Fed up with my speakers

[Snoopy8]

I used to be very fond of British speakers, but not of ATC any more. I was also thinking about Harbeth and Spendor. But Harbeth is very expensive and I doubt they are so much better than the others. My feeling with British speakers is that their design tends to be somewhat old fashioned. But I might be wrong.

Some of the British speakers are indeed old fashioned, but not the KEFs. Have not heard the Harbeth but do like Spendors. Another brand to consider is Monitor Audio.

Best of luck in your search...

[Damon]

Hello @Damon!

Thanks so much for your impressions regarding the Amphion 1. You very well phrase what the Amphion reviews I read so far. Am I correctly putting it by saying they sound even and certainly not aggressive the way I now perceive my ATCs? All reviews state that they don't over-represent anything but they seem to be quite balanced in sound characteristics. That's basically what I am looking for.

Thanks for mentioning the Totems, I was looking into them and they seem to be a real alternative.

I haven't checked if SAM is an option for the speakers I shortlisted, but naturally, SAM would come in handily! But I refrain from only looking into speakers with SAM profiles.

Hi @Sailor4W

Glad my post was a bit helpful. On the Amphions and a concern about an aggressive high end/ treble, I was actually worried that they would be sort of 'sharp' on the treble. I assumed the aluminium tweeter would tend that way, just because it is metal. I found them almost the opposite. After living with them for a year or so, I would say the treble is in fact quite gentle, and if anything, slightly less than neutral- by which I mean a bit laid-back. I felt no treble fatigue, or glare, (etc) even though I had on a stock Sonos Connect (which is a bit grainy) and the NuPrime integrated is neutral in it's sound.

The dealer who carried Devialet has Harbeth, ATC and Monitor Audio. I personally always found the Monitor Audio speakers a bit sharp, or tipped up on the high end, but certainly very quick and dynamic. Even so, it would really be just another legitimate type of sound quality.

As @Snoopy8 said, speakers are really personal. Years ago, a very good local shop sales person said that everyone there (staff) would generally have selected the same turntable, amp, cassette deck (years ago, remember?) but they all preferred different speakers.

Ah, perhaps ProAc is another very good option. Used perhaps? I had a pair of the original Tablets for years and loved them, and they have made a lot of really outstanding small speakers. I'm sort of tempted to find a pair of the Atohm speakers that came with the Devialet Ensemble. I heard them and really liked them with SAM and a D200.

Good luck with the search. Be sure to enjoy it!

[Sailor4W]

I used to be very fond of British speakers, but not of ATC any more. I was also thinking about Harbeth and Spendor. But Harbeth is very expensive and I doubt they are so much better than the others. My feeling with British speakers is that their design tends to be somewhat old fashioned. But I might be wrong.

Some of the British speakers are indeed old fashioned, but not the KEFs.  Have not heard the Harbeth but do like Spendors.  Another brand to consider is Monitor Audio.

Best of luck in your search...

Yes, of course, I agree about the KEFs, that's why I have them on my shortlist!
I heard the Monitor 30.1 speakers and they sounded quite pleasant, detailed and rich. But they are quite expensive and I'm sure others have a better price-performance ratio. I paid over 4,000 Euros for my ATCs, in hindsight, that's just too much!

[Sailor4W]

Hello @Damon!

Thanks so much for your impressions regarding the Amphion 1. You very well phrase what the Amphion reviews I read so far. Am I correctly putting it by saying they sound even and certainly not aggressive the way I now perceive my ATCs? All reviews state that they don't over-represent anything but they seem to be quite balanced in sound characteristics. That's basically what I am looking for.

Thanks for mentioning the Totems, I was looking into them and they seem to be a real alternative.

I haven't checked if SAM is an option for the speakers I shortlisted, but naturally, SAM would come in handily! But I refrain from only looking into speakers with SAM profiles.

Hi @Sailor4W

Glad my post was a bit helpful. On the Amphions and an aggressive high end/ treble, I was actually worried that they would be sort of 'starp' on the treble. I assumed the aluminium tweeter would tend that way, just because it is metal. I found them almost the opposite. After living with them for a year or so, I would say the treble is actually quite gentle, and if anything, slightly less than neutral. I felt no treble fatigue, or glare, (etc) even though I had on a stock Sonos Connect (which is a bit grainy) and the NuPrime integrated is neutral in it's sound.

The dealer who carried Devialet has Harbeth, ATC and Monitor Audio. I personally always found the Monitor Audio speakers a bit sharp, or tipped up on the high end, but certainly very quick and dynamic. Even so, it would really be just another legitimate type of sound quality.

As @Snoopy8 said, speakers are really personal. Years ago, a very good local shop sales person said that everyone there (staff) would generally have selected the same turntable, amp, cassette deck (years ago, remember?) but they all preferred different speakers.

Ah, perhaps ProAc is another very good option. Used perhaps? I had a pair of the original Tablets for years and loved them, and they have made a lot of really outstanding small speakers. I'm sort of tempted to find a pair of the Atohm speakers that came with the Devialet Ensemble. I heard them and really liked them with SAM and a D200.

Good luck with the search. Be sure to enjoy it!

Hello @Damon!

