Went out today and listened to these:
Magnepan MG12
http://www.magnepan.com/1-800-474-1646/mg12.html
Vandersteen 2Ce signature
http://www.vandersteen.com/pages/The%20Model%202Ce%20Signature.html
Triangle Zerius
http://www.triangle-fr.com/gammes-2003/zerius-202-gb.htm
Brief synopsys:
MG12 - WOW!!!! is this how music sounds when you get rid of the standard box which can color the sound. Perfect smooth blend of all frequencies. SwweeTTT vocals. The fiancees "Madonna Ray of Light" album actually sounds very very good. Pavlo acoustic guitars are lifelike. Details galour. Schostakowitch was one of the best sounding I have heard in long time. Tight bass but lacking on the really very very low frequencies ie. pipe organ music, church music needs a sub to compensate. Wide soundstage but not kinda focused. The guy just plopped them into a spot after moving some Martin Logans. Maybe not tweaked properly into position so it was hard for me to tell or pin point the location of jazz player. I would say it was kinda like there a little to the left rather than 3 feet behind 11 oclock position based on some speakers that I have listenend to. Standing up from sitting position lost the sweet spot. I think if the speakers were raised 4-8 inches and if straightened perfectly vertical rather than the somewhat leaning posture of the Maggie stands the soundstage might improve and a little more focused. Overall the experience was positive. And can you believe it .. the fiancee said she loves the look of the Maggies???? Most people say..isn't that kinda wide and gawdy? Well a good sign so far. This is the first time I took her into a listening session.
Went to the next shop. Put the same material on the vandersteen. Nice, CRYSTAL clear!!!. Details Details. Smoooth. Nice highs and tight lows. Seemingly more focus and detail. Hmmmmm...soundstage was not that deep. Maybe I was too close. Could not move my chair back since there was sofa full of other guy waiting for me to finish so that they can listen to the 4600+ Spendor speaker. And when they did jump in..I said to myself..the M80 kick the crap out of those speakers. All I heard is the thummmmppphhzzz thummmmmppppzzz. Yeah I guess those guys do like heart thumping bass that overpowers the mids and highs.
Well the Vandersteens also were only max. 1 feet from the wall. I read that there was a passive driver at the back. Unfortunately there was not enough room to pull out that 75lbs 2ce sigs. I really have to come back to redo the listening. I liked the clarity of detail on the Vanderteens. Resolution was saturated with loads of information.
Lastly are the Triangles Zerius. I have not heard much about this French speakers. I put on the same media. Then it hit my face. REALLY NICE!!!!!. What the hell is going on? Very very sweet music. And the soundstage...wide, big...and holy cow is the stage like 10-15 feet back. I have never heard a stage this big. Very nice. Very smooth and sweet. Lots of fine details. Forget Ascends or Paradigm or the other competitors against Axioms (This is just a personal opinion. I could be wrong). If there is a brand that would give Axioms a run for its money. I would say Triangles. Both Axioms and Triangles are one of the few budget line speakers that give you the best bang for the buck without sacrificing quality of sound.
Saturn
