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In Reply to: RE: Harbeth 30.1 vs Ref 3a De Capo be posted by RGA on April 12, 2015 at 20:26:45
@RGA...and all....thank you for advice. I am leaning towards high efficiency speakers...bookshelves or small floorstanders. Do you have experience with medium range omegas? Would they be competitive with the harbeth a, AN or ref 3a I terms of vocals and big full non fatiguing sound I am after?
Thanks.
Follow Ups:
I dislike them because of the jagged roll-off at the high-end. Look for single drivers that are paired with a treated ribbon tweeter and connected to the single driver through a cross-over circuit.
Observe, before you think. Think before you open your yap. Act on the basis of experience.
Omega loudspeakers are single drivers if I remember - single drivers have some inherent advantages over multi-way drivers - midrange clarity and openness but usually at the expense of dynamics, bass and treble extension and smoothness and limited frequency response. You makes your trade-offs. To get around some, though not all, of the weak points is generally size - BIG single drivers and BIG panels at high dollars alleviate the weak spots by adding back treble and bass and a degree of dynamics. The bigger two ways retain most of the goodness of single drivers while alleviating the weak spots while not requiring as much money or as much space. And then the 3+ ways with still bigger cabinets often alleviate further the weak spots but also move further away from the single point in space strength. One of the reasons I like the AN J and E having had the former for a decade and the latter I bought last year is that they get as close to what I like about single drivers as a two way gets while providing full range enough sound such that I would not require a subwoofer while not taking up bags of space while also being highly efficient.Basically, you have to listen for yourself and play the music you listen to and determine if the single driver has enough drive and wollop to keep you happy in the long run.
I am generally a fan of full range or close to it loudspeakers that can play Beethoven to Eva Cassidy but can also play the likes of Noisia "Split the Atom" where I can feel the bass in my chest and a sense of in room pressure - and that includes it from trumpets and horns.
Not long ago I auditioned the above set-up with the pictured Empress 7 watt per channel 2A3 monoblock amps and their Jinro Sochu 211 power amp with heavy well recorded dubstep synth music. If you listen to this sort of thing (I respect that many people do not) for me the system has to do a highly competent job of it. Pin drop speed - treble out the ying yang, bass drive and hard impact without a hint of audible distortion of "doubling" and the speakers not requiring corners to do it.
Everything presents compromises - the J in this room don't possess the biggest scale or vertical image height of better speakers (or better versions of itself). Nor was the soundstage presented here as good as I've heard. Bottom line is you have to do the listening to all these things yourself. For every fanboy like me who says they're the bee's knee's you'll find someone else to dump on them. So the internet goes. But when I tell you I audition something I am now attempting to provide a picture of what I auditioned along with the dealer I auditioned them at. The Above photo taken at Elephant Holdings Wanchai Hong Kong. http://www.elephant.com.hk/products_list.php?nid=15
There are probably a dozen speakers that I could live with but because I own AN J/Spe speakers I basically compare everything I hear to that speaker (which I've had for 11 years and which is still selling and has been selling continuously for 23 years (so there are some other fanboys).
I personally hold sensitivity and ease of drive in high priority since I feel SE amplifiers whether it be the Solid State 20 watt Sugden A21a or any numerous 5-10 watt SET amplifiers as sounding the best. Even if you include the Nelson Pass First Watt SIT amps they too are low powered.
I have liked some single drivers from Teresonic but expensive. In HK I have enjoyed several. Still, if you listen to what I listen to they have trouble reproducing fuller range sound. But I like what they do very much.Omega's prices are certainly attractive, but you have to try them first cause bass is difficult to live without IMO and some of the 4 inch single drivers simply won't cut it.
Edit - the picture above was with the Quest 300B not the Empress - I did listen to the Empress as well which I prefer).
Edits: 04/14/15 04/14/15
@RGA and Everyone....Thank you so much for for all your help! I have narrowed my list down to the AN J and the HL5+. To my ears...both did well on female vocals however the AN J were driven by expensive...> 30k worth of electronics. My integrate is a modest Line Magnetics 216ia. Think it's a good match for either one of them? Thanks.
Did you listen to the Decapo or are you relying on other opinions? Just curious.
Both speakers sound really good - you simply won't go wrong with either one of them. The LM amps have balls. Line Magnetic is maybe the best Chinese tube amp maker going of the brands that are mainly advertised as Chinese brands - brands like Melody that are Australian but made in China is right there as well.But basically it comes entirely down to your ears your hearing of them on the music you play.
I have owned the J/Spe for 11 years so whatever I say here is biased. But basically - you have to weigh which one you like better. If you say to yourself "it's a draw" then you look at price and power handling.
The AN J is easier to drive - you can run a 5-10 watt 300b SET and play to very loud levels with very solid bass. The Harbeth is 85-86dB sensitive and may force you to use the UL mode of the LM where the AN J will let you use the IMO better Triode mode all the time. Also should you got to a SET you won't have to replace the AN J. But this is secondary issues to the actual sound.
I would suggest you try and use your amp with the speakers and play the hardest hitting pieces of music you have (that you like and actually listen to) and then see.
Preferably, you can get the dealers to let you take the speakers home for the weekend or something. Does not hurt to ask.
Edits: 04/18/15
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