Alright guys
Have some updates for those that were following this thread.
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One request to the mods - Change the title to "2 Channel speaker kit / 5.1 Kit" cause thats what this thread turned into from the Jamo 426's being disqualified right in the beginning.
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Anyways, so moving forward. Yesterday was a marathon of a day. I took off from work an hour earlier than I normally do and landed up at Designer Audio and met up with Kshijit. I got to be honest, first impressions go a long way and their demo suite was by far the most kitted demo suite I have been to thus far. Fantastic freaking wood all over the place with some incredibly old school looking Quad amps and speakers strewn around.
My main intention of visiting the store was to audition the DX-1, the 9.1 and the 10.1's which are all on the Group Buy section here. Unfortunately, the 10.1's got sold out and thankfully I didnt prefer them too much. Anyways, more on that after my run through. At first, my gf and I sat down and listened to the DX-1 as that was the prime reason we ended up at the store in the first place. The audio from the DX-1 was formidable, although it was to neither of our likings. We immediately concluded that although 5.1 was what we eventually hoped to build up to, our decision soon tilted towards a stereo kit or a 2.1 kit to start off with. So we asked him to switch over to the 10.1's which were hung up on the wall in front of us.
The 10.2's although massive sounding were a little too shrill for our liking. On further investigation, we found out that the only difference between the 9.1's and the 10.1's are cosmetic changes and internal components that have been upgraded. Barring this, they sound pretty much the same, except for a different setup for the tweeter which is sharper on the 10.1's compared to the 9.1's. Some people like this sharper sound, but I preffered the flatter sound from the 9.1.
Post listening to the 10.1's, I asked him to hook up the MIGHTY QUAD 11L's. Unfortunately he didnt have a passive kit for us to listen to, so he rigged up the 22L. I got to tell you, what a world of a difference right up front. Incredible sound for a pretty decent price. What amazed both my gf and I was how the speakers disappeared and we could hear a soundstage created right in front of us. I loved the way the speaker would fill the audio in the center even without having any additional speaker to drive it. Incredible to say the least. We listened to these babies the most.
After doing this, things got interesting. I asked if he had a 9.1 in the store and luckily enough he did. He brought out a pair of fresh 9.1's and they werent massaged into their sweet spots yet. None the less, we heard them and immediately identified the flatter tweeter sound when compared to the 10.1's. I was mighty impressed with the build quality and the sound these speakers produced. We were still tending towards the Quads though only cause how awesome they sounded.
What we did next might be considered "blasphemous" by many on this forum, but we wanted to do a blind test between the WD and the Quads. So I asked him to connect up both the kits to the same amp (Maranatz) on Speaker A and B and I asked him not to tell us which is which. We even went to the extent of ensuring that both the speakers were placed next to one another. We kept switching between A and B many times over one track and both my gf and I ensured that we shut our eyes and didnt cheat. Almost mid way through this test, we soon realized how similar both of them sounded, probably cause our ears had gotten used to listening to both of them and couldnt discern the difference. Honestly though, there was a difference and it was clear that there existed one. Towards the end, it was clear that both of us preffered one over the other.
I asked my gf which one she preffered and she picked A
I picked B.
She picked the Quads and I picked the WD's. She probably has better hearing that I do cause to me the Wharfs sounded a lot fuller and I guess I couldnt tell them apart. Honestly though, she admitted to the same problem. Which meant that its so subjective, it could be anything. Which basically reinstates what I said earlier on this thread. If i had nothing to compare the Wharf's against (like the Quads in this case), i would probably think they are GREAT SPEAKERS. And that they are. It was then a decision of if the extensive price difference between the 9.1's and the Quads 11L's was worth it. There's something fascinating about the Quads that I couldnt put my finger on, but considering I failed the blind test towards Wharfs having earlier said i prefered the Quads, I had to admit defeat.
We also did a quick test pairing the Quads and the Wharfs with the new WD Sealed subwoofer SPC-10. Some pretty neat sounding sub frequencies going all the way down to 30dB, but we obviously couldnt hear squat. We had to turn it up to about 40-50 to actually get a good feel of it. Nice sub for its price and really nice ergonomics allowing for easy access to level and frequencies right up.
BOTH THESE KITS WOULD EASILY FILL OUT MY ROOM AND MAKE ME VERY HAPPY. Yet since i stepped out with the sole objective of finishing all my demos in one day, i excused myself after drooling a little more over some vintage 1950 Quad amps and headed down to the Bose Store.
BOSE - hahahaha. Heard the 301's and the AM5. Left the store in 5 mins.
Our ears were spoilt for choice by the awesome Quads and Wharfs. The Bose was no where in contention and honestly, I dont know what was wrong, but both of us didnt prefer them AT ALL. (Blasto, that goes to show two things about Bose. (1) They dont have pretty chicks. (2) Their demos arent nearly as polished as they need to be to impress me)
Then we stepped into listening to the Energy CB10's and the PQ10/RQ10
We liked what we heard, but our hearts lingered for the Quads (and or the Wharfs)
After much deliberation, we have now concluded that we'd either go for the Quads or the 9.1's with a sealed SPC-10 (only cause it would cost pretty much the same and give us some incredible bass frequencies when compared to the Quads alone)
So what say guys?
1. Wharfe 9.1's + SPC-10's to start off with and then add some back + centers
2. Quads 11L's
huh huh huh??
Also, is there like a world of a difference between the Quads / Wharfe's and the Paradigm Monitors? Or no point adding more confusion to the already long list of products I've checked out?
I am kinda disappointed that i have totally ignored the Jamo c405's and the original 426's (cause they are towers) but I just cant afford the space for them and I now realize what many people meant when they said you'd get really good BS's for the same price and I experienced it first hand yesterday.
Thanks to Kshijit at Designer Audio. Awesomeness. Thanks buddy
