Unauthorized Official Avance/Aspen Dana Thread - Page 4

and just for the record...I PAID (my own money) for everything in those photos. Including the cat.

I don't want any pissy wizards to get the wrong idea...

Well, ok, the Michael Kenna photo book on the coffee table was a birthday present, and the Craftsman clock on the bookcase was an xmas present from my ex-wife. And the oragami flower was given to me by my ex-g/f when we were at a Buddhist church festival a few years back.

whew, this full disclosure is hard. How do you guys keep up? Oh wait, I know....COFFEE!

If you look closely, Milo, my black cat, is sitting on the couch right in the sweet spot. He's no dummy.

Milo likes to sing backup when I'm doing webcam songs. He has decent pitch but his meter...we'll, lets just say he won't be my drummer anytime soon.

Sub is a Hsu STF-2 (that I bought with my own money). I didn't see the advantage to the VTF or bigger drivers/more power as I'm in an apartment (that I rent with my own money).

The cart is a Sanus. The good thing it is only $300 (paid with my own money) from Racks and Stands. Most stands seem really overpriced to me...

how come I don't see Dana 9xx series listed on TAI? Sold out or not yet listed?

hmmmm, so I guess no one around here can afford these speakers, or haven't heard them?......... or had any given to them

There is a bit of info here:

http://theaudioinsider.com/forum/vie...26cc3961b3c136

From what I understand he got a small number of pairs that got snapped up (although he did recently post here that he'd found one other set). New verions of the 6xx series along with 930 and 980 are supposed to be in Q1 '08

Sadly, the truly sick part of me is thinking that a pair of 980s up front with the 930s in back would be nice. Of course I haven't gotten the estimate yet from my shop to rebuild my tranny along with a few other tweaks for next race season. That might bring me back to financial reality

How do the 930's sound for movies? What are you guys using for a center channel (and does it blend well with the 930's). I'm assuming the 930's are 4ohm like the 630's?

- Jon

930 is rated at 7 ohm. I'm using a Dana 660 center (4 ohm) and it matches well (630s in the rear are 4 ohm). I've watched some tv and movies with the new setup and the 930's are great for movies. The same qualities that I like for music (open, articulate) work for movie voice and soundtrack. What has surprised me though is how much better things sound with the 630s in the back, replacing some old Cambridge sats. Egad...I never realized what I was missing before. Of course you need decent source to appreciate them, but when I popped in The Last Waltz I was *in* Winterland listening.

And this point bears repeating: I am shocked at how good the Danas are at low volumes. I am able to hear all the detail, both music and voice, no matter how soft I play them.

Hey einsteinjb... how much of a difference does that dedicated emotiva amp make compared to a regular av receiver such as an Onkyo or Yamaha?

Thanks! I'm reading up right now.

I've just ordered a pair of Dana 630s for myself after reading all the comments.

What really sold me was Nostatic's comments about lower levels. Yes, speakers that can blow windows out are amazing, but realistically I listen to music and HT at moderate volumes. Also, it seems that there are places to go with these speakers. If I really enjoy the sound, I can build a great sounding complete system. (once I can afford it, of course)

I will be running these with an Onkyo 605, and crossing them with a HSU STF-2 sub.

What will really be interesting is I am going to be auditioning them against the Usher S-520s. There is a local dealer in my area that is willing to bring out a pair to my apt. and demo them. (he sells them for about $375)

I will surely let you all know my thoughts on this.

Thanks for everyone's input on the thread!

I'll be curious to see your thoughts on the Usher vs Dana. I was very impressed with the Usher. Build quality definitely seems a bit better than the Dana but the center was just too big. Similar sound...both are good for the price IMO.

you'll be running my exact setup (before I went insane and started spending more $$$). Experiment with different sub crossovers and see what you like. I stuck with 80hz but depends on the room. Be interesting to hear what you think. I'm still struck by the excellent lower volume performance. And my neighbors thank me. Well, except when my g/f stays over but that is a whole other thread...

Just an update, I will be performing the Usher 2-520 - Dana 630 comparison tonight. A dealer in the area is able to do this.

They will be run on a Onkyo 705 receiver, crossed with the HSU STF-2 Sub (I will also compare them at full range, just for curiosity’s sake)

I paid $360ish shipped for the Danas, and the Ushers are going to be about the same price after the dealers discount.

