Hey everybody,
I'm seriously evaluating to move to a Phantom setup. I wanted to check my scenario with you and see if it fits.
Thanks in advance for helping me here and for reading text! If you just want to help me answer you can scroll down to +/? list
What I would like to achieve:
Great stereo sound with great looks and good usability - smart speaker capabilities for Airplay, Spotify, Tidal and Alexa.
Option to also drive TV/movie sound through it without big hassle.
Im not too much into getting the last 2-3% out of the solution (with investing 90% of the costs for that...) - also a perfect stereo triangle is not really possible in my room
(If I fix stuff to the wall I can do a Stereo triangle 4m between the speakers and 4m listening distance, if I put them on the floor/Stands I can only do 2m between speakers with still 4m listening distance)
Also my room is not bad. No concrete walls, much wood, not to much echo. Measured with REW..
Where I am coming from:
I started with a SONOS setup many years ago having a Playbar in the front and two play 1 as rear + sub.
I hated it - the voices and sound coming from the front/playbar are just a joke compared to any stereo setup with medium speakers.
Also music in general was not fine. Mostly I used the Play1s as stereo + Sub.
I still dont understand why you cant pair any decent front speakers with a Playbar/Base/bla - maybe changes with S2.
And you dont get a optical or HDMI input if you dont buy Bare/Base/Bla.
What I did then is just buy two Play5 2nd as stereo setup and fixed them to the wall above the TV. (So 4m listening distance, 4m distance between the speakers).
The setup was pretty klunky - Play5 with Tidal was pretty decent but TV sound went from TV headphone exit to Sonos Connect and from connect to the Play5s. (as there was/is no optical/HDMI input from Sonos without a bar).Its not really supported by Sonos but it worked - most of the times. But with later software versions I got more and more disconnects and issues.
So I looked onto the hifi market his days and realized that there are smart stereo/AVR AMPs. Whoooo.
So first I bought a Yamaha 481 Amp and two Dali Zensor (cheapest in line) Result: Worse sound than the Play5s.
Then people told me to invest and I bought a NAD C368 amp + Dali Opticon 6 - and fitted BluOS + HDMI module into the C368.
POWER SETUP!
Well, if I move the speakers to a perfect triangle (which I cant with floorstanding), the NAD C368 is not running into bugs and and the streaming from TIDAL works (with the NAD) - then everything is fine.
Most of the times the C368 runs into a bug, I am fiddling around with speaker placement. etc. So - I dont like it because most of the time its a compromise - which costed me as much as two Phantom Premier Classic. And hey...
Where I want to go:
So I was browsing the "How do I get great stereo sound without being one of those "tube sounds best, buy 20.000 Euro McIntosh" guy.
My thought was to buy two Phantom Premier Classic - which are the same $$$ amount as my setup today. The assumptions I took were the following - could you please comment if I am right?
+Great design, great size, great sound... maybe best sound from active wireless speakers in that price range
+All of my smart speaker requirements are met (Airplay, Tidal, Alexa, Spotify)
+Optical In for TV digital sound (btw. HDMI eARC would be really cool)
What I am not so sure about:
?With the new product line I dont have to use the dialog box anymore for stereo and optical input. Right? Also optical input from one Phantom will go to the other if setup as stereo
?I have to buy the remote if I want to control sound while not using the app and using optical input. Right? Phantom doesnt have an IR features to f.exp. get signal from TV remote
?Placement - how tolerant are Phantoms? Can I do a very sharp stereo triangle while putting them on stands (2m distance between speakers, 4m listening distance) or better on wall with 4m - 4m distance? I read somewhere that the sweetspot is pretty large...?
?DSP - lots of nice technology in the Phantoms.. but I didnt see any DSP. Is there any option to this?
?There is some competition... I am really nosy about the Buchardt A500 but they are not out yet and look boring, KEF LS50 (or similar) some like, some dont - dont - dont think they can do on the bass side what Phantom does
Thanks again!!!
