Osborne Loudspeakers Owners & Discussion Thread

[Kaynin 3,826]

1 hour ago, Jventer said:

Hi @Kaynin

Our speakers were bought and then made about the same time. I still have mine. Well done on upgrading!

Anyway - agree with you, speakers need to be matched to the right amp.

 

Hi JV,

 

Yeah I recall mate.  I still have my Eclipses, they've moved to the movie room for L&R duties.  A bit of a waste for the bass that they're capable of, but for the money I won't find better.  The Epitome Ref are in the living/kitchen/dining room, which is large in size, and it's a 2 channel set-up now.  A much better fit really, although those Eclipses did a great job in filling that room.

[Mauro 23]

On 30/10/2019 at 3:33 PM, Luc said:

So what was wrong with Greg's system's this year at the show you guys who are owners and were there?

I look forward to hearing his unobtania(for me anyway)at shows but this year it was meh.

Was it the room or has he changed  his designs or what? I know I'm not the only one who was underwhelmed.

The bookshelves were the only ones I could listen too at any length.

I thought this was known already in the shows thread of last year. I contacted Greg via email after the show telling of my disappointment with his implementation of new drivers. He told me that everybody else was happy and the show was a success. OK, then.............a week later he contacts me and said that his brand new amps at the show were not biased properly. This explained to me why the bass was terrible and boomy although one has to ask, why use brand new not run in equipment in such an environment.

[Jventer 1,764]

18 minutes ago, Mauro said:

I thought this was known already in the shows thread of last year. I contacted Greg via email after the show telling of my disappointment with his implementation of new drivers. He told me that everybody else was happy and the show was a success. OK, then.............a week later he contacts me and said that his brand new amps at the show were not biased properly. This explained to me why the bass was terrible and boomy although one has to ask, why use brand new not run in equipment in such an environment.

I have 5 of his speakers, his IC's, his SC's, a pair of mono blocks he sells and the cd player/dac he used to sell, 

He normally knows what he is saying and doing

but

sometimes his belief in himself etc. takes over - as is evident re your post re the show. I have experienced it several times when I asked his opinion about certain things to be told that he knows best and his products are the best. 

The answer is that people that make and sell things have to have an unwaivering belief in what they are doing. He /they do not mean malice or anything - that is just their belief.

Cudos on Greg contacting you to say he stuffed up.

And 

his products  IMHO are not the best there is in the world, but it is very high value for money.

 

[graham121 130]

Picked these Titans up from Greg a couple of months ago, along with an amp and phono stage. 
Pat Cummins bowling the Indian captain in the reflection!

[mloutfie 1,031]

I've been enjoying the older model Titan (ones with focal tweeter) thinking if I can do upgrade on the crossover component. Anyone can comment on experience in this? Was the crossover component used all metal film cap? I would hope no electrolytic used in speaker this level

[aussievintage 4,062]

On 17/08/2020 at 7:35 PM, Mauro said:

why use brand new not run in equipment in such an environment.

 

Maybe that's all they had?  Also, maybe they don't believe they need to be run in?  Neither has anything to do with biasing (which should have been correctly adjusted I agree)

 

On 17/08/2020 at 8:02 PM, Jventer said:

The answer is that people that make and sell things have to have an unwaivering belief in what they are doing. He /they do not mean malice or anything - that is just their belief.

Cudos on Greg contacting you to say he stuffed up.

And 

his products  IMHO are not the best there is in the world, but it is very high value for money.

 

Definitely, and I love my Eclipse floorstanders.    However, I do think that manufacturers are sometimes forced to cater for the beliefs that a lot of their customers seem to hold, and even sometimes succumb to that belief themselves.  Hence,   bi-wiring speaker cables, which, particularly on efficient speakers, meaning they don't need to carry much current, is really overkill. I also note, inside mine, the internal wiring seems to be done with ethernet cable all twisted together.  This is another fad the hifi community came up with.  Not that it is a detriment.  They sound fantastic!

[realysm42 248]

Hi gang, I recently put a deposit down for my Epitome Reference Elites; they should be a big upgrade over my current bookshelves!

 

Just wondering if anyone can tell me their experiences of mating these speakers up with high quality, high power (say 200 Watts and 100 amps instantaneous) solid state amplification?

 

Pros / cons?

 

Same question again this time around isolation footers / platforms please?

Edited March 4 by realysm42

[Jventer 1,764]

52 minutes ago, realysm42 said:

Hi gang, I recently put a deposit down for my Epitome Reference Elites; they should be a big upgrade over my current bookshelves!

Just wondering if anyone can tell me their experiences of mating these speakers up with high quality, high power (say 200 Watts and 100 amps instantaneous) solid state amplification?

Pros / cons?

Same question again this time around isolation footers / platforms please?

