Jump to content

Standmount Speakers: An Addict's Guide


Recommended Posts



Great thread! Keep em coming.

Wow dude..your DSLR skills :thumb: and excellent write ups as usual!

Thanks guys, your positive feedback keeps me motivated to keep posting the reviews. :thumb:

Really enjoying the write ups Tom, have you heard Richters Merlins by any chance?

Nope, sorry Cafad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great write-ups, Tom.

Your review of the Ushers (among others on the net) almost makes me want to give up on plans to build decent cabinets for my Zaph SR71 kit and just buy a set of the S-520.

Keep 'em coming!

Link to comment
Share on other sites



I use a pair of AVI nu neutrons powered by a ME240 integrated amp, in my second system.

Amazing sound from such a small pair of speakers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I heard a pair of these the other day when I actually went to listen to their larger brothers from another series. I won't steal Tom's thunder and undermine his truly excellent work but anyone looking for some genuine monitors of premium quality, I urge you to check these out.

These were deeply impressive and as soon as I get some spare cash, I intend on buying a pair to sit alongside whatever floor standing speakers I buy next,although it might be a fair while yet.

http://kef.com/html/en/showroom/flagship_hi-fi_series/LS50/overview/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I heard a pair of these the other day when I actually went to listen to their larger brothers from another series. I won't steal Tom's thunder and undermine his truly excellent work but anyone looking for some genuine monitors of premium quality, I urge you to check these out.

These were deeply impressive and as soon as I get some spare cash, I intend on buying a pair to sit alongside whatever floor standing speakers I buy next,although it might be a fair while yet.

http://kef.com/html/.../LS50/overview/

They look absolutely gorgeous!

Link to comment
Share on other sites



They look absolutely gorgeous!

I am hoping to be able to get a loan of these in the near future to see how they work in a medium sized room, but what intrigued me was the voicing and tonality of the speaker, it was just amazing :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am hoping to be able to get a loan of these in the near future to see how they work in a medium sized room, but what intrigued me was the voicing and tonality of the speaker, it was just amazing :)

what was the RR on those Rantan?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

GBP 800 + GBP 80 shipping and you'll land them for just under AUD $1400.

Edit: I have since made some inquiries and KEF is restricting exports - the UK dealers won't touch international buyers.

Edited by twwen2
Link to comment
Share on other sites



Anyone rate the KEF R100?

That's the other option, and one I'd very much like to try out. I've eard very good things about the entire R series. Sadly, I've never seen them sold as ex-demo, let alone on the used market.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers all -2 K serious $$ however something to keep a lookout for going forward - I should expand a little - I am happy with my floor standers however two friends of mine are in the market for upgrade to their stand mounts - so I have been following the thread with interest and tracking possible for them. I thought one was ready to pull the trigger however it looks likely after x-mas now. Still no harm in getting together an audition list.

Thanks to all for the info and keep the excellent reviews coming.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love reading this thread!

Have you auditioned AE1 Mk2 by any chance. I love it with my ME850.

Thanks for the encouragement! Funnily enough, I actually had the pleasure of listening to some Acoustic Energy floorstanders just last night - a very similar design to the smaller AE1 but I'm not sure of the exact model. They were partnered with some of the latest Cyrus gear and I found them to be wonderfully smooth and clean over the entire frequency spectrum. If the AE1's share that sound I'm sure they would be great speakers, especially with an amp like the ME850 up their backside!

Edited by twwen2
Link to comment
Share on other sites



I'm currently running your old NAD 3020 with a pair of RX1 and looking at my next upgrade. How did you find the rega brio-r with the RX2?

The MA RX2 write-up is in the works, but not before a few others are done first. I will say now that it won't be nearly as positive as the reviews so far. However, it is definitely a personal preference thing and was also due in part to a bad match-up in my room. I'll explain more soon or feel free to PM me in the meantime.

Apologies all, I've been a bit slack over the last week but the next review is coming soon. :thumb:

Edited by twwen2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dynaudio DM 2/7

Speaker: Dynaudio DM 2/7 ($1000)

Source: ASUS Essence STX, JKSPDIF

DAC: Audio-gd DAC-19DSP

Amps: Rega Brio-R

Intro: I had always been curious about Dynaudio. There was something about the brand that called me to it, I'm not sure what exactly. Maybe it was their slightly-industrial-yet-somehow-elegant designs. Or perhaps it was their reputation for being exciting and dynamic. Whatever it was, without having heard any of their speakers I decided at one point or another that Dynaudio was a brand I would pursue when the time was right. That time came in the form of a sale at RIO Sound & Vision, where I snagged a pair of DM 2/7's for well under the RRP.

My first Dyns. :D

Where we first met: No special moments with these, but here's a track from one of my favorite CDs - "Cath" by Death Cab for Cutie. It's a **** recording, but a cracking song nonetheless!

Construction: Industrial in design, but certainly well put together. I like the clean lines and two-tone composite front baffle, it mixes things up enough to distract from an otherwise simple finish. The drivers are particularly impressive, using the MSP technology that has trickled down from their higher end models.

Bass: Long story short, these completely overpowered my miserably small bedroom. At anything above late-night listening levels, the bass became boomy and really overdone. There was no two ways about it, even moving them around in the room didn't help.

Mids: Typical Dynaudio mid-range; very smooth but slightly recessed. At my listening levels, they never really opened up like I was hoping they would. I think this would have improved if I'd let them run in a bit, but alas they weren't given the chance.

Highs: Nice extension, plenty of detail and "fizz". I experienced very little fatigue from these.

Caveat: As discussed above, the 2/7 were too large for my room and I couldn't drive them loud enough for them to really come alive. However, some time later I had the chance to hear them in another system in another (larger) house, and was reasonably impressed with how they sounded. Given a bit of volume and open space around them, the 2/7's produce a smooth and powerful sound with plenty of low-end kick. The mids were still toward the warm side, but pleasant enough. I didn't notice much change in the treble, but the biggest improvement was definitely in the bass. Gone was the boomy rumbling, and in it's place I observed a hard-charging low-frequency response that none of my previous speakers had been capable of. The 2/7's went lower in that particular system than the X12's and even the Focus 110's.

So despite the overly negative tone in the rest of this review, I'd still recommend that a prospective buyer at least give them a chance if they have the right room to put them in (i.e. a large one!).

Conclusion: Unfortunately this review is a bit of a contradiction. On the one hand, I didn't think much of the 2/7's in my room and setup. However, in the right environment they showed what they were really capable of. Unfortunately the DM 2/7's were just not going to work for me, so I was forced to move them on. A false start perhaps to my love affair with Dynaudio, but there was better things to come in the form of the Excite X12s (and now the Focus 110).

More info: http://www.dynaudio....ms/dm/dm_27.php

Review: http://www.whathifi....dynaudio-dm-2-7

Pics:

DM_27.jpg

DM27.jpg

Edited by twwen2
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.




×
×
  • Create New...
To Top