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My latest pair of speakers.

Posted by Pat D (A) on June 1, 2012 at 16:21:14

In Reply to: Poll - What *type* of speaker ended your search? posted by Presto on May 30, 2012 at 12:03:30:

I have basically had three high fidelity speakers for my main system over the years. But then I audition speakers very carefully with a variety of different music, following the excellent advice given by Julian Hirsch. I also kept another criterion in mind, which was whether I would still like the speakers 20 years later. I used to use a tape with short takes of different types of music (full orchestra, male and female vocals, and piano to screen out the non-starters. Once I had some good recordings of mixed chorus, I added that, too. Now, I use CDs, especially classical samplers. This saves me time, and also saves time for the staff in the store or an acquaintance who has some speakers I would like to audition. Once the speakers pass the initial quick audition, I can audition the remaining ones at greater length. The top candidates I can audition at home.

There is, of course, always the issue of which speakers to audition, as one cannot possibly audition them all. I have used various resources. Early on, there was my brother, but also there are professional reviewers, customer reviewers, knowledgeable dealers, and friends. I always liked to see what sort of correlation there was between the measurements supplied in some reviews and what I found with auditions. Of course, as time went on, I learned more and more.

First was the old Kef 104, later converted to 104aB when one of the crossovers went. The 104aB is a somewhat different speaker, and I am not sure that I liked it better. But it was still a very good speaker. It had a very even response in the listening window. Since 3/4" tweeter is crossed over to the 8" woofer at 3 kHz, the off axis response is not very even, compared with many modern speakers. The uneven power response makes placement finicky. Compared with many post digital speakers, they have some how limited power handling, especially with the undamped very low frequencies and with a tweeter with only 8 watts power handling.

Second, I got a pair of Quad ESL-63 speakers. These are also finicky as to placement but mostly for a different reason, that they are dipoles. It is takes careful placement to get male vocals (Roger Whittaker) correct, and like Richard C. Heyser, I never did really got them to sound quite right on piano--a strong point of the Kef 104. But they can sound outstanding on orchestra, chorus, vocals including opera, and various transients.

One of the ESL-63 power supplies blew, and meanwhile, we went away to help care for my wife's mother, who was very ill. Considering the cost of repair, and the limitations of the Quads in our present house, I thought I would audition some forward radiating speakers. When we got home several months later, I had not made up my mind, so for an interim, I got a pair of the old PSB Stratus Minis with a view to putting them in the 2.1 system in the family room for TV and movies. They had done better than most speakers when I auditioned them, and they did pretty well in our main system. I discovered that they were more neutral than the Quads, especially on orchestral recordings (i.e., on the Chandos label), and quite good on piano. However, their treble dispersion was not as even as I would like. But a very pleasant speaker, which does very well in the 2.1 HT system, excellent on vocals, music, with no listening fatigue.

I had heard quite a few different speakers. Finally, I decided to take the original Paradigm Signature S2 monitors for a home audition, and found they were just what I wanted. It is a neutral speaker, with a smooth, slightly laid back sound with the image tending to be behind the speakers. These speakers do not call attention to themselves. All in all, they are still one of the best speakers I have ever heard. The NRC measurements are superb. They show a couple of minor anomalies I would rather not see, but I have never noticed them in listening. My subwoofer adds deep bass to my system.

I am not currently in the market for new main speakers as the Signature S2 seems good enough for the foreseeable future.
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"A fool and his money are soon parted." --- Thomas Tusser

Edits: 06/01/12

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