Some extra info

I love my Eclipse Tower References (not as good as yours) with my Yamaha AVR for 7 channel and family use. I have previously added a Consonance SS amp (120/150 watt per channel) for the front three  - much better for 7 channel and stereo. With Cary 7 channel class D (130 watt per channel) (130 watt per channel)  it was a bit bright for my taste whilst my wife loved for rock and disco.

For my taste I like my valve amps. (Consonance 845s).

I have heard that they pair well with SS MF amps (basically if amps pair well with Focal they pair well with Osborn).

 

Real answer to your question:

Recently picked up a Krell KAV400 (200watt per channel) integrated amp via SNA, and wow, I love it. 

Edited March 4 by Jventer

[realysm42 248]

39 minutes ago, Jventer said:

Real answer to your question:

Recently picked up a Krell KAV400 (200watt per channel) integrated amp via SNA, and wow, I love it. 

 

Good stuff; I've heard that they're very transparent and allow ancillary changes to shine through.

[Jventer 1,764]

@realysm42 - I don't know re footers. I have used spikes on tiles and now just use as is on carpet.

[aussievintage 4,062]

17 minutes ago, Jventer said:

@realysm42 - I don't know re footers. I have used spikes on tiles and now just use as is on carpet.

 

I know it's contentious, but I consider spikes are only for levelling, and to stop flat spots on the carpet.

[Whites 404]

@realysm42 I had a pair of Epitome reference towers which I used several valve amps, Consonance 15th, AM 805m these sounded great. With a Modwright KWA100SE it was too bright for my tastes. Finally I used a Pass Labs XA30.8 which sounded the best of all.

 

 I definitely think Greg tunes his speakers to sound best with valve amps or ss amps with valve like characteristics.

[bonuss 11]

Hi all, I have been looking at the range of Osborn speakers and am interested in the Monument reference type. My question is are they as good as the website says they are?

 

[aussievintage 4,062]

2 hours ago, bonuss said:

Hi all, I have been looking at the range of Osborn speakers and am interested in the Monument reference type. My question is are they as good as the website says they are?

 

 

Not a direct answer, but my Eclipse Reference are quite simply one of the best speakers I have heard, except for the Epitome References the original owner bought to replace them        

[Standards 110]

When I was looking for an endgame speaker, I came very close to buying a pair of Monuments after auditioning them twice. Once with family and once without. While the Epitome Reference was a good speaker, the sound performance gap between the Monument Reference and Epitome Reference was surprisingly large despite being only slightly different in price, after hearing the Monument I don't think I can call the Epitome Reference an endgame speaker anymore.

[mwhouston 5,218]

Don’t fall into the trap of bigger is better. Take a good look at you listening space and decide what size speaker is going to work (sound that is) best in the space with your current gear, music tastes and life style. Once more, more (or bigger) is not always more. 
 

I had a pair of Eclipse for six years and loved them. But my drive is to always be totally DIY, absolutely, where possible, NO commercial gear. Now days DIY horns and woofer.  Have to agree with most people who have heard Osborn speakers they are very good. I know I was defined impressed with mine. Don’t trust the write-up on the site. Audition where possible. 

[Eggcup the Dafter 196]

I can't speak for the current range, but the previous Monuments with the Focal drivers were the speakers in the best system I've heard to date.  There are many great speakers out there that I either haven't heard, or weren't set up properly when I did hear them.

 

You owe it to yourself to audition widely before buying in that price range. Even if the Monument is the best speaker available at the price, at any price, etc.... no speaker is universally applicable to all rooms, existing systems, ears, or circumstances (part of the reason I bought the Eclipse is that the lower bass of the bigger models would just get us evicted from our unit!)

[anandpkumar 507]

43 minutes ago, mwhouston said:

Don’t fall into the trap of bigger is better. Take a good look at you listening space and decide what size speaker is going to work (sound that is) best in the space with your current gear, music tastes and life style. Once more, more (or bigger) is not always more. 

Sound advice. In fact, the room size is one of the biggest factors that can effect the sound quality.

 

I used to have a pair of large floor standers in my large(ish) living room, and I was quite happy with the sound quality. Had to move them into a small spare bedroom for certain reasons, and the difference in sound quality was 'night and day'. It sounded like a totally different speaker, and was terrible in the smaller room - bloated bass, poor imaging and soundstage etc. 

 

You really need speakers that suit the size of your room - get this wrong, and even very good speakers can sound terrible

[aussievintage 4,062]

1 minute ago, anandpkumar said:

Sound advice. In fact, the room size is one of the biggest factors that can effect the sound quality.

 

I used to have a pair of large floor standers in my large(ish) living room, and I was quite happy with the sound quality. Had to move them into a small spare bedroom for certain reasons, and the difference in sound quality was 'night and day'. It sounded like a totally different speaker, and was terrible in the smaller room - bloated bass, poor imaging and soundstage etc. 

