Im looking for a floorstander for my living room/theater. The living room system is an Integra DHC-80.2 > Emotiva XPA-5, with dual DIY JL Audio 12w7 subwoofers, Polk LSiFX surrounds, and a Clearwave 2c center channel. My room is 15' deep x 22' wide, with an open stairway to the rest of the house. My speaker tastes are 38-45" tall towers under 10 inches wide. I like precise imaging, a wide soundstage, and laid back sound. I'll be using the subs 60Hz and under, but would like a speaker that plays loud with impactful bass in the 70-200 Hz region (which is what my current LSi25s are missing). In commercial speakers, I'm more of a Sonus Faber Cremona than B&W 802D guy.
After months and months of research, I was ready to build the Ekta Grande. I stopped by Madisound for a listening session with my test CD I've heard on dozens of systems, and listened to the Zaph ZRT, Rediscovery, Seas Idunn, and Klang + Ton NADA speakers. My hope was that the ZRT would sound great to confirm my build intentions of a revelator-based tower.
First, all the speakers sounded good. The differences really were about preferences. The ZRT was the first and last speaker listened to, and had nice deep bass, a smooth sound, but didn't stand out in imaging precision. On the positive, my "width" test track showed the sound extending well beyond the width of the speakers. Overall though, to me, it sounded like good speakers and not like instruments. The towers were short, putting the tweeters below my head while seated, so I tried sitting low to see if it improved anything, but it didn't seem to. These were the Madisound enclosures, so maybe that was the issue?
Next up was the Rediscovery. These were large bookshelf versions. They sounded very similar to the ZRT, just a little less refined, and a little boomier in the bass. They had a similar sound to the ZRT though.
The Idunn had very precise imaging. Musician locations were clearly and precisely defined, but the soundstage was limited to between the speakers. The tonal balance was bright to my taste, and lacked the bass of the rest of the speakers.
The NADA was up next. While it didn't go quite as low as the revelator based woofers, the illuminator had good punch in the bass it could produce. The width of the soundstage extended past the speakers like the revelator designs. The imaging precision was much better though, and shockingly, on one of my test tracks (Radiohead Feral), the drums were clearly focused during the bass heavy segments. Ive never heard this on any of the other systems Ive auditioned.
After the experience at Madisound, Ive started to rethink my decisions. Is the Illuminator woofer a much more detailed woofer than the revelator, or is it due to other factors in the system, such as crossover components, cabinet quality or tweeters? Will the 12M in the Ekta Grande match the 18WU in detail in the midrange?
Any thoughts from anyone else whos heard both? I probably cant afford a three or four driver Illuminator based system, so I think my decision will be between a 3-way revelator and a 2-way illuminator. Any thoughts on this? My only other concern, with a 2-way design, will there be enough mid-bass punch from 2 7 woofers at my seating position 11 away?
After months and months of research, I was ready to build the Ekta Grande. I stopped by Madisound for a listening session with my test CD I've heard on dozens of systems, and listened to the Zaph ZRT, Rediscovery, Seas Idunn, and Klang + Ton NADA speakers. My hope was that the ZRT would sound great to confirm my build intentions of a revelator-based tower.
First, all the speakers sounded good. The differences really were about preferences. The ZRT was the first and last speaker listened to, and had nice deep bass, a smooth sound, but didn't stand out in imaging precision. On the positive, my "width" test track showed the sound extending well beyond the width of the speakers. Overall though, to me, it sounded like good speakers and not like instruments. The towers were short, putting the tweeters below my head while seated, so I tried sitting low to see if it improved anything, but it didn't seem to. These were the Madisound enclosures, so maybe that was the issue?
Next up was the Rediscovery. These were large bookshelf versions. They sounded very similar to the ZRT, just a little less refined, and a little boomier in the bass. They had a similar sound to the ZRT though.
The Idunn had very precise imaging. Musician locations were clearly and precisely defined, but the soundstage was limited to between the speakers. The tonal balance was bright to my taste, and lacked the bass of the rest of the speakers.
The NADA was up next. While it didn't go quite as low as the revelator based woofers, the illuminator had good punch in the bass it could produce. The width of the soundstage extended past the speakers like the revelator designs. The imaging precision was much better though, and shockingly, on one of my test tracks (Radiohead Feral), the drums were clearly focused during the bass heavy segments. Ive never heard this on any of the other systems Ive auditioned.
After the experience at Madisound, Ive started to rethink my decisions. Is the Illuminator woofer a much more detailed woofer than the revelator, or is it due to other factors in the system, such as crossover components, cabinet quality or tweeters? Will the 12M in the Ekta Grande match the 18WU in detail in the midrange?
Any thoughts from anyone else whos heard both? I probably cant afford a three or four driver Illuminator based system, so I think my decision will be between a 3-way revelator and a 2-way illuminator. Any thoughts on this? My only other concern, with a 2-way design, will there be enough mid-bass punch from 2 7 woofers at my seating position 11 away?