Phantom abominations

[davidadamson]

And Yes hi res Qubouz sounds the best very smooth and non fatiguing


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[mixart]

Is there a big different with Phantom Silver when going from Tidal Cd quality to Hi Res from Qubuz?

[Johnnydev]

Is there a big different with Phantom Silver when going from Tidal Cd quality to Hi Res from Qubuz?

Yes, qobuz sounds better by me with two phantoms silver

[Mr_Bill]

These reactions and comparisons are all over the board - better than my Quads, Goldmund, Magico, not better than my Altec Lansing. I don't know what to think. They sure look like a great product that for most of us high end nuts, could replace a whole system.

[ragwo]

Just make up your own mind with the 45 days free trial

[fgueho]

These reactions and comparisons are all over the board - better than my Quads, Goldmund, Magico, not better than my Altec Lansing. I don't know what to think. They sure look like a great product that for most of us high end nuts, could replace a whole system.

I agree it's a bit anything and everything. All black or white.
So I will be the wise man here, and give a moderate and measured feedback, just for you...

The phantoms are AWESOME!

[f1eng]

These reactions and comparisons are all over the board - better than my Quads, Goldmund, Magico, not better than my Altec Lansing. I don't know what to think. They sure look like a great product that for most of us high end nuts, could replace a whole system.

AFAIK I am the only person on here with Goldmunds and I have NEVER said Phantoms are better, only that they are surprisingly close given the price difference (when I last looked a pair of Epilog 1&2 with stands were around €150,000) the Phantoms are nowhere better than the Epilogs, but given that they cost 30x less and have 4 built in ADH amps each they are a bargain.
I hope Ian doesn't mind me speaking for him, but he has also never said his Phantoms are better than the Magicos, again just surprisingly close.

Altec speakers are very coloured, massive fun on some music where the colour exaggerates but poor on acoustic and classical music IME some of the JBLs are the same. Anybody liking that particular sound is unlikely to prefer the Phantoms any more than anybody liking the more euphonic valve amps is likely to choose a Devialet amplifier.

[JohnnySix]

I've had my Phantoms side-by-side with my £1K XTZ floorstanders (Swedish) for a couple of weeks, switching between them many times... and I STILL can't make up my mind. Phantoms easily ace the bass, but everywhere else there's FAR less of a difference, and I don't think any DSP can help a standard dome tweeter beat a ribbon tweeter.

Might we consider that the difference between what our eyes are seeing and the scale of sound coming out of Phantoms will have a subliminally positive effect on our perception of the absolute quality of sound they generate?

[EvPa]

I don't think any DSP can help a standard dome tweeter beat a ribbon tweeter.

Well, an X-ART one is better than both anyway.

[patekswiss]

Unless i read it wrong, it was a poster that slagged off the Phantoms not Paul. I don't really give a monkeys anyway. I heard them at Franks, loved them, bought them and I am very happy. I own or have owned speakers that are better in some areas but as an overall package they float my boat.

think you read it wrong

Note that he gives no reasoning whatsoever for his dismissal of any and all active powered speakers.

Fact is, the people who really need to listen critically -- music producers and engineers -- use active powered speakers all the time. I use them in music production, although not the Phantoms (I use Genelecs). And I can tell you that Genelecs are among the most respected speakers among audio professionals, and among the best sounding, most neutral monitors I've ever heard. Companies like Dynaudio that make very highly regarded passive speakers for home use also produce marvelous active speakers for pro use (although IMHO not quite as good as the Genelecs).

The comments on the Phantoms are nonsensical. For $5,000, the pair I have competes very well with my passive audiophile speakers, which retail for well over $20K. No, the Phantoms are not ultimately the equal of those others. But there are not far off, they are dynamic and they image and soundstage their asses off, and they sound nothing whatsoever like a "boom box".

Honestly, I wonder what these folks are smoking sometimes, although as someone else suggested he may just be talking his own book.