Speaker Upgrade - JTR vs KEF Reference vs Focal Electra - Page 2

Jeff still might be offering custom finishes on his speakers.
http://jtrspeakers.websitetoolbox.com/post/JTR-Custom-Speakers-5012941
The dark walnut heritage finish sure looks great = pretty/WAF

No, maybe someday but that would take a lot of work. Ha, that and we are getting more snow the next few days... Ugh!

That's the Quintuple (Q8). One of those cones is the 8" coaxial with a 1" compression driver. It disappeared from the line-up on the JTR website when the Noesis was introduced late last year IIRC. Details are in this JTR forum thread. However, I believe Jeff will still build the Q8 on request. A couple of months back Jeff did a custom sealed Q8 centre channel for a fellow AVS member (he might jump in). Another custom Q8 build is shown here (note cherry). Judging by these two examples, I'd say Jeff would happily work with you to improve the WAF of any JTR speaker... just ask for the Kef Ref look. Any sealed variant (LP) will have a slimmer profile for a start.

Oh, and you need to factor into your cost comparison the savings of not having to buy and ship 3 X 80lb mono amps to power the JTR's! Your current Anthem will be more than adequate. Buy an extra Submersive instead!

Good luck!

As stated above, it is the quintuple. It does not have the new coax horn loaded driver the Noesis 212 has that supposedly propels these to have "audiophile" sound quality that the older JTR's lacked. I would expect it to sound similar to the T8's with perhaps a bit more mid bass. It uses the same drivers as the T8's just two more. I would not expect T8's to compete favorably with the KEF's for music based on my prior ownership of them.

Another thing to think about is whether you ever want to integrate a nice two channel preamp into your system for music listening. You would be hard pressed to do so if you used the JTR's as you would need a preamp with bass management to avoid sending them full range signals. I personally prefer the sound through a great two channel preamp to the sound through an AVR as preamp.

Your room size is smaller than my family room (18ft x 20 ft x 12ft ceiling, open to 3 sides - formal living, kitchen, & dinning).

So big loud speakers is probably not a good idea.

May I also suggest another option - the TAD 2201 Pro Monitor.





I bought them for $1691/ pr delivered (original MSRP $3000). If you buy 3 pairs, Music Direct might sell them for $1500-1600/pr.

These are the Pro line of TAD. The least expensive consumer TAD speaker costs $30,000/pr. The Pro TAD may or may not be designed by Andrew Jones, but the TAD label means very high standards, whether it is Pro vs Consumer, Speakers vs Electronics.

http://www.pioneer.my/data/my/imgCont/Cnt_907/TAD2011.pdf

When compared to my Revel Salon2, KEF Refernce 201/2, B&W 802D2, Linkwitz Orion3, and Philharmonic 3, these TAD 2201 Pro Monitors may not have as large a soundstage. Their soundstage is a little smaller and more intimate IMO. But their clarity and imaging is uncanny and second to none IMO. These TAD Pro are designed for ultra accurate & clear sound reproduction. They measure extremely well. Their sensitivity is about the same as my 802D2. IOW, these TAD 2201 sound as loud as the 802D2, but significantly LOUDER than the Salon2, KEF 201/2, Orion3, and Philharmonic 3.

When paired with great subs (like your Seaton), these TAD sound absolutely amazing IMO. The cabinet shape is a little different, so I don't know if your wife will approve.
Edited by AcuDefTechGuy - 3/21/13 at 11:19am

For movies, JTR and Seaton Sound are very hard to beat (at any price) and do exceptionally well with music as well. Really depends on what you are looking for.

By the way, hello from Dubai.

Mains: Klipsch RF-7
Center: Klipsch RC-7
Surrounds: Klipsch RS-7
Subwoofer: Seaton Sound SubMersive

I might be doing a complete re-do of our home theater in a few years (hopefully) and I am planning on going with Seaton Sound speakers all around.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Congrats! KEF Reference are awesome!

I had to wait longer than a month for mine! Probably 2 months.

It should be. They sound amazing, have textbook-perfect measurements, and look beautiful aesthetically.

There may be different speakers out there, but not BETTER.

I glide my fingers across my KEF 201/2 cabinets almost everyday. :Eek: So pretty.

Yeah, my wife thinks my speakers cost like $100 each.

Yeah, I kind of left that little bit of details out.

I do the same thing. Nothing ever costs more than $300... I mix it up a lot too by telling her I'm selling something else so the cost is only $200 and sometimes I magically make money on the trades.

LOL. Glad I'm not the only one.

Sweet! I have been considering the LS50s as surrounds but am going to try my XQ40s to see if the wiring challenge is worth taking on. So did you also get 40% off on the Bryston, you got an amazing deal! I think you will br so pleased! Edit: lost my first post and forgot the Onkyo. Great system! What are you powering the 204 and LS50s with?

I think I'll move to Dubai.

I use Kimber Kable PR8 for my precious KEF Ref 201/2.

They are not that expensive for me since I got the Bare Wire (stripped already so I didn't have to strip the wires myself) from The Cable Company.

Then I installed the Locking Banana plugs myself, which was simple.