Looking for Warm sounding speakers - Castle Knights any good?

Audiolab 7000CDT CD Transport
L

Locomotive

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Oct 31, 2009
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Location
Mumbai
Dear All,

I am looking out for a speaker (open for both floor standers and bookshelves) that have a warmish sound signature. My max budget is 1 lakh.

My current setup is the following
Amp - Peachtree Decco 65
Speaker - Magnepan MC1
Subwoofer - SVS SB1000
Digital Source - Bluesound Node
TT - Denon DP 300F

At the expense of sounding clichd, I listed to a wide range of music, from classic rock, blues and jazz to gazals and Indian classical. The only think I do not listen to is western classical and hip-hop.

Till now I have auditioned the following speakers,

1. Qacoustics concept 40 very detailed sound but lacks the warmth I am seeking.

2. Qacoustics 2050i Not bad but did not bowl me over.

3. Wharfedale Jade 3 - Now i know there has been a lot of ire against wharfedale in this forum recently. but truth be told i like the brand. Jade 3 sounded good but perhaps needed a more powerful amp than the 60 watt audiolab that i heard it with.

4. Wharfedale denton - beautiful sound. but really tiny speakers. i doubt they will be sufficient for my living room.

5. Castle Knight 2 - honestly i really liked these speakers. very smooth highs and Mids. but slightly woolly lows. the 60 watt audiolab seemed adequate and therefore so might be my peachtree.

6. Castle knight 5 - bit sound, thicker sound than the knight 2. but again a smooth sounding speaker with tighter bass than the knight 2s. the 60 watt audiolab seemed adequate and therefore so might be my peachtree.

apart from these i have heard a few tannoys and PSBs. did not fancy them much.

I am leaning towards the knights. But I have to hear these speakers again for an extended session.

I was bowled when I heard a pair of sonus faber olympica 1s. Unfortunately they are annoyingly out of reach. But since I have been on the search of its characteristic 'warm' presentation. I have always been a fan of tight (ish) bass and clear bass lines and have always preferred listing to vinyls on my maggies over digital music. Also I have always enjoyed listening to a fellow hifi enthusiast's epos M12i. So I believe I have a leaning towards a warm sound.

Any advise / recommendation would be most useful and appreciated.

Cheers
 
A brief background on my HIFI preference.

I had purchased the maggies from a distinguished forum member about 3 years ago. I was sold on the maggie sound the moment i heard his full range maggies. He was using the MC1 as rear speakers but wanted out of his HT setup. The MC1s are in a way baby maggies which are cut off at 80 htz. One reviewer proclaimed the MC1s to be the best monitors he had ever heard at that price range. I decided to buy it and have never regretted this decision. I set it up in my study/music room (10 X 15 feet) and enjoyed it's astonishingly detailed and airy sound.

This went on for a happy 3 years during which I made quite a few changes to my setup around the maggies. But now unfortunately I have lost my beloved music room to my growing family needs. This meant relocating my music setup to my living room (20 X 18 feet) with plenty of openings into the balcony/kitchen etc. Now my maggies seem a bit lost in all this space. It is still good but now I have to constantly tinker with my subwoofer settings to integrate it with the maggies, which is really annoying. plus I have a hyper 2 year old who has yet to understand the nuances of a quality planar speaker...(read - stay away from it). So I decided to change to a conventional speaker.

Now I started my hunt with the QAcoustics concept 40. Quite a good speaker and very detailed sound. But whenever i heard it i kept searching the maggie sound. The concept 40s were almost equally as detailed at the maggies but simply did not have the maggie soundstage. The bass was OK but perhaps required a more powerful amplifier to sound the best. at the end it felt as if i was making a compromise on the sound quality even after having spent upwards of a lakh!! so I decided to hold on to the maggies and started mulling on upgrading to the higher range maggies.

But the full range maggies have issues, their enormous size to start off with. The wife might not appreciate such speakers at home even though she did admit that she likes the maggie sound. next is the prohibitive costs in India. And then the need for a good quality amplification. And lets not forget my hyper 2 year old. Looks like the Maggie upgrade path will have to wait!!

In the meanwhile I hear some Tannoys and PSBs which I did not enjoy. However on a recent trip to my hifi mecca, the Adelphi mall in Singapore, I chanced a listen to a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica 1s while browsing through a record store. I was blown away. I was enjoying music as I never have before. It was all goosebumps and air guitaring for the next full hour. The owner of the shop even offered those speakers for 3000 SGD which was a largish sum for an impulse buy.

Now when I researched about these speakers, I came to know that the sonus faber sound can be considered in general to be 'warm'. I have always been a fan of tight (ish) bass and clear bass lines and have always preferred listing to vinyls on my maggies over digital music. Also I have always enjoyed listening to a fellow hifi enthusiast's epos M12i. So I believe I have a leaning towards a warm sound.

Thus began my search for a nice warm sounding speaker.
 
contact FM Vulcan from mumbai - he had a pair of epos M12i as well

take your amp to audition and judge for yourself.

regards
 
Sonus Faber in Mumbai. hifiads is a sister site but due caution would be advisable.
Sonus Faber Luito Speakers - HiFiADS.com
Sonus Faber Toy Speakers - HiFiADS.com

Sonus Faber Concertino for sale in Bangalore.
http://www.hifivision.com/sale-owner/59433-sonus-faber-concertino-speakers.html

A DIY pair also in Bangalore
http://www.hifivision.com/sale-owner/59151-diy-mltl-speakers.html

A Thiel 1.6 in Chennai. Warm speakers
http://www.hifivision.com/sale-owner/58710-thiel-cs-1-6-audiophile-speakers.html
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

I have heard the toys. They are too small. Almost a largish satellite speaker. Not what I am looking for.

