My "New" Front Speakers

Early B.

They finally arrived last night..... the Soliloquy 5.3's.:D
Been wanting to try a pair of these for about 18 months, so when I saw a used pair for sale at a decent price, I jumped on 'em.

Early B.

Here's another pic...

Early B.

And finally, here she is with guts exposed...

Airplay355

so, whatcha think of them?

Early B.

Initial impressions...

They're pretty good. The Soliloquy's have replaced the Rega Naos. The Regas were very nice. They were quarter wave transmission line speakers that went down flat to 25 Hz, which is the main reason I bought them. Originally, I was running them on LARGE with my old sub (SVS PB12-ISD). But once I built my own sub, the Regas sounded a little cleaner running on SMALL. So since I didn't need the bass from the Regas, I decided to shop around and try something different. That's when I stumbled upon the Soliloquys. I was basically looking for something with more aesthetic appeal. The Regas were a standard black box, but the Soliloquy's are sexier and the spikes are very cool.

First of all, I didn't expect the Soliloquy's to sound better than the Regas. And my first impression is that they don't. They sound different -- a bit laid back and more detailed, but the Regas had a little more "uumph" to them. Also, the Soliloquys are very placement sensitive, whereas the Regas weren't as choicy. So I'll have to keep tinkering with placement, although as you can see from the pics, my options are very limited.

BTW -- these Soliloquy's are built like a tank -- about 80 lbs. each!! They use 1-inch HDF for their cabinets and lots of internal bracing. They also use Analysis Plus Oval speaker wire internally, not the standard el cheapo stuff.

Willow

Early, those are very nice looking speakers, I like the wood front look!

polkatese

Cool find, Early! definitely it looks great with those spikes. Btw, here is an interesting comparisons of its big brother, with the rest of the contenders:

http://www.thatslifemag.com/audiovideo/ancillaryspeakercomponents2.asp

Early B.

P.S. --
A word about shipping speakers...

One of the Soliloquys appeared to have been dropped very hard and sustained significant internal damage, despite being shipped double boxed in the factory containers. Three types of damage occurred:

1. The port is glued to the back panel and it had broken apart from the panel. I had to reglue it.

2. The larger crossover board was screwed and glued to the bottom of the cabinet, but had become totally dislodged. I had to affix it back in its original place. I can't imagine how it could have possibly come apart. Geez.

3. There was some minor cosmetic damage to the top front left corner of the cabinet. A little varnish and a Q-tip fixed it to the point where it's hardly noticeable.

Fortunately, I was able to fix all of these issues and it did not warrant filing a claim with FedEx. I'm only mentioning this as a reminder to take ever conceivable precaution when shipping fragile items such as speakers. 'Cause UPS or FEdEx will find a way to break your ****.

Early B.

This morning a played around with placement -- toed them in a little and now they sound like an entirely different speaker than they did last night. It's amazing how you can simply move your speakers an inch or so and they really start to open up. Imaging is now very precise.

I'm tempted to drag these heavy-**** speakers into the room where my 2-channel system is set up and hear how they sound with tube gear. Hmmm.

aaharvel

those are really good looking speakers.

RuSsMaN

Outstanding.

Short of SDA's and Maggies, I've yet to come across a speaker that didn't sound it's best pointed RIGHT at you (toed in). Looking at the first picture, I'd try moving them out from the rear wall another foot or so, especially with the rear firing port.

Cheers,
Russ

ND13

Who was the first speaker maker/designer to use this type of design? It just seems to be all the rage over the last 15 years or so. The fusion series Tannoys, Polks, these, and etc,etc....
Basically, who copied who?

Early B.

I'd try moving them out from the rear wall another foot or so, especially with the rear firing port.

That's where I orginally had them set up -- farther from the back wall. They actually sound a bit better closer to the wall because I'm getting a little more bass. Last night they were kinda weak on the bass with music. It ain't the clearest bass in the world, but it's better than nuthin'. It's my HT system and I rarely play music on it anyways, so I'm less concerned about bass clarity on the fronts. The speakers also look better closer to the wall. The colors seem to blend better with the room decor. Hey -- what can I tell ya -- sometimes you gotta appease the WAF gods.

Toxis

Is it just me, or do you not have the right stand for your TV? It looks like you put a 32" sony on the 36" stand. Or maybe it's the right stand, but you just moved the TV back so it didn't lean forward to much (which it does look like it's leaning forward a bit).

Speakers look sexy.

Emlyn

I hadn't really heard much about the Soliloquy line so I checked out their Web site. The company is run by David Berman, a former Polk official partly responsible for the Eosone line, and the speakers are designed by a former Wharfedale designer who specialized in metal dome tweeters. Most impressive is that they're built in North Carolina rather than China, especially considering the quality they appear to have and reasonable pricing. The internal wiring and coils are very impressive looking, and the finish looks great too.

aaharvel

where in NC?

Early B.

Is it just me, or do you not have the right stand for your TV?

It's just you. The 36" TV and stand are matched to go together. Too much silver for the room, though. Damn TV weighs over 200 lbs.! I added wheels to the TV stand. Glad I did it. I may consider a flat panel TV in about 3 years. Or maybe a projector. Who knows -- inexpensive projectors (<$1,500 new or used) may have much better picture quality by then.

where in NC?

Soliloquy's are built in Raleigh, NC. Check out their website at www.solspeak.com. Next time I'm in Raleigh (later this year) I plan to take a tour.

Early B.

One more observation re: the crossover components --

I have the older model, but the new version of these speakers retail for $2299. Nevertheless, the parts appear to be typical Chinese fare. I'm not suggesting they're low quality, but they definitely would not be confused with higher quality components. In fact, the parts aren't even labelled. I'm not dogging Soliloquy because speakers costing thousands more probably have similar quality components in them. Same thing with amps. My friend got his Krell recapped at the factory and they installed a bunch of $3 capacitors.

Here's my point -- for about another $150 in parts, I could upgrade the crossover components and get a much richer sound out of them. I don't plan on doing it anytime soon, but before you plan on "upgrading" your speakers, consider a crossover upgrade. You may be surprised by what you hear.

Toxis

strange... it looks like it's back off a bit. The sony's I sell now all line up the front of the TV to the front of the stand.

Early B.

The sony's I sell now all line up the front of the TV to the front of the stand.

It does line up flush with the stand. Just hard to tell from the pic.