I went to ProFx this weekend for round 2 of Q950 audition. I also listened to Polk Legend L600 quite a bit. Sorry for the long post.
I used BubbleUPnP on my Android phone to stream from Qobuz to Denon 4500h receiver over UPnP. Some of the tracks I played are,
Keith Don't Go by Nils Lofgren
You and Your Friend bt Dire Straits
The Joke by Brandi Carlile
Hey Now by London Grammar
You want It Darker by Leonard Cohen
Wonderful Life by Katie Melua
The Sound of Silence by Disturbed
Hotel Califonia 2013 Remaster by Eagles
With All My Love by Melaine De Biasio
Nine Million Bicycles by Katie Melua
A Thousand Kisses Deep by Leonard Cohen
Liquid Spirit by Gregory Porter
Lovesong by Adele
Impressions of Q950:
Nothing much changed from my impressions from the audition last week with Denon PMA Stereo Receiver.
Good bass. I felt the bass was too much last time. But it seemed okay this time, in fact almost perfect. The track "Hey Now" has lot of sub-bass, the whole listening room was shaking and rattling. I could feel the vibrations on the floor, the couch, my whole body and everything else present in the room. I even got up and checked if the SVS sub that was present in the room was on. It was bloody good. But everything else was a let down except the soundstage.
The soundstage is quite good. I felt it was kind of narrow last time but not this time. Q950s present an enveloping and forward soundstage. But imaging wasn't that great, I could hear individual instruments clearly but couldn't locate their precise positions in the sound field. Polk S60s with Pioneer Elite Receiver present a much better imaging.
Midrange and vocals have a forward presentation. Vocals seem to take center-stage and they lose the finesse in the process.
The biggest disappointment was actually in high frequencies. It simply lacks the resolution, details, liveliness and musicality of even Polk S60s. S60's top end do sound slightly brighter but they convey lot more detail and resolution and sound more livelier. Comparison with Arias is not even worth discussing.
Overall Q950s come across as bright speakers due to their somewhat ill defined treble and forward presentation of vocals. I may actually pick Polk S60s over Q950s despite Polk's slightly brighter overall presentation. S60s sound much more musical for most part and vocals retain the originality of the singers voices. I am not sure to what extent Denon to be blamed here. It sounds like a bright speaker paired with a bright sounding receiver. I have a strong feeling that Q950s may sound a lot better with a warm Amplifier/DAC combo. Q950s are not for me. I am fully convinced that KEF's sound signature is not for me, I didn't even bother to ask for a demo of R3 that was in the room.
Polk Legend L600:
The speaker stands taller at about 48 inches with real wood veneer. The front fascia doesn't look that premium but feels solid and well built.
The soundstage is good but not as enveloping as Q950s, almost same as Aria 926 though. Imaging is better than Q950s. I could locate positions of different instruments in the sound field.
Low end is pretty good, almost as good as Q950s. The bass response for "Hey Now" track was quite good but I felt less of it on my body, the couch and the floor compared to Q950. The audible bass response was almost the same though. The impression is the same for most tracks. Q950s have stronger bass response but I liked the L600's bass response better, it was present but not intrusive.
Midrange and vocals is where Q950 and L600 were poles apart. L600s have somewhat recessed vocal presentation. It felt as if vocal frequencies were put through a filter and all dynamic swings filtered out. Vocals felt lifeless, flat, thin and distant sounding. Some of the tracks, from female singers, like Lovesong by Adele and Nine Million Bicycles by Katie Melua lacked that intimacy and seductiveness. "The Joke" failed to present the upswings in Brandi Carlile's voice. The dramatic buildup in "The Sound of Silence" was missing. Even the track "Wonderful Life" by Katie Melua failed to convey the melodiousness of the overall presentation. The track "Liquid Spirit" lacked the rhythm. But overall it still felt more musical and listenable than the forward sounding Q950s. The sad part is even L600's poorer sibling S60s have better vocals. They are able to better convey all the drama in singers voices. It just that they sometime lose the grip when things get more dynamic. I think Polk designers wanted to address it but may have overdone it in the process. Arias stand perfectly in the middle with Q950 and L600 at two extremes.
Top end is where L600s truly shine. They have better resolution and transparency than Arias. I could hear some background details that other three speaker pairs failed to present. At around 4m20s into "You and Your Friend" by Dire Straits, there is some metal rubbing noise from one of the instruments. It is clearly audible with L600s. I couldn't hear that even with Arias. The tweeter in L600 gives out excellent details and resolution. High notes sound quite nice with no hint of harshness, yet is lot more revealing. Overall it is better than Arias but instruments sound a touch more sweeter with the latter.
I know I am not comparing speakers in the same price bracket but overall L600s sound much more detailed, nuanced and musical than Q950s. It's their flawed vocal presentation that prevents me from signing up for them. Unlike SVS, they are also lot cheaper than their US prices at slightly less than Rs.2L (2.25L MRP). They cost about 4000USD in US. SVS costs 1650USD but in India it retails at Rs.2.25L MRP.
I decided not to buy anything without audition after seeing how the perception of good sound differs between individuals. So that excludes both Quad S5 and Evo 4.4 as I couldn't get a demo. I did the blind buy with Aria 926 and I guess I got lucky. I intend to audition SVS Pinnacle, Opticon 8 and Revel F36 next week. I don't know where to find Opticon 8 and Revel F36 on demo in Bangalore. Please do let me know if anyone know the place.
I might get another pair of Aria 926 or 936 if nothing else excites me below 2L budget.