The concertinos are again the baby brothers of the concertos. My cousin has a pair of concertos and they sound superb. I have been trying to coax him to sell them to me but no success yet. And they also look fantastic. The concertinos are very small and again might not suit my needs.

I will check out the luitos. Out of budget but worth a try.
 
The concertino's are a little bit of a surprise in terms of their sound. I never liked bookshelves and never believed they can produce floor stander quality and quantity of sound. Just that there is not enough air volume to get the low freq's. No arguing with the laws of physics and all that ...

But ...

Concertino's have put the laws of physics in some kind of animated suspension ... They do sound full and a lot bigger than their size will let on. I believe they may be not a full 20hz to 20K hz - but most of us cant hear over 15k, and with that in mind, I'll almost bet these fill your ears pretty good.

Cool.
Srinath.
 
Locomotive

I second srinath here on the matter of speaker size and physics.

Another speaker in a similar category
Is the Dali Mentor Menuet.

It's a smooth operator + a pocket rocket & your subwoofer can bring up the rear.

I liked it very much .

You may also consider PMC DB1i Gold ( The ex-peachtree owner will have the contacts ) or Amphion Ion+....... if you want to stretch your rupee to the specified budget.

If not and if you like to save some money and get most of whats on offer plus some more - then Epos M12i - is a good candidate. I used to own it once.

Available in Mumbai. Take your amp for audition please.

Many choices.... have fun..

Regards
 
Last edited by a moderator:
why don't you try Usher Brand they are wonderful speakers.If you have a chance please audition it.
 
i remember - there is a pair of usher floorshanders for sale in Hyd on hifiads.com

I bought a TT from him - check it out please.

Its a CP6311 i think
 
I used to have Magnepan MGIIBs in the 1980s. They were powered by Audio Research D76 power amp and SP6A Preamp. Both valve units. After 7 years, I went in search of higher resolution and bought Stax F83 electrostatics. I did get higher resoultion and precise imaging using the Staxes. However, the soul filling big sound of the Maggies was missing. Friends visiting me said that the best reproduction that they heard at my home was through the Maggies. I had the Maggies about 1m from the back wall. My seating position is and was 3.5m from the Maggies. Listen to your wife and adopt the Maggies. Mind you, the old Jim Wineys Maggies were very dynamic. I do not know much about the new Maggies.

Over the years, I have listened to number of British, American, Italian and German speakers. Of all the suggestions made in this thread, I would agree with panditji (#15). Yes, Harbeths are nice sounding. You will miss the big soundstage of the Maggies.

Regards,
Mohan
 
Hi,

I have heard the Castle 3s and found them very good value for the money, especially with a warm sounding amplifier. Can you not take your amplifier/cd player to the shop or do a home demo? With your amp, the bass issue may be somewhat ameliorated. Your wife's opinion could be invaluable (a non audio interested spouse listens to music rather than brands)!

Since there is a second hand Harbeth on sale: the Harbeths are more sophisticated speakers and lend themselves to a wide variety of music, including the ones listed by you. They get the midrange/tone right, and thats part of the reason why they are emotionally communicative. I own the Compact 7s (nearly 7 years now) and am happy with them.

However, you need to right match the Harbeth with partner electronics too! That will become a separate thread!

Vivek
 
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alluding to the last 2 posts and also to the OT's requirement..

"warm speakers " could be a misnomer - it would be more appropriate to go for something with a sonic match with the Peachree amp and let the music flow naturally.

This approach i find gives the best satisfaction.

There are many reccos for FM locomotive - maybe he needs to hit the streets with his amp for a day and come back home with his speakers in the chosen budget.

There is Quad and Linn as well.

Even for Harbeth - i would not buy before audition despite the well meaning reccos but there is an FM close to where the FM Locomotive stays who runs a Harbeth C3.

So Locomotive has the option of taking his amp and a spare pair of trusty ears ( a friend ) to check out.

regards
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thank you all for your suggestions.

Mohanv I know exactly what you are talking about. This had happened to me during the first round of speaker search. Everytime I hear a speaker I would end up missing the Maggies vast soundstage.

This weekend I took my subwoofer off and tried increasing the bass through the tone control in the bluesound node. And the maggies responded better than I expected!! They did sound a bit fuller without losing any of its resolution. The lows were not subwoofer low but seemed ok for most music.
 
My issue is obviously with the lower mids and bass of the maggies.

So this weekend experiment has had me mulling over another couple of choices.

1. Amp upgrade - the volume know on the peachtree is almost at 3o clock for a decent emmer sie sound from the maggies. Would adding a power amp help. Say an emotiva xpa 200. Actually I would rather buy the peachtree 125 but it is stupidly expensive in India. Sadly I have absolutely no connection to the USA.

2. Add a Maggie bass panel (dwm). This should be a straightforward match. The bass panels produce beautiful mid bass. But they cost about 80k in mumbai and I believe they require a good amount of power.
 
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