Home Theater Forum and Systems banner

What speakers would you like to see in the $2,500 speakers evaluation event?

$2,500 Speaker Evaluation Event - Nominated Speakers Voting Poll

81K views 274 replies 110 participants last post by  AudiocRaver 
#1 ·
The speaker nominations for the $2,500 two-channel speaker evaluation event has been closed and the voting now begins. Thanks to all who nominated speakers... we certainly have a lot to choose from. Remember, that even if your favorite speakers do not get selected this round, they could be selected for a later round. We will likely take some of the higher voted speakers for the next round-up, so please vote regardless of whether you believe they will be included in this round or not.

We have NOT contacted all of these speaker manufacturers to see if they will participate, although we have contacted a few. If a speaker is voted in the top 4 and the manufacturer does not want to participate, we will go to the next highest vote getter. In case of a tie, Scoobie will be the tie breaking vote.

Votes are public and viewable.

This IS NOT the poll to select which speakers you think will be chosen by the panelists as their favorites. This poll is for deciding which speakers will be included in the evaluation event.

As previously stated, we are giving our sponsors first priority, so the SVS Ultras and the EP CS2P's are already selected for the evaluation event and both have already agreed to participate.

1. SVS Ultra Tower $2,000
2. Emerald Physics CS2P $3,000
3. ?
4. ?
5. ?
6. ?

What other four speakers will make the cut?

No code has to be inserted here.*MSRP rounded to the nearest $100.

The average MSRP is approximately $2,500.

Maximum MSRP allowed is $3,000.

If you are not familiar with what the evaluation will consist of, please see The Official $1,000 Speaker Evaluation / Home Audition Event Results

Let the voting begin!

Voting will end on midnight of 9/30/13
 
See less See more
#228 ·
Yeah.... the publicity he would get for those speakers here would top just about anything else he has going on, but sometimes we are blinded by our ignorance. Been there and done that myself a few times.

I have no idea if his speakers would have been voted in for this round... somewhat doubt it... and it could now be quite some time before they will get evaluated. We can only do so much for our sponsors and if they are not willing to work with us, then it will limit what we can do for them. :huh:
 
#229 ·
I, too, am quite disappointed. It looks like an interesting design. I am hoping to be able to hear the Dynaudio's, if we can get participation there.

Could be that some speaker makers are nervous to have their products compared directly with their competition. Looking back, it is almost a bit funny to think that there was some initial reluctance about having the Arx A5's in the $1K event because Jon was not totally confident that we knew what we were doing and would be able to evaluate them fairly - it is good we were able to convince him to participate! I hope by now we have dispelled any doubts about our approach, our thoroughness and fairness.

But there could be other circumstances altogether. Whatever the case, it is a big lost opportunity for them.
 
#230 ·
Okay... Walter called, the EP CS2P's are being built as we speak and will be shipped out to me by Monday. They are back in. He apologized and felt bad about the situation. When we had last talked he was about to leave for vacation and just plain forgot... then got backed up getting ready for RMAF, but he is making time to get these done.

I am glad because I was seriously looking forward to hearing these after all the great things that have been said about them at the shows.
 
#233 ·
I thought I was subscribed to this thread, but apparently not. Had some catching up to do.

Perhaps the coolest part about these evaluations is that I might have my eyes (ears?) opened to something new and different that I had not heard of or had not considered. That was certainly the case with the Arx A5 -- now I feel like I have to hear them before making a decision for my next pair of speakers. To that end, I'm glad that Emerald Physics is back in for this round.
 
#234 ·
Some manufacturers I have spoken to in the past definitely worry that the room, setup, associated equipment and level matching might not be spot on and thus their speakers might not get a fair shake. Others legitimately worry that too good a showing will lead to a sudden surge in demand that some small, boutique operations can't handle. That would lead to severe shipping delays and the dreaded posts complaining about how long it takes company X to deliver a product. Still, you guys are not some dudes doing poorly organized comparison, you are a legitimate website with experience. I would think that any chance to get good exposure would generally trump the other concerns. I am also glad the Emerald Physics is back in, it was impressive at the last show I attended.
 
