[Robster1958]

because of room size and aethestics, i have been focusing on these larger "bookshelf" speakers.


i want a satisfying combination of speed and transparency, along with good imaging and musicality. i also want good slam, but will sacrifice the lowest octave to my velodyne sub.


anyone with firsthand experience with either? or am i missing anything?

i own a pair of Dynaudio 1.3 SE, with are great for "lighter" music, but not for my theater application.

 

[sholei]

Hi,


I have Wilson Audio Cub and also a Watt/Puppy series 6. I did listen to JM Lab mini Eutopia and the Eutopia in one of the exhibition.


After comparing the result I prefer to go with Wilson Audio because I don't like the design of the Eutopia. However, in my opinion the Eutopia sounded more detail and clean.


If you want to use it for HT it is better to go with Wilson line. From my own experiences, JM lab is good for music, but not suitable for HT use. Moreover, you can see most HT enthusiast have wilson audio for their HT set-up.


I hope that helps


Mario

 

[davidw]

I don't know why you want to upgrade considering what you have. Not sure what you mean by "I own a pair of Dynaudio 1.3 SE, with are great for "lighter" music, but not for my theater application." A good HT speaker may not always be a good music speaker, but if a speaker performs well for music, it performs well for HT. The 1.3SE's are the finest pair of bookshelf speakers I have ever heard, and I have demoed quite a number. I don't know about the JM Lab or the Watt/Puppies mentioned above, but I have a/bed the SE's with the Wilson Cubbs, and I prefer the SE's. The SE's are extremely detailed. As long as you have a good sub, your system should be incredible for HT.


PS: If you do decide to upgrade and you want to offload those SE's at a reasonable price, I have been wanting to pickup a used pair for a long while. Shoot me a message.

 

[anthonymoody]

I listened to the CUBS at length (before deciding on a larger, full range speaker from another mfr) some time ago and remember the big fat grin they brought to my face. The music was simply exciting. I remember hearing things in recordings, layerings and instrumentation that in some cases didn't know was there in the first place!


What I learned after extended auditions was that they in fact were not very balanced and actually tipped things up in the upper midrange (to my ears anyway - that's where I heard the stuff I hadn't heard before). While the effect of this was great for certain music, it was awful for other music.


I didn't listen to the JMs but would highly recommend an extended series of auditions with both using lots of music you're very familiar with.


If all I listened to was sheryl crow i'd probably own the cubs...

TM

 

[jlm]

i use watt-puppies for mains and a cub for the center and that mix is very nice, the travelling pink noise test shows them to be quite well timbre matched. the cub is no watt puppy though.

 

[Michael7272]

What about the Revel Gems mated with a pair of B-15's? Adding the Revel Voice for the center would be a great combo!!


Have fun shopping!

Mike

 

[Robster1958]

shopping IS all the fun!


once we get something, then it's time to see what else we "need"....or at least start to think about the next upgrade

 

[jlm]

robster: whatever you do, don't audition the watt puppy 7's.

 

[sholei]

I just came back from New York from the Home Entertainment 2002.

I did audition the Watt/Puppy 7... It is much better than the Watt/Puppy 6.

It has better depth, detail and more air.

I ask Dave Wilson if Watt/Puppy 6 can be upgraded to the 7 , and unfortunately he said "no".

I am so dissapointed with the answer... Now I am thinking of selling my series 6.

If I have to choose between the Grande Eutopia and the wilson Watt/Puppy 7... I will of course go with wilson.

 

[KeithR]

I owned Wilson Cub IIs, and sold them and eventually bought Dyn 1.3SEs and pocketed a lot of change. I was awestruck as a poster above by the Wilsons clarity, however over time it felt fatiguing and analytical. I almost sprung for the Sophias, which if I bought Wilsons is the way I would go (Ferrari blue btw)


The Dyns in my opinion other than the WilsonGloss are better. The Dyns are just as clear, smaller, and have just as much bass. The problem may be integrating a center channel with them, as the Contour center doesn't have the same tweet. However, I would call Dynaudio and see what they say.


If you have any questions, email me offline to discuss.


FWIW, I considered and auditioned mini utopias, but found the Cubs to be a much better buy

 

[J.V. Gomez]

Robster1958:


Have you considered the new Aerial LR5s and CC5, which are similarly priced to the Wilson Cubs and JM Labs mini-Utopias, within your list of auditions?
http://www.aerialacoustics.com/lr5/modellr5.html
http://www.aerialacoustics.com/cc5/modelcc5.html


I posted my long review on the LR5s/CC5 a couple of months ago in the Audio and Video improvement forum in IV parts. Also, the whole review is available from me in one single WORD file just by e-mailing me at: [email protected] .


Have anybody out there has had the great chance of comparing the Wilson Cubs and/or JM Labs mini-Utopia against the similarly priced Aerial LR5/CC5?


Thanks for sharing!


J.V.