 

You really need speakers that suit the size of your room - get this wrong, and even very good speakers can sound terrible

 

Pity it's so hard to audition them at home - those lead-lined Osborn Reference as so damned heavy.  

[sir sanders zingmore 12,370]

2 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

 

Pity it's so hard to audition them at home - those lead-lined Osborn Reference as so damned heavy.  

 

175kg each for the monuments !!

[anandpkumar 507]

16 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

 

Pity it's so hard to audition them at home - those lead-lined Osborn Reference as so damned heavy.  

 

13 minutes ago, sir sanders zingmore said:

 

175kg each for the monuments !!

 

That leaves out any home audition options!! You'll need a fork lift to get them in and out of the house......

[Jventer 1,764]

@bonuss I have Osborn Eclipse Reference speakers.  Osborn Speakers are not the absolute best speakers on earth, but they are very good value for money. 

 

My advice is to listen to speakers before you buy anything. If possible in as close as possible environment as your own as well as with similar amplification. 

 

 

 

[mwhouston 5,218]

Also to give  advice based on personal experiences harder Greg has had a number of driver Xover and Xover component changes over the years as most makers do. Yes I loved my Eclipse but would I like the new ones? But Greg’s speakers seem to be good regardless of driver/Xover mix. And as above, good value for money. 
 

The reason to get speaker size right is to ensure the air in the speaker is working for the sound level output. Big speaker played at moderate levels may never get the air inside working with it. You’ll never hear the full potential of the speaker. 
 

This is the make or break for speakers ensuring the air in the box is adding to performance. In other words too bigger speaker may never call on the boxed air to work with it to produce sound levels you are listing too. Another example is bookshelf speakers if played loud don’t always have enough air to work with and produce the volume levels you want. 
 

Get the size right for room and your listening levels and you’ll get so much more for dollar spent. 

[bonuss 11]

I do thank everyone for there informative input. I was wondering how I was going to move the  175 kg speakers upstairs to my lounge room. Maybe a piano removalist or crane. I will have to fly to Victoria to have a listen first as recommended

[sir sanders zingmore 12,370]

22 minutes ago, bonuss said:

I do thank everyone for there informative input. I was wondering how I was going to move the  175 kg speakers upstairs to my lounge room. Maybe a piano removalist or crane. I will have to fly to Victoria to have a listen first as recommended

Auditioning is highly recommended (as others have suggested). 
Worth noting that there are going to be some pretty good speakers in that price range. It’s worth listening to a few different speakers before you decide

[Whites 404]

@bonuss All the comments above are relevant. I had a pair of Epitome tower references that I loved but ended up selling as they were too large for my room. The bass became muddy and not focused at slightly higher volumes.

 

 If you can fly to Melbourne that would be worthwhile, Greg is very accomodating. 

[frednork 1,199]

I used to have Monuments, a friend of mine has Eclipses (both focal driver series). How big is your room?

[PicoWattson 442]

Although firmly welded on to my ESLs I do audition a friend's Grand Monuments from time to time and the listening sessions are always longer than intended, completely immersive, and have me coming away knowing there is more than one way to skin a cat. 

 

[bonuss 11]

1 hour ago, frednork said:

I used to have Monuments, a friend of mine has Eclipses (both focal driver series). How big is your room?

 

My room is 8 meters x 9 meters with 2.7m ceilings. The floor is carpeted and the walls have curtains so it is fairly sound absorbing. It is my lounge, dining and kitchen all open. I might have to buy a different valve amp as my "Audio by van alstine" pre and main amp (mosfet) may be a little too powerful for the Monuments. 

[bonuss 11]

1 hour ago, PicoWattson said:

Although firmly welded on to my ESLs I do audition a friend's Grand Monuments from time to time and the listening sessions are always longer than intended, completely immersive, and have me coming away knowing there is more than one way to skin a cat. 

 

Do you know which amp he is running with the Monuments?

Edited March 16 by bonuss

[bonuss 11]

4 hours ago, sir sanders zingmore said:

Auditioning is highly recommended (as others have suggested). 
Worth noting that there are going to be some pretty good speakers in that price range. It’s worth listening to a few different speakers before you decide

What other brand speakers would be worth comparing?

[bonuss 11]

12 hours ago, mwhouston said:

Also to give  advice based on personal experiences harder Greg has had a number of driver Xover and Xover component changes over the years as most makers do. Yes I loved my Eclipse but would I like the new ones? But Greg’s speakers seem to be good regardless of driver/Xover mix. And as above, good value for money. 
 

The reason to get speaker size right is to ensure the air in the speaker is working for the sound level output. Big speaker played at moderate levels may never get the air inside working with it. You’ll never hear the full potential of the speaker. 
 

