SDA 2 Vs Monitor 12

Ron Temple

thsmith wrote: »

Not sure the M12s get a lot of repect here but I sure like them.

M12s seem to be fairly rare, but both of you guys have nice sets. The only negative mention I've ever seen is from doro the other day...and he can't be trusted...doesn't like to wear pants

zingo

Ron Temple wrote: »

The only negative mention I've ever seen is from doro the other day...and he can't be trusted...doesn't like to wear pants

thsmith

zingo wrote: »

Must be an inside joke

Braddles

thsmith wrote: »

Brad, how is the testing going?

BTW, thanks for your help on the M12 stands. My 12s are so pristine I am not ready to drill holes in the bottem but I used your measurements and added a MDF top for the M12 to sit on.

Just need to paint them.

Not sure the M12s get a lot of repect here but I sure like them.

No probs mate,

Be interested to hear what difference, if any, you find. Iv'e noted there isn't much feed back on the 12's. This has been the most iv'e ever see them talked about. To be honest it made me think i was missing out and started to look around for something else. I now own 3 pairs of Vintage Polks.
Monitor 5's & 12's and the SDA2a's and i prefer the 12's out of them all for a alround performer.

thsmith

Braddles wrote: »

No probs mate,

Be interested to hear what difference, if any, you find. Iv'e noted there isn't much feed back on the 12's. This has been the most iv'e ever see them talked about. To be honest it made me think i was missing out and started to look around for something else. I now own 3 pairs of Vintage Polks.
Monitor 5's & 12's and the SDA2a's and i prefer the 12's out of them all for a alround performer.

My comparsion is with RTi8s I bought new last Spring. The M12s give more flexibilty with music than the 8s. I like the 12s without the PB13 sub for older music, new music seems to have deeper bass but the 12s can hold their own.

For sure the highs are crisper and smoother than the 8s. The 12s do great in 5.1 mode for movies.

They are fast and punchy. Oh yeah, they are drop dead sexy too.

Hopefully one of these days I will own a pair of SDAs to compare with;)

Braddles

What did you think the stands did to the sound? I would have thought it would have tightened up the bass a bit or did it loose too much? Let us know.

HB27

Braddles wrote: »

What 3 days not enough you reckon. i can assure you this was no "hit and run exersise. Im not changing my source, for a while anyway, as i just got a new CDP. I would have thought if you are going to demo some different amps that you would best do this with the components it's going to be partnered with at least for the time being. Naturally there will be other upgrades to come in the future but who can do all the upgrades at once?

You cant have read my post to well because i said i changed back and forth that many times i got quite quick at it. I had a set of tracks i assigned for this project that gave me a wide range of music from good vocal tracks to rock to R&B to live tracks. All of which i've listen to a thousand times on a system ive had for 18 odd years. I played them over and over and over again. I even gave each amp a go of just leaving it on for a couple of hours and just did some other things around the house and kept "checking in" on them just to give my ears (and mind) a break and see what i thought of them when i walked back into the room. Again i thought this was a sound method.

I also said in an earlier post that the difference between the Rotel and the Quad was only subtle. The Bel Canto not so. But i expected more of a difference as it was the only one which was a different class of amp.

Speaking of which i am going to try the bel canto again with a upgraded power cord. The agent said it can make a big difference with digital amps.
So we will see.

Lastly mate, my wife was very good to me giving me the time to do all this while she kept our 2 & 4 year old boys out of my hair (whats left of it)
for 3 days & most of the nites. Can't complain too much and im satisfied i got the best result with the time and resorces i had. Not too many people get to take home 7K worth of amps home to play with for the weekend. I was very lucky and i think i made the most of it that i could.

Cheers

I wasn't saying YOU. Just me. It takes me a long time to "run out" a new amp. I give the amp break in time to let it burn in good. I've seen many new amps change sound after they've been run 40-75 hours just like a tube or cables. I'm also a big fan of a GOOD power conditioner.
I usually try different ICs, speaker wire, power cords, preamps, etc trying to get the best match or best idea of the sound characteristics of each individual piece. My problem is I can find something in each component I like and it's hard to NOT keep them all.
BTW, the M12 is hard to beat. Excellent speaker. Wish I still had mine. Another speaker I love is the Monitor 11 RTA. A friend of mine has my old ones and I'm trying to get them back. I'm sure I will eventually and I'll get another pair of M12s also. They're too good of a speaker not to have.
You've got some very nice new gear. Let us know how they sound as get used to them. Also give the SDAs some time getting them set up to your room and gear.
Congrats again,
Harry

thsmith

Braddles wrote: »

What did you think the stands did to the sound? I would have thought it would have tightened up the bass a bit or did it loose too much? Let us know.

Brad, I think the stands tighten up the bass but they were'nt bad before.

I was blown away with music but have been really impressed how well they do for TV/movies.

I need to paint the stands this weekend and get out REW and see if they go deeper since adding the stands. 28hz sitting on the floor is not bad.

Braddles

Funny, i've just finished setting up the SDA 2a's as fronts in the HT. Im only running 2 channel ( the old Luxman i just replaced ) as i had to sell my receiver a while back.

The sda effect it quite good at giving a sort of soundbar sound. It does not replace surround sound but it is pretty good. They sound better in this room when listening to music. I can get them closer together and have less inbetween them. It's all comming together nicely>