Challenges of Demos in the US

[tokenbrit]

I'm happy with my LP12, Klimax Renew, and Monos (Fred's Finest) and enjoy my speakers: Spendor S8e, which replaced an S5e pair. I enjoyed the Dynaudios, too, that Tom used for the US Sagatun launch. I've also listened to the 242s that he had playing when I was last there - they didn't 'do it' for me. Long story short, I don't know that I've found 'my speakers' yet, or even whether that's the next upgrade...

With Ozzzy's infectious interest in the Embers nagging at me, I listed to them at a local dealer: awful experience that wasn't a fair demo of the little Totems.

I fancy an extended audition of the Spendor D7s, but that's not happening, especially not with Linn+Lejonklou electronics unless, by some miracle, I can wangle a home demo - nearest Spendor dealer is in Atlanta, which is a day's drive away (similar to Ann Arbor from St Louis)

The thing is it's tough to audition hi-fi in the US, whether a quick listen, or a meaningful demo. Linn & Lejonklou dealers are very few & very far between here, and the chances of them also being dealers for the brand of speaker that you might be interested are slim to none, and Slim is almost never in town :)

So, what to do? A long time competitor to Spendor is Harbeth, and their speakers have something of a following online that has piqued my interest... I have never listened to Harbeths but have been interested in doing so for a while. Today I have that chance. We're taking a short trip today (4+ hr drive each way) and have set up a visit to Jeff Stake Hifi - if I don't post back on here in a few days, you know where to send the search party ;)

Jeff carries Lyngdorf & Parasound and has suggested these to drive the Compact 7s. I'm taking my trusty Tundra Stereo 1.2 so I have something of a familiar reference when I listen to the Harbeths.

If anyone has heard Lyngdorf or Parasound, and would care to compare them to Lejonklou, I'd be interested in your thoughts. If anyone is familiar with Harbeth speakers, I'd be curious to know what you think. Please don't start recommending this or that speaker as you'll just have me wandering all over the Internet and the United States trying to track hear them for myself. I've heard enough to know that Spendors are close to 'it', hence looking forward to listening to Harbeths - wish me luck :)

[Ozzzy189]

Good luck! The spendor speakers I've heard with Lejonklou have been a good match imo, I'm really hoping to get a demo with the d5. Those are the ones I'd really like to hear. Can't wait to hear from you after the demo.
By the way, it took a tundra stereo 2.0 upgrade to get me to appreciate the totems fully.

[tokenbrit]

Good luck! The spendor speakers I've heard with Lejonklou have been a good match imo, I'm really hoping to get a demo with the d5. Those are the ones I'd really like to hear. Can't wait to hear from you after the demo.
By the way, it took a tundra stereo 2.0 upgrade to get me to appreciate the totems fully.

I didn't get my Stereo upgraded from 1.2 to 2.0 yet, as I don't really use it - holding on to it in case I revisit a multichannel setup again. The Monos were the priority, and very rewarding upgrades. I can imagine that the Stereo 2.0 is quite a little stunner tho' :)
I see there's a new A5R from Spendor - is that what you mean? I loved the S5e - just wanted something a little bigger. The S5e, A5(R), and D7 are similar in that they're all 2.5 way. To my ears that seems to give a little more midrange immediacy without losing bass weight. I'll report on the standmount Compact 7s, probably in a few days.

[Ozzzy189]

Spendor d7, £3500 floorstanding loudspeaker with a £400 upgrade to dark gloss finish. Well reviewed by the press. I'll pop a link up.
My bad, got the number wrong! http://www.whathifi.com/spendor/d7/review

[tokenbrit]

I've listened to the D7's a few times - I really like them...

The demo of the Harbeth Compact 7 ES 3s was both interesting, and confusing. It was interesting because the speakers were placed well out into the room, almost like a pair of monitor headphones either side of the listening position. The only common ground and point of comparison was the Tundra Stereo 1.2 that I took with me, and my choice of music - everything else was different, and unfamiliar.

The Tundra Stereo was better than the power amp that was initially set up for the demo but, even with the Tundra, the system sounded a bit same-y, which made me think that the source and pre were having a significant influence on what I was hearing from the speakers. Despite the differences, and no opportunity to do any sort of comparison and being a long, long way from isolating the speakers as the only change, I have to admit that the Harbeths did a good job of presenting what was being played - I can't say however that I got as much of why as I was hoping for: I could follow what was being played quite easily, but why the musicians were playing what they were playing was more elusive... Whether this was down to system, set-up, or speakers, I can't say.

Getting home after a long weekend and listening to the same music on my system, didn't really clear up the confusion - I got a better sense of the music, but without the clarity. Whether that was indicative of poor setup, or some other issue, I don't know. I've spent the week tweaking speaker positioning with some improvement, but that doesn't get me any closer to comparing speakers directly.

That said, I'm sitting here listening to my Spendors as I type, and enjoying the music that they're playing. With KRDS/1; Sagatun, and Tundra Monos feeding them, they should sound good - I just can't quite shake the feeling that they, or other speakers, can sound better yet...

I did say that demoing components in the US is challenging. You can't beat a good dealer, good setup, auditioning at home, and only changing one thing at a time!

[lejonklou]

You can't beat a good dealer, good setup, auditioning at home, and only changing one thing at a time!

I agree!

[Music Lover]

tokenbrit, start by defining what you are missing from your current speakers (or setup), so we (with similar source/amp quality as yours and experience of various speakers) can help by suggesting some alternatives. You then have to demo these at home.

A speaker demo without good input signal in an unfamiliar room will be of limited value.

[u252agz]

In my limited experience, Even with a good input signal, the variabilities of room acoustics and dealer installation can make dealer demos very hit and miss. Good speakers/systems can easily sound quite mediocre.

Home demos best but very difficult to arrange with the larger speakers, especially if one is comparing two or more prospective speakers.

Good advice from someone you trust and, ideally with lots of experience and similar tastes can be invaluable.

I took this approach and was very happy when the local dealer finally installed my 242s. I think we had agreed that he would take them back if i was not absolutely delighted with them - he was very confident.

The advice had come not from the local dealer, but from Anthony, who is on the forum. He made sure that I had upgraded the source, preamp,speaker cables and interconnects before I considered changing the Ninkas to the 242s.