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142.158.214.164
Serves me right, really.
You see I bought the JMR Duets with Magic Stands unseen and unheard, considering everyone says: “get an audition.” Well, I would have liked to, but I was unable to get to the Montreal Show (or Colorado) to hear the Blue Circle-Reynaud room. I was intrigued by the comments on the web by Bob Neill and others who listened to them. I picked them up yesterday morning and they were playing most of the afternoon and evening.
The comments on AA and the Blue Circle forum were inadequate to prepare me for the wonderful music I am hearing. You see, I was expecting an improved Twin. What I got was another, but absolutely outstanding, level of performance.
There are four things these do better than the Twins ( an excellent speaker) which I got right away: by comparison, the bass is faster, perhaps deeper and more complex, the mid (voice) is clearer and cleaner, the treble is smoother, and the soundstage is enormous. The sound has moved toward an Audio Note KSPe in clarity, but with the uncanny ability to be warmer, while the ANs were cooler. All these comments are based on the Magic Stands, but I will try my heavy weighted steel ones later.
Just for reference, I am someone who likes the stand mount 2-ways in many configurations, each of which had strengths and tradeoffs. In order of ownership: Epos ES-14, Rogers LS3/5a, Spendor 3/5, Spendor 3/1p, Audio Note KSPe, JMR Twin Signature and now JMR Duet. It is obviously early days for my listening, but I hear less compromise across the audio spectrum than any of these.
I did not know that my Blue Circle amp (FtTH) would be suitable with the Duets, but I knew the available comments on other Blue Circle amps were favorable. Little did I know that they would be a fantastic combination, judged to be in the majestic category at the Son et Image room. I tested them with quite a variety of music and from opera to jazz lounge; the Duets came through with a natural and musical voice driven by the FtTH.
My wife came home late last night. She really liked the looks of the Duets with their very superior veneer. After 5 minutes, all she said was "That's the best sound you've ever had".
In the absence of trusting your own ears, I am happy to have trusted the comments I read on the web by Bob and others. Also, this likely speaks to a consistent musical vision by the designers: JMR and GY.
Follow Ups:
As I also mentioned on the Blue Circle forum, I spent quite a bit of time listening to the FtTH with the Duets at the Montreal show and found that demonstration the most musically enjoyable one out of the many I visited. I had never heard Reynaud speakers before and I was utterly amazed at would those little Duets could do. There was a wide variety of music played through them during my frequent visits to BC room and it all sounded so good you just had to stand there and listen until the piece was over. A very synergistic combination.
Attilio
What did you prefer in the JMRs vs the Audio Notes?
I will try, but I have a limited vocabulary for audio review. And I hate clichés. I can only give you a sense of what I hear.
Audio Note Ks are sealed boxes and the Duets have a complex transmission line. Right away we see the designers’ different takes on what kind of bass they want to hear. The ANs have a more limited extension and the back end of a bass note is quickly dampened. The bass driver in the Duets is freer (intracabinet pressure relieved by loading?) which yields a warmer and fuller sound. Duets beat the Twin Sigs in the speed of the bass. The PRAT ability was greatly enhanced, to the point where maybe a Naimophile might find them speedy enough. The Twin Sigs were really very good but could not keep up to the ANs.
I used the ANs biwired to demo the FtTH at home. The rep and I were astonished at the soundstage, fixed instrument placement, and sense of recording venue. A close miked solo guitar had the right size, as did a big orchestra. The Duets are likely nearly as good. So far (and remember this is early times yet), one instance where I noticed a difference was with a solo oboe in which the actual location was slightly smeared by the Duets compared to what I remember with the ANs. This was really subtle. But the Duets had the woody tone nailed.
Both speakers have an exceptional midrange for voice. The added bass capability of the Duets does not leak artificially into the midrange.
When I demoed the FtTH, I realized that I was going to have to sell the Ks because of an overall aspect of the sound that was missing when paired with an Audio Note OTO SE. That was a very synergistic pairing. Now this is very hard to describe: in extensive listening to the Ks with the FtTH, I got the feeling that everything was etched. I think Bob Neill described the AN speakers as like a clear New England day, which they are on AN electronics in my experience. On the Blue Circle FtTH, however, they were like a frosty New England morning. Perhaps like viewing the world through a cut glass goblet: very pretty, but with sharp edges. I get none of this with the Duets. In fact, my overall impression is “lifelike”.
I've got a couple of integrated choices (Manley Stingray or Synthesis Ensemble). I know the Audio Note's work well with the Synthesis, I've heard that combo. If I go Stingray, I'm thinking about Duets.
Thanks again for your descriptions--very helpful.
Dave
What is interesting is putting the lower powered and somewhat kinder, gentler Blue Circle SBT/SBM on the Duets and K/SPe's. The SBT/SBM rig was designed to (more or less) simulate the kind of single-ended tube amps that Audio Note speakers prefer. On this amp, the Duets and K's sound like cousins: the JMR's have deeper bass, the K's a bit more upper midrange clarity, but the two really are comparable. Preferring one over the other is preferring the AN or JMR presentation where they come closest to each other.
