Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Castle Acoustics Stirling III Speakers by jedinvest

Model:	Stirling III
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$1800
Description:	Two-way D'Appolito floor standers
Manufacturer URL:	Castle Acoustics
Manufacturer URL:	Castle Acoustics

Review by jedinvest ( A ) on December 26, 2003 at 15:12:51
IP Address: 148.87.1.171

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for the Stirling III

Been using these beautiful loudspeakers in my main (living room) system. These replaced MGD 60i floorstanders and a very similar in size/appearance. Workmanship and quality is excellent, woodworking only a step below the MGD 60i's in appearance which had a really beautiful finish.

I was getting into home theather and wanted a real-wood veneer center channel for not too much change. Bought the Castle Keep center, and it blew away my main loudspeakers in sound. Even though I promised my wife that I wouldn't buy anymore stereo equipment this year (like she would really believe me), I declared an emergency (like Pres. Bush with WMD) and had to act immediately. Bought these from AudioAdvisor at their close-out price and am quite happy.

I noticed that the midrange is so prominent and satisfying. The MGD's were sucking out the midrange. No comparison -- I was hooked. I don't think that the tweeter's are anything special, but since they are fabric, they are not too intrusive. The bass is ported through the bottom with extra spacers provided which I have used. The lower bass is a little tubby (as in bass port) but I like the excess and have not tried to remove the extra spacers yet. I obviously need a subwoofer, but the system is space-challenged at the moment, so I will let it go a while longer.

Overall, I am quite happy with these Castle speakers. I have read a British review that call them colored and I don't know exactly what is colored when I listen to them. They have color (i.e. midrange) in spades and that's what I like about them. They don't sound audiophile (read, thin, sucked-out, etc.) at all, unlike the MGDs (which were also close-outs from AudioAdvisor). I still have MGD 50i monitor speakers connected to tubes which I like but don't floor me like these Castle speakers do (haven't really compared them head-to-head because life is too short).

Product Weakness: Bass and treble, by omission only.
Product Strengths: Color.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Classe CAP-100
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Parasound PLD-2000
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	SONY XA-7ES
Speakers:	Castle Stirling
Cables/Interconnects:	Kimber 8TC/Red Dawn/ProSilway
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Jazz, Classical, Latin
Room Size (LxWxH):	12 x 12 x 10
Room Comments/Treatments:	Pitched ceiling
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Counterpoint, custom
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Bass and treble, by omission only.
Product Strengths:	Color.