I'm seriously evaluating to move to a Phantom setup. I wanted to check my scenario with you and see if it fits.
Thanks in advance for helping me here and for reading text! If you just want to help me answer you can scroll down to +/? list
What I would like to achieve:
Great stereo sound with great looks and good usability - smart speaker capabilities for Airplay, Spotify, Tidal and Alexa.
Option to also drive TV/movie sound through it without big hassle.
Im not too much into getting the last 2-3% out of the solution (with investing 90% of the costs for that...) - also a perfect stereo triangle is not really possible in my room
(If I fix stuff to the wall I can do a Stereo triangle 4m between the speakers and 4m listening distance, if I put them on the floor/Stands I can only do 2m between speakers with still 4m listening distance)
Also my room is not bad. No concrete walls, much wood, not to much echo. Measured with REW..
Where I am coming from:
I started with a SONOS setup many years ago having a Playbar in the front and two play 1 as rear + sub.
I hated it - the voices and sound coming from the front/playbar are just a joke compared to any stereo setup with medium speakers.
Also music in general was not fine. Mostly I used the Play1s as stereo + Sub.
I still dont understand why you cant pair any decent front speakers with a Playbar/Base/bla - maybe changes with S2.
And you dont get a optical or HDMI input if you dont buy Bare/Base/Bla.
What I did then is just buy two Play5 2nd as stereo setup and fixed them to the wall above the TV. (So 4m listening distance, 4m distance between the speakers).
The setup was pretty klunky - Play5 with Tidal was pretty decent but TV sound went from TV headphone exit to Sonos Connect and from connect to the Play5s. (as there was/is no optical/HDMI input from Sonos without a bar).Its not really supported by Sonos but it worked - most of the times. But with later software versions I got more and more disconnects and issues.
So I looked onto the hifi market his days and realized that there are smart stereo/AVR AMPs. Whoooo.
So first I bought a Yamaha 481 Amp and two Dali Zensor (cheapest in line) Result: Worse sound than the Play5s.
Then people told me to invest and I bought a NAD C368 amp + Dali Opticon 6 - and fitted BluOS + HDMI module into the C368.
POWER SETUP!
Well, if I move the speakers to a perfect triangle (which I cant with floorstanding), the NAD C368 is not running into bugs and and the streaming from TIDAL works (with the NAD) - then everything is fine.
Most of the times the C368 runs into a bug, I am fiddling around with speaker placement. etc. So - I dont like it because most of the time its a compromise - which costed me as much as two Phantom Premier Classic. And hey...
Where I want to go:
So I was browsing the "How do I get great stereo sound without being one of those "tube sounds best, buy 20.000 Euro McIntosh" guy.
My thought was to buy two Phantom Premier Classic - which are the same $$$ amount as my setup today. The assumptions I took were the following - could you please comment if I am right?
+Great design, great size, great sound... maybe best sound from active wireless speakers in that price range
+All of my smart speaker requirements are met (Airplay, Tidal, Alexa, Spotify)
+Optical In for TV digital sound (btw. HDMI eARC would be really cool)
What I am not so sure about:
?With the new product line I dont have to use the dialog box anymore for stereo and optical input. Right? Also optical input from one Phantom will go to the other if setup as stereo
?I have to buy the remote if I want to control sound while not using the app and using optical input. Right? Phantom doesnt have an IR features to f.exp. get signal from TV remote
?Placement - how tolerant are Phantoms? Can I do a very sharp stereo triangle while putting them on stands (2m distance between speakers, 4m listening distance) or better on wall with 4m - 4m distance? I read somewhere that the sweetspot is pretty large...?
?DSP - lots of nice technology in the Phantoms.. but I didnt see any DSP. Is there any option to this?
?There is some competition... I am really nosy about the Buchardt A500 but they are not out yet and look boring, KEF LS50 (or similar) some like, some dont - dont - dont think they can do on the bass side what Phantom does
Thanks again!!!
