New Speakers

[samurai7595]

Ok impressions a day in. The SFs are sweet and smooth, but .......and there is a but at this stage.
They may lack some punch ....it's hard to say but missing something. It may be that they just overpower the room as the bass is much more prominent..... Hard to put my finger on it.
They do have a much fuller sound than my PMCs
Could the bass issue be because they are not front ported as they have to be close to the rear wall. 18 inches to be precise

I auditioned the SF Olympica II speakers with both the Devialet 200 and the McIntosh MAC6700 stereo receiver and also got to A/B them against the ProAc Response D30R.

The SF are a beautiful speaker to look at and at first they seemed a little more refined than the ProAc in the highs & mids but the ProAc did go a lot deeper in the bass (I love bass). After a few weeks, I went back for a second demo and found that I preferred the ProAc speakers. They are more exciting and have deeper, well-controlled bass. I found the SF to bit a little dull & not as exciting, the more I listened to them. Plus, because of the rear port on the SF, I found that they needed a lot more room to breath & sound their best, which is not my case at home.

Even if the SF speakers would have beaten my ProAc speakers, I could not justify the crazy pricing. The dealer was going to take my ProAc speakers and sell me the SF speakers for an additional $9,000.

I'd rather get a Devialet 200 companion than do a the speaker trade (after my auditions) for that kind of money...

[Womaz]

Yes that could be the reason. Although the port is at the back it is sort of side positioned .....but yes it seems to be overpowering my room. May just take some getting used too.
Also I could try taking down the bass traps I have on the back wall. Not sure that will make a difference though.
They are a lovely sounding speaker. I don't find them dull but they do lack something my PMCs have. But they are a much better speaker I think. Voices and instruments sound fuller and more body to them.
If only i could tame the bass.......or get used to it

[samurai7595]

BTW, I also auditioned the PMC Twenty series of speakers (23 & 24) and found that the sound did not appeal to me. For some reason, they seem to sound "boxy" as if the enclosure introduced their own coloration to the sound.

If you still like PMC, maybe have a look at the FACT 8 which does have a SAM profile & lots of owners seem to really like them.

FACT 8 SAM Profile:
http://en.devialet.com/sam-ready-speaker...pmc-fact-8

[samurai7595]

Yes that could be the reason. Although the port is at the back it is sort of side positioned .....but yes it seems to be overpowering my room. May just take some getting used too.
Also I could try taking down the bass traps I have on the back wall. Not sure that will make a difference though.
They are a lovely sounding speaker. I don't find them dull but they do lack something my PMCs have. But they are a much better speaker I think. Voices and instruments sound fuller and more body to them.
If only i could tame the bass.......or get used to it

I don't think you will get used to it, you really need to tame the bass so maybe these speakers (as much as you may like them) are not made for your room...

When I got my ProAc Response D30R, I really wanted the D40R but when I had auditioned both in my listening room, the D40R were just to over-powering for my room.

[Womaz]

You could be right. Will experiment with bringing them a little further out, but I am really pushed as it could look bloody stupid :-)

[Womaz]

As we chat I am playing Black Sabbath - God is Dead and it sounds sublime. Full heavy sound.

[Harry.]

BTW, I also auditioned the PMC Twenty series of speakers (23 & 24) and found that the sound did not appeal to me.  For some reason, they seem to sound "boxy" as if the enclosure introduced their own coloration to the sound.

If you still like PMC, maybe have a look at the FACT 8 which does have a SAM profile & lots of owners seem to really like them.

FACT 8 SAM Profile:
http://en.devialet.com/sam-ready-speaker...pmc-fact-8

I have the Fact 8's and can confirm that the SAM profile does improve an already very good speaker. Unfortunately for me, I and my beloved system have been bundled into a small back room of the house and the Fact's are most definitely too big! I am using a pair of KEF LS 50's for now, which by the way are excellent. Before anyone begins to feel sorry for me, this is the dedicated listening room I have wanted for the past 25 years!

[Damon]

Hi Womaz,

Thanks for your excellent reports of your listening trials. It is fun reading, absolutely. Rather than working, the other day I stopped in at a local hi-fi shop, and happened to have a chance to hear the SF Olympica II. It was demoed in an acoustically-treated room, and was partnered with a lot of huge McIntosh gear; massive tube monos, a pre and Mac CD player. The speaker cable was quite thick and had some big boxes midway along the cable- I can't remember the name. Something expensive, I expect.

But curiously, I found the highs a bit sharp; crazy, as I would have expected a much more refined, easy treble, and indeed that is my memory of other SF speakers. I'm not at all passing judgement on these speakers, just mentioning that in that situation, the sound was not what I expected to hear. I had no qualms about the mids or bass, or the ease and 'musical' presentation. But the high were more fatiguing, and that was a surprise.

No doubt this sound profile was a function of some other part of the system or the CD they used, but again it seems that getting the right combination of components, that suits your ears, in your particular room really is the key.

The Olympica II's are gorgeous. With the vertical, side-mounted ports I would think they would be possibly less fussy about placement, but I've misjudged speakers and placement too often to have any valid comment on that issue.

BTW, snooping in hi fi stores is much more fun than work.....

[Womaz]

The Fact 8 has always been on my radar but decided against them as I felt they could be a tad too bright with the Devialet . My 23s are a tad bright. The 26s are an option but I was keen to try a different speaker.
I love the sound of the SFs , it's very smooth and not sure I could live with the 23s after this. I put the 23s back in today for a little while and they sounded so thin .

[Womaz]

Hi Womaz,

Thanks for your excellent reports of your listening trials. It is fun reading, absolutely. Rather than working, the other day I stopped in at a local hi-fi shop, and happened to have a chance to hear the SF Olympica II. It was demoed in an acoustically-treated room, and was partnered with a lot of huge McIntosh gear; massive tube monos, a pre and Mac CD player. The speaker cable was quite thick and had some big boxes midway along the cable- I can't remember the name. Something expensive, I expect.

But curiously, I found the highs a bit sharp; crazy, as I would have expected a much more refined, easy treble, and indeed that is my memory of other SF speakers.  I'm not at all passing judgement on these speakers, just mentioning that in that situation, the sound was not what I expected to hear. I had no qualms about the mids or bass, or the ease and 'musical' presentation. But the high were more fatiguing, and that was a surprise.

No doubt this sound profile was a function of some other part of the system or the CD they used, but again it seems that getting the right combination of components, that suits your ears, in your particular room really is the key.

The Olympica II's are gorgeous. With the vertical, side-mounted ports I would think they would be possibly less fussy about placement, but I've misjudged speakers and placement too often to have any valid comment on that issue.

BTW, snooping in hi fi stores is much more fun than work.....

I would do some snooping myself but they are thin on the ground up here :-)
I love the treble on the SFs but I guess that is because my PMCs are too bright in this aree.
They are smooth and sweet in the treble for me , my problem right now is the bass. It's on,y when say there are vocals in the track, the bass seems to take over and I feel as if I am missing something. We will see