Nailzgun

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.17 of 5, 6.00 votes

Price Paid:  $950.00 from Audigon Member

Summary:
I drove 26 hours round trip to pick up these speakers. All the way home in the rain excited to hook them up and listen to them. And wow, I was not disappointed. They are a tremendous improvement from my Infinity RS Kappa 7's.

The sound is unbelievable. Open detailed highs, great staging. The clarity of the sound is remarkable. Bass is tight and detailed and goes very deep. As some have mentioned though while the bass is outstanding for its quality I was a little disappointed in the quantity of bass initially. I listen to a wide range of music and noted this on all types of recordings. Overall these were the best speakers I have heard under $25k.

My quest to make them better sounding began with bigger speaker cables. I figured the Audioquest wires I had been using were likely to small a guage to fully exploit the cuurent capability my Threshold Amp was capable of providing, and that these speakers need. This helped some with the bass. So then I thought more power. I swapped the 100w/ch class A Threshold for a 150w/ch class A/AB Threshold but the staging receeded, not what I wanted. Bi-Amp with the class A running the Emims and Emits and the class A/AB the woofers. Better but still room for Improvemnt. Swapped these 2 for a Threshold S/500 II that has tremendous continuous current capability. Ok now we were getting somewhere as the bass gained some strength. The staging moved forward and grew, and the imiging was unreal. Next I put a set of PS Audio Extreme Statement Bi-Wire cables between amp and speakers.

All of a sudden the speakers seemed to come to life. (not like they were poor prior) Bass is as good as I've ever heard. Fast detailed and exactly the correct amount in all types of music. The midrange is smooth detailed rich. And the highs are simply unbelievable. Lightning fast detailed open and unfatigueing.

But the creation of the stage is what now is so pleasing. Not only being able to place instruments and vocals front to back and side to side. But knowing how high the mic is set, and how far from the mic is the vocalist. What is the size of the room where the recording took place. Nuance and background details I've never heard from my recordings before, on any system. These speakers can reproduce everything that was going on when the recording was made. WOW

If you can find these speakers and are willing to drive them with appropriate equipment, buy them. If they are not the gretest speaker value ever I'll buy them from you as I need another pair or 2 for my Home Theater.

Strengths:
Rich unbelievably detailed sound
Staging recreation is 3 demensional
Deep powerfull bass that is very very fast and detailed.
Can reveal everything on a recording.

Weaknesses:
As these speakers are reasonably inexpensive today it is tempting to hook them up to your home theater reciever. bad plan.
These speakers need alot of really clean power and big fat cables to make them sing. Plan on spending twice what the spaekers cost on an amplifier to bring out their best.

Similar Products Used:
Infinity RS Kappa 7's
Kef 107's and 103.2's
B&W 801's
Martin Login Prodigy's

Platinum Ear

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.20 of 5, 10.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Audio Excellence, Sy

Summary:
I've had these speakers for 10 years now and still love them. The reason for this posting is to alert other owners of a potential and dramatic improvent in performance that's possible by upgrading the tweeter crossover elements. In my case it was more accidental than intentional. I wanted to biamp the tweeter individually rather than tweeter + mids which is the way the crossover inputs are configured. To achieve what I wanted, I opened the speaker up and re wired the input terminals so that the mids + woofer were connected on the lower terminals and the tweeter was connected directly to the top terminals without going through the crossover's high pass filter. I hence constructed my own high pass filter, and to do the EMITs justice I used copper foil inductors and ICW polypropylene caps (all same values as original). These are really state of the art components and are used in the worlds most expensive speakers. The caps however were not too expensive and the entire crossover cost about $100. Due to the size of the inductors, the crossover is built into a box that sits just behind the speaker. I was very surprised when the first sounds eminated from the new configuration. The tweeter was considerably higher in level than previous and I had to insert a 2dB L pad betwen the crossover and the tweeter to match the sensitivity. After this mod I sat down and enjoyed the finest audition ever. The most notable improvement was in the transient response which was now quite unbelievable and the benefits extend down through the mids and even to the upper bass, which is always the case when the treble is improved. As well as the transient response improvements, the response also seems a little flatter than before and the mid to treble transition even more seamless. The really high treble does sparkle far more than before and it's very obvious that the bandwidth has increased, which is obviously related to the transient performance. The speaker's fine characters are now displayed in even finer glory than before and I'm now hearing air and space around instruments in an even vaster soundstage. If I had to be critical of these speakers before the mods, I would say that they lacked the space and air of the best 'domed' speakers but were always able to out resolve them. Post mods, now they can at least match them for air and the resolving powers are beyond anything a dome can give you. My next step will be to cross the tweeter over with an active design, and I should have something knocked up for testing in the next few weeks. If you read this and are interested in doing similar and require aditional information then feel free to contact me with questions. I'm ultimately going to design and build a class A tweeter amp + active crossover (without op-amps), and I'm sure the results will be spectacular. I now also have my sights on the EMIM crossover componenents, which I will eventually upgrade on the internal crossover board.