You do encourage me of looking further into the Amphions! They seem to do many things right. After being more and more plagued by the brightness of my ATCs, I have two main points I want to focus: one, of course, is gentle treble, and better bass response than my ATCs. And you do confirm what I was hoping for.

I heard good things about ProAc's Tablets, another speaker I shall include it definitely into my shortlist. I am little bit skeptic about those LS3/5a designs, but if done right, it can be very good. I'll see if there's a dealer in Switzerland.

Regarding Atohm, I am totally unfamiliar with them, but will follow them up.

Yes, of course, choosing speakers is a very personal matter. Yet, certain aspects must be fulfilled. I am concentrating on bookshelf speakers, as our living room isn't large and floorstanders will be just too bulky. The design should preferably be modern and it should fit into our living room. Naturally, above all, the speakers must sound good, but if all three parameters go together, all the better!

I am very much looking forward to comparing some of the speakers! It will be fun.

Of course, I keep you all informed!

[Stino]

I would go with the Amphion of Buchard. The other two need more free space around them which might be challenging in your room, maybe?

[Sailor4W]

I would go with the Amphion of Buchard. The other two need more free space around them which might be challenging in your room, maybe?

Good suggestion! I am myself leaning towards Amphion and Buchardt. I might audition the Amphion Argon 3S this coming week. Very exciting!

[WTree]

KEF R3 (https://us.kef.com/speaker/hi-fi-speakers/r3.html)

You can see from my signature that I have KEF speakers and I have a slightly different direction for your quest.

Is it an absolute must for you to have stand mount speakers ?

I have tried a lot of stand mount speakers and some floor standing speakers. (Read 'tried' as purchased, used for some months and then sold again). My two main issues in all this 'experimentation' is fatigue, mostly from tweeters, and non-seamless-sound between drivers. 

Two way speakers are not my cup of tea and most book shelf speakers are 2-way. Also, this does not necessarily mean all three way speakers are done perfectly or all 2-way speakers are bad.

I bought R300 and now I have R500. To my ears, there is a huge difference when it comes to boominess with R300 compared to fitting perfectly with R500. So it all boils down to a particular speaker and the way it fits in the room

I also have book shelf speakers Kef 201/2 and these are an absolute delight.

The thing I like about the KEF speakers are their tweeters. To my ears, they sound perfect with details but never going on to harshness. 

To sum up, if you can choose a floor standing speakers then you might be able to get a different / better presentation.

[Sailor4W]

KEF R3 (https://us.kef.com/speaker/hi-fi-speakers/r3.html)

You can see from my signature that I have KEF speakers and I have a slightly different direction for your quest.

Is it an absolute must for you to have stand mount speakers ?

I have tried a lot of stand mount speakers and some floor standing speakers. (Read 'tried' as purchased, used for some months and then sold again). My two main issues in all this 'experimentation' is fatigue, mostly from tweeters, and non-seamless-sound between drivers. 

Two way speakers are not my cup of tea and most book shelf speakers are 2-way. Also, this does not necessarily mean all three way speakers are done perfectly or all 2-way speakers are bad.

I bought R300 and now I have R500. To my ears, there is a huge difference when it comes to boominess with R300 compared to fitting perfectly with R500. So it all boils down to a particular speaker and the way it fits in the room

I also have book shelf speakers Kef 201/2 and these are an absolute delight.

The thing I like about the KEF speakers are their tweeters. To my ears, they sound perfect with details but never going on to harshness. 

To sum up, if you can choose a floor standing speakers then you might be able to get a different / better presentation.

Thanks @WTree for suggesting floorstanders!

I am not at all against them. I thought hard about buying an ATC SCM40. These speakers would be simply too large for our living room. And besides, I want to stay away from ATC speakers. So if there are 'smallish' floorstanders around, I am not at all against considering them.

I keep my eyes open for some 'well-proportioned' three-way floorstanders!

Thanks for the input!

[musialsuspect]

I used to be very fond of British speakers, but not of ATC any more. I was also thinking about Harbeth and Spendor. But Harbeth is very expensive and I doubt they are so much better than the others. My feeling with British speakers is that their design tends to be somewhat old fashioned. But I might be wrong.

Some of the British speakers are indeed old fashioned, but not the KEFs.  Have not heard the Harbeth but do like Spendors.  Another brand to consider is Monitor Audio.

Best of luck in your search...

Yes, of course, I agree about the KEFs, that's why I have them on my shortlist!
I heard the Monitor 30.1 speakers and they sounded quite pleasant, detailed and rich. But they are quite expensive and I'm sure others have a better price-performance ratio. I paid over 4,000 Euros for my ATCs, in hindsight, that's just too much!

I know what you mean about the British sound and avoiding the 'dated' aspect of it. I've found that Graham Audio offers both the traditional British sound as well as speakers with a modern take. Their current lineup may be worth looking into for you.

[Damon]

@Sailor4W
I think you said that you are in Switzerland? What about Boenicke loudspeakers? I've never seen or heard them, but I think they make some very small speakers that do very well in the bass reproduction, and have been very well rated in reviews. SAM profiles as well. About five years ago, I had a few messages with another owner here who has, or had the small stand mounts, as well as some very large Lawrence Audio Double Bass speakers, and he rated the Boenicke very highly. Just a thought.