Man in the ear - possible speaker upgrade?

[Laagman]

Still there are rumours for a smaller and cheaper 8c. But don’t know when those will be announced.

 

[Salt]

Hi there,

I´m currently thinking of possible upgrades regarding speakers. Currently I have an Apollon Purifi 1ET400mini driving a pair of KEF LS50 metas with crossover for bass duties to four wallmounted subs in dba configuration. Listening distance is 2,5m.

I´m not really unsatisfied with my current setup but curious to further explore the limits ("man in the ear"). Maybe it´s possible to increase the "attac" and a little bit more dynamics, also I would like to have a kind of "bigger" sound.

On my watch are several speakers, passive as well as active. The technique doesn´t matter to me, I have no preference regarding that and simply pick that, what sounds best to me.

• Epos ES14n from @Karl-Heinz Fink (Unfortunately no possibility for listening as there is no retailer for it in my surrounding; Also not sure how the vertical directivity works, I think I like the directivity of coax... But I like the looks and have some sympathies for the engineer, which also plays a role for me)
• Mofi Sourcepoint 8 (I´m not sure if I like the looks, at the pictures it looks a little bit cheap when it comes to the finish; they are also pretty expensive in europe compared to the US)
• GGNTKT M1 (I´m curious how the cardiod bass will integrate with my subs; looks is also great)
• ME Geithain RL903K (also cardiod but fully analog; Not sure If I like class AB amps, they are powerhungry and heating the room; kind of ugly)
• Sigbergaudio SBS.1 (somehow I have no good feeling with expensive speakers from a small new company - Don´t know how long it will exist and the price discount for used products are usually high / low value stability. Also no possibility to test them riskfree)
• Nubert NuZeo 4
• The upcoming Ascilab speakers (the same as for sigbergaudio, small unknown company with probably low value stability)

I´m interested what people think about these speakers - Has somebody already experience with some of these speakers?

Maybe I should also take a look at PA-speakers with Horns, I´m curious how the would sound in comparison.

Tomorrow I will listen to the Geithain and the GGNTK.


Greetings from Germany,

Paffi

Have you considered some Manger speakers? They offer standmount or floorstand as well as active or passiv.
Rather Bauhaus than Red Dot design (thus I build my own cabinets), but worth a listening (at home, as they offer this).

Btw. FinkTeam provides a list of their dealers on their website, one or two should be near you.

 

[Purité Audio]

I wouldn’t go for Manger, there may be measurements on Stereophile, certainly in the German audio press.
Keith

 

[Salt]

I wouldn’t go for Manger, there may be measurements on Stereophile, certainly in the German audio press.
Keith

I know You don't like them for some odd measurements, but for me the MSW is one of the best I ever heard, if driven properly.

 

[TLEDDY]

That sounds interesting - do you have a specific model you can recommend? Maybe I try do audition them too (JBL and EPOS are also still on the list).

I am like a broken record*… try Sanders 10e

*refers to antique 78 rpm lacquer recording medium

 

[ahofer]

But I surely won´t buy it at the dealer where I auditioned them. Hell that was a lot of voodoo talk about how bad Class-D sounds, the sounds of dac and of course cable sound ("cable blabla" "I don´t believe in that" "there is nothing to believe, If I change it now you would instantly hear the difference"). Such dialogs made me kind of uncomfortable while the audition

Boy do I hear you.

 

[Purité Audio]

I know You don't like them for some odd measurements, but for me the MSW is one of the best I ever heard, if driven properly.

We had the monitors, nicely made but just not quite ‘right’, a customer has the Sanders just not my cup of tea at all but obviously solely my taste/opinion.
Ideally all the ‘possibles’ together in your room.
Keith

 

[Paffi]

Have you considered some Manger speakers? They offer standmount or floorstand as well as active or passiv.
Rather Bauhaus than Red Dot design (thus I build my own cabinets), but worth a listening (at home, as they offer this).

Btw. FinkTeam provides a list of their dealers on their website, one or two should be near you.

I know the Homepage, but altough I'm living in a capital city, there is no Epos to audition (only FinkTeam speakers). So I've just ordered a pair ES14N and listen to them at home. Very curious what @Karl-Heinz Fink has created

Never considered Manger, but many people like them. Maybe I have the chance to listen to them as well.

 

[Spkrdctr]

I don't know if you have any Martin Logan dealers in Europe but they have a good line of ESL speakers. They do not measure flat but when cranked up a bit they do sound fantastic for voice and instrumentals. I had some of their cheaper speakers and I punished them pretty hard. They held up very well and had a ton of bass for their size. So it all depends on what you like. The ML speakers are NOT bookshelves at all so they may not interest you. Good Luck and let us know what you end up getting if anything. Your current speakers may be hard to beat in a price/performance ratio.

