...they are capable to give the most smooth sound over all piano keyboard and beyond. The trumpet is full of air with an oustanding dynamics (Arturo Sandoval GRP record) and the guitar (new album of Carlos Barbosa-Lima) is so musical. The cymbals at Steve Davis, Quality of Silence album was super clean and truly 3D stage. The violins and cembalo (Vivaldi Reference Recording) with much air and more palpable, easy to understand the dialogue between the two violins, one more front forward than the other...ML sounded much better!...happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[SteveInNC]

Before I bought my Ascent Is, I was actually looking at the smaller Dunlavy Alethas (aka Athenas). I'm happy with my choice . Panels just have an airiness that I haven't heard from box speakers, and they hit right in the sweet spot of the music that I listen to (vocals, acoustic guitar, etc.).

 

[edwinr]

I must say though, that a quick listen to ML's is not the way to judge these speakers. My next door neighbor, who is an audio nut too, prefers his Epos M22's because they have 'better attack,bite and imaging'. He won't sit in the sweet spot and won't let me play more adventurous music to that which he listens too (Sarah Brightman type stuff). And... he won't listen for long enough to gain some perspective. You just can't change some people's perception.