New Speakers

[Womaz]

Well today was the demo day at the dealers place. First of all I think its fair to say i struggle with shop demos as it is hard to take in at times.

First off was the Scansonic MB6 - For me a massive let down. Read so much about these lately and have had some very favourable reports although albeit not for this model. In their defence they were brand new and had only had about 20 hours run in. I know this can make a huge difference, but to me they were very dull, and totally lacked in the bass department. A big disappointment for what is a beautiful looking elegant speaker.

Sonus Faber Olmpica II - loved these straight away, If i was to use one word it would be sweet. That sums them up. Lovely relaxing smooth sound. Bass was good and another beautiful looking speaker.

Usher Mind Dancer 2 - the big surprise for me. I was not expecting much from these but they sounded great too. Bass was absoultely awesome on these , and this was in a room which is not so good for bass apparently. Slight issue was that they could appear a little cloudy to me. Maybe this was the bass being a bit too much. I am not sure. Again a lovely looking speaker.

Martin Logan Vantage, dealer threw a curve ball in with these and again I loved them. Absolutely flooded the room in music. I had never heard Electrostatics before and I was well impressed. Just not so sure I could get away with their looks in my living room.

So on enjoyment , which is surely the best way to measure a speakers performance I would say Martin Logan just pipped the Sonus Fabers but it was very close and I really liked the laid back feel of the SFs. Next was the Ushers and the Scansonics trailed in well behind. Maybe a little unfair as they were brand new and not run in.

Had a great day and three of the speakers I really liked. I now have the SFs on a home demo for a week or so and I will see how I feel.
Initial impressions at home in my lively room are they are very musical and very easy to listen to. Bass is excellent but my lack of room means they are close to rear wall and the bass can be a tad too much at times ( will try with SAM soon).

The 23s are certainly no slouch in comparison mind and they seem to have more attack and bite than all of the others, but as i say i will have a chance to compare more over the next few days.
I was the same with the 200 a year ago when I demoed it. I knew I liked it and when I put my old amp back in there was no going back. it will be interesting to see if the speakers have the same results.