Sub 75k speakers in the market today for a balanced but dynamic sound

[DB1989]

I heard the Wharfedale Evo 4.2 speakers fresh out of the box. Normally AMT or Ribbon tweeters are supposed to have a very crisp, airy treble and sometimes slightly edgy. But Evo 4.2 sounded very flat in the treble. Bass was a little overpowering and vocals were a little closed in. I was expecting the vocals to be more forward given the dome midrange driver. Overall sound opened a little with Cambridge Audio CXA61. I did not get the chance to test it with more powerful amps. Maybe it might also sound different after a breaking in for a 50-100 hours.

Yes, my friend (who bought these speakers in the first place) and I tried it with different cables as well but did not see much difference. I am going to get a Parasound Hint 6 on loaner this weekend for testing with the Wharfedale Evo 4.2. Will report back with my listening impressions. Note that Wharfedale Evo 4.2 has also been running non-stop for the last 4 days at my friend's empty office with Marantz PM6006 amp. So hopefully it has broken in by now

A good break in period is definitely required for them. Out of the box, they sounded bland and underwhelming. After break in also, they dont sound their best with marantzamps. When paired with a crown 1502, the laidback nature of the Evos diminished quite a bit but again, this was less than an ideal pairing. Looking to pair them with some more powerful high current amps to see how they react.

This reviewer on youtube (Sean) reviewed the Wharfedale Evo 4.2s also. His observations seem to confirm some of the points discussed by us earlier:

a) They sound horrid out of the box and require a good deal of break in for their sound to settle down.
b) They have a tendency to sound laidback and careful pairing is required.
c) They pair well with Class D amps.

I've linked the video below:

 

[shyamv]

This reviewer on youtube (Sean) reviewed the Wharfedale Evo 4.2s also. His observations seem to confirm some of the points discussed by us earlier:

a) They sound horrid out of the box and require a good deal of break in for their sound to settle down.
b) They have a tendency to sound laidback and careful pairing is required.
c) They pair well with Class D amps.

I've linked the video below:

This speaker has been running in for the last week in an empty office. I will test it again with a Peachtree Class D Amp this weekend and report back.

 

[DB1989]

This speaker has been running in for the last week in an empty office. I will test it again with a Peachtree Class D Amp this weekend and report back.

Please do try tone adjustments on them, especially increasing the bass. Unlike other speakers, they respond rather well to this ajdustment and I found that their sound becomes more authoritative and deeper with much better defined bass without it overpowering the other frequencies or the sound hardening up.

 

[square_wave]

The friend has now raised the budget to about 1.3L. I am sure there are more interesting speakers at that range. Would love to hear from people who have some experience with the speakers in this range as well. The amp is the Rega Brio. Anyone using the Rega brio with 4 ohm speakers ?

How's the quad S5 ?

 

[arj]

He should get the rega R3 or R5..thats the best match and synergy

 

[fLUX]

He will need to get a better amplifier to extract the most out of the speakers. The Emit M20 are a different beast with the XLS2502 . At a budget of around 1.35 L there are quiet a few options he can look for but most would scale tremendously with better amplifers, based on my auditioning experience i would recommend the below
i) Kef Q950 - Had almost finalized this before i heard the Focals. During initial demo i liked the presentation, forward sounding mids , revealing bright treble in a beautiful way (not sure how it would pan out for long sessions) and super tight bass. I had heard this right out of a X4500H and they sounded really good
ii) XTZ Spirit 11 - Its priced much lesser than the budget you have. Has amazingly detailed mids, aggresive when called for otherwise very calm in nature. Has decent bass and is kind of an allrounder for all genres
iii) XTZ 95.44 - Has a very airy presentation with emphasis on treble. Brighter than the Spirit 11 in presentation and had more hard hitting bass during the demo

The XTZ perform much above their price point , same can be auditioned at The Home Cinema in Ecity , Bangalore

 

[myriad]

Fyne F501. Not a tough load and easy to drive

 

[SwaroopKS]

The friend has now raised the budget to about 1.3L. I am sure there are more interesting speakers at that range. Would love to hear from people who have some experience with the speakers in this range as well. The amp is the Rega Brio. Anyone using the Rega brio with 4 ohm speakers ?

How's the quad S5 ?

I know there are lot of big brand offerings but if the location is Bangalore why not audition Indiqaudio and Sonodyne which had favourable posts recently in the forum. You can also visit Acoustic portrait. You could get Rethm aarka for the price and also Lyrita but that may require change in amp as Aarka is powered and lyrita is match for tube amps

 

[Prodigy]

Yes, InidiqAudio Flagship FS Achal is worth the try.

Its has a very good sound signature and is amp friendly. It stacks up well with the speakers that are priced much above and can pair well with most amps.
If you have time, go for an audition and check that one out too and you would not be disappointed.

 

[Naturelover]

The friend has now raised the budget to about 1.3L. I am sure there are more interesting speakers at that range. Would love to hear from people who have some experience with the speakers in this range as well. The amp is the Rega Brio. Anyone using the Rega brio with 4 ohm speakers ?

How's the quad S5 ?

A little more and you have AP MS610.

 

[square_wave]

A little more and you have AP MS610.

Yes, this is in the shortlist already

 

[DB1989]

The friend has now raised the budget to about 1.3L. I am sure there are more interesting speakers at that range. Would love to hear from people who have some experience with the speakers in this range as well. The amp is the Rega Brio. Anyone using the Rega brio with 4 ohm speakers ?

