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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
 
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#261 ·
The center seat on the back row (only two rows in that room) was actually the best seat in his room. The front seat was producing some slight smearing in the imaging, although it still sounded good.

Those rooms were so small that it would have been hard to just have one seat, but that is what I would have done if faced with that situation. I would not want anyone to hear my setup in a "non-prime" listening position. I saw a LOT of folks come into rooms, sit down in a seat that I know for a fact sounded terrible in comparison to the prime seat, and they got up and left a minute or two later. There is absolutely NO way they left with a good impression.

I am looking forward to hearing these we have in my room now, where we know they will have a much better room for setup and placement.
 
#262 ·
Given the number of people at a show, it is not possible to provide everyone with a good seat. Sad reality of course. But I see your point -- why even allow someone to listen if that listening will not paint a good picture? Our room had serious overemphasis on the bass when standing, which was why I asked people to sit when they came in.

One would hope that most people that attend a show like RMAF understand that they cannot get a good impression of a speaker's performance without being in the right place. However, I was always surprised when a person would come into our otherwise empty room and sit at a seat that was not at least centered about the speakers (whether front row or back). Really? I waited in rooms I was interested in hearing for several minutes in some cases to get the right seat.
 
#263 ·
Yeah... I did not always get a chance to listen from the prime seat, but I also did not make any judgment based on where I was. Yet, I knew that either Joe, Wayne or Dennis was going to be eventually sitting in that prime seat so that they could make "legitimate" observations, so it was not as important for me, although there were some rooms where I had a chance to listen in that prime seat.

It was really nice meeting you Bryan. We did finally get to meet with Ken as well... and we are looking forward to reviewing some of the Induction Dynamics and Phase Technology products.

I can hardly wait to get this $2,500 event underway. The RMAF just got us all more pumped. We are hoping to have a couple of really nice surprises for our readers... including a 5.0 home theater setup costing approximately $12K and a $20K two-channel setup, both of which we will review during the event. This is going to be really good!
 
#264 ·
Sonnie, I'm glad you found Ken.

It was wonderful to meet Sonnie and Joe (ALMFamily) there. I just have to say that I and those of my company who were there with them in our room were duly impressed by the rigorous nature of their audition. They spent at least half an hour there, while Joe sat in the sweet spot and listened to various tracks he had brought and scribbled notes much of the time. The most extensive and thorough audition anyone made in our room, including other members of the press, and I personally look forward to hearing their impressions of that and everything else they heard. Given the somewhat subjective nature of these things, no one's opinion can be taken to mean that you will feel the same way. However, whatever their opinions might be, anyone who reads them should know that they were not formed haphazardly and they are legitimate. As far as I'm concerned, these guys are a class act.
 
#268 ·
The RMAF weekend gave us a great introduction to some of the speakers we will be evaluating at the upcoming event.

I got a good dose of Dynaudio's, not the DM 3/7 but the Excite series, and a more expensive bookshelf model (still haven't unpacked, have to dig out my notes for the model number). They all seemed to do everything right and go a step beyond that. More details in the upcoming show writeup.

We were in the SVS room for quite awhile. They have put a lot of work into refining the high end on those towers.

And the Emerald Physics offerings were a lot of fun, have always been a fan of the concentric mid/tweeter idea if implemented successfully, so I spent a lot of time with them. There was a vocal passage that we like to test with that consistently pulled some image smearing, but knowing how sensitive such matters are to placement, we are reserving judgment on that until we get a chance to optimize their setup in a known good room in November. Overall, the EPs were a fun listen.

Now, on to Sonnie's place where we can really put these speakers through their paces!
 
#269 ·
I wasnt at the show, but im pretty sure they were showing the C1 Signature according to their facebook page. look forward to your write up.
 
#272 ·
Having just finished my first year with the Martin Logans, I can say they shine in many areas but there sure are some wonderful other speakers in this listen off. I look forward to reading the end results when they are ready and cannot imagine how fun and yet how hard this will be.

Good Luck Gents
 
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