 

[RayDunzl]

MartinLogan International Distributors List

martinlogan.com

 

[Paffi]

On Wednesday I had another listening appointment with a dealer:

Blumenhofer Tempesta 17


As I liked the sound of the JBL quite a lot, but the look is a problem, I'm looking around for other horn speakers. The Blumenhofer have a nice wood veneer - but the sound doesn't suit me. To horny well, this typical horn funnel sound could be heard now and then - the JBL didn't have that. It sounded a bit colored.

The dealer then gave me something Italian:

Unison Research Max Mini




I liked it better. The look is also quite classy, with the high-gloss wood veneer and the leather covering. But: not neutral either, tends to be brighter, slim-tuned. But it sounds good and is fun, could imagine to live with that. What bothers me is the already horizontally limited sweet spot, the speaker seem to beam more, that's a showstopper for me.

Slowly I'm kind of tired of this hifi dealer stuff - maybe I should take a more serious look in professional stuff, but they look ugly :/

 

[Laagman]

On Wednesday I had another listening appointment with a dealer:

Blumenhofer Tempesta 17
View attachment 388026

As I liked the sound of the JBL quite a lot, but the look is a problem, I'm looking around for other horn speakers. The Blumenhofer have a nice wood veneer - but the sound doesn't suit me. To horny well, this typical horn funnel sound could be heard now and then - the JBL didn't have that. It sounded a bit colored.

The dealer then gave me something Italian:

Unison Research Max Mini
View attachment 388027

View attachment 388028

I liked it better. The look is also quite classy, with the high-gloss wood veneer and the leather covering. But: not neutral either, tends to be brighter, slim-tuned. But it sounds good and is fun, could imagine to live with that. What bothers me is the already horizontally limited sweet spot, the speaker seem to beam more, that's a showstopper for me.

Slowly I'm kind of tired of this hifi dealer stuff - maybe I should take a more serious look in professional stuff, but they look ugly :/

Some hifi dealers are hard to deal with. No pun intended. When I bought my last speakers at a dealer, he wanted to start a ‘snake oil’ journey with me. First I needed an expensive hifi electricity socket. I needed special cables that matched my speakers. Etc. They just want to sell.

 

[Paffi]

Some hifi dealers are hard to deal with. No pun intended. When I bought my last speakers at a dealer, he wanted to start a ‘snake oil’ journey with me. First I needed an expensive hifi electricity socket. I needed special cables that matched my speakers. Etc. They just want to sell.

Indeed. They already asked about DAC, Preamp, amplifier, turntable etc. and mentioned that they will / can show me some other products.... While I have to admit, as he plugged in the tube amplifier, that was a lot more fun. But that´s another story

 

[Purité Audio]

Just ignore them, everything you need to know is in this site, electronics are ‘done’ and once you understand loudspeaker measurements ( or just read Amir’s/Erin’s summation) you can dismiss poor designs.
Keith

 

[Paffi]

Just ignore them, everything you need to know is in this site, electronics are ‘done’ and once you understand loudspeaker measurements ( or just read Amir’s/Erin’s summation) you can dismiss poor designs.
Keith

Ignoring is not that easy, when you´re sitting for hours with them

Today the Epos arrived and are now playing for some hours already.

 

[Esprit]

As you are in EU, you may want to consider a trip to the UK to visit @Purité Audio. That’s where I would start if in EU.

UK is no longer in the European Union, they chose to leave (Brexit) and now there are both customs and duties.

 

[Esprit]

He mentioned it, but ironically gave the least amount of description for them. Just said they are fun.

Where?

 

[staticV3]

Where?

Here:

And the little monsters are just fun

 

[phoenixdogfan]

You're in Germany, so that puts the GGNTKT M1's on the menu. Unfortunately, the US there are no dealers, no support network, so they're a no go here, AFAIC. I also have LS 50 Metas which I use with two SVS SB 2000 subs. I like the sound very much in my small room, but I am also thinking about an upgrade to something of an end game kind of bookshelf. If I were you, though, given that you like the sound of the Metas without subs, you should perhaps consider a DSP program like DLBC to see if you can better integrate your subs with the Metas. You may find yourself liking the sound enough to stop right there.

As for other speakers to consider, I didn't see a mention of Neumann KH 150's which I think would be right up your alley. Also Genelec Ones, maybe 8351's would be a great choice for about the same price as the GGNTKT's.

 

[MKR]

UK is no longer in the European Union, they chose to leave (Brexit) and now there are both customs and duties.

You misunderstood … what I meant is if in EU region (so maybe closer to UK/Purite), I would certainly make it a point to visit Keith where you can listen to multiple different (and all excellent) active speaker brands. Not to mention Keith is one of the good guys! What I did not mean to imply was that UK was part of EU.