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My own design (several years of work, 3-way, Scan-Speak drivers). Finally sound better than the Apogee Centaur Majors I used to have. I don't believe I'll ever have to buy another set.
We get requests all the time from readers who want to know what audio components others have purchased. What we're looking for is a description of what loudspeaker products you own and why you like them. Here goes . . .
Marantz MA-500's six total for amp Marantz SR-870 as a preamp Marantz DP-870 as a decoder for a Sony DVP-S7000 DVD player. Sony WEGA 32" very sweet due to component video All amp to preamp cables are AudioQuest Topaz AudioQuest Video Two for component video. AudioQuest Diamond for CD playback AudioQuest Indigo for front and center speakers AudioQuest Type-4 for sub and surrounds Surrounds are Snell M's very nice sounds great on the front end also Center, fronts, and sub are custom built using morel, dynaudio, and focal speakers. Cabinets are Mahogany. The fronts and center are in a D'apalito ??? and the sub is dynaudio. AudioQuest cables rejected alot of the emi and rf noise that was present in my listing room. A nice product for what you pay.
Mirage M3si. Extremely dynamic. Effortless reproduction of both highs and lows. Clear, transparent sound. They sound wonderful with my Mark Levinson No. 332, but they sounded good with the Denon receiver that I had used prior to my electronics upgrade. Highly recommended.
Seems I have a houseful of mini-monitors these days. In my main listening room I alternate between: Dahlquist Prelude CA1 without the proprietary subwoofer. No longer in production, these are absolute giant killers. If they could be faulted in any way, it's that they're a little on the warm side, but for the most part, the most neutral natural loudspeaker I've heard under $1K. I sometimes replace them on the stands with an old pair of Tannoy 603's, and on occasion with Tannoy DMT-8's which are a pro-monitor with a weird little concentric horn tweeter. Tannoy speakers all seem to have a particular sound that doesn't work on all music, but NOBODY does brass better. Good trumpet recordings literally jump out of the boxes. I also have a pair of Optimus LX-5's in my office. They sound brilliant at lower volumes but quickly sound awful as you twist the volume up. They replaced a pair of PSB Alphas which are now in my den. The Alphas have a bass balance that keeps them from disappearing in a larger room, but in my tiny office they had a tendancy to sound turbercular.
Spendor S100. I've not heard anything with as good an all round performance for less than three times its cost. Very neutral, low box colouration, even response, sufficiently deep bass to compliment reggae/dance/modern studio recorded pop. Is thoroughly capable of producing 3D images and totally "disappearing" when positioned, partnered and cabled appropriately. Can be had dirt cheap on the second hand market!
I listen to Apogee Mini Grands. I like their smooth mids and highs for my classical music. The lows are not too shabby also. Your review of Apogee's Stage got me interested, and when Apogee matched the Stage with subs, I bought a pair without hesitation. I biamp them. The sound stage is huge. Sometimes I just play the Stages. They sound very sweet.