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Lots of options

Posted by Rick R (A) on May 28, 2007 at 21:27:58

In Reply to: Is 90db sensitivity enough..... posted by makscopes on May 26, 2007 at 21:37:36:

I have lots of experience with monitor speakers in the 92 - 96 dB range run by low powered tube amps, which I have summarized below. I suggest you not get hung up on a single characteristic like sensitivity, although I might guess you will do better with somewhat more sensitive speakers.

There are a few monitors in the 92-96 dB range that do fairly well with low powered (2 – 8 watt) SET amps in a moderate size room. Bass won't be great, but you can get good midrange and good imaging. I have a 12 x 10 home office with a REL Strata III, so bass is not an issue for me although I don’t use it most of the time. Here are a few monitors I have tried in the last couple of years, in order of my personal preference:

1. Coincident Triumph Signature UHS, Extreme Version - neutral presentation, excellent imaging, speakers disappear, wonderfully transparent, smooth and highly detailed mids, bass not as deep, but tighter than other monitors

2. Reference 3A MM De Capo i - good clarity and imaging, smooth midrange and nice tight bass, highs good, big soundstage, slightly rich sounding

3. Cabasse Goelette 500 - slightly forward, outstanding clarity, good strong midrange, wide soundstage, highs very good, tight bass (can change woofer phase for more bass)

4. Reimer McCullough GS - Big, slightly warm sound, best bass in a monitor, detail very good, good smooth mids

5. Coincident Triumph Signature UHS - recessed presentation, excellent imaging, speakers disapear, smooth and detailed

6. Galante Raphpsody - warm & sweet midrange, limited highs, imaging only good, detail good, sound veiled compared to the best

7. Omega TS1R - slightly forward, good mids, good highs, lack transparency of best monitors but a great value for the $

8. Omega Super 3 - slightly forward, clean mids, ok highs, fast sounding, bass lacking

9. Adire HE 10.1 - good midrange, lacks detail and highs, nice bass

10. Klipsch RB-35 - good bass, but mids too fatiguing, even after 30 days of break-in

11. Loth X BS 1 - forward mids, weak highs, shouty and fatiguing

If you want a copy of my Excel file with the specs, descriptions and prices on these monitors, send me an email and I will email it to you.

Although formal reviews and online forums can be interesting and give you some ideas of what to try, there is no substitute for using your own ears in your own system. I pretty much guarantee that no reviewer or forum participant has the same equipment, room acoustics, music tastes and personal listening values as you do. After my first few disappointments with purchasing well reviewed gear and not liking it very much in my system, I decided I was the only reviewer that counts. So I went with the “buy, compare and sell” strategy. It means I have to come up with the cash to buy that next component (often used) before selling my old one, but I think it is worth it. The first time you buy that next well reviewed component and find that you don’t like it as much as your present one, you won’t have to kick yourself for selling your old one. Good listening.

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Schiit Audio

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