Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Jean-Marie Reynaud Twin Mark ll Speakers by drew8mc General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

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Model:	Twin Mark ll
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$745
Description:	Two-Way Monitor
Manufacturer URL:	Jean-Marie Reynaud
Model Picture:	View

Review by drew8mc on December 06, 2007 at 10:16:26 IP Address: 69.141.195.42

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I have been a Twin owner for a number of years now; starting with the MKII iteration bought used about 4 years ago. After their untimely death I upgraded to the Twin Signatures.

First let me explain what type of listener I am, and what my biases are. I am a bad audiophile. I hate doing things like cable comparisons and tube swaps. My feeling is, if I put something in and I like what its doing... I leave it alone. I don't take listening notes. I don't have a dedicated listening room. My TV sits right between my speakers. I watch movies with my system. My speakers do not sit 5 ft out into the room. I allow all of these compromises because:
1. I love my girlfriend.
2. We live in a small apartment.
3. I actually care about what the place looks like (I want to hide all cables).
4. I want to share my love of music with other people.

I look for a more forward presentation that makes me pay attention. I prefer things a little more raw as opposed to ultimate refinement. I look for an emotional response to the music being played.

An important point about Reynauds is the fact that each speaker must be thought of as a singular statement. Even though the Twins are the most affordable speaker Reynaud makes, they cannot be considered compromises of the designer’s intent; at least not in my mind. They have more to say about music reproduction than most company’s top of the lines. Whether you understand what they are saying or not will depend on your own tastes, and what you are willing to compromise on. Those in the accuracy/ measurement army will decide after approximately 30 seconds of listening that the speakers are colored and hook their Wilson's back up. That's not a knock against these folks, to each his own. I, however, belong to the rebel army.

Breaking the Reynauds down to evaluations of bass, midrange, and treble would be missing the point of the Twins entirely. It would be like deconstructing a Jackson Pollack painting into the quality of small, medium, and large blobs (Can you imagine? "While I felt the large blobs contained an excessive amount of pigment, I feel it is more than balanced by the subtleness of the small dots spread throughout the painting"). Everyone talks about the warmth of the Twins, and indeed they are that, but not in the way I traditionally think of warmth. They don't have that syrupy sweetness that tends to get old. It's in the way they excite the air around you. It's in the bold brush strokes they use to paint the sonic landscape. This is the quality that is very difficult to translate into keyboard strokes but is the heart of the Twins. To me, they tug at my heartstrings more than anything else I have heard. I have tried to leave the Twins on several occasions, only to return to them a short while later, appreciating their positive attributes and accepting their faults.

Yes, they do have their faults, and, in a way, their faults seem to be related to their strength. The same presentation of pushing the music out into the air also has a tendency to sound thick. That's the best word I can come up with to describe it. They aren't veiled in any way; it’s just that there is so much body, flesh if you will, and less bone. This “thickness” gives orchestral works a weight that can be quite emotive but will leave you wanting if you want ultimate separation of instruments and a holographic soundstage.

I am always interested in how a speaker’s presentation can influence the music choices of the listener. I find myself playing a lot of acoustic music through the Reynauds. I play less straight up rock and electronic music, but I love many of these genres just as much. It’s not that this music is completely un-listenable through the Twins; it’s just that the natural warmth plays right into the hands of simple acoustic music. Jazz sounds fantastic through the Reynauds and they have a great sense of rhythm which really gets your toes tapping. I have been very into Brazilian music of late, both the classic bossa nova, and more modern funky and electronic music coming out of Brazil. If your system is devoid of rhythm, this music will be totally lost on you. Played over the Twins the complex rhythmic layers weave this amazingly infectious and downright fun musical experience. Wood blocks, triangles, cow bells, a myriad of drums, even a wood box are all used to create this music and the Twins accurately portray the timbres of all these instruments. Perhaps if we all listened to more Brazilian music we wouldn’t see so many of those really bad “white guy dances” at weddings. You know, that a-rhythmic shuffle some guys do that looks like someone just stuck an ice cube down the back of their shirt.

As far as partnering equipment goes, the Twins have seen a good amount of gear tethered to their backside. They perform well with affordable equipment. My original Twins MKII were driven by an old Yamaha solid state amp from the 80’s and a pair of Scott Nixon gain clones. The Onix SP-3 tubed integrated was a fantastic low cost solution to drive the twins. They still love push pull tubes even though Bob Neil has been advocating Blue Circle solid state for the Twins. I’ve never tried any Blue Circle gear, but given Bob’s background as a reviewer and knowing the Reynaud line better than anyone save Reynaud himself, it might be a good idea to try it out. You can get a lot more out of the Twins if you partner them with some more expensive amplification. They have really opened up with my current amps, the Ming-Da 805’s. This are 50 watt SET amps with a big ol’ tube front and center. I get way better dynamics with these amps and the bass seemed like it dropped a whole octave.

I know there is a lot of talk about the new Reynauds so many of you may be waiting to hear the buzz about the new models. I’m curious as well. To me, the Twins are classics and I will never sell them. I’m very curious about how Jean Marie’s upper level speakers sound. Do they keep the Twin’s beauty while getting rid of the thickness noted above? Bob makes it sound that way. At some point I will have to make the trip to Amherst Audio to hear more of the line.

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Product Weakness:	Ultimate resolution, soundstaging and separation
Product Strengths:	Warmth and body.<br>Emotional<br>Not for background music

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Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier:	Ming Da 805C
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Emotive Audio Erato
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Raysonic CD128, Well Tempered Record Player/ Musical Surroundings Phonomona
Speakers:	JM Reynaud Twin Signatures
Cables/Interconnects:	Purist Audio Design Musaeus
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Brazilian, Jazz, Rock, Orchestral, Electronic, Blues, etc.
Room Size (LxWxH):	20 x 14 x 11
Room Comments/Treatments:	Old apartment, no official room treatments
Time Period/Length of Audition:	15 months
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

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