some new standmounts I came across in Europe...

[Moonstone]

Every holiday trip ends sometime,

and as a friend of minimonitors, I did hear some splendid small speakers while in Austria and Germany.

When my better half agreed, I went in some shops we came across, always with the same ripped CD with tracks from Pink Floyd, Barry White and Sophie Zelmani (a voice from heaven) and did listen to the following compact monitors, in the order of listening:

Dynaudio XEO3(1500Euro), AVM Audition S3(2250Euro), Piega Premium1(1800Euro), B&W CM5(1300Euro), B&W PM1(2500Euro), Quadral Megan8(1200Euro), KEF LS50(1000Euro), Harbeth P3ESR(1800Euro), MAD 1920(1750Euro), ProAc Tablette Anni(1950Euro) & ProAc Response D1(2400Euro).

As you can imagine, no room was the same, electronics different to say the least, so these are only my impressions (my own setup at home comprises of ProAc 1SC and Leema electronis).

The first speaker I heard (with lots of accolade) was the new Dyn XEO3, with no cables required between speakers and amp. I don’t know, I just wasn’t hooked. The dealer said they sell them like hot chips, I couldn’t understand why. The sound was little detailed, with lots of bass, but rather muddy. The sound was certainly big for such a small speaker, but lacked the sparkle for me. Pink Floyd’s dark side, track 4, just didn’t touch me. It wasn’t any different with other songs, even Zelmani’s voice, which usually sends a shiver down my spine, just couldn’t do it. It happened to me before, when I listened to 52SE, I wasn’t hooked. Not my speaker company, so it seams.

The second speaker was AVM latest attempt to get into the speaker market. They do a fine job in electronics, with beautiful amps handmade in Germany. The Audition S3 borrows the drivers from Elac, and put them in an elegant housing with an aluminum front and own crossover. This was much better. However, after some time, I was still feeling detached from the music. The speakers provided very airy heights, not in your face heights, just beautiful balanced and integer with the music. The soundstage was huge, separation of instruments stunning. So, what was missing? I guess the goose bumps a bit…

The last speaker at that particular dealer was the Swiss Piega. Built in an aluminum housing, they are beautiful but rather smallish speakers. It couldn’t match the AVM for fine detail, nor for the soundstage. But somehow the music appeared more involving. Zelmani’s voice was not completely spacial, as with the AVM, but had more body to it. Although the cabinet appeared to be smaller compared to the Audition S3, the bass output was noticeable better. To me they were the pick of the three. A really fine speaker.

A couple of days later I came upon another dealer, which carried some other awesome speakers. With a short notice he setup both B&W, the new KEF as well as the Quadral. Amp and CD spinner were from Naim.

The Quadral had a fine tune, but wasn’t very punchy. Barry White was the best match, boy that was really nice. But with Floyd the dream was over, it just didn’t click. The sound was too polite for my liking. Zelmani sounded like she needed an invitation. However, I have read somewhere that those Quadral’s need an awful long time to be broken in, even their magnetostatic HT needs time. I don’t know whether they were broken in, but as it stood they weren’t my cup of tea. Although the quality of the cabinets was among the best I have seen…

Second was B&W CM5. I found that speaker better suited for the music we threw at them, maybe I was reminded to this particular sound, as I owned some B&W many years ago. However, Zelmani was a tad on the cold side, despite having a good wide soundstage, and a deep (but not very articulate) bass for that size of speaker. I missed a bit the emotional side of her voice, which is perfectly rendered with my own 1SC. However, I thought for that money not a bad choice.

The next speaker was the PM1, which for a tiny speaker sounded really big. Top class airy heights with a full sound, but for twice the money not really good enough. At higher levels, the bass was becoming too dominant, too blunt. What did I expect? I can’t tell, just more I guess. A bit of musical bliss for that amount of money. Again, the goose bumps weren’t seen or felt.

The surprise came with the KEF LS50. I was never a friend of their coax chassis, which Kef is producing since the early 1990’s. I heard different models at different times, but felt a certain sharpness in the upper heights plus a somehow disconnected musical presentation. Where was the sound gone, KEF was famous for? I still own a pair of 104AB Reference speakers from the early 1980’s. That was a different breed altogether. So, could I be convinced?

Those speakers are a gem!!! They sell for 1000Euro the pair, and if you are in the market for this type of speakers, go audition them. A flat response right through with a clean but not lifeless sound, beautiful soundstage(not as good as the AVM), enough and most importantly a detailed bass plus better articulated then the B&W. Like an electrostatic speaker, they produce a holographic sound. Now Zelmani was in for it, not much to complain about. However, voices on the ProAcs are still the benchmark, they do send more shivers down your spine. How Taylor does it remains a mystery. Another observation was that the KEF did like some power, the Naim had to work a bit harder at the same listening levels compared to the other speakers.