How's the quad S5 ?

For bassheads, its a complete no no. The treble and the mids are good.

 

[square_wave]

For bassheads, its a complete no no. The treble and the mids are good.

I see that you own the S5. The person is not a bass head. Looking for balanced sound across the spectrum. How would you describe the bass from the S5 ? Bass heads look for thumpy bass. Not extended detailed bass.

Also, how would you differentiate the sound from the Evo 4.2 and KEF Q350 which you own ? Out of the 3 speakers, which is most appealing to you from an "emotional connect" context in a 2 channel application?

 

[DB1989]

I see that you own the S5. The person is not a bass head. Looking for balanced sound across the spectrum. How would you describe the bass from the S5 ? Bass heads look for thumpy bass. Not extended detailed bass.

Also, how would you differentiate the sound from the Evo 4.2 and KEF Q350 which you own ? Out of the 3 speakers, which is most appealing to you from an "emotional connect" context ?

For me, it has to be the kef q350. It's has both more detailed and punchier bass than the Quad S5 and the Evo 4.2 and can reproduce dynamic shifts better. It is the more exciting speaker to listen to of the lot. On the other hand, the Quad S5s have considerably superior imaging, detail retrieval and voicing and are the more 'audiophile' speaker as objectively, they tick a lot of boxes - the treble is "airy" and the mids are spot on. The Wharfedale Evos walk the middle ground between the Kef and the Quad and share some of the strengths of the aforementioned speakers but do not particularly excel in either. However, they are good speakers for people inclined towards classical music.

 

[square_wave]

@DB1989 , Thanks. The Q350 is a bookshelf speaker so I guess it has that mid bass punch. From a bass extension context, won't the S5 go lower. I mean when you track the bass plucks on a upright bass and as you go lower and lower, which one will run out of steam faster in terms of extension and detail ? As compared to the bass punch when you listen to sultans of swing ?

 

[DB1989]

@DB1989 , Thanks. The Q350 is a bookshelf speaker so I guess it has that mid bass punch. From a bass extension context, won't the S5 go lower. I mean when you track the bass plucks on a upright bass and as you go lower and lower, which one will run out of steam faster in terms of extension and detail ? As compared to the bass punch when you listen to sultans of swing ?

I'll have to do some REW measurements to figure out what the bass extension is like for the Q350 in order to confirm my biases. But from what i hear, the KEF Q350s sound like they dig deeper and trample over the Quad S5s in every respect as far as bass is concerned. I've recently got myself a UMIK-1 and was doing some measurements yesterday when I discovered that my Quad S5s roll off sharply at approx 60hz (58 to be exact). Then again, this could be attributable to my room and the current placement of the speakers as I've found that despite the addition of a subwoofer (which is placed right next to the speakers so it suffers from the same placement issues), the dip between 40 to 60hz remains, albeit with a slight boost in that frequency band as opposed to without a sub. I'll check how the KEFs respond in this position. There is another spot in the same room which is much better for positioning my speakers. this second position more or less negates the need for a sub altogether considering the deep extended bass that the Q350s produce when placed there. I'll measure both and see what's the difference.

 

[square_wave]

I'll have to do some REW measurements to figure out what the bass extension is like for the Q350 in order to confirm my biases. But from what i hear, the KEF Q350s sound like they dig deeper and trample over the Quad S5s in every respect as far as bass is concerned. I've recently got myself a UMIK-1 and was doing some measurements yesterday when I discovered that my Quad S5s roll off sharply at approx 60hz (58 to be exact). Then again, this could be attributable to my room and the current placement of the speakers as I've found that despite the addition of a subwoofer (which is placed right next to the speakers so it suffers from the same placement issues), the dip between 40 to 60hz remains, albeit with a slight boost in that frequency band as opposed to without a sub. I'll check how the KEFs respond in this position. There is another spot in the same room which is much better for positioning my speakers. this second position more or less negates the need for a sub altogether considering the deep extended bass that the Q350s produce when placed there. I'll measure both and see what's the difference.

Very interesting. Would be interesting to see if you have a suckout happening at that position under 60 hz. Your observation with the sub in the same location pretty much corroborates it.

Those dedicated bass drivers and passive radiators for bass in the Quad should theoretically play much better bass. Maybe you should try them in the same location where you have the Q350's located now to test this out.

 

[DB1989]

Very interesting. Would be interesting to see if you have a suckout happening at that position under 60 hz. Your observation with the sub in the same location pretty much corroborates it.

Those dedicated bass drivers and passive radiators for bass in the Quad should theoretically play much better bass. Maybe you should try them in the same location where you have the Q350's located now to test this out.

I have contemplated it. However, the Quad S5s weigh approx 28 kgs each and not conducive to being handled by a lone person due to their shape. I’ll have to find that jobless friend to help out ... however, i do expect the bass response and other elements to improve as all my other bookshelves including the BA A26 benefit immensely from being placed in this secondary position.

 

[DB1989]

Deleted

 

[chandu2106]

The friend has now raised the budget to about 1.3L. I am sure there are more interesting speakers at that range. Would love to hear from people who have some experience with the speakers in this range as well. The amp is the Rega Brio. Anyone using the Rega brio with 4 ohm speakers ?

How's the quad S5 ?

Last Friday along with other forum members, we have tried 4ohms speakers on Rega BRIO. The amp was unable to control lows very boomy rest all good.