Exodus 2641 review
Midnite Mick
Posts: 1,591
This is a follow up on a pending review of the Exodus 2641 kit found here.
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50891
I will do my best and will reference them relative to the Ls15's.
The 2641's do many things better than the 15's. The most obvious thing is that they have a more open natural sound that I am sure is do to the paper css wr125 driver. This is a surprisingly good little inexpensive driver. I ran these drivers alone direct from the amps prior to building the speakers and the sound that came out of them I would describe as being addictive. The detail and naturalness of these little things.....well they just have a certain beauty that can be very addictive. I don't have any experience with full range/ wide range drivers but I was surprised when I heard how well defined the highs were while at the same time providing bass that isn't all that bad considering it is only a 4 inch driver. The only negative is the low efficiency. I may even build an open baffle version using these drivers for low level listening some day.
The bass is also tighter on the 2641 kit relative to the Lsi15's. I wouldn't think so given how much those extremis drivers move. Since they are front firing it does make placement a lot easier as well, especially if somebody has a narrow area in which they set their gear in. In fact I tried them in various different positions and it didn't effect the sound significantly at all.....very placement friendly. When the speakers are in position one can be in many different places within the room and the sound doesn't really change. I realize that I am getting a lot of room reflection but I don't experience the same thing with the Polks. Excellent off-axis performance.
The highs are slightly softer and not as sharp as the Vifa tweeter of the Polk's but has more separation and detail. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the recording. I know a lot of people don't like "brightness" and is often what people complain the most about a speaker but I myself like an obvious and forward top end as long as it is not digital sounding. I feel that most that are bothered by it is because of digital glare and if it is was more natural sounding other people would enjoy it as part of a complete sound (IMO of course). Unfortunately, the tweeter doesn't have the same sense of "air" and decay that I heard in the Usher 6371's. Could be due to the gear (I don't have my Nuforce's anymore to test) or different design goals/inferior crossover parts. It was the Usher tweeter that actually attracted me to this kit over others as I love the way it sounds in the 6371's. Therefore, this is a disappointment to me.
Other things that one notices is how black the background is. They just seem soooo quiet and clean sounding, and incredibly detailed. The midrange is far more detailed than I would have expected. The imaging of these speakers is also quite incredible if that is high on someones priority list.
Having said all that I have said makes them read like a very good speaker. However, as no speaker is perfect, neither are these. Depending on what ones sonic preferences are their drawbacks may not be as big a deal to some, but for me they are a deal breaker. Personally my 2 biggest sonic priorities are the conveying of emotion, and a big sound. These miss on both counts for me. I just don't get as lost in the music listening to these as I do with the Polk's. This is the most important thing to me in music. Afterall, this is why we do this, not because of what we hear, but because of what we feel. If a speaker doesn't convey this for whatever reason, then what is the point? The reason that these sound smaller is probably due to the driver arrangement differences. In fact, I am not sure if the smaller sound is the reason I am not feeling the emotion. Maybe, emotional involvement for me is primarily due to big sound? I think I also prefer the more relaxed sound that you get from bigger drivers as well. At any rate due to the lack of emotion that I feel/smaller sound, I keep having the desire to turn it up more and more as I am still wanting. This is not a good thing for the health of the sensors in our heads.
Given what I have described, (or tried to describe, as I don't write much anymore) I would define these speakers as an exceptional home theater speaker (yes movies were incredible) but not for me as a musical speaker. I think they make an incredible home theater speaker due to, their off-axis performance, and how clear and quiet they are. The center would make an absolutely awesome speaker for approximately $500 CDN. The LCR uses all 4 of these drivers which makes it huge, but I would guarantee nobody would be asking "what did he'she say" as they are just sooo clear. They would also drive that crossover down, taking a little load off the sub. I don't think that center could be beat by anything for anywhere near that money. They also didn't sound small for movies because of how the whole package works together. I may keep them just for this reason, although I have a friend that is interested in them.
Probably not the best written, but I hope I have added some feedback.
Thanks,
Mike
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50891
I will do my best and will reference them relative to the Ls15's.