This is the make or break for speakers ensuring the air in the box is adding to performance. In other words too bigger speaker may never call on the boxed air to work with it to produce sound levels you are listing too. Another example is bookshelf speakers if played loud don’t always have enough air to work with and produce the volume levels you want. 
 

Get the size right for room and your listening levels and you’ll get so much more for dollar spent. 

 

This is very interesting info and I might have to look at the smaller towers as well

[sir sanders zingmore 12,370]

14 minutes ago, bonuss said:

What other brand speakers would be worth comparing?

That depends on your personal preferences/ what your speaker placement will be (you have a big room but how far from the speakers will you actually sit)/ music preferences etc. 

 

Having said that, the Revels that @Geoff@HeyNow Hi-Fi has would be interesting

https://www.heynowhifi.com.au/products/revel-studio2-3-way-floorstanding-loudspeaker-pair

 

as would the PMCs here:

 

[bonuss 11]

1 hour ago, sir sanders zingmore said:

That depends on your personal preferences/ what your speaker placement will be (you have a big room but how far from the speakers will you actually sit)/ music preferences etc. 

 

Having said that, the Revels that @Geoff@HeyNow Hi-Fi has would be interesting

https://www.heynowhifi.com.au/products/revel-studio2-3-way-floorstanding-loudspeaker-pair

 

as would the PMCs here:

 

The PMC's are a strange looking animal for sure. I normally sit about 6 meters from the speakers or stand 7 meters on the other side of the kitchen bench or if I am on the dunny then I am 10 meters away with a wall in between lol

 

[Jventer 1,764]

6 hours ago, bonuss said:

Do you know which amp he is running with the Monuments?

He normally uses valve amps.  I know he uses the Cyber 880i as well as the Cyber 100 15th Anniversary quite a lot in demos.  I suggest to  phone / email him and ask what he has available before you go.

[aussievintage 4,062]

7 hours ago, bonuss said:

Do you know which amp he is running with the Monuments?

 

Some of Greg's speakers (maybe all of them) are easy to drive).  My Eclipse play well with a simple 2 watt SET amp.  I have listened to the Epitomes driven by his Consonance EL34 valve amps, and also one of the latest Luxman amps.  Quite a variety there.

[sir sanders zingmore 12,370]

5 hours ago, bonuss said:

The PMC's are a strange looking animal for sure. I normally sit about 6 meters from the speakers or stand 7 meters on the other side of the kitchen bench or if I am on the dunny then I am 10 meters away with a wall in between lol

 

 

They are certainly "function over form". Of the two speakers I threw out there, I've heard the PMCs and for my personal preference I'd take them over the Monuments (although my family might veto it based on their looks!).

The Revels are a speaker I've always been curious about but never heard myself 

 

My bigger point though is that you shouldn't listen to me. If you are going spend that kind of money, you should listen for yourself and listen to a few speakers just to get a sense of the differences and what your preferences are (the PMCS are very different in sound to the Osborns).

 

EDIT: what is your current setup (if there is one)? 

Edited March 16 by sir sanders zingmore

[frednork 1,199]

8 hours ago, bonuss said:

 

My room is 8 meters x 9 meters with 2.7m ceilings. The floor is carpeted and the walls have curtains so it is fairly sound absorbing. It is my lounge, dining and kitchen all open. I might have to buy a different valve amp as my "Audio by van alstine" pre and main amp (mosfet) may be a little too powerful for the Monuments. 

Sounds like a good size for Monuments or Eclipses,

 You dont really need to worry about the amp being too powerful, usually the opposite. The more important issue is how it sounds/matches with the speakers. I dont think they are particularly difficult to run. I used mine with a valve hybrid. Enjoyed them for many years.

Edited March 16 by frednork

[bonuss 11]

31 minutes ago, sir sanders zingmore said:

 

They are certainly "function over form". Of the two speakers I threw out there, I've heard the PMCs and for my personal preference I'd take them over the Monuments (although my family might veto it based on their looks!).

The Revels are a speaker I've always been curious about but never heard myself 

 

My bigger point though is that you shouldn't listen to me. If you are going spend that kind of money, you should listen for yourself and listen to a few speakers just to get a sense of the differences and what your preferences are (the PMCS are very different in sound to the Osborns).

 

EDIT: what is your current setup (if there is one)? 

 

My current setup is Audio by Van Alstine preamp and main (mosfet valve) 250 watts per channel , B+W 804 Nautilus series speakers, SVS 4000 sub, Dac Maverick Audio D2 upgraded with Sparkos opamps and tubes. Digital input is my laptop or the TV. I have a sacd player but not working and cant fix. Good cables everywhere wireworld and Eickman

Edited March 16 by bonuss

[anandpkumar 507]

11 hours ago, bonuss said:

What other brand speakers would be worth comparing?

 

Have a look here for a compilation of potential speakers in different price ranges

 

Also here for a list of Australia & NZ based speaker manufacturers