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$2,000-3,000 Tower speaker comparison: Need help picking the contenders for a shootout - Page 3

post #61 of 240
11/27/12 at 5:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer View Post

I am planning to call GIK acoustics to discuss treatments and I also plan to talk to the speaker manufacturers about placement, distance from the back wall, toe in etc. once the speakers arrive. My hope is to give each speaker the best positioning possible to make sure I pick the best one for me.

You're a smart man - glad to see you're doing it right.
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post #62 of 240
11/27/12 at 7:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuance View Post

You're a smart man - glad to see you're doing it right.

+1
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post #63 of 240
11/27/12 at 7:25am
I strongly recommend the Gallo Clasicco CL-4.

I am currently using the CL-3 with an NHT B12D subwoofer, which is an excellent system. The cost is About the same as the CL-4, but perhaps you don't want a sub for aesthetic reasons.

The tweeter of these speakers is one of the best I have ever heard at ANY price, and it has a broad horizontal dispersion that makes every seat in the listening area a very good seat indeed. Most speakers have tweeters that do NOT have very good horizontal dispersion, and the listening area is really restricted.

I have Vandersteen 3A speakers at my other house, which cost twice as much money, and these are very very close in sound quality.

These are VERY remarkable speakers, IMO, and I have listened to almost all of the best over the past 40 years.

Since you can put them in your home for free for 60 days, that seems like a no-brainer...lol. I will bet you they never leave your home once you hear them; they are remarkable.

I assume that you probably read the article on the CL-3 in the July/August issue of The Absolute Sound. If not, I think you will find its discussion of the speaker design quite interesting.
Edited by commsysman - 11/27/12 at 7:35am
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post #64 of 240
12/9/12 at 8:09pm
I have personal experience with the Tannoy Precision 6.2 speakers (brother owns them.) They are astoudingly good sounding speakers for the price and fill large rooms effortlessly. His is 17x 30. They sound fantastic off axis and roaming about the room. Every time I hear them I keep hearing more and more from old familiar songs. They get my vote. Good luck. smile.gif
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post #65 of 240
12/10/12 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hell Commute View Post

I have personal experience with the Tannoy Precision 6.2 speakers (brother owns them.) They are astoudingly good sounding speakers for the price and fill large rooms effortlessly. His is 17x 30. They sound fantastic off axis and roaming about the room. Every time I hear them I keep hearing more and more from old familiar songs. They get my vote. Good luck. smile.gif

Cool, thanks for the info. I might go back and take another listen to them sometime soon.

Today was a good day because, well, I ordered the Von Schweikert VR-22s. I called and left a message and Albert (owner/designer) called me back an hour or so later and we talked for awhile. A really cool guy. The speakers will take 2-3 weeks to be assembled, broken in a bit, tested and shipped. I choose the dark wood veneer for the endcaps and black cloth grill.

VR-22 : Von Schweikert Audio

On a sidenote, it is often debated in regards to wives and their semi-reluctance to embrace the expenses of this hobby, whether it is better to ask permission or forgiveness. I kinda used both, having already told her I was planning to get new speakers etc. But tonight I told her the actual price ($2,895) of the VR-22s, which are the most expensive of the options I am considering. It was not that bad really, but forgiveness has been obtained!

So, now the VR-22s are on the way and the Phil2s and Ascend Towers will ship mid-January. Getting excited!
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post #66 of 240
12/10/12 at 8:51pm
I think it just requires a little context.

Buying a stripped Camry rather than a loaded Camry is a difference of something like $10k. A 4-year-old Infinity M35 instead of a new one will save you $30k... and those are things that last 3-5 years.
You don't want to imagine what a boat owner spends on his hobby.

So you spend $20k over 10 years? Run two Stripped Kia Optimas 5 years each rather than 3 for 3 years each and you've broken even.
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post #67 of 240
12/10/12 at 9:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JerryLove View Post

I think it just requires a little context.
Buying a stripped Camry rather than a loaded Camry is a difference of something like $10k. A 4-year-old Infinity M35 instead of a new one will save you $30k... and those are things that last 3-5 years.
You don't want to imagine what a boat owner spends on his hobby.
So you spend $20k over 10 years? Run two Stripped Kia Optimas 5 years each rather than 3 for 3 years each and you've broken even.