Price Paid:  $1200.00

Summary:
The more I listen to these speakers the more I can't believe how good they sound. They are truly the best I've ever heard. They excell in their openness, 3D soundstaging and pinpoint imaging. These speakers incorporate not only the famous(and improved)emit tweeter but the emim mid range that significantly contributes to the incredible sound. The emim is what seperates this speaker from other speakers not using planar midrange drivers. The bass reaches very low frequencies, very tight and musical, but is not very loud, booming or overpowering. The bass demonstrates quality not quantity. They are very well built not allowing unwanted resonance from flexing. The speakers have that audiophile look and sound at a relatively affordable used price.

Strengths:
sound (accuracy, soundstage, imaging, quality bass) build looks

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
Infinity rs 8 kappa, Interludes, B&W nautilus, martin logans

Price Paid:  $3000.00 from second hand

Summary:
Not very good if you are a rock/pop music fan, but perfect if you are into jazz and more laid back kind of music.Fantastic details and depth with both mail and femail voices. With good recordings some vocals really give me goosebumps! Strings (violins etc)are also superb with the EMIM and EMIT drivers. Bass is fantastic clean and deep, but lacks the punch when playing rock music. I guess the real deep bass is one of the best I have heard. But the level they can produce in low frequensies are not enough to satisfy you if you enjoy playing loud, this because of the small volume of the cabinet and also because its a closed cabinet. Its also only one 10" woofer. The mid bass punch is what I missed most, and after six months of testing I bought back a pair of my favourite speakers, Infinity Kappa 9.2i. They dont give me the goosebumps like the Renaissance 90s gave me on some recordings, but on 95% of the music I play they make me a happier person. Read my review if you want. The design of the Ren 90 are fantastic, I had a pair of the LE version, with black piano laquer finish. The build quality is also superb! I choose to rate them a 5 even if they have their weaknesses. What they do good is just awesome, I think about buying a pair again for a second stereo set up mainly for jazz and James Taylor :-)

Strengths:
The sound with the right kind of music. Super clean deep bass, very open mids and highs. The design, beautiful and easy to find space in small rooms. The low price second hand (I payed too much)

Weaknesses:
Not so good with rock music. (It can be better with a good subwoofer, but you can`t get rid of the very open mid that really is too much with most rock recordings.) Bass performance is limited in quantity. Almost impossible to get parts and drivers if the EMIMs or EMITs break, and they do sometimes break.

Similar Products Used:
Infinity Kappa 9A Infinity Kappa 8A Infinity Kappa 9.2i B&W 801 Matrix series 2 Legacy Signature Kef Reference Four