Some time went by, and I met a friend in Innsbruck, who just bought himself the MAD 1920. As he was in the process of selling his Harbeth P3ESR, I was fortunate to listen to both. His amp was from Italy’s Audio Note, the S1 signature, and the spinner was from Music Hall.

It is said, that if you are into ProAcs, you hardly fell for Harbeth and the other way around. A bit like Falcons and Commodores. Would that be a fair to say?

I read some extremely positive critics about the Harbeth, which is a closed design. The first impression was, where is the bass gone? Again we were listening to my ripped CD, but soon got the impression, just a bit too polite. While the Harbeth didn’t leave a good impression with Floyd, they did a better job with White and especially Zelmani. The voice is certainly the area, where the P3ESR excels, but I guess there are more limitations to the kind of music you are listening to as compared to my ProAcs.

As the evening progressed, we listened to some other genres, with some spiritual music as well. The Harbeth did a fine job, but they just didn’t rock with other music. If you are into songwriter or smaller jazz ensembles, they are indeed fine speakers, provided you got a smallish room.

And now I came across a speaker, which honestly stands up to my ProAc in many ways. No, although the voice was the best I have heard compared with those other speakers and run very very close, it didn’t make it to dethrone the champ. There is some magic to the 1SC, but would it be enough to hold off MAD 1920? That depends….

Over those 2 days, I realized that the MAD would take any genre to deliver music. Not as airy as the 1SC, but even with some older music from the 1980’s, eg. Genesis, the MAD just played music. It didn’t attract your attention so much, the music filled the room and left you with your own thoughts, dreams and aspirations. We forgot to dissect what we heard, but felt the music taking over us. What a splendid speaker. I wouldn’t want to know, which way I might decide, once I hear those two side by side……

On our last day in Innsbruck my friend organized another listening at the local ProAc dealer (I have never seen a dealer, holding 90% of all current ProAc models in stock), aiming at the Response D1 as well as the latest Tablette Anni.

Although the sound was very familiar with what I have, I noticed the D1 had become faster, and less colored. A bit like a mix of the widely respected Sonics Anima (by Joachim Gerhard, who also developed Audio Physics) and my own 1SC. A lot of fine detail, ultraquick, beautiful voicing. But was there something missing? I don’t know, they just didn’t grab my attention as much. I think it’s almost a must to pair them with valves, they might sound a tad to clean with transistors. The 1SC is a bit more vibrant, maybe not as good in other respects, but the musical bliss is theirs. The voice on the D1 just sounded slightly thinner or less captivating. Whether the D1 can better the 1SC in reputation over time needs to be seen.

The Tablette is for its size a stunning speaker, basically like a smaller version of the D1. However, the D1 showed more details and a deeper soundstage. The voice was rendered more and had more body to it. The dealer said, to get the best out of the D1 a very good amp is needed, while the new Tablette is quite happy with lesser electronics. I took his word for it, he appeared to be genuine. Both new ProAcs sounded really beautiful especially at lower listening levels, but could be more in your face when cranked up. So careful partnering is essential...

After several weeks our holiday came to an end, and only 2 speakers left a lasting impression on me. The new KEF LS50, which is excellent value for money, and the MAD 1920 for sheer musicality.

Hope you enjoyed, cheers moonstone….

[Guest Hensa]

Excellent read, Moonstone! I've not heard of MAD speakers before but will keep an eye out - are they distributed in Oz, do you know?

[vmhf]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading about your speaker listening experiences overseas. Some way to cap off a holiday I say!

I have heard the new Proac Tablette Anniversary's only at my local dealer last week. Being a past 1SC owner we seem to share exactly the same thoughts!

Now, the KEF LS50's have really got me interested. Might pop into Apollo HIFI in Sydney to have a listen to them one day.

[Ando]

I spent quite a while listening to LS50s recently. The bass quality was pretty poor but I was assured that this was a function of the room we were in. This seemed a believable explanation. Otherwise the speakers were excellent given their size constraints.

Cheers Mike

[Moonstone]

Hi Hensa,

MAD is an English company:

http://www.madengland.com/loudspeakers/1920.php

I honestly have no idea whether they have a distributor in downunder.

vmhf,

interested to know what you think about them.

Ando,

I actually thought the bass was quite good, compared to some other once I listened to. It was detaild, and not muddy. However, the bass was in context or proportion of their size.

To really make them sing, you will need some serious Watts. My impression was, the more the better......

Cheers moonstone

[djb]

Interesting reviews

Thank you