It also helped that she just got a piano this year, which was more than the speakers cost. And, I might say, I was very supportive of her when she got the piano..hehehe
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post #68 of 240
12/10/12 at 9:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer View Post

It also helped that she just got a piano this year, which was more than the speakers cost. And, I might say, I was very supportive of her when she got the piano..hehehe
Always pays to think ahead wink.gif
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post #69 of 240
12/28/12 at 3:10pm
Thread Starter 
I just placed my preorder for the SVS Ultra Towers. Can't wait to get all these speakers together and put them through the paces.
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post #70 of 240
12/28/12 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer View Post

I just placed my preorder for the SVS Ultra Towers. Can't wait to get all these speakers together and put them through the paces.

Very cool to hear! that is an amazing line up for speakers! it should be amazing to hear all of them!
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post #71 of 240
12/28/12 at 7:42pm
cant wait to hear the finale
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post #72 of 240
12/28/12 at 8:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tme110 View Post

cant wait to hear the finale
+1
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post #73 of 240
12/28/12 at 9:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ambesolman View Post

+1
+2
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post #74 of 240
12/29/12 at 6:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuance View Post

+2

+3 biggrin.gif
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post #75 of 240
1/13/13 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saturn94 View Post

+3 biggrin.gif
+4 Update?
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post #76 of 240
1/13/13 at 9:18pm
I'm curious. How much do you anticipate shipping will cost you? With a budget of $3K I would imagine 4-5 sets of speakers would set you back $500 or more, easily. Plus, you have to pay for shipping both ways, correct?

I've heard/owned a few of these brands and IMO the Tritons are not in the same league. Their center is a joke, bass is overrated, and I found them to be highly inaccurate. I don't get the hype. rolleyes.gif

-Brian
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post #77 of 240
1/13/13 at 10:21pm
Thread Starter 
Update.....

Phil 2s should ship next week and the SVS hopefully on the 18th. The Ascend towers and Von Schweikerts are delayed. I will try to update more once the details become clearer.

As far as shipping costs, yes, it is expensive. But, I rarely buy speakers and I really want to end up with the best one for me. That is why I am trying to listen to four excellent brands.
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post #78 of 240
1/13/13 at 11:56pm
Another speaker to consider--Linn Majik 140.
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post #79 of 240
1/16/13 at 9:31pm
sadly im waiting to hear your review of all these speakers before purchasing some!
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post #80 of 240
1/24/13 at 3:55pm
Thread Starter 
Update:

So, the SVS Ultra towers arrived today, but I haven't seen them yet because I am still at work. I will post some pics this weekend and get them set up and running for some break in time.
The Phil 2s should be arriving tomorrow per the Fedex website.

Unfortunately, those will be the only 2 speakers for me to listen to. I had to cancel my Ascend order because they ran out of the Raal tweeters and the VR-22s were also going to be delayed for too long and would not have overlapped with the other pairs. I am at least happy that I can compare a set with the ribbon tweeter (the Phils) with a dome tweeter (SVS). Also, I guess it will save me some money as the VR-22s and Ascends w/ Raal were both just under $3,000 while the two I am getting are $2,000. I have some days off next week to really spend some time listening, so I will post more impressions then.
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post #81 of 240
1/24/13 at 4:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer View Post

Update:

So, the SVS Ultra towers arrived today, but I haven't seen them yet because I am still at work. I will post some pics this weekend and get them set up and running for some break in time.
The Phil 2s should be arriving tomorrow per the Fedex website.

Unfortunately, those will be the only 2 speakers for me to listen to. I had to cancel my Ascend order because they ran out of the Raal tweeters and the VR-22s were also going to be delayed for too long and would not have overlapped with the other pairs. I am at least happy that I can compare a set with the ribbon tweeter (the Phils) with a dome tweeter (SVS). Also, I guess it will save me some money as the VR-22s and Ascends w/ Raal were both just under $3,000 while the two I am getting are $2,000. I have some days off next week to really spend some time listening, so I will post more impressions then.

