So, what is the goal of our hobby? I'm speaking of stereo not home theater. The goal is achieving the most life-like reproduction of music. I think for most music lovers that is the goal, the goal is not 120 decibels.
The Harbeth 30.2 Anniversaries lacked the last bit of air and twinkle in the highs and lacked much below 45 Hertz. But, despite that their mids are so wonderful and they achieve a verisimilitude of live music.
In search of a speaker which could match the Harbeths' midrange but add the lower frequencies and achieve airier highs, I grabbed a pair of piano black Marten Django L floor standers. They are not broken in (yes, I believe in speaker break-in). Their highs are beautiful. Their bass is full and accurate. But, the mids are not divine. I'm going to give them a chance to break-in. They are a very nice sounding speaker, but, for now, lack the beautiful mids of the Harbeth's.
I was over at a friend's house a few weeks ago. He has a pair of Marten Form Floor speakers. Instead of a trepezoidal cabinet, like Axioms, they are triangular, a single 4 or 5" ceramic driver, a ribbon tweeter. I had previously heard these speakers in his den driven by a big Macintosh tube integrated. It sounded undistinguished. When I heard them again, this time driven by a vintage Sansui integrated AU701 amplifier, playing a record on an old Sony turntable (a good one) with an old Ortofon moving iron cartridge, a modest ATI phono stage ... I was gobsmacked. Like live music I tell ya.
Yes, he moved the speakers to his screened sun room, so it was sort of anechoic, swapped a big tube amp for a vintage Sansui, and played "Now's the Time," with Willis Jackson on the tenor sax. I didn't see him come into the room and start playing his horn. I was shocked, not the last word in bass, but the mids and the highs were sublime.
So, today when the Marten Django Ls arrived, before we set them up, we all sat around while I played Now's the Time, through the Harbeths, and there it was again, it sounded like the tenor sax was in my living room.
So, after much fiddling, we set up the Django Ls, spun Now's The Time, and it was very nice Hi-Fi. It was not live sounding. Like I said in the beginning of this post, the bass was great, the highs were better, but friends, the music is in the mids.
I am sufficiently dejected about the election and won't let this bring me down further, nice speakers, but not like live.
