Premier vs Gold sound and reolution

[tomsag]

Hi,

after about a month and a lot of critical listening to my new Phantom Premier on new DOS 2.11.3, I've following conclusion about sound quality etc.

Treble and "presence" is definitely of high order. Soundstage is more forward oriented, but there is a lot of ambient presence if it was recorded.
If feeded with first class recording, the sound can be really excellent, however the unit is very "unforgettable" - bad or mediocre recordings do not sound good. Resolution is excellent, "air" is there but much more irritating with bad recordings - compared with my HiFi system consisting of speakers with silk dome tweeters (OK system costs about 10K€). 

Has anyone sharing same thoughts? And, what is for me of much interest, is the Gold more revealing and also very sensitive to recordings, or does it better compensate the metallic sound with mediocre recordings.
It could be possible that not only the tweeter on Gold would be better but also the DAC chip, which is different on Premier and Gold. ?

RE: Bass 

Deep bass is excellent and very "fast". Definitely High End. But mid bass is a little "thin" - wish if it would be more of it, which would contribute to more "fatty" sound. As the system is tuned not for chamber and jazz, but more for pop and rock.
- OK - I know mid bass could be better if placed close to wall, but the spatial resolution would not be so good.

Hope to come to experienced audiophiles to start this discussion.

[scotthar]

I recently experienced a dramatic shift in the sound-stage. Much more complete, headphone like.

Though really, I attributed this to better speaker placement going from trees to geckos that are much better suited to position the speakers in the space i use them accounting for the room dynamics.

Unfortunately, the firmware literally upgrade happened while i was wiring them up after moving them so dont have a good before and after reference point combining the position and firmware change.

[Jean-Marie]

The reality is that phantoms and reactors are amongst the few really true full range speakers, and therefore their placement is even more important than with most other speakers given how much energy they are able to radiate in the bass compartment.

This is sometimes overlooked, with phantoms because of the apparent simplicity of the system, but setup and positioning is absolutely key to the end result.

Jean-Marie

[Damon]

... are amongst the few really true full range speakers, and therefore their placement is even more important than with most other speakers ...

This is sometimes overlooked, with phantoms because of the apparent simplicity of the system, but setup and positioning is absolutely key to the end result.

I think this is a really valuable reminder about the Phantoms, and as @Jean-Marie says, position is easily overlooked. Because they are so small, and only have one cable, it is very easy to assume they can be put anywhere and sound good.

I have no doubt that I'm talking to myself more than others here; I'm often slow to pick up on things that are obvious to more attentive hi fi persons. But the message hit me because I'm musing about reducing or simplifying my system, to go to a smaller set up, and to have less money invested in the equipment. That is my feeling based on my listening habits. I just don't listen to music as often as I used to, or for as long. Our current set up is compromised by the space I have for it, and J-M's point made me realize that most speakers will be compromised in that location.

I am personally very happy with the Devialet amp, and so I was thinking of a Ensemble system, or something similar. But I suspect my room and the location will have the same effect on any equipment. Hmmm.

@tomsag to your points, I think that many speakers have a mid-bass bump in frequency response. This is not necessarily bad, as it gives a sense of greater bass that is certainly pleasing. My impression is that the Phantoms don't have that bump, but do have much more low frequency capability. As Jean-Marie says, placement may make the mid bass reproduction better for your ears and room. I see that you are aware of that already. I'm no expert on Phantoms, but my memory is that the Golds are reported to be 'softer' or 'smother' in the upper midrange and treble as they have a different tweeter.

Are you using using one or two Phantoms?

[tomsag]

I have no doubt that I'm talking to myself more than others here; I'm often slow to pick up on things that are obvious to more attentive hi fi persons. But the message hit me because I'm musing about reducing  or simplifying my system, to go to a smaller set up, and to have less money invested in the equipment. That is my feeling based on my listening habits. I just don't listen to music as often as I used to, or for as long. Our current set up is compromised by the space I have for it, and J-M's point made me realize that most speakers will be compromised in that location.

I am personally very happy with the Devialet amp, and so I was thinking of a Ensemble system, or something similar. But I suspect my room and the location will have the same effect on any equipment. Hmmm.

@tomsag to your points, I think that many speakers have a mid-bass bump in frequency response. This is not necessarily bad, as it gives a sense of greater bass that is certainly pleasing. My impression is that the Phantoms don't have that bump, but do have much more low frequency capability. As Jean-Marie says, placement may make the mid bass reproduction better for your ears and room. I see that you are aware of that already. I'm no expert on Phantoms, but my memory is that the Golds are reported to be 'softer' or 'smother' in the upper midrange and treble as they have a different tweeter.

Are you using using one or two Phantoms?

Well, let's start from the beginning. Bought the Huawei Sound X about two months ago - this was to listen to good music in kitchen. I was sooo happy with the sound that result was - I've made the purchase of ONE Phantom Premier.
Really a big step up. Why have I bought one Phantom which is in same living room as my HiFi system? Well - the System is positioned in my room far away (7-8 meters) from my usual sitting position (at my Laptop). As a person who likes to listen to music, and not interested in "sweet spot" sitting anymore, I've found the placement of the new Phantom very good, it is about 2 meters from my position, I do not care about stereo (at this moment) and enjoy much more in listening to music than before.

So, my only one Phantom is in the middle of the room, and therefore maybe lacks some mid-bass. 

But, the real question is - does it sound a little too "metallic" which is only happening on lesser quality recordings?