I've already done a quick A-B comparison between the Danas and Ascend Acoustics 170SEs, I have to say, the Danas held up OK, but sounded much "thinner".

Granted, the Danas are about half the size, but the Ascends had a much larger soundstage during this comparison, it also seems as if the Danas were much more "laid back."

At lower volumes they sounded very similar, or when non bass heavy music was played. But out louder volumes, it seemed to loose their transparencies, while the Ascends help up fine.

We did a quick HT test, and this was very hard to tell them apart. We used Sin City as a reference, and they both performed great.

This comparison was done on a friend's Onkyo 805 receiver.

Looks wise it isn't even a contest, I feel the Danas are some of the best looking speakers around. But it was a little disheartening to see the Danas out performed by a speaker that retails for around $100 less (Dana 630s are now listed around $439)

I’ll have an updated post later with the Usher comparison. I will go a bit more in-depth with this comparison, since I was never really in the market for the Accends (the looks are important to me, as bad at that sounds)

Any specific questions or recommendations anyone have on the comparison? I’ll be glad to test it out.

How did the comparison go?

930's should be here Tues! I'll report when I hear them.

Everyone seems to love dana why is this thread dead? Not enough of them put out I guess.

Are they starting to get more 930s in?

930's:

-Extremely revealing and detailed, especially the tweeter, I love it.
-I have found that the soundstaging and imaging are great, but not really a big improvement over my rti8 and swan 5.1.
-Amazing bass response, but I don't use the extension as I have it crossed at 80hz, but for the record, these go very low.
-The manual states 48 hz, but I can get usable response down to just under 40 when running them full range. I was listening to bass mekanik and I went to go turn the sub down.... that bass was coming from the 930's... the sub was off! And I have a 15" sealed 350 watts RMS epik valor. The SS 8545 midwoofer is just nasty down low.
-I agree with this previous statement by another AVSer; "There is nothing the 930's don't do extremely well." Music and HT are presesnted flawlessly.

-They look gorgeous, especially on TAI's D-stands. I think they look far better than the rti8's, and even better than the Swan 5.1's in BC. Maybe it's just because I know what's under the hood.

Bottom line, I think they're what you should get when you spend a couple grand on a wood box 15x8x13. They are mesmerizing to me aesthetically and sonically. The two compliment themselves and work together to possess my mind. I especially like watching them as sound comes out. I sometimes kiss them goodnight....... my gf gets jealous.

Even though that was a joke it is not too far from reality. What I'm saying is it is very easy to fall in love with them. And I might have kissed them goodnight once.

I first bi-amped them with my yamaha v1800 (130 wpc), but now I've got a parasound hca-1205a driving everything (140x5) and every aspect of their sound is just a little bit better, except high volume levels which sounds far superior to the v1800. I have polk rti6 for rears and a phantom center.

Now IMO the rti6 are a fine speaker, especially for the 200 I paid for them 3 months ago. The 930's are basically rti6's with every area being just a little better. Both have silk domes (SS, Vifa) mid woofs 7", and rti6 6.5", both a cherry color which are quite similar, and when my yammy 1800 pre/pro is on 7 ch stereo, I sometimes can't tell the rti6's are on unlil I get within 1 or 2 feet of them.

I tihnk the 930's match the rti6 absolutely wonderfully, almost perfectly actually, but I have some dana 630 that should have been here Friday by Fed Ex's calculations (today is monday). All 3 audio products through Fed Ex in the last month have been at least 2 days late. Anyways...

Bottom line: if you can find a pair of the 930s and have an extra $1500, IMHO you CANNOT go wrong with these speakers, no matter what their intended application.

what other speakers have you heard?

Paradigm 20's and sig 1, triangle comet es, quad esl electrostats, swan 5.1, rti8, rti6, rti4, some old mid/high end pioneer floorstanders and obviously all the BB CC crap other than that not alot.
The triangles were also very nice, as well as the sig 1's but those were twice what the 930's cost. The $4500 quad esl's were nice but yeah $4500. I still think the 930's are the best speaker I've heard. The esl's were a totally different sound, but I atually like the 930's. I couldn't test alot of this stuff with my own high def content, so my opinions are somewhat limited.

I'm VERY happy with the 930's.

I've posted a quick update, here...