screemer
Prominent Member
Ok, so if MA are less treble on high frequencies, better at the bottom, suited to rock music, and B&W are higher on the treble frequencies, more suited to electronic music, where does that leave KEF?
Tried the Golds with the ARcam SA30, overall decent but not engaging enough for me. Nice smooth, warm sound but not enough detail. I am presuming that's the Arcam as opposed to the Golds. Might try a Naim atom with the Golds first, but feeling perhaps R3s are a better choice.Even better.
MA Gold speakers bright? I have to say, not in my system. However, I would suggest sound depends on so many factors, source, amp, room acoustics all play their part in how a system sounds........oh and your own hearing of course. Good luck with the demo’s.I must be the only person in the world that thinks MA are waaay too bright and lean on bass. Certainly the one's I auditioned were.
I've never been that impressed with B&W either. I enjoyed some KEF's for a while and while the charms were numerous I found the bass muddy and poorly timed.
I am currently baby sitting some Mission QX2's while I seek my "forever speakers" Potentially Revels or Wharfedale Evo's once I've had a good audition.
Now that's what I love about my KEFs. Nice tight bass with great timing. Right amp is essential though, in an audition a Naim Nait XS2 produced bass as you described. The Rega Elicit-R tightened it up tremendously. Careful placement and porting is essential as well.I enjoyed some KEF's for a while and while the charms were numerous I found the bass muddy and poorly timed.
Now that's what I love about my KEFs. Nice tight bass with great timing. Right amp is essential though, in an audition a Naim Nait XS2 produced bass as you described. The Rega Elicit-R tightened it up tremendously. Careful placement and porting is essential as well.
I demo’d the naim atom with MAGold 100’s last year. The whole sound was too clinical and did absolutely nothing for me. However, that same day, I paired the MA’s with my now owned Amp, Yamaha A-S2100, it was audible gold to me. It just goes to show that even when esteemed hifi speaker manufacturer owners state “a watt, is a watt, is a watt”, clearly he’s talking rubbish.Quick update...…. I have now got a Naim Atom and a pair of MA Silver 300s to demo as well as the Arcam SA30 and MA gold 100s. Not sure I am blown away by the Naim/Silver 300 combo, does sound good, nice and smooth but just lacking something. Perhaps the Arcam would be better with them? Trying the golds in a bit with the Naim.
Quick update...…. I have now got a Naim Atom and a pair of MA Silver 300s to demo as well as the Arcam SA30 and MA gold 100s. Not sure I am blown away by the Naim/Silver 300 combo, does sound good, nice and smooth but just lacking something. Perhaps the Arcam would be better with them? Trying the golds in a bit with the Naim.
Got some KEF R5s, B&W 704 S2s and Spendor A7s on home demo at the moment powered by an SA20 so will be very close to your SA30. Have owned B&Ws before and as mentioned previously they have a very clean and transparent upper range. Vocals are especially crisp and detailed with the 704s but getting towards being quite fatiguing for me at higher volumes and extended listening. Bass is solid but not really involving. Haven’t tried the Spendors yet, but in comparison the KEFs impart far more of a colour on the music and I think you’ll either love that or hate it. Bass is far more prominent, mid range is like honey- rich and warm (lead guitars sound especially good) but there is a tad less detail and sharpness at the upper end. Will be trying more combinations over the next couple of weeks, but so far really enjoying the musicality of the KEFs even if they aren’t providing the neutral monitoring so beloved of serious audiophiles!
Edited to note that I’m using silver speaker wire. Tried some copper and dulled everything down too much.
Hey Douggie good timing! I wired up the A7s today and have been blown away by how good they sound with the SA20. I was really enjoying the KEFs but the A7s are just a league above when it comes to all round ability. The dealer is going to have to come up with something very special to convince me to hand these back!
There are a couple of immediate things that stand out. First of all the soundscape is huge. The room is filled with music and the separation between instruments is great. As much as I liked the warmth of the KEFs there is just so much more clarity with the A7s, they are also much more dynamic with classical music whereas the KEFs sounded somewhat stilted. It seems the A7s are far more capable across a wide range of musical genres than the KEFs. That said “noodling” guitar solos do sound brilliant on the former if you’re into Dire Straits and that kind of thing!
Second is the bass. It’s just brilliantly in control and much more present than in the KEFs which in contrast just don’t have the same punch at low frequencies.They are much smaller in size but project themselves into the room far more.
Vocals sound more natural/crisp and less coloured/warm.
Overall I think they are brilliantly matched to the Arcam and easy to set up. Have had them close to the back wall, a couple of feet out, straight on and toed in and they sounded great regardless. Best a foot or so out tho.
Will let you know how things go this week, but on first impressions they are well worth the third extra ££ over the KEFs.
btw using QED silver anniversary cable. Will grab some others to test when the next batch of speakers arrive for demo. The silver is pretty bright with the A7s so will be keen to test some decent copper cable with them.
Got the 702s and Evoke 30s today. Not sure if it’s the rest of the equipment, but I’m pretty disappointed with the B&Ws. The top end is nice and crisp, but mid-range is really dull with very little separation. Given the three low end drivers pretty underwhelming bass too. Maybe I just need a power amp to help make them sing with more juice. Spent less time with the Evoke 30s. Nice compact units, seem well made, but the Spendors are just a league or two above in all departments. Just amazed by how much the Spendors can move me emotionally. Played some Simon and Garfunkel live and it’s pretty close to being there. Will give the Dynaudios a bit more time, but it’s not looking great for them!