Price Paid:  $2000.00 from macedonia

Summary:
well,despite my poor englesh I'll put some coments about these wonderfull speakers.I took them for demo(used)put them to run in for few ours(they didnt play for years)and when I playd the firs cd(kari)I was supriced by the bass extension and the huge space these speakers are capable for.I was impressed by the caracter of the sound which was full,deep and quiet.I thought that was my first impression,because after 6 mounths with My Nautilus-804 I was dreaming for the speaker wich will be more relaxed,with deeper effortless bass and non fatiquing sound.after reading the reviews here(thank' all of you folks)for many times,i think I finally found the speakers.I was thinking to buy them two years ago,but somehow I decided for the nautilus mainly because of their look,new tehnology,and great rewiews.i must tell you that I missed the great Matrix 801 which were sold for 2500$ from an audiophile here in Skopje.they were brand new,and since I didnt have the cash at the moment(unfourtunatly i didn,t ask the bank the very moment)they were sold just two days after.Man I was so depressed,after the impressions of the 801,i newer had the sound with the804.dont take me wrong the 804 are fabulos speakers,I discovered their qualities after long 6 mounths of intebsive plaing.They just dont have that kind of bass of the renaissance 90,that kind of enormos space,that non fatiquing,nice colored tone.yes the b&w is more neutral,pore precise,more analitical,they get you in to the instruments holles and bodies,you can here everithing in the recording process,after all they are studio monitors.But is that what you need,I think I need injoing the music more than making microscopic analysis of the recording process.After all when you listen to the life concertyou dont normally hear the scraching of the bowes(at least not that much)Still I think is too soon to make final conclusion,it is my 3,th day with the renaissance90 and there will be more tveakings and upgrades with them in the future,but if I could possibly miss something that i use to have with the Nautilus it would be the sharp defined placement and number of the musicians in the big filharmonic orcestras.But maybe I wont,after some time with these speakers ,and after some upgrades(bi amping first)I think I will soon forget these aspects of the music listening.I must tell you that me (and my girlfriend) will remember the nautilus for long long time.I stillhave them in the corner of my room and the more I listen to the marveles Infinity the more I fill sorry that i will be pressed to get them back.with the extra bonus of 1000$(in goods)from tha sailer I think it,s a completly win situation.It is only one thik that I concider that could be a problem -the classical music-at least with my sistem,some of the records which I concidered listenable with these speakers are a bit too warm(tube like in a wrong way)there is no clear distinction betveen the musicians,the picture is not clear as with the 804 or with Apogee-minor,instrument are often over-dimensioned,i even start thinking abou some quality super-tveeter in the future to help with thw recordings which are less than perfect.But as I said this speakers are a good fundament for building a great sistem aroun them and possibly with better electronics and more -cleaner power the miracles are yet to come,and maybe some of the critics will dissapear.Despite this litle critics they are allready a miraccle,and i still dont know how did I found them for this price after two years when I sow them for the first time.I hope there is nothing wrong with them,since there is litle demage on the one of the tweeters,the reabon surface is not perfect,there is no holes or some serios demage, but still i would change it for psihical reasons.if anybady knows something about this please write to me,my adress is( saskojarcevski03@yahoo.com )another question : some good maching subwoofer for the future?I really dont see a need of this at the moment,but you know there is allways better,and we always wont it.That was my firs impression,i'll inform about my upgrades,and possible bennefits . sistem components: -Renaissance-90 exelent -amp. korato kta 100 (serbian)2x400 2ohm dual mono 2x500va transformators,motorola transistors,vdh wiring-exelent bargain for 1000$ here in macedonia(double in Europ) -pre-amp korato kvp-10-dual mono ,separate pover suply,2 valves power,2 valves line stage,audionote cooper capacitors,vdh-wiring-exelent -cd Denon s-10 II exelent -cables MIT mh-750 bi-wire,vdh-revelation-hibrid -int.kimber KCAG,Mit-2,audioquest -ruby,unfortunatly sold my vdh -silver by mistake,it turnd out that they were not terminated well by the dealer-catastrofic situation(one of the best) -pro-ject perspective+phono box-se+pro-ject6 cartrige(not burned in yet,but soon will upgrade to tube -box and kontrapunkt-a(possibly b)to satisfy the sistem needs.(and me of course)

Strengths:
huge sondstage,musical,deep solid bass,non fatiquness even after many ours of listening,naturalness of the opera sceen,3-d this time i really sow it,the drama of the musical expression,sweetnes and emotional,more forgiving than B&w with the no-perfect recordings which is another surprice,at least they are listenable,beautifull look in there own way,I will not judje the sharpness of the focus,the detail,the deepnes and the aqurassy,untill i dont make some more moves,possitioning,bi-amp them,and some other tveakings,but for now i think these aspects are good too,it is only a question what degree of exellance the upgrades will bring,i have no doubt abaut that

Weaknesses:
hmm,power,space,more than most of us have,but not too criticall,they look much bigger in my room than in the audio-store,on some recordings can be too warm and muddy,on some the singers have two meters mouth(dead can dance,but it was recorded that way i think.very possibly that some of the weaknes are coused from my not so perfect sistem,so dont consider them too seriosly

Similar Products Used:
apogee centaurus iminor,b&W 804,803 ,805,801,matrix801,cd-m series,martin logan aerius,magnet planer(smaller)Tanoy Edinburg(as I remember similar tipe of sound)and other