The 2641's do many things better than the 15's. The most obvious thing is that they have a more open natural sound that I am sure is do to the paper css wr125 driver. This is a surprisingly good little inexpensive driver. I ran these drivers alone direct from the amps prior to building the speakers and the sound that came out of them I would describe as being addictive. The detail and naturalness of these little things.....well they just have a certain beauty that can be very addictive. I don't have any experience with full range/ wide range drivers but I was surprised when I heard how well defined the highs were while at the same time providing bass that isn't all that bad considering it is only a 4 inch driver. The only negative is the low efficiency. I may even build an open baffle version using these drivers for low level listening some day.
The bass is also tighter on the 2641 kit relative to the Lsi15's. I wouldn't think so given how much those extremis drivers move. Since they are front firing it does make placement a lot easier as well, especially if somebody has a narrow area in which they set their gear in. In fact I tried them in various different positions and it didn't effect the sound significantly at all.....very placement friendly. When the speakers are in position one can be in many different places within the room and the sound doesn't really change. I realize that I am getting a lot of room reflection but I don't experience the same thing with the Polks. Excellent off-axis performance.
The highs are slightly softer and not as sharp as the Vifa tweeter of the Polk's but has more separation and detail. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the recording. I know a lot of people don't like "brightness" and is often what people complain the most about a speaker but I myself like an obvious and forward top end as long as it is not digital sounding. I feel that most that are bothered by it is because of digital glare and if it is was more natural sounding other people would enjoy it as part of a complete sound (IMO of course). Unfortunately, the tweeter doesn't have the same sense of "air" and decay that I heard in the Usher 6371's. Could be due to the gear (I don't have my Nuforce's anymore to test) or different design goals/inferior crossover parts. It was the Usher tweeter that actually attracted me to this kit over others as I love the way it sounds in the 6371's. Therefore, this is a disappointment to me.
Other things that one notices is how black the background is. They just seem soooo quiet and clean sounding, and incredibly detailed. The midrange is far more detailed than I would have expected. The imaging of these speakers is also quite incredible if that is high on someones priority list.
Having said all that I have said makes them read like a very good speaker. However, as no speaker is perfect, neither are these. Depending on what ones sonic preferences are their drawbacks may not be as big a deal to some, but for me they are a deal breaker. Personally my 2 biggest sonic priorities are the conveying of emotion, and a big sound. These miss on both counts for me. I just don't get as lost in the music listening to these as I do with the Polk's. This is the most important thing to me in music. Afterall, this is why we do this, not because of what we hear, but because of what we feel. If a speaker doesn't convey this for whatever reason, then what is the point? The reason that these sound smaller is probably due to the driver arrangement differences. In fact, I am not sure if the smaller sound is the reason I am not feeling the emotion. Maybe, emotional involvement for me is primarily due to big sound? I think I also prefer the more relaxed sound that you get from bigger drivers as well. At any rate due to the lack of emotion that I feel/smaller sound, I keep having the desire to turn it up more and more as I am still wanting. This is not a good thing for the health of the sensors in our heads.
Given what I have described, (or tried to describe, as I don't write much anymore) I would define these speakers as an exceptional home theater speaker (yes movies were incredible) but not for me as a musical speaker. I think they make an incredible home theater speaker due to, their off-axis performance, and how clear and quiet they are. The center would make an absolutely awesome speaker for approximately $500 CDN. The LCR uses all 4 of these drivers which makes it huge, but I would guarantee nobody would be asking "what did he'she say" as they are just sooo clear. They would also drive that crossover down, taking a little load off the sub. I don't think that center could be beat by anything for anywhere near that money. They also didn't sound small for movies because of how the whole package works together. I may keep them just for this reason, although I have a friend that is interested in them.
Probably not the best written, but I hope I have added some feedback.
Thanks,
Mike
Modwright SWL 9.0 SE (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC with Oyaide 004 terminations)
Consonance cd120T
Consonance Cyber 800 tube monoblocks (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC's with Oyaide 004 terminations)
Usher CP 6311
Phillips Pronto TS1000 Universal Remote
Consonance cd120T
Consonance Cyber 800 tube monoblocks (6Sons Audio Thunderbird PC's with Oyaide 004 terminations)
Usher CP 6311
Phillips Pronto TS1000 Universal Remote