( 2 reviews )
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Posted: Nov 30 2008
I've owned my STs, along with a Mythos 10 center and a pair of Gem XLs for about a year. They are powered by a Denon 4308ci. They are beautiful, and really complement the black frame on my Pioneer plasma. Very high WAF. But the sound is the important thing, right? I listen to a wide variety of music, from classical to alternative rock to folk. These speakers shine at reproducing the human voice. It's easy to fool someone with a rock guitar or synth, but everyone knows what a voice should sound like. Clarity, balance, and presence are all outstanding with these speakers. Listening to Norah Jones singing "Turn Me On" with these speakers will floor you. One complaint I have is that there's a pretty narrow sweet spot where you have to sit (at least in my room) for listening perfection, especially in stereo. Everyone else thinks the sound is perfect until they sit in my seat! I also use this system for my home theater with excellent results. Sound clarity and positioning are the most noticeable traits. The subwoofers work well and amount of bass is adjustable (mine are set on about 1 o'clock - 60%), but I still kept my 12" Sunfire for that little extra 1kW kick at the really low end. I suspect most folks wouldn't miss it. These speakers replaced my big old Infinity towers with the rotting foam surrounds. They don't seem to move as much air - that feeling in my chest just isn't the same - but the trade off for balanced, unmuddied, tight, focused sound was more than worth it.
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Posted: Oct 25 2008
- which they should be, at the price. I was trying to replace a destroyed pair of B&W DM6's (old but nice, used since new), thinking another pair by B&W would be great (in mind, the 700 series). Before going to the B&W place, I dropped in at a different dealer to compare their stock. They had various non-electrostatic Quads, which sounded fine, and this pair, which I hadn't come across. They looked big and dorky and cost a lot - I didn't intend to listen, but I hadn't heard anything really super so far and decided to try them briefly just before leaving. Gahhh - different league. The owner nicely told me that some less expensive models by this manufacturer sounded, in his opinion, about the same and he offered to call when he could get them. I left and listened to the all the B&W's available at the other, rather excellent, store. The cheaper B&W's sounded to me very much the same as my older pair and the expensive B&W's sounded rather better. I also listened to various electrostatic speakers - interesting, but I preferred the uber-expensive B&W's. Nevertheless, I still favoured the ST's over all of these for their clarity and realism, and was surprised and a bit confused, preconceptions pretty muddled up. A week later, the owner called. I brought my wife and we both listened to the smaller but just as dorky looking Mythos pair he'd obtained - they sounded normal, great, fine, ok. So we switched on the ST's again and they were, as before, super, to both of us. For some reason, the owner wasn't particularly enthusiastic himself (who knows?) and he directed us to a neighboring pair of Gallo's - smaller, but really interesting looking things with parts sticking out in every direction. We listened, and they sounded very good, perhaps like the better B&W's, and perhaps they weren't as well set up as the ST's, but for whatever reason the latter were still eclipsing them sonically. So we have a couple of overweight dorks hanging around the living room now - but they can sing.