#241 ·
Consider the Tekton Pendragons that have garnered a LOT of positive feedback... with three tweeters. I don't think much about the design and certainly don't want to make assumptions if I have not heard the speakers. I made some assumptions based on designs prior to our $1,000 speaker event and was a bit surprised.
 
#247 · (Edited)
This is my first post on this forum but I've been a long time lurker and have gotten lots of great information from hometheatershack over the last few years.

Its good to hear that Walter was able to participate in this event and I am eagerly waiting to see how the Emerald Physics CS2P's stack up against the competition.

I've owned the Emerald Physics CS-2.3 speakers for about a year now and have nothing but good things to say about both the speakers and the service I've gotten from Walter. I bought the speakers used from a guy in St. Louis and had a few minor issues after getting them home and setup. I emailed Walter about the issues and got a phone call from him within 30 minutes of sending the email. He was very informative and helpful and the issues were quickly resolved.

The CS-2.3's do take some time to setup properly but when completed will deliver a holographic soundstage, unlimited dynamics, excellent bass, etc.. Granted, the CS2P's are a a different speaker but I expect they'll have similar qualities.
 
#253 ·
We have to remember this is the owner of the company and he sales them direct, so he can put any MSRP on the products that he wants to, but he never EVER gets MSRP. He will tell you himself that he offers the CS2P with the DSP for $3,000 everyday, which is his retail asking price on Audiogon, where he makes the bulk of his sales. He will even discount it further for HTS forum members to $2,850.

We are going to test the speakers without the DSP... and may not even use it. It is designed to make it flat down to 20Hz, but for music I am not sure we even need it... we will see.

We will not be bi-amping any of the speakers. We will have a much more powerful two-channel solid state amp in the Anthem Integrated 225... 225 wpc at 8 ohms and 310 wpc at 4 ohms. So no speakers will be short of power. We also hope to listen to them with the Rogue Cronus Magnum and the Audio Space Galaxy 88 integrated tube amps.
 
#256 ·
We have to remember this is the owner of the company and he sales them direct, so he can put any MSRP on the products that he wants to, but he never EVER gets MSRP. He will tell you himself that he offers the CS2P with the DSP for $3,000 everyday, which is his retail asking price on Audiogon, where he makes the bulk of his sales. He will even discount it further for HTS forum members to $2,850.

We are going to test the speakers without the DSP... and may not even use it. It is designed to make it flat down to 20Hz, but for music I am not sure we even need it... we will see.

We will not be bi-amping any of the speakers. We will have a much more powerful two-channel solid state amp in the Anthem Integrated 225... 225 wpc at 8 ohms and 310 wpc at 4 ohms. So no speakers will be short of power. We also hope to listen to them with the Rogue Cronus Magnum and the Audio Space Galaxy 88 integrated tube amps.
Bi-amping would take way too long. So could setting up DSP.... sigh, but it is worth looking at.

With mult tweeters, the listener's height re speaker can be important. We will consider it carefully.
 
#259 ·
I just heard Wally's room at RMAF, one of the very best sounding rooms, and very inexpensive. He had the CS3 MK2s, DSP, Jolida tube CD/DAC, EP100.2SE amp,2 REL small subs, and cables all for $9K. Very open, great soundstage, detailed without being bright or edgy, big dynamics, and with the subs- great bass extension and power, "regular" music sounded superb, not just audiophile standards, a room many $40K to $60K rooms couldn't top! If the CS2P's sound anything like the CS3s, watch out for this sleeper.
 
#260 ·
I agree it did sound nice. It was one of the handful of rooms that made me linger for a bit to listen. I didn't really know much about Emerald Physics, and confess to being surprised that this speaker uses a compression tweeter. Not one I normally associate with good hifi. But that wasn't the only preconception that was shattered for me at RMAF. Enjoyed the show.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top