Hi all,
A very happy new year to all of you. On the new year's day, I went shopping for speakers for my second system (probably to be kept in the bedroom).
Some of you may know that I have a Harman Kardon HK6300 amp (bought in 1989), a Denon DCD-920 CDP (also bought in 1989) and an Onkyo single cassette deck (bought some time around 2005 I believe) and a few other perfectly working equipments just lying around and collecting dust. For a long time, I was thinking about getting a pair of low-cost speakers so that I have a second system up and running.
My budget was about 20 K. I read psychotropic's and magma's long threads for speakers at this price range. I also talked to magma over the phone for his views. I did not want to make too much fuss over this, and also did not want to run from pillars to post for the absolute best speakers possible around my budget; some thing just good enough to live with (obviously I always have the main system). In addition, these also needed to be some speakers which would not care for a lot of careful set-ups etc.
Hence I decided to go to SKS Traders which would have a reasonable choice of 3-4 speakers around this budget. Ideally I also would have liked to have heard some of the PSB's, KEF iQ30 (or its new avatar) and the Usher S520 to be extensive. But I said to my self: okay, let's go to SKS, and see if I like something I can live with. Otherwise, I can try to go to the other places for the other speakers.
So, on Jan 1, I arrived at SKS Traders with my 21 year old HK6300 amp. I was not even sure if this amp would function properly, because this was idle for the last year and a half, and more or less idle for the last almost 4 years.
I listened to 4 speakers: Wharfedale 10.1, Dali Lektor 1, Quad 11L2 and Dali Lektor 2 (I was supposed to hear one more, the Mordaunt Short Aviano 1, ultimately I didn't).
CDP used was CA 540c ( I deliberately asked for a budget range CDP). CDP to amp IC was Audio Art IC3 (mine) and some Norstone speaker cables (used as bare wires without termination).
I of course brought along about 10 of my redbook CDs (usual ones for auditions, but this time I had more vocals, because in the bedroom I am more likely to hear more vocals, so that was a personal choice).
My brief impression:
Wharfedale 10.1: I listened to them for longest time (probably because I really wanted to like them, because they are under 15K or so). Overall impression was one of disappointment. It could be that I have not really heard any low-cost speakers for long. The problem was lack of clarity, especially when with tricky CDs and when I needed to put the volume up just a bit. Very small, almost toy like appearance.
Dali Lektor 1: These were a lot cleaner, although produced slightly less excitement than the Wharfies. The sales person said they had been used only for a few hours and needed a lot more breaking in. However to me, the sound was a bit muted. Definitely less dynamics than the 10.1 but a lot cleaner. I decided these were not for me. These were also very small, if the not the smallest of the lot with only 4" drivers. I needed a bigger sound (bigger sound does not necessarily mean louder, to me it means less-compressed and hence more open and full-bodied sound, with a decent soundstage).
Quad 11L2: They sounded like real speakers to me (of course I have heard them before, but with other amps). Soundstage was much wider, dynamics and extension of notes were all much much better. They also looked absolutely brilliant. There are a few points to remember about these speakers. With the right speaker choice they could be very good, however with many of the budget range amps they may sound a bit bright. They also need careful placements, on a good stand and space around them (they are rear ported). I certainly liked them for the price and they were good matches for my very old HK amp, however, I was not sure I could provide them with the care they needed to be at their best. In addition, I felt they were not the cleanest sounding speakers at this price.
Dali Lektor 2: These were opened from the wooden crate right in front of me, and hence I was a bit unsure how would they sound straight out of the box. However, they had almost all the qualities I like in a speaker, however, at a much reduced level than ideal because of its price around 25K. Tonality was quite acceptable, the cleanest sounding speaker in the lot, dynamics was good for the size, and a certain fluidity of the sound. They also sounded more open than the Lektor 1's. They are just a bit bigger than the Lektor 1's, but still quite tiny. And according to Dali, they are not fussy about placement. In Bhaskie's thread more than a year ago, RoC and square_wave commented that these are bright speakers. I wonder if that is general observation of Dali speakers (below the Helicon line) or based on actual audition. With my amp (which is very lively, transparent and does not shy off the freq extremes) they did NOT sound bright at all. I called up magma from the store to confirm, and he agreed with me.
So I decided that the Lektor 2's are the speakers for my second (bedroom) system, speakers I could perhaps live with. I added the 'perhaps' because I can fully evaluate them only after they burn in fully, which is about 100 hours later (according to Dali).
At home, I have temporarily set them up on our 8-seater dining table because that table is actually not used very much (unless guests come). I know I cannot keep them there, because my wife is already complaining. When I was unpacking at home, both my wife and son were skeptic about such small speakers (remember they are used to seeing the huge speakers at home), but after listening to them they now have some respect for these, I guess.
BTW, I also heard the Creek Destiny and the Sugden A21a series 2 amps at SKS. In my opinion these must be some of the best amps around the 1L mark. Destiny I never heard before, lovely and lively amp with a clean tone. Sugden is very smooth and very rich. My 21 old HK amp was not at all dwarfed in front of these, although we did not do a direct comparison. SKS people commented that it's very hard to get such solid construction these days, and for the performance, my very old amp is still capable of, it matches with modern amps costing at least 80K. This was also my conclusion about my old amp in my amp thread. It can deliver upto 38A of current. I hope it lasts a few more years and gives us joy along with the Lektor 2's.
