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In Reply to: Re: Wanting to trade the Stratus Gold already eh? NT posted by Frihed89 on October 13, 2005 at 03:07:26:
I have not heard the AZ floorstanders -- from the review in positive feedback I get the impression they are not built for this kind of music anyway.The AN J or E will do it fine but they don't have enough of the midbass rise that is probably needed. The thing is I would not get caught up in looking to find accuracy as doled out on these forums -- live heavy rock at a concert is always played through amplifiers and rock concert speakers - so getting AN's from a designer who loves classical unamplified music who believes in microdynamics, delicacy and tonal aspects is not exactly "geared" to heavey metal. They just happen to do it well. But it's quite a premium if metal is the thing.
I hate to say it but many speakers that are not considered accurate may in fact be more "pleasing" to the ear for this kind of music.
Horns simply seem to hit harder - that is what is used at the live concerts and if you want something that will give you that visceral impact then those speakrs are the ones I would look to - or the more audiophile Home version like the K-horn.
Though I don't see why being too little reviewed would matter. After listening to a healthy dose of what gets raves from a big British SS maker in Stereophile and a Big British speaker maker known for bulletproof drivers it seems that's reviews can lead you to spending 4 times as much on totally inferior and downright unnacceptable sound. And that's for any music but heaven help rock music.
Follow Ups:
I agree. In my case, i know i have a lousy listening environment in my summer house that isn't fixable and i think break-in would have improved the sound a lot, but how much? However, i wasn't willing to take the risk of putting down $1,000 unless i saw more reviews that could point out the strengths and weaknesses of these speakers, among which i was also worried about having to get on the upgrade path. The Audionotes always play well in their dealers' show rooms, and I heard the AZ-2's play a wide range of music.Once a few things settle down with regard to my hearing problems (an operation) and my finances, I definitely plan to revisit them, if they are still available, but i think will end up with a UK mini or small monitor, proac, spendor, quad, etc. (I was actually intrigued by the US-made NSM speakers reviwed above and their tiny brothers).
I haven't given up on Audionote by any means, but i am not going to get on a substantial upgrade path for them. I love the sound of so many of the small monitors and the music comes first for me.
Have you tried JM Reynaud? I have never heard them but Bob Neil had a post on here and they have new model - This if for the monitor suggestion not the heavey metal suggestion obviosly. A fellow Audiophile sold off his AN K/Spe and bought the Auruum Cantus. He had the K in too big a room and with SS amps and not in a corner -- So I can understand your issue with the AN's.The Cantus or whatever is a ribbion tweeter - have not heard them but might be worth a shot as well.
I don't know that AN is going to make the floorstanders anymore? They were an interesting design part hor part transmission line but with close to 1/3 the back cabinet being exposed.
It's too bad most of the marklet is glutted with speakers that have the exact same design approach -- it limits one's ability to discern real qualitative differences anymore.
Listening to Kraftwerk right now -- Interesting band (synthesizer crazy). And they SE tubes can;t do treble or bass power.
I wish there were more pure kick-ass rockers I knew of to recommend you give a try to - but it seems the public is willing to accept panzy ass gutless speakers and pay big money for it (especially if it comes in a nice cherry wood).
I always say that sooner or later they'll figure it out. It's actually kind of good to own some of the stuff the rags endlessly tout because then wwhen you do finally hear something good you might turn into a fanatic like RGA :-)
And as I've been knocked for mentioning UHF - I also want to be clear that I have disagreed with them nbumerous times for judging speakers without hearing them, and for liking some of those same gutless wonders. If you ever heard the Castle Eden you know what I'm talking about. Talk about a dull sounding speaker and they raved and raved and raved?? Yeah Castle doesn't make it anymore.
Thanks for all the advice. We have a limited representation by UK mfrs in Denmark. I have auditioned many on a trip to the UK a few months, but my ears got saturated. I'm biding my time to take a short vacation to the UK with my amp and CDP. As i recall, the Quad 12Ls sounded best to me, but it was so close among many UK brands and their top minis. They all do the same things well and now it's just a matter of seeing on a final trip how they sound through my equipment. I have not tried the JMRs. I may try some Charios here at the AN dealer. A 2-way UK floorstander (a mini with a box) is still an outside possibility, as my wife likes rock, but the very ear-friendly and placement friendly 2.5-way SS speakers i have (Audiovector) definitely have problems with my small cavelike room.Our AN dealer has some AZ one look-alike floorstanding cabinets in exotic wood finishes without drivers, cross-overs or cones. I have never seen them in AN's literature. Interesting, but i am sure they would spell trouble for me and my little kolonihavehus (a small summer house in a colony) where i spend 6 months every year.
Well, I am off to buy a sæt of headphones. That may be the utlimate bad room solution!
That's funny because I was going to suggest headphones - the best solution -- well for a while.I liked what Quad had to say on their site about their tweeter philisophy -makes much sense.
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