Weekend Tower Speaker Shoot-Out
OK, after talking to a few folks via a past post
here I went around this weekend looking at upgrading my RM6700's to something better. The contenders were CC and a few speciality shops. In the end I listened to the Polk RTi70, RTi150, Definitive 10B, and some Paradigm Monitor 7, Studio 20, and Active 20's. I wasn't overly impressed with the Definative 10B, and honestly I believe I heard probably one of the best 2 channel stereo's in my life with a setup from a Cal Audio Labs Integrated Pre-Amp w/CD Player running straight to some Paradigm Active/20 speaks. I couldn't believe the sound that was coming out of those two bookshelve sized speakers (each had a tweet and a 6 1/2 driver that is self powered, bi-amped w/ a 125W plate amp for the bass and 50W for the highs and a matrix load balance line between the two speaks.) Vocals were warm and rich. Not harsh at all, and the bass was tight and extremely low for something that was the size of a basketball. Next up was some non-powered Studio/20's hooked up to Rotel seperates and a NAD C270 amp. Also as impressive, but not quite as rich as the Active series. Finally was a pair of Monitor 7's that sounded equally well with much more bass. (I could have walked off with a pair of Monitor 7 demo speaks for about $600 w/tax.) In the long run, it was hard to chose which was the best sounding. I won't argue here and say that my experience with the Paradigm's was the most enjoying. The sound room and setup were perfect (all speaks were on the side and the sales man hooked up and positioned the pair I wanted to demo the way I wanted them to be) plus the sources and amps were top of the line stuff. It's hard to judge how a pair of Polk speakers at CC would have compared knowing that they have very poor wiring/speaker wire, sub-standard sources, and introduced noise w/the speaker selector switches that they have. Being that I was already committed to buying a pair of Polks from CC for my "speaker-upgrade" option, it was a no brainer. I just hope that I can get the RTi70's setup to get a similar quality sound out of em. If not, I've got 30-days to return them. If so, I'll give a pair of Paradigm Studio/40 or Studio/60's a try.
Peace Out......
here I went around this weekend looking at upgrading my RM6700's to something better. The contenders were CC and a few speciality shops. In the end I listened to the Polk RTi70, RTi150, Definitive 10B, and some Paradigm Monitor 7, Studio 20, and Active 20's. I wasn't overly impressed with the Definative 10B, and honestly I believe I heard probably one of the best 2 channel stereo's in my life with a setup from a Cal Audio Labs Integrated Pre-Amp w/CD Player running straight to some Paradigm Active/20 speaks. I couldn't believe the sound that was coming out of those two bookshelve sized speakers (each had a tweet and a 6 1/2 driver that is self powered, bi-amped w/ a 125W plate amp for the bass and 50W for the highs and a matrix load balance line between the two speaks.) Vocals were warm and rich. Not harsh at all, and the bass was tight and extremely low for something that was the size of a basketball. Next up was some non-powered Studio/20's hooked up to Rotel seperates and a NAD C270 amp. Also as impressive, but not quite as rich as the Active series. Finally was a pair of Monitor 7's that sounded equally well with much more bass. (I could have walked off with a pair of Monitor 7 demo speaks for about $600 w/tax.) In the long run, it was hard to chose which was the best sounding. I won't argue here and say that my experience with the Paradigm's was the most enjoying. The sound room and setup were perfect (all speaks were on the side and the sales man hooked up and positioned the pair I wanted to demo the way I wanted them to be) plus the sources and amps were top of the line stuff. It's hard to judge how a pair of Polk speakers at CC would have compared knowing that they have very poor wiring/speaker wire, sub-standard sources, and introduced noise w/the speaker selector switches that they have. Being that I was already committed to buying a pair of Polks from CC for my "speaker-upgrade" option, it was a no brainer. I just hope that I can get the RTi70's setup to get a similar quality sound out of em. If not, I've got 30-days to return them. If so, I'll give a pair of Paradigm Studio/40 or Studio/60's a try.
Peace Out......
Damn....8 lines...I've gotta put my sig on a diet now....