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In Reply to: Many Have No Idea Just How Good A Matrix 801 Really Is posted by ka7niq on March 19, 2007 at 22:44:51:
The high end retailers here have a bunch of Matrix 801s still kicking around -- and B&W made a mistake opting for looks over sound quality in the much worse N801 which costs far more and offers far less.Not the N801 is bad -- in a big room with SET amplifiers I was very impressed but at the massive price tag it is just not worth it.
The only caveat remains that treble which always seems to sound unrelated to musical events and quite often a compartmentalized sound. It is really evident on their CDM(except the 2SE) and 700 series.
Soundhounds was carrying and may still be the Diamond 800 series. Have you heard them? For more than $20k? -- Well if that was the only 20K plus speaker I heard I would be opting for some Sennheiser HD 600s.
Follow Ups:
Where in Korea? Yongsan? How much are they asking?I can imagine they have a hard time selling them. Who has a big enough space in Korea?
As for Koreans not being slaves to what is in, BS. Look at how many shops carry the same lines, look at how often lines come and go, and look at home many shops come and go.
I got my Harbeths at a great price because they were having a hard time selling them--they looked too old fashioned.
in some ways very much slaves to what is "in" but in other ways not so much. The culture is almost built on 1950's American ideology with a Caste system still evident.Yongsan is one area -- there is no real space to listen to anything in these shops but at the same time all the equipment is in the ame boat with the same disadvantage. Contrary to popular belief you can get a sense of most speakers in less than ideal set-ups.
Shops come and go because some shop owners do not know how to run a business - I never said they were better business people. Competition in all things in Korea is very high. 10 restaurants all right beside eachother selling the exact same menu means that over time one o two is bound to go under.
Then again in the West I have seen how often brands come and go from dealers and it is bery high as well.
There are many dealers who carry only what will net them the highest bucks and some dealers carry what they like. Good dealers will carry both which is why my favorite dealer in BC is Soundhounds. They willcarry all the heavily advertised stuff because it keeps the kids in shoes. But they carry stuff they themselves buy to listen to in their own homes because some very small percentage of the people who walk through the doors are not slaves to the magazine review.
On the whole the stuff carried in Yongsan is a step above the stuff found in most dealers I have been into in the west. The listening rooms may not be great but then for this money you would have an in home trial. At least it is not the "listen to the Paradigm, PSB, Energy, B&W cut from the same monotonous "where's the dynamics" east coast copycat cloth.
The last time I was there, I assume I was cursed at(or at least something unpleasant was said)when I entered a store after the L.A. riots. I couldn't understand why everyone was staring at me until I had an epiphany, Needless to say, I watched my back until I got back to the base.
nt
My comments were for the Matrix series 801's, and the used bargain I feel they represent.I know I can do better new then a Nautilus 801 or a Diamond 801 either.
I don't feel they are worth the Money.BTW, I was doing the SET thing years ago.
I lived in Seattle, and went all over plucking Western Electric stuff from theatres out West, and selling to the Japanese.Some like the rolled off sound of an SET amp/speaker combo, and when confronted with a tweeter that REALLY has top end extension, freak out.
The Matrix 801 series 2 have a remarkable, non ferrofluid tweeter with real extension on top.
Whenever I go away from it by hooking up a pair of several high end speakers I own, I realize how much air I am missing!
I have a pair of 802 Matrix Series III with outboard North Creek Xovers, and I believe they sound better than the 802 Nautilus I heard at a local dealer.Peace,
Tom E
The North Creek Crossovers are the "Holy Graile" for every Matrix 801 owner.
Maybe someday .......
You can't really tell how good speakers' are in Korean shops since there's no space for optimal placement. Various models are piled to the ceiling just as in the Base Exchange on military bases overseas.
The shops in Korea are cramped - but the room is the same for both. I have heard the two in Canada -- I bring up Korea to note what they carry as opposed to what most of the western shops carry.They are not slaves to new is always better because the company told us so.
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