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Model: | Sapphire 25th Anniversary Edition |
Category: | Speakers |
Suggested Retail Price: | $1299 |
Description: | Monitors |
Manufacturer URL: | ACI |
Model Picture: | View |
Review by LKDog (A) on May 23, 2003 at 21:01:04 IP Address: 12.217.76.106 | Add Your Review for the Sapphire 25th Anniversary Edition |
Purchased these monitors after reading reviews on the previous Sapphire monitors and communicating with the Audio Concepts, Inc. owner Mike Dzurko about my interests. I had narrowed it down to a pair of Silverline monitors and the new Sapphires.Was looking for a high end monitor to use primarily for two channel listening. Also wanted to use for casual HT use in a 5.1 setup as the mains.
When I got the speakers shipped to me I was surprised at their weight (35 lbs each) and larger than typical monitor size (17" tall, 9 1/2" wide, 14 1/2" deep). They did fit well, however, on my 24" Premier sand filled stands.
They replaced a decent pair of RBH 61SE monitors which I liked, but I was ready to move up the audio ladder.Am extremely happy with these speakers. They are extremely well made and clearly are engineered to handle resonance. They use a Scanspeak 9300 tweeter and a newer higher end Vifa midrange. They have a front port so they can be placed nearer a back wall if needed.
The best way to describe them is that they do everything well with no real weakness. Excellent smooth and extended highs, engaging and resolving midrange, and authoritative bass. Are essentially transparent, but not overy detailed, harsh, or etched. It is my understanding that they are engineered to be very neutral and they sound that way but do lean toward a slightly warm engaging tone.
They are rated down to below 40 hz and the sound is clean accurate,and full on the low end. Although I have them paired with the wonderful ACI Titan sub, they could work for many without a subwoofer.
I originally had them powered with a decent Parasound HCA 1000 amp (125 watts per channel) and was using the analog preamp section of my Denon receiver for two channel. They sounded very good, but now I needed to improve the rest of my system.
Sold the Parasound and found a used Musical Fidelity A300 integrated at a good price. The sound transformation was huge. The Sapphires really opened up and extended across the sound spectrum. The additonal power of the MF A300 (150 watts a side but supposedly actually closer to 200) was put to good use by the Sapphires. The MF A300 is all that many have said- a superb integrated amp.
I would say that the Sapphires do like like power as they are mid level efficient (86db).
Supposedly they do not an have extreme impedance range fluctuation so can be driven by as little as 50 watts a side, but I would not recommend that. The extra power of a better amp allows then to really sing and they sound great at low volumes also.I recently added a new power cord (Vh Audio) to my amp and the sound improved even more. The Sapphires seem to respond and benefit from system improvements very well.
In summary, these are wonderful speakers and I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a great all round monitor that handles all kinds of music well.
Product Weakness: | None sonically unless you compared them with something way up the food chain. I like the way they look, but may not be as polished or refined a look for some. |
Product Strengths: | Smooth, detailed, engaging, musical, natural balanced sound. Great build quality. Great company and service. |
Associated Equipment for this Review: | |
Amplifier: | MF A300 |
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | none |
Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Pioneer Elite DVD/CD player |
Speakers: | ACI Sapphire 25th Ann editon/ACI Titan sub |
Cables/Interconnects: | DH Labs speaker wire (T14), Dh labs sub cables, Dh Labs BL 1 series II IC's, VH Audio Power cord #2 on amp, Crump power cord on source |
Music Used (Genre/Selections): | Funk, jazz, fusion, |
Room Size (LxWxH): | 25 x 15 x 8 |
Room Comments/Treatments: | sofa, padded carpet |
Time Period/Length of Audition: | 3 months |
Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
Follow Ups:
One thing that makes for a great review, is if the reader agrees with the writer. And I think I am in near total agreement with what you have written.I've had the Sapphire III's for a couple of years now. Your desrciption of the 25th Anniversary edition included the following:
"The best way to describe them is that they do everything well with no real weakness. Excellent smooth and extended highs, engaging and resolving midrange, and authoritative bass. Are essentially transparent, but not overy detailed, harsh, or etched. It is my understanding that they are engineered to be very neutral and they sound that way but do lean toward a slightly warm engaging tone."
That, with the exception of the phrase "authorative bass", describes the Sapphire III's. I would characterize the bass of the III's without a sub as adequate. The rest of your desciption applies in total to the III's. So it looks like ACI has continued the tradition and spirit of the Sapphires. In my opinion, they are just a great all around speaker at a very fair price.
I'm using the III's with an ACI Force sub and I would characterize the resulting bass as "just right". If I have any complaint about the Force, I think it is a complaint that applies to all sub-woofers, they're just a pain to setup properly.
Glad the MF 300 is working out for you. Like you, after getting the Sapphires I started thinking about improving my amplification. The MF 300 was one of the contenders on my list. However, I wanted a preamp/amp that had "phase control". I ended up with the SF Line 1SE (yes it has phase control) preamp and the SF Power 1SE power amp (55 watts per side). A great combo that works well with the Sapphire III's.
What speakers would you say that these Saphires have bested?What is the minimum what one would need to make them really sing adequately. I have an 80 watt integrated...
dr150 -I agree that 80 watts would do fine as others have said, especially if you are using a sub and either rolling off the Sapphires with a filter @ 65 hz, or simply plugging the port with the plugs they give you.
Mike Dzurko states that with the ports plugged they roll off around 64hz. I have tried them both ways and like running them full range and setting my sub at a lower level.
I do know that when they were testing these speakers they did well with 60 watt amps. As people have said, not all watts are the same and a lot of companies rate their power lower than they really are.