Regards.
A very happy new year to all of you. On the new year's day, I went shopping for speakers for my second system (probably to be kept in the bedroom).
Some of you may know that I have a Harman Kardon HK6300 amp (bought in 1989), a Denon DCD-920 CDP (also bought in 1989) and an Onkyo single cassette deck (bought some time around 2005 I believe) and a few other perfectly working equipments just lying around and collecting dust. For a long time, I was thinking about getting a pair of low-cost speakers so that I have a second system up and running.
My budget was about 20 K. I read psychotropic's and magma's long threads for speakers at this price range. I also talked to magma over the phone for his views. I did not want to make too much fuss over this, and also did not want to run from pillars to post for the absolute best speakers possible around my budget; some thing just good enough to live with (obviously I always have the main system). In addition, these also needed to be some speakers which would not care for a lot of careful set-ups etc.
Hence I decided to go to SKS Traders which would have a reasonable choice of 3-4 speakers around this budget. Ideally I also would have liked to have heard some of the PSB's, KEF iQ30 (or its new avatar) and the Usher S520 to be extensive. But I said to my self: okay, let's go to SKS, and see if I like something I can live with. Otherwise, I can try to go to the other places for the other speakers.
So, on Jan 1, I arrived at SKS Traders with my 21 year old HK6300 amp. I was not even sure if this amp would function properly, because this was idle for the last year and a half, and more or less idle for the last almost 4 years.
I listened to 4 speakers: Wharfedale 10.1, Dali Lektor 1, Quad 11L2 and Dali Lektor 2 (I was supposed to hear one more, the Mordaunt Short Aviano 1, ultimately I didn't).
CDP used was CA 540c ( I deliberately asked for a budget range CDP). CDP to amp IC was Audio Art IC3 (mine) and some Norstone speaker cables (used as bare wires without termination).
I of course brought along about 10 of my redbook CDs (usual ones for auditions, but this time I had more vocals, because in the bedroom I am more likely to hear more vocals, so that was a personal choice).
My brief impression:
Wharfedale 10.1: I listened to them for longest time (probably because I really wanted to like them, because they are under 15K or so). Overall impression was one of disappointment. It could be that I have not really heard any low-cost speakers for long. The problem was lack of clarity, especially when with tricky CDs and when I needed to put the volume up just a bit. Very small, almost toy like appearance.
Dali Lektor 1: These were a lot cleaner, although produced slightly less excitement than the Wharfies. The sales person said they had been used only for a few hours and needed a lot more breaking in. However to me, the sound was a bit muted. Definitely less dynamics than the 10.1 but a lot cleaner. I decided these were not for me. These were also very small, if the not the smallest of the lot with only 4" drivers. I needed a bigger sound (bigger sound does not necessarily mean louder, to me it means less-compressed and hence more open and full-bodied sound, with a decent soundstage).
Quad 11L2: They sounded like real speakers to me (of course I have heard them before, but with other amps). Soundstage was much wider, dynamics and extension of notes were all much much better. They also looked absolutely brilliant. There are a few points to remember about these speakers. With the right speaker choice they could be very good, however with many of the budget range amps they may sound a bit bright. They also need careful placements, on a good stand and space around them (they are rear ported). I certainly liked them for the price and they were good matches for my very old HK amp, however, I was not sure I could provide them with the care they needed to be at their best. In addition, I felt they were not the cleanest sounding speakers at this price.
Dali Lektor 2: These were opened from the wooden crate right in front of me, and hence I was a bit unsure how would they sound straight out of the box. However, they had almost all the qualities I like in a speaker, however, at a much reduced level than ideal because of its price around 25K. Tonality was quite acceptable, the cleanest sounding speaker in the lot, dynamics was good for the size, and a certain fluidity of the sound. They also sounded more open than the Lektor 1's. They are just a bit bigger than the Lektor 1's, but still quite tiny. And according to Dali, they are not fussy about placement. In Bhaskie's thread more than a year ago, RoC and square_wave commented that these are bright speakers. I wonder if that is general observation of Dali speakers (below the Helicon line) or based on actual audition. With my amp (which is very lively, transparent and does not shy off the freq extremes) they did NOT sound bright at all. I called up magma from the store to confirm, and he agreed with me.
So I decided that the Lektor 2's are the speakers for my second (bedroom) system, speakers I could perhaps live with. I added the 'perhaps' because I can fully evaluate them only after they burn in fully, which is about 100 hours later (according to Dali).
At home, I have temporarily set them up on our 8-seater dining table because that table is actually not used very much (unless guests come). I know I cannot keep them there, because my wife is already complaining. When I was unpacking at home, both my wife and son were skeptic about such small speakers (remember they are used to seeing the huge speakers at home), but after listening to them they now have some respect for these, I guess.
BTW, I also heard the Creek Destiny and the Sugden A21a series 2 amps at SKS. In my opinion these must be some of the best amps around the 1L mark. Destiny I never heard before, lovely and lively amp with a clean tone. Sugden is very smooth and very rich. My 21 old HK amp was not at all dwarfed in front of these, although we did not do a direct comparison. SKS people commented that it's very hard to get such solid construction these days, and for the performance, my very old amp is still capable of, it matches with modern amps costing at least 80K. This was also my conclusion about my old amp in my amp thread. It can deliver upto 38A of current. I hope it lasts a few more years and gives us joy along with the Lektor 2's.
Regards.