That's too bad. I wonder if there any Ascend or VR-22 owners in the metro Denver area that would be willing to bring theirs over - even if it is just for a day?
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post #82 of 240
1/24/13 at 5:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer View Post

Update:

So, the SVS Ultra towers arrived today, but I haven't seen them yet because I am still at work. I will post some pics this weekend and get them set up and running for some break in time.
The Phil 2s should be arriving tomorrow per the Fedex website.

Unfortunately, those will be the only 2 speakers for me to listen to. I had to cancel my Ascend order because they ran out of the Raal tweeters and the VR-22s were also going to be delayed for too long and would not have overlapped with the other pairs. I am at least happy that I can compare a set with the ribbon tweeter (the Phils) with a dome tweeter (SVS). Also, I guess it will save me some money as the VR-22s and Ascends w/ Raal were both just under $3,000 while the two I am getting are $2,000. I have some days off next week to really spend some time listening, so I will post more impressions then.

Sorry to hear about that. Hope you like either the Ultras and/or Phils. Also, if you need someone in the Denver area to lend you a hand or an ear this weekend, let me know. I'm currently auditioning the Gallo CL-3s (and could bring them over if you were still considering the CL-IV), but I was thinking of ordering the the SVS Ultras to audition as well.
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post #83 of 240
1/24/13 at 7:27pm
you can go Sierra's without the RAAL, I'm sure they're pretty close and the delay is only for the RAAL itself.
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post #84 of 240
1/25/13 at 7:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tme110 View Post

you can go Sierra's without the RAAL, I'm sure they're pretty close and the delay is only for the RAAL itself.

They are quite different sounding.
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post #85 of 240
1/25/13 at 8:01am
Thread Starter 
I spoke with Dave about it, maybe just trying out the dome versions, but when I described how I liked the Salk Songtowers with ribbons I heard at RMAF, he thought that I would most likely be less satisfied with the dome. Plus, I was honest with him about this comparison and I knew that the chance of me sending back the dome versions was higher. There are a few Denver Ascend owners, so I might still get a chance to hear them yet.

Last night I hooked up the Ultra Towers. I will post pics soon. The finish is very nice. I did start the break in process and I was able to get pretty good output with a 30hz test tone, so it looks like their rated spec of -3dB at 28 Hz is probably accurate. I don't really have a way to measure though, but SVS usually has accurate specs, so I am not surprised.

Between the speakers arriving and UCLA beating Arizona on the road, it was a pretty good night (I am originally from LA, not Denver smile.gif )
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post #86 of 240
1/25/13 at 8:06am
Very interested in your review on the SVS tower. The one part that has me wondering, is the aluminum tweeter. I'm usually not a big fan of them, but have yet to hear anything about them on the SVS towers. They are usually to "forward" for my tastes, kinda like Klipsch speakers.
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post #87 of 240
1/25/13 at 9:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer View Post

Between the speakers arriving and UCLA beating Arizona on the road, it was a pretty good night (I am originally from LA, not Denver smile.gif )
That was a very welcomed surprise! biggrin.gif
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post #88 of 240
1/25/13 at 10:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer View Post


Between the speakers arriving and UCLA beating Arizona on the road, it was a pretty good night (I am originally from LA, not Denver smile.gif )
Quote:
Originally Posted by cschang View Post

That was a very welcomed surprise! biggrin.gif

Now if someone will beat Kansas and Syracuse, Michigan will be sitting pretty atop both the AP and Coaches Polls, but we digress.
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post #89 of 240
1/25/13 at 11:20am
Michigan should be #1 IF they win @ Illinois on Sunday.......try 3 KLipsch RF7IIs across the front they sound excellent. Purchased 3 shipped to me for <$2800.00 Oh Yeah, GO BLUE biggrin.gif
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post #90 of 240
1/25/13 at 1:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by VicTorious1 View Post

Sorry to hear about that. Hope you like either the Ultras and/or Phils. Also, if you need someone in the Denver area to lend you a hand or an ear this weekend, let me know. I'm currently auditioning the Gallo CL-3s (and could bring them over if you were still considering the CL-IV), but I was thinking of ordering the the SVS Ultras to audition as well.

VicTorious, what is your impression of the CL-3s so far? What are you replacing?

NewHTbuyer, since you are down to two speakers, are you going to take Vic up on his offer. I would love to hear both your thoughts on comparison.
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