mhk%hq.ileaf.com.uucp@BBN.COM (Mark Kaepplein x1517) (02/25/91)
Has anyone heard the following speakers? Clements RT7 Reference: Two-way (ribbon/dynamic) TL that Bert Whyte liked a lot in Audio. So Clements gave him a pair, but do they sound good? San Francisco Sound Works: Three way system configured like a Watt/Puppy with Dynaudio mid/high and an Eton woofer. Dynaudio kits: Taddeo Manitors: Other kits from other speaker suppliers: Infinity RS1b's: I've seen these in Audiomart for ~$2500, and thats a lot of speakers for the money. One guy I talked to says he modifies the ribbon drivers so they sound awesome. He also claimed that with an Eagle on the woofers and a Carver Seven-t on the panels, they really sing. I'm skeptical. My current speakers are modified ProAc Studio 1's, and they're great except I don't have much bass. I might be able to get a subwoofer to integrate with them, but I doubt it. Detail, imaging, and dynamics are wonderful and most important to me, but now I want bass. I'd really like a pair of Avalon Ascent's, or even the Eclipses, but I want to spend less than $2500. I'm very interested in used/kits/ unfinished/near-greats waiting to be modified speakers. I'm leaning towards dynamic speakers for their dynamics - planars are a bit boring. I also have biases for the Eton woofer and MB titanium tweeter. That tweeter sounds great in my speakers, and most of the speaker designers I've talked to think the Eton is the best woofer they've heard. The combo works for Avalon. I'm putting this out on the net because I want feedback from people who have listened to non-run-of-the-mill speakers that I can go read reviews of in any of the rags. I've heard the following and am not interested: Apogee, Martin Logan, B&W, Magnaplaner, Thiel, Vandersteen. Thanks, Mark
gokita@uunet.UU.NET (Glen Okita) (03/01/91)
Well, do I dare post to this august forum? I am a pretty happy owner of a pair of Clements RT7 References... I must confess that although I listened to a number of speakers (including a number of those on your "not interested" list), I'm probably not the most critical listener that ever lived -- and my listening tastes include almost everything EXCEPT orchestral stuff. I feel a lot of highly rated speakers (e.g. Mirage M-1s) are really good at classical but not quite there for more intimate vocals or jazz. I did listen to something by ProAc (Super Tablettes?) that I thought was pretty good, though too forward for my taste. You might give the Acoustic Energy 1 a try for a somewhat similar sound and more bass. There is/was? a SF firm called A&S Speakers that offers fairly high-end (Dynaudio/MB/Eton/Focal/etc.) drivers/kits, however when I visited them I was disappointed with the sound of their systems. Not that there wasn't promise, but it sounded like the crossovers were ragged, and I wasn't impressed with the Dynaudio tweeter used in a lot of their kits (actually makes you appreciate the refinement that goes into designs like the Thiels). Maybe A&S changed their name to Sound Works? Well, about the Clements. I was pretty much sold when I heard them, they had a natural balanced quality that I just hadn't heard anywhere else. They have the transparent and effortless quality of panel speakers (though not in the same league as, say, Quads), good imaging (though probably not as good as your ProAcs), lots of bass (for me at least), and lastly (pragmatically) they are not too big to fit in a room and don't have finicky placement requirements. For overall price and performance, they were the best for me. If there is any limitation, it's that music with a lot of energy in the lower part of the tweeters range (e.g. orchestral music) can cause some breakup. For me, this really hasn't been a problem and I can play at reasonably high levels, but it's something you should try when you listen. Now, some caveats, I have a tweaked crossover that isn't what was reviewed by Audio (and it may, in fact, contribute to a lack of power handling ability). The tweaker was Michael Percy, 170 Highland Way, Inverness CA 94937, 415-669-7181. He sells some other high-end things mail order (he sometimes advertises in Audio classifieds). Finally, by way of disclaimer, although I have no business connection with Mr. Percy, you could say I'm a relation since he's an uncle/cousin(?) of my cousin's husband -- and that's how I initially heard about the speakers. E-mail if you want to discuss more...
cs225ju@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu) (Matt Pavlik ;) (03/05/91)
Hi,
I have a pair of Acoustat Spectra II, I think they sound great.
If you havent heard of them they are a hybrid speaker. Mine happen
to be the low end version,( $800 ), but they have higher-up models.
Acoustat also makes a subwoofer. Ironically they are an american
company!
hope this helped some,
Matt