I would call the Sapphires a friendly speaker in that it probably won't sound bad with anything and as you improve components and wire you will be rewarded. They sure like the MF A300 which is just one of many fine integrateds out there at a reasonable price used.
I would have went separates, but matching pre and amp components seemed like a black art to me.:)Give ACI a call or email Mike Dzurko. He will be happy to discuss your needs with you. Great guy.
I have the 25th Anniversary Sapphires and have had them for about two months now. I am currently driving them with a Rotel RB-1050 (70x2) for the time being until my Odyssey Stratos Dual Mono (180x2) arrives. Processor is an Anthem AVM-20 in a HT that also has the ACI Emeralds and will include a future Essence center. The Rotel is a fine performer for my needs in the meantime until the main amp arrives in the next week or so. Keep in mind I cross over the speakers at 80htz and I use a ACI Titan II sub in conjunction, so if you were running the speakers full range, you may need more than 70wpc, but for my present applications, the Rotel can drive the Sapphires to very loud levels without strain or distortion. I can only imagine the improvement I hope to get with the addition of the Stratos.I think the 80 you have will do OK until you upgrade as we all tend to do sooner or later.
I agree with everything the reviewer said in his earlier post. Great bass, very neutral sound, excellent build quality. I'll be honest, the only speaker I know they best are the Paradigm Studio 40's by a large margin (my previous speakers). I also considered the Silverline SR-17's, but without a local dealer, I just went ahead and bought the Sapphires and couldn't be happier. I won't have any desire to upgrade for a really long time with these babies, which is a very nice feeling.
You wrote: "What speakers would you say that these Sapphires have bested?"I did some looking before I settled on the Sapphires IIIs. I was looking for something in the $1,000 to $2,000 range, or there abouts. Some of the speakers that I heard in that price range were from Paradigm, Dynaudio, B&W, Theil, Legacy, MagnaPlanar, Meadowlark, and Linn. I don't know if I would say that the Sapphire's bested all those speakers on some absolute basis (I don't know that I'm qualified to come to that conclusion). I can say that I purchased the Sapphire's and feel no regret. Nor do I have any desire to own any of the other speakers I audtioned over the Sapphires. The Sapphires are very competitive in the $1,000 to $2,000 price range.
You worte: "What is the minimum what one would need to make them really sing adequately. I have an 80 watt integrated..."I have the Sapphire III's which, if I recall correctly, are rated at 91db or 92db. It appears the new Sapphires are are rated at 86db sensitivity. ACI suggested a minimum of 15 watts for the III's and is apparantly recommending about 50 watts minimum for the Anniversary Edition, which seems about right given the difference in sensitivity between the speakers.
How many watts do you need? I using 55 tube watts with the III's and have no complaints. But then again I'm not what you would call a head-banger. I also use the III's with a ACI Force sub. With the Force in the system I also use some 65Hz high pass filters to the power amplifier making it unnecessary for the power amp to work with frequecies below 65Hz. As you are most likely aware, it's the low frequencies that demand most of the power. I leave the low frequencies to the powered sub.
So,how many watts do YOU need? I'm guessing that with a powered sub and high pass filters to your amp you might do just fine.
Will 80 watts (without a sub) "really make them sing"? That's a pretty tall order. ACI has a 30 day no questions asked return policy. You could try them in your home and find out.
I can tell you from one audtion I did, not all watts are created equal. I was audtioning a pair of B&W 805's (which to my mind are somewhat similar to the III's in size and sound) driven by a 125 watt Rotel power amp and the sound was quite acceptable. The dealer then replaced the 125 watt Rotel power amp with a 125 watt Conrad-Johnson power amp. The was an undeniable improvement in ALL aspects of the sound from the 805's. I would say that the C-J amp "really made them sing". So it's not only the number of watts that's important, but the quality of the watts.
I know myself that I started running the Sapphires with a 55/channel Nakamichi Receiver which for its price and age was a good performer. But I must say that my current Sonic Frontiers equipment also rated at 55/channel out performs the Nakamichi by a considerable margin.
In general, my impression is that the Sapphires are a well behaved speaker. I would suspect that the Sapphires will deliver all the quality sound that your amplifier is able to produce. As I mentioned, with the 30 day no questions asked return policy, the Sapphires are a low risk purchase. If you don't like them, send them back.
Thanks you guys.I feel better now. ;)
I'm sooooo tempted at the moment! M...U....S...T R....E....S....I...S.....T!!!!
(I don't want my wife to kick me out of the house just yet.....I just bought an HDTV television--she was not pleased to say the least! I was "allowed" after 1 hour argument! :=) )
Did I mention they do home theatre great also?Use the same argument you did for the HDTV which went something like..this is the last TV we will have to buy for years.
I actually used that argument with her LOL!!I said: "Honey, 2006 is around the corner and the 4:3 format won't cut it! This is Future Proof! It'll pay divedends for years to come! And no more letter boxes when watching DVDs, Honey! [Wife leaves room to go to kitchen. Husband senses he's gaining ground and follows her to kitchen to drive the point home---after 1 hour's worth of discussion}.
I can just see my wife waking in on me in my den (No! Not what your'e thinking!)......uhh..........with me whispering "My Pressssious!" to the computer screen picture of the Rosewalnut Saphires! :=0 !! (Just like Gollum of "Lord of the RIngs")
"ONE SPEAKER TO RULE THEM ALL!!"......
;=).........
Another Forthcoming Wife Chat:
("No speaker upgrades. No future-proofing Honey! It'll save us money in the long run!" "Honey? Honey??? No!! Not the gun!!! Honey?......Where are you going?!" [Wife exits furiously and takes sole possession of the car keys for an early afternoon cooling-off period at Saks (i.e. Prada revenge)---leaving husband at home stranded with 3 screaming children]!
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