rjd@linus.UUCP (Robert DeBenedictis) (04/23/85)
Last night I went to Nantucket Sound to listen to a pair of Genesis 44's. I'm no audiophile, but I wasn't that impressed. They made good noise, nothing spectactular. Not only that, but they quoted me a "sale" price of $585. I can get the same speakers mail order (via Comp-U-Store) for $425 (delivered). Anyway ... While I was there I decided to listen to a pair of more expensive speakers, just to see if I could hear the difference. I chose a pair of B&W DM2000's because they were more expensive and easily at hand. Wow! I was surprised. There was a big difference in sound. It wasn't like I didn't know I was listening to speakers, but, the sound really did seem to emmanate from around the general area of the speakers (rather than from two distinct points). They quoted me a price of $1295 for the B&W DM2000's. Oh, well. To audition the speakers I just packed up my Sony D-5 and 40+ discs and headed off to the showroom. Now that I know how easy it is to go and listen to speakers, I was wondering if there are any other speakers out there that really do create a believable illusion. (I know, a silly question to ask net.audio.) I could probably spend up to $1000 if the speakers really WOWed me. I know the net has spoken well of JSE's, are they as good as the B&W's? I don't want speakers that look expensive. I'm looking for something small, unassuming, and ordinary looking that won't provoke any attention (when not in use!). And, for personal reasons, it would be a real plus if the speakers could get very LOUD. Robert DeBenedictis
chenr@tilt.FUN (Ray Chen) (04/25/85)
In article <326@linus.UUCP> rjd@linus.UUCP (Robert DeBenedictis) writes: > Now that I know how easy it is to go and >listen to speakers, I was wondering if there are any other speakers out >there that really do create a believable illusion. > I don't want speakers that look expensive. >I'm looking for something small, unassuming, and ordinary looking that >won't provoke any attention (when not in use!). And, for personal >reasons, it would be a real plus if the speakers could get very LOUD. > I can't resist. You say you want small, unassuming speakers that put up a nice soundstage and can get loud, huh? Have you looked at ITC 1s by Innovative Techniques Corp. ? They're best described as "mini-monitor point sources". That is, they're small but you can't treat them like "bookshelf" speakers. You have to place them properly -- ideally 1 1/2 to 3 feet away from the walls with an unobstructed path into the listening area. However, placed properly, they create one of the nicest sound-stages I've ever heard. They sound very natural and image very precisely. The one trade-off you have to make is to sacrifice the bass under 50 Hz. Being small speakers, the smaller woofer simply can't handle low bass. However, ITC supplies an equalizer that rolls off the bass < 50 Hz and gives a mild boost to the rest of the bass. They also can get very loud and handle loads of power. The guy who designed the things likes to test out speakers by driving good amps into clipping. (Yeah, so he's a bit of a maniac...) I don't think he's destroyed an ITC 1 yet. I know for a fact that he once had 1500 watts going into a pair at very high volume levels and everything was just fine. For spec fans, frequency response is 50 Hz to 18 kHz +/- 3dB with 55 Hz to 17 KHz +/- 1.5 dB marked as "typical". Crossover frequencies are at 1 kHz and 7.5 kHz. Weight is 16 lbs each (Can you say LARGE magnets?). As for size, would you believe 7.25 inches wide X 12.25 inches deep X 8 inches high? I have one sitting on a desk and another sitting on a stack of milkcrates looking for all the world like a nice pair of EPI A70-class speakers. Snicker. I'd match them up against any mini-monitor and most speakers at < $1500. When I got mine, they were a real bargain at $670. Now they cost around ~$800-900 so you'll have decide for yourself whether or not the extra money is worth it. All in all, a very nice set of speakers for those who live in small rooms or for those who just like small speakers. Note that I am not affiliated with ITC in any way. I'm just a satisfied customer. Ray Chen princeton!tilt!chenr P.S. -- For those who really have money, there's a new sub-woofer that'll be out soon, the ITC 4, I think, that was designed to match the ones. The full system is supposed to be fanatastic. Unfortunately, the sub-woofer will probably go for around ~1,000. Ouch. Maybe later...