So, SBT/SBM loves either AN or JMR and FtTH loves JMR? AN leaves you stuck with SBT/SBM and JMR allows floating between SBT/SBM and FtTH?
The way you guys talk about the Duets they might as well be the only speaker in the line ; )
"So, SBT/SBM loves either AN or JMR..."
Well AN K's anyway.
"and FtTH loves JMR?"
Any JMR I've heard so far, yes.
"AN leaves you stuck with SBT/SBM"
Or AN amps!
"JMR allows floating between SBT/SBM and FtTH?"
The SBT/SBM is really the beginning of the particular BC amp line that runs from them through the FtTH to the 200 series, the other line being the new 6SN7 based amps. It is a lighter, subtler sounding amp than the other Blue Circles in that line, which is why it can handle the AN K's. It also sounds better on the Cantabile Sigs than the FtTH does, something that has to do with the nature of the Cantabs that I don't yet understand. The SBT/SBM sounds extremely good on the Duets. The FtTH however, seems to get more out of them, at least in the way of bass authority and dynamics. But it's not something you miss from an SBT/SBM - Duets rig until you hear the speakers on the FtTH. You can't lose either way.
"The way you guys talk about the Duets they might as well be the only speaker in the line ; )"
I have joked about that alot lately. They are way better than they're supposed to be. At the moment, I would almost jump from the Duets to the Emeraudes. But then I haven't heard the Cantabiles in a while. I think they are a subtler sounding speaker than the Duets but the Duets sound more versatile.
...as an owner of Twins mk2 and Trentes, I must say you've more than piqued my interest. Enjoy!
For what it's worth, I think the Duets are better than the Trentes. I didn't think so when they first arrived but by the time they settled in, yes. Same natural warmth but more informative: clearer bass, more open midrange and still not a hint of brightness or leanness. I didn't really appreciate their superiority until Montreal. But after several days and a ton of CD's of wildly different kinds of music, I'm convinced they're not only better than the Twins III (which are very good speakers) but also the beloved Trentes.
Doesn't the deeper extension make for a significant improvement? Or, in the process, do the Euterpes lose a little focus in comparison to the Duets? I'm curious as to why all of the attention has focused on the Duets and not their floor-standing sibling. Thanks.
Because no one in the US has heard the Euterpes yet. If their relation to the Duets is comparable to the Arpeggione's relation to the Twins, they will be a bit fuller sounding, go a tad deeper (they measure 5 Hertz deeper), and give away a little in spatiality. What I mean by that is that standmounts often seem to produce a more spacious presentation, whereas some floorstanders can't seem to get out of their own way. I preferred the Twins to the Arpeggiones, but that's NOT to say I'd prefer the Duets to the Euterpes. It's all guesswork at this point.
I would be curious to learn what differences were heard when the Skylan stands were used in Montreal.
JMR told me a few years back that he designed the Magic Stands to remove what he perceives as a response skewing bass hump that he feels many stand-mounted speakers have, one which he feels actually compromises deep bass and also muddies the midrange. Using them, according to my, Gilbert's, and JMR's ears, results in a smoother overall performance, noticeable in clear, deep bass and a highly resolving midrange. Here is JMR's explanation on his website: http://www.jm-reynaud.com/jmr_us/archives/magic.html
The Sklyan stands give the impression of having a somewhat fuller ("rounder" is what Noel reported hearing) bass with a slightly less subtle midrange, which suggests that their designer likes the bass effect JMR set out to neutralize. Paul Candy, a Six Moons reviewer present, liked the effect of the Skylan stands on the Duets, as did his young son, perhaps a reviewer in waiting. No one seemed to notice a lack of bass with the Magic Stands, quite the contrary. But it is a clearer, less billowy, less rounded bass, which seems more instument specific.
Clearly, it's not right and wrong here, just a preference.
Incidentally, I don't make very much at all selling the Magic Stands. JMR couldn't make a dime, what with overseas shipping, and so passed the license and plans to Amherst Audio. I had told Noel I was rooting for his stands so I could get out of the stand-building business. What I'll do now is give customers this subjective comparison and let them choose.
Paul Candy tells us in his note on Six Moons about the Blue Circle room that while his son preferred the Skylan stands, he himself waffled back and forth between them and the Magic Stands. That response I can definitely understand. The differences are more interesting and informative than differences in audio usually are.
Got it. Thanks
Gilbert Yeung has a remarkable sense of what music sounds like. Over the years he has manipulated countless technologies to reproduce the music he must hear the way great painters see.
You shouldn't be surprized. No one should be.
Greetings from the sunny Brønshøj riveria on the banks of the lovely Utterslev Mose
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