Possible giant killers?

Pros:
Exceptional sound for price proposition.
Beautiful design and shape.
Great quality drivers for price.
Great mid-band musicality.
Several finishes available.

Cons:
Finish not as good as others in it's price range.
Because they're affordable, many will overlook them and miss out on a gem.

Summary:
Needed a pair of speakers to replace my Mordaunt & Short floor standers and heard these were available in Toronto. Heard a pair at Bay Bloor Radio and though they did sound nice, was not initially impressed. Through my audio travels several weeks later, heard a pair at Tabangi Electronics. Asked for a demo and could not believe how excellent they sounded. I determined the quality throught the Yamaha receiver at the first retailer was not nearly as revealing as the sound offered at the second retailer through the NAD separates.

The sound was very clean and musical. The bass was quite deep, yet it didn't hide the mid-band musicality offered from these larger boxes. Listened to several cd's I eagerly grabbed from my car and was completely blown away by the sound I was hearing from a larger speaker for approx. $850. They reminded me a great deal of the Paradigm 7's, just better sounding. Similar shape, design and driver compliment. Though the Paradigm's sounded nice, I found the British speakers had a much more pleasant and clear mid-band that the Paradigm's could not offer due to deeper base (believe the base hid the finer musical qualities other speakers may have allowed one to hear).

The speakers have a beatiful teardrop shape when viewed from the top. The vented port is nicely shaped and does vent a great deal of air when the speakers are driving hard. These come with very nicely crafted floor spikes (not too sharp as to damage one's floor). The cabinet colour I chose was ash, which looks very nice but the finish is rather thin. Though I prefer black, the black finish is very poor and looks as though it would not stand up to average household use.

Quality Brit-units that offer a sweet sound, beatiful design, great quality parts and a seriously hard to understand price. They simply sound too good for the price one must pay to own them.

If you're looking for a larger floor standing unit and have a preference for the Brit-sound, you must given these a listen. The smaller speakers on this same line are considered critically aclaimed at this point all over the world. To my ears, these speakers sound just as good, but with a more developed base which is why I chose these over the many competitors tested such as Paradigm, PSB, Axiom, Definitive, Energy, etc.

Try them, you won't be dissapointed. You may not buy them right away, but they will certainly re-set your spending considerations given the excellent sound provided for a relatively small cash outlay.

Enjoy your search!

Written By: Hula Pie on Jul 15, 2006
Last Updated By: Hula Pie